Scientists Finally Uncover The Truth About How Stonehenge Was Really Built

A fresh study featured in the Journal of Archaeological Science is offering new insight into one of the most puzzling aspects of Stonehenge's origin.

Stonehenge, located on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, has long fascinated researchers and visitors alike. One of its mysterious elements is a rock known as the 'Newall boulder.' For years, scientists have been debating whether this massive stone arrived via natural glacial movement from Wales or was transported by people thousands of years ago.

Professor Richard Bevins and his team at Aberystwyth University tackled this debate head-on. They compared the Newall boulder to geological samples from Craig Rhos–y–Felin, a rocky site in Wales.

By using a combination of microscopic analysis and geochemical tools, the researchers discovered there was 'no evidence to support the interpretation that it is a glacial erratic'.

Instead, the findings strongly point to human transportation. The boulder shares a near-identical chemical signature with rocks found at Craig Rhos–y–Felin, suggesting that ancient people moved it — an incredible journey of more than 125 miles — right to the Stonehenge site in Wiltshire.

The chemical tests revealed the exact same levels of thorium and zirconium in both the Newall boulder and other Stonehenge fragments when compared with the geology of Craig Rhos–y–Felin, making the human transport theory even more convincing.

Stonehenge's bluestones were apparently transported to the location by humans Getty Stock

The researchers described the boulder as a foliated rhyolite, with a surface rich in calcium carbonate. This detail matters because if glaciers had moved it, similar stones would likely be scattered around the Stonehenge area, but they’re not. That adds weight to the idea that humans intentionally moved it.

Another buried piece at the site, known as Stone 32d, became a major part of the study too.

Previously, Stone 32d was believed to be a spotted dolerite, but the latest research revealed that it’s also a foliated rhyolite, much like the Newall boulder.

"Part of the fascination of Stonehenge is that many of its megaliths, in contrast to the large, relatively local sarsens, can be proven to have been sourced from Wales, over 200km to the west." wrote the research group.

"Most archaeologists accept that Neolithic people achieved this remarkable feat, transporting blocks weighing up to 3.5 tonnes. There is, however, a contrary view, which proposed that no human effort was involved."

"Rather, it is argued, the Welsh stones were transported by glacial ice long before Stonehenge was built."

It is a World Heritage Site Getty Stock

Dr. Brian John is a major supporter of the glacier theory, which suggests the stones were moved naturally by ice.

In one of his previous studies, he argued: "The boulder was reduced in size and heavily modified during glacial transport, for much of the time on the bed of a glacier. It was eventually dumped at some location on, or relatively close to, Salisbury Plain." But this latest research team suggests that what John described may actually be caused by natural weathering instead of glacial movement.

They criticized John’s conclusions, saying: "To present it as fact, rather than as hypothesis, is disingenuous."

"The presence of Stonehenge itself is the evidence of movement by Neolithic peoples of stones weighing up to as much as 40 tonnes."

"Unless it is argued that all the stones were just lying on the ground ready to be erected where they were to make Stonehenge, the stones must have been moved into position."

"If Neolithic people could move a stone a few tens of metres they could move it tens or hundreds of kilometres. It may not have been easy, but it was entirely possible and moving 2–3 tonne bluestones would involve an order of magnitude less effort than moving the sarsens." the study continued.

"There is no evidence for how they moved these stones, but recent indigenous peoples have been transporting stones weighing many tonnes great distances with ropes, wooden sledges and trackways – technologies which would have been available in the Neolithic."