Archaeology & History

Stonehenge was originally built in Wales

By T.K. Randall
December 7, 2015

Image: Stonehenge, Wiltshire
Credit: Udit Kapoor / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) For thousands of years Stonehenge has dominated the Wiltshire countryside, but back when it was first built its surroundings may have actually been very different.

Archaeologists conducting excavations near the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire have discovered holes cut in to the rocks which seem to exactly match the stones that make up the monument.

The holes date back as far as 3,400 BC and suggest that the stones may have originally been part of a different monument before being taken down and dragged off to become part of Stonehenge."It could have taken nearly 500 years to get them to Stonehenge, but that's pretty improbable in my view," said Professor Mike Parker Pearson. "It's more likely that the stones were first used in a local monument, somewhere near the quarries, that was then dismantled and dragged off to Wiltshire."

The Stonehenge monument we see today therefore might actually be a second-hand construction.

"Normally we don't get to make that many fantastic discoveries.," said Pearson. "But this is one."

Source: Independent

Tags: Stonehenge, Wales