Archaeology & History

Stonehenge stones may have predated humans

By T.K. Randall
April 9, 2018 ·  5 comments

Some of the stones may have already been at the site. Image Credit: CC BY 2.0 Simon Wakefield The idea that there were already stones at the Stonehenge site long before humans arrived on the scene is not as ridiculous as it sounds and could actually explain why its builders chose to drag additional stones over such long distances to construct the monument at this location.

According to British pre-history expert Mike Pitts, the fact that two of the largest stones happen to align with the Sun during the winter and summer solstices may be entirely coincidental.

One of these - the heel stone - is a huge unshaped, undressed rock that stands around 75ft from the stone circle. A second undressed stone also stands in alignment with it at the center of the circle.

Some researchers now believe that a six-meter pit discovered next to the heel stone could be where it had originally stood before it was moved by the monument's builders."The assumption used to be that all the sarsens at Stonehenge had come from the Marlborough Downs more than 20 miles away," said Pitts.

"The idea has since been growing that some may be local and the heel stone came out of that big pit."

"If you are going to move something that large you would dress it before you move it, to get rid of some of the bulk. That suggests it has not been moved very far."

"It makes sense that the heel stone has always been more or less where it is now, half-buried."

Source: The Times | Comments (5)

Tags: Stonehenge