papajimakos
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At an ancient site situated among the hills of western Wales, researchers suspect they have uncovered the remnants of a stone circle that contained initial building blocks of Stonehenge.
Excavations of the site are in the early stages, but the stone circle was probably dismantled between 5,400 and 5,200 years ago, say University College London archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson and his colleagues. That’s roughly a few hundred years or less before work began at Stonehenge. People at the newly excavated site then perhaps moved about 280 kilometers to southern England, carrying with them stones that were used in the first phase of building the iconic monument (SN: 9/6/12), the investigators propose in the February Antiquity.
Others, though, caution that more excavation needs to be done before clinching the case.
The stone circle was found at site called Waun Mawn, which lies in the Preseli region of Wales. The site is near quarries previously identified as sources of smaller Stonehenge stones, known as bluestones. If Parker Pearson’s team is right, then ancient population movements out of Wales explain why bluestones at Stonehenge came from far away. Other Stonehenge stones, such as the iconic, massive boulders known as sarsen stones, came from local sources.
Excavations of the site are in the early stages, but the stone circle was probably dismantled between 5,400 and 5,200 years ago, say University College London archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson and his colleagues. That’s roughly a few hundred years or less before work began at Stonehenge. People at the newly excavated site then perhaps moved about 280 kilometers to southern England, carrying with them stones that were used in the first phase of building the iconic monument (SN: 9/6/12), the investigators propose in the February Antiquity.
Others, though, caution that more excavation needs to be done before clinching the case.
The stone circle was found at site called Waun Mawn, which lies in the Preseli region of Wales. The site is near quarries previously identified as sources of smaller Stonehenge stones, known as bluestones. If Parker Pearson’s team is right, then ancient population movements out of Wales explain why bluestones at Stonehenge came from far away. Other Stonehenge stones, such as the iconic, massive boulders known as sarsen stones, came from local sources.
