Megalith quarries for Stonehenge's bluestones

Pearson, Mike Parker; Pollard, Josh; Richards, Colin; Welham, Kate; Casswell, C.; French, Charles; Schlee, Duncan; Shaw, David; Simmons, Ellen; Stanford, Adam; Bevins, R. E.; Ixer, R. A.

doi:10.15184/aqy.2018.111

Cited by 27 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Judd 1902; Scourse 1997; John 2018; Pearson et al . 2019). Although this may indeed be accommodated by earlier more extensive glaciations, we suggest however, that a process, forcing, or feedback is missing in the numerical modelling we present here and that once discovered would enable sufficient ice advance in the Celtic Sea without exceeding ice limits elsewhere.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The alternative choice of accepting a model run that reached the shelf edge in the Celtic Sea but also glaciated the SW Peninsula and parts of the English Midlands would have interesting implications for the long-standing hypothesis that some of the stones of Stonehenge may have been transported, at least partway as glacial erratics (e.g. Judd 1902;Scourse 1997;John 2018;Pearson et al 2019). Although this may indeed be accommodated by earlier more extensive glaciations, we suggest however, that a process, forcing, or feedback is missing in the numerical modelling we present here and that once discovered would enable sufficient ice advance in the Celtic Sea without exceeding ice limits elsewhere.…”

Section: Mismatches In the Empirical And Model Reconstructionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Growth and retreat of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet, 31 000 to 15 000 years ago: the BRITICE‐CHRONO reconstruction

Clark

Ely

Hindmarsh

et al. 2022

Boreas

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The BRITICE‐CHRONO consortium of researchers undertook a dating programme to constrain the timing of advance, maximum extent and retreat of the British–Irish Ice Sheet between 31 000 and 15 000 years before present. The dating campaign across Ireland and Britain and their continental shelves, and across the North Sea included 1500 days of field investigation yielding 18 000 km of marine geophysical data, 377 cores of sea floor sediments, and geomorphological and stratigraphical information at 121 sites on land; generating 690 new geochronometric ages. These findings are reported in 28 publications including synthesis into eight transect reconstructions. Here we build ice sheet‐wide reconstructions consistent with these findings and using retreat patterns and dates for the inter‐transect areas. Two reconstructions are presented, a wholly empirical version and a version that combines modelling with the new empirical evidence. Palaeoglaciological maps of ice extent, thickness, velocity, and flow geometry at thousand‐year timesteps are presented. The maximum ice volume of 1.8 m sea level equivalent occurred at 23 ka. A larger extent than previously defined is found and widespread advance of ice to the continental shelf break is confirmed during the last glacial. Asynchrony occurred in the timing of maximum extent and onset of retreat, ranging from 30 to 22 ka. The tipping point of deglaciation at 22 ka was triggered by ice stream retreat and saddle collapses. Analysis of retreat rates leads us to accept our hypothesis that the marine‐influenced sectors collapsed rapidly. First order controls on ice‐sheet demise were glacio‐isostatic loading triggering retreat of marine sectors, aided by glaciological instabilities and then climate warming finished off the smaller, terrestrial ice sheet. Overprinted on this signal were second order controls arising from variations in trough topographies and with sector‐scale ice geometric readjustments arising from dispositions in the geography of the landscape. These second order controls produced a stepped deglaciation. The retreat of the British–Irish Ice Sheet is now the world’s most well‐constrained and a valuable data‐rich environment for improving ice‐sheet modelling.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mismatches In the Empirical And Model Reconstructionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growth and retreat of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet, 31 000 to 15 000 years ago: the BRITICE‐CHRONO reconstruction

Clark

Ely

Hindmarsh

et al. 2022

Boreas

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“…The monument consists of large sarsen triathlons, each up to 8m in height and 30 tonnes in weight, and smaller bluestones, up to 3m high and weighing 1-2 tonnes. It is generally accepted that the megaliths were moved by human effort, rather than natural processes, with the sarsens originating in the Marlborough Downs, approximately 30km to the north, and the bluestones from Craig-Rhos-y-felin and Carn Goedog, over 140km away (Bevins & Ixer 2018;Parker Pearson et al 2019). It is clear from research at Durrington Walls that the people who constructed Stonehenge were well organised, with large numbers of individuals coming from across the British Isles-and beyond-to take part in the building process (Viner et al 2010;Mays et al 2018).…”

Section: The Construction Of Stonehengementioning

confidence: 99%

Building Stonehenge? An alternative interpretation of lipid residues in Neolithic Grooved Ware from Durrington Walls

Shillito¹

2019

Antiquity

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“…These studies provide a great deal of technical information concerning the stone used in the architecture, as well as the techniques applied to quarry and transport them. Recent studies carried out at major world megalithic sites such as Stonehenge in Great Britain (e.g., 1 , 2 ), Valencina, in Spain (e.g., 3 – 5 ) or Easter Island (e.g., 6 , 7 ), show how geoarchaeological approaches based on petrology and geotechnics provide crucial data to understand the role of stone materials in producing monumental landscapes, involving aspects such as place-making, place-keeping and identity-building.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The provenance of the stones in the Menga dolmen reveals one of the greatest engineering feats of the Neolithic

Rodríguez,

Sanjuán,

Álvarez-Valero

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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The technical and intellectual capabilities of past societies are reflected in the monuments they were able to build. Tracking the provenance of the stones utilised to build prehistoric megalithic monuments, through geological studies, is of utmost interest for interpreting ancient architectures as well as to contribute to their protection. According to the scarce information available, most stones used in European prehistoric megaliths originate from locations near the construction sites, which would have made transport easier. The Menga dolmen (Antequera, Malaga, Spain), listed in UNESCO World Heritage since July 2016, was designed and built with stones weighting up to nearly 150 tons, thus becoming the most colossal stone monument built in its time in Europe (c. 3800–3600 BC). Our study (based on high-resolution geological mapping as well as petrographic and stratigraphic analyses) reveals key geological and archaeological evidence to establish the precise provenance of the massive stones used in the construction of this monument. These stones are mostly calcarenites, a poorly cemented detrital sedimentary rock comparable to those known as 'soft stones' in modern civil engineering. They were quarried from a rocky outcrop located at a distance of approximately 1 km. In this study, it can be inferred the use of soft stone in Menga reveals the human application of new wood and stone technologies enabling the construction of a monument of unprecedented magnitude and complexity.

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Megalith quarries for Stonehenge's bluestones

Abstract: Abstract

Cited by 27 publications

References 13 publications

Growth and retreat of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet, 31 000 to 15 000 years ago: the BRITICE‐CHRONO reconstruction

Growth and retreat of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet, 31 000 to 15 000 years ago: the BRITICE‐CHRONO reconstruction

Building Stonehenge? An alternative interpretation of lipid residues in Neolithic Grooved Ware from Durrington Walls

The provenance of the stones in the Menga dolmen reveals one of the greatest engineering feats of the Neolithic

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