Stonehenge – Where did the giant stones originate?

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Time to read: 2 minutes

One of the biggest mysteries of Stonehenge is where did the huge sarsen stones come from and how could humans have moved and erected these stones 4000 years ago without any modern technology?

The stones that were used were approximately 24 feet tall and weighed 23 tons. For years, scientists have been trying to figure out where these stones came from.

The theory always was that these stones had been transported from North Wiltshire but the exact location could never be established.

Stonehenge
Stonehenge

However, a man who was working on a restoration project of Stonehenge in 1958 had kept a piece of the sarsen stone and provided it to researchers in 2019. The piece of stone was sent to the USA for analysis and a geochemical fingerprint was discovered once the piece of stone was studied.

Using this knowledge the scientists were able to narrow down the actual location to West Woods in Wiltshire. Today this is a popular place for dog walkers and hikers.

Now the location of the stones has been established, the next question is how could these 23 ton stones be transported 15 miles from West Woods in Wiltshire to the location of Stonehenge?

No-one knows for sure how ancient humans managed to transport these stones 15 miles without any modern machinery, but the most common theory is that the builders used sledges and rollers made from tree trunks.

It is also thought that they built rafts and floated the stones up the River Avon.

In 2000, a group of volunteers wanted to test this theory, so they tasked themselves with transporting stones of similar size without using any modern machinery.

The test was a bit of a disaster as rafts sank, and rollers were destroyed, proving that although they believed this is still the method used, it is in no way an easy task.

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