Stonehenge might have been constructed to unify individuals in historical Britain, in response to new analysis.
It comes after proof exhibits one of many stones got here to the monument in Wiltshire from as distant as north east Scotland.
The lead creator of the analysis – Prof Mike Parker Pearson from the UCL Institute of Archaeology – defined the stones coming from completely different locations within the nation makes it “distinctive amongst over 900 stone circles in Britain”.
Published in Archaeology International, it additionally factors out the 43 bluestones at Stonehenge got here from 140 miles (225km) away in Wales.
Prof Parker Pearson stated: “We’ve identified for some time that individuals got here from many alternative elements of Britain with their pigs and cattle to feast at Durrington Walls, and almost half the individuals buried at Stonehenge had lived someplace aside from Salisbury Plain.
“The similarities in structure and materials tradition between the Stonehenge space and northern Scotland now make extra sense.”
It was reported earlier this yr that the six-tonne altar stone originated in Scotland, presumably arriving about 2500BC, the time Stonehenge was remodelled from its authentic type.
Co-author Prof Richard Bevins, from Aberystwyth University, seemed into the geology: “Our analysis is like forensic science. We are a small staff of earth scientists, every bringing their very own space of experience; it’s this mixture of abilities that has allowed us to establish the sources of the bluestones, and now the Altar Stone.”
It is comparable in measurement and placement to the big, horizontal stones within the stone circles of northeast Scotland, the place it originated.
These kind of circles are solely present in that a part of Scotland, so researchers suppose there might have been shut ties between the 2 areas.
The Welsh bluestones are believed to have arrived for the primary building of Stonehenge, however for the second there was extra contact between Britain and Europe.
There are plenty of concepts on Stonehenge: a non secular temple, an historical observatory and a photo voltaic calendar, and this new analysis provides a political facet.
