how was the Altar Stone transported from the very north of Scotland, a distance of more than 700 kilometers, to Stonehenge, and, more intriguing, why?' The distance is the longest recorded journey for any stone used in a monument at that period, and Prof.

Pearce says that the next mystery to solve is how it got there.

'There are obvious physical barriers to transporting by land, and an equally daunting journey if going by sea.

These findings will have huge ramifications for understanding communities in Neolithic times, their levels of connectivity, and their transport systems.

'The Altar Stone in the foreground is now partially buried under two other stones that have fallen on top of it.

The new research will be pored over by archaeologists working for English Heritage, which looks after Stonehenge, according to one of the monument's senior curators, Heather Sebire.

'This discovery certainly implies that there were great social connections in Britain at the time,' she told BBC News.

'It is phenomenal that the people of the time brought such a large stone all this way.

They must have had a compelling reason to do it.

They had a sophisticated and developed society, and so they probably had a spiritual side, just like we do.

'