you have the possibility to publish an article related to the theme of this page, and / or to this region:
Great Britain - -An information and promotions platform.
Links the content with your website for free.
Great Britain - Web content about Stonehenge
The discovery reveals that the construction of Stonehenge was a much more collaborative effort than scientists had previously realized.
It also indicates that the ancient monument, located near Salisbury in south-west England, was built using stones from various parts of Great Britain.
The findings suggest that Neolithic Britain was a far more connected and advanced society than earlier evidence had indicated.
The research was led by a Welsh PhD student, Anthony Clarke, who is now working at Curtin University in Western Australia.
This discovery is a significant achievement for an apprentice researcher, but it is a bittersweet moment for Clarke, who was born in Pembrokeshire, where the Altar Stone was previously thought to have originated.
Clarke joked to BBC News, 'I don't think I'll be forgiven by people back home.
It will be a great loss for Wales!' However, he pointed out that the remaining stones in the central horseshoe, known as bluestones, are from Wales, while the larger stones in the outer circle are from England.
'But on a serious note, Stonehenge seems to be this great British endeavor involving all the different people from all over the island,' he said.
The bluestones at Stonehenge were identified as coming from the Preseli hills in Pembrokeshire in 1923 by Welsh geologist Henry Herbert Thomas.
The central Altar Stone was made of a different rock but was always assumed to have come from the same area until 20 years ago when scientists first began to question its origins.
Last year, researchers, including Prof.
Nick Pearce from Aberystwyth in Wales, concluded that the Altar Stone's origin had remained a mystery until now.
'It blew our socks off when we discovered it was from north-east Scotland,' Prof.
Pearce, who was also involved in the current discovery, told BBC News.
'The Neolithic people must have been pretty well connected, far more connected than people give them credit for.
They must have been very well organized.
'The breakthrough was made by the team at Curtin University, who analyzed the chemical composition of fragments of rock that had fallen off the Altar Stone and dated them.
The composition and date are unique to rocks from different parts of the world, rather like a fingerprint.
The Australian team had access to one of the most comprehensive global rock fingerprint databases and found the best match was from the Orcadian Basin, which includes the Caithness, Orkney, and Moray Firth regions of north-eastern Scotland.
Construction at Stonehenge began 5,000 years ago, with changes and additions over the next two millennia.
Most of the bluestones are believed to have been the first stones erected at the site.
Dr.
Robert Ixer from University College London, who was also involved in the study, described the result as 'shocking.
' 'The work prompts two important questions: 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.
'