How Did STONEHENGE’S Megaliths Really Get There?

It's widely accepted that the 'bluestones' that make up part of Stonehenge have an origin in west Wales. This is in contrast to the sarsen stones which were quarried close to the monument. However, how the 'bluestones' made their way from Wales to the Salisbury Plain has long been debated. Many archaeologists argue for human agency. They have suggested that a Neolithic group quarried the stones in west Wales before erecting a stone circle nearby and then, eventually, moved them almost 200 miles to the Salisbury Plain to build Stonehenge. Several quarries in the Preseli Hills have been identified as being the origin of the 'bluestones.'
Within the earth science community this hypothesis is not so well supported. It's argued that the 'bluestones' made their way east via glacier ice, possibly during the Anglian glacial episode around 450,000 years ago. A new paper written by geomorphologist Brian Stephen John and published in the E&G Quaternary Science Journal revisits this hypothesis. John analyses a large clast known as the Newall boulder that was excavated from Stonehenge.
#ancienthistory #geology #stonehenge
✨ IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 Introduction
01:20 The ‘Bluestones’
06:20 The Newall Boulder
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✨ REFERENCES
John, B.S., 2024. A bluestone boulder at Stonehenge: implications for the glacial transport theory. E&G Quaternary Science Journal, 73(1), pp.117-134.
✨ PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS
CC BY 4.0 DEED creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Images about the bluestones research, credit: John, B.S., in the paper referenced above.
CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Stonehenge landscape, credit: Juan Barbado
CC BY 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Stonehenge from the south, credit: TobyEditor
CC BY 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Drone footage of Stonehenge, credit: Ben Kenobi, 2014.
CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Waun Mawn, site of the possible original Stonehenge in Wales, credit: Hansjoerg Lipp
CC BY 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Stonehenge, credit: garethwiscombe
Other
Map of basic Pembrokeshire geology, credit: John, B.S., modified from aPembrokeshire Coast National Park base map
Newall Boulder, credit: Institute of Geological Sciences/British Geological Survey
East sector plan, credit: Cleal, et al. (1995)
Plan of bluestone and sarsen locations at Stonehenge, credit: Johnson, A. (2008).
Durrington Rhyolite cobbled, credit: Wessex Archaeology

[@garyworokevich2524]

It never occurred to me that the stones may have been transported by glacial ice. .......makes sense.

[@MegalithHunter]

It’s a hypothesis that’s been around for a very long time but it doesn’t get as much publicity as the alternative

[@storkythepunk]

Apparently Merlin has been on the phone to his publicist. Great video, thanks Laura.

[@MegalithHunter]

😂😂😂

[@laurence7181]

Excellent! I love a viable theory that's new to me. Thanks. I was at Stonehenge long ago, before the fence. I remember being struck by how "random" the smaller stones were compared to the much more regular sarsen stones. But I was a kid, and totally amazed to be standing in the middle this crowd of Stone Giants. I didn't think any more about it.

[@bohdanburban5069]

A few years ago I ran an experiment with school kids in California: they had to shift a 250 kg boulder 50 metres (and back) over flat ground without using metal nails on a timber sled. They did it (just) and appreciated the effort necessary to complete the project. Now imagine the size of Stonehenge blocks and think of the effort required to shift them over forested hill and dale over a distance of 200 km, particularly at a time of a relatively small population with a high female:male ratio. Ice can do it over multiple glacial cycles, the chutzpah of experts notwithstanding.

[@aidanmacdougall9250]

I read that the last ice age radiated out from Rannoch Moor, so wonder where this ice age would start from to getvthe stones to Salisbury. A single quarry in Wales is also in doubt, but does it matter how and why these stones got there? Stonehenge will always be a technological marvel to me, wherever the stones came from or how they got there!

[@SaxonSuccess]

Yes, it does matter, of course. We want to know.

[@hotzenplotz4077]

Greetings!

[@christianwhittaker6718]

The lack of "bluestone " erratics and lack of evidence of any such stone within the Avon makes me stick with the theory that they were brought in. It seems implausible that there are no erratics left and even more so the lack of evidence in the river gravel . Think about it , no evidence of bluestone anywhere else!! .

[@jacquelinekirk5601]

That’s why they are called erratics.

[@dominicmcauley9318]

Glacial, thats interesting I had always though they were brought there.

[@kerryburns-k8i]

I suspect that the pyramids owe nothing to glacial activity, nor the megalithic walls in South America or the temples in Cambodia. Even a superficial knowledge (like mine) of megalithic structures reveals a much more complex mystery here which has nothing to do with glaciers.

[@MrGaborseres]

Good information 👍 Thanks again 👍🙂

[@joejacquesschulz8514]

Interesting approach.

[@barrywalser2384]

I had not heard of this theory, but it is interesting. It changes a lot of previous perceptions. I can see how movement through glacial ice would be possible. Looking forward to more info on this. Thanks Laura!

[@MegalithHunter]

I’m convinced on this one. Missed my premiere cause I changed the time and forgot I changed it. Went to log on and realized I missed it 😂

[@barrywalser2384]

@@MegalithHunter Oops! 😄 We did miss you.

[@vulpesvulpes5177]

Big argument against this for several years was the assumption glaciers all moved north to south. I kid you not. Then the British Geological Survey started cross indexing field data…..scratches on bed rocks…..with topographic data. Next thing you know they have glaciation maps showing direction of flow and even rate of advance estimates. Clever fellows, they. Fox out

[@floydriebe4755]

​@@MegalithHunteri missed it, too! don't feel so bad about it, now😅

[@floydriebe4755]

not only possible but probable.....hey Barry!

[@vulpesvulpes5177]

Another example of longstanding assumptions persisting. It was almost 30 years ago that geological samples were taken and it was as discovered, by geologists, that the stones did not come from the same quarry site. This was by thin section crystal luminescence. So as you say from the paper over 40 different mineral types just in the blue stones. Pointing to the erratic theory. So glacial erratics makes more sense to me, based upon the most current data. Fox out

[@MegalithHunter]

Yeah me too. Especially after reading this paper. There is just so much evidence for this particular hypothesis over the other.

[@floydriebe4755]

i agree with the both of you, however, being the devil's advocate, i still feel the other is possible, if not probable.....besides, if hauled by man, wouldn't there be some sign of watermelon rind or seeds?!? ya'd think so.....

[@d.t.4523]

There is a precedent for the moving of multi ton stones without modern machinery. I can't explain the process myself. However, if you can study the place known as Coral Castle, in Florida, you will see the example I know of. Even if the stones were local, someone had to move then into place. Thank you, keep working.

[@madderhat5852]

Just goes to show it doesn't hurt to get a second opinion. Thank you for this interesting hypothesis.

[@davidcreager1945]

I've seen several documentaries that proved conclusively that the blue stones all came from the same quarry in Wales. Also i think rhey were transported by ship , and then transported to the site by being rolled on logs , using mucle power and elbow grease. Yes this method takes time , but then the people who built Stonehenge had plenty of time .

[@californianorma876]

No devices 😮

[@alangardner8596]

If you had a scientific curiosity and were fascinated by the movements of the sun and moon across the sky and had the means to build something that would record and predict the movement of the sun and moon across the sky you would have built Stonehenge. From such a construction you would then be able to predict an eclipse of the sun and moon after doing some calculations. Stonehenge is completely different from all other stone circles and this is simply because it had a different purpose.

[@timkbirchico8542]

good vid, thanks

[@MegalithHunter]

Glad you liked it!

[@416dl]

Very interesting as usual, and particularly interesting for me since I've been intrigued by Stonehenge since I was small and actually did a school science project on its history back in the early 60s after reading Hawkings book about its being an astronomical observatory which at that time was rather sensational. Of course the enigmatic subject of the bluestones was more or less presumed to have been the result of human transport and evidence of social cooperation back then. But the subject of the ice-age and the long lost landscape that it would have presented is an even more interesting subject for me and having worked in the polar regions and the far north I've come to appreciate the astonishing degree and sometimes even surprising degree to which glaciers can rework the land and forensic geology continues to loom larger and larger in my mind's conception of how the land came to look as it does for us now. Thanks again for your bringing us up to date on this mystery. Looking forward to more. Cheers.

[@christianwhittaker6718]

John has been pushing this theory for years . Also there seems to be a lot of "guess work " in relation to stones being or not being worked. And lastly it's not surprising that both fields ie archaeology and geology are the chosen options of each set of academics studying those sciences .

[@vintagelady1]

However the massive stones got there, it does seem to me that if they could hoist those huge crossbars, they could have moved them a couple hunred miles across country. Rivers & streams that no longer exist? Ice & snow in the winter? End-over-end? "walking" like the Easter Islan Moas? It would be great to know, but a part of me hopes it remains a mystery!

[@liamredmill9134]

You rock with this geo subject,fascinating and well researched and put together

[@MegalithHunter]

Thanks 😀

[@marko-1987]

Rudston in York is a strange one too.

[@alexandertolano9666]

Stonehenge appears to have been on an Auroch migration route and its builders would perhaps have been able to use the enormous bovines to drag large stones over huge distances.

[@californianorma876]

Still, there would be...rock dust. Some Trace of movement. Tracks. Etc.

[@henryporter6659]

I would think dragging them along an iced track on a sledge would make the job easier than many would think.

[@Amenogoogle]

❤

[@sunnydavidson297]

Legend says that Merlin brought them. Is there evidence there was glacial ice in the S tonehenge area?

[@willhemmings]

In response to your assessment of glacial ice being the prime mover of the 'bluestones' onto Salisbury Plain as a source for the inner Stonehenge circle and horseshoe, I quote Isobel Geddes, Hidden Depths, Wiltshire's Geology and Landscapes - 'In Wiltshire, there is no evidence of glaciation'. As for the origin of stone 80, the Altar Stone, please, can somebody cut through the Gordian knot of speculation. Theories have abounded as to its origin - the Senni beds, the Cosheston beds sandstone (Cleal et al 1995), more recently somewhere around Abergavenny; and now you say Cumbria and possibly Orkney! I am not a geologist, but somebody must be able to connect that stone to something geological

[@jacquelinekirk5601]

A mile high ice sheet pushing along for half a million years. Salisbury Plain itself - the result of glacial action. Ever since I first visited it 25 years ago I have believed the stones were erratics dumped as the result of glacial activity. The human effort explanation always sounded so implausible me. The question for me was always why would they go to the enormous effort to quarry and transport them from Wales? The effort far outweighs the benefit even from a religious perspective.

[@dixgun]

🙏

[@antonyreyn]

Or were they just Giant Foxes Glacier Mints? Cheers from Mercia

[@MegalithHunter]

😂

[@californianorma876]

😂😂

[@jeffbartlett8565]

Interesting, far from an expert, one argument against is the original stonehendge was wood, another one that older cultures had build or made temples, calendars or whichever else in the south before moving north Malta, France, Spain then we get to the isles, as if another migration wave came in and saw what was there and be like lets intensify our shared beliefs and make it stone.

[@mattpotter8725]

I am not convinced it was glaciers and that the blue stones at Stonehenge were sourced from eratics for the reasons mentioned in the video, where are all the other blue stone eratics on Salisbury Plain, or anywhere else in Southern Britain that matter that could only have come from this part of Pembrokeshire? Of course I'm open to any theory being put out there and I'm happy to change my mind if evidence appears, but for me saying that there have been eratics but they got covered up or eroded away isn't evidence, is adding another theoretical occurrence to have happened so that concerns over your theory can be batted away. Maybe we'll never find out the truth, but I think it's a big phenomenal these days to just think our ancient ancestors couldn't have built this or did that (some suggesting unknown ancient advanced civilisations, not saying this is the case here) and I do find it a bit condescending. Maybe they could, maybe they couldn't have done this, but if the stones had to get from a to b and there's no evidence glaciers transporter lots of material from South Wales then I'm going with human ingenuity. It obviously meant a lot to people of the time to build Stonehenge and it seems the site had a great purpose so why not?

[@mirisquires9922]

Bones of big round house..

[@scottanderson3751]

Merlin (the magician) moved them with his wand ✌️

[@MegalithHunter]

😂

[@aidanmacdougall9250]

Not Welsh then!? 🤔

[@MegalithHunter]

Still Welsh. But just got there by themselves.

[@standingbear998]

well archaeologists put them there in 1958, that is what you see and think was what had been found. look it up there are photos of before and after as well as while it is being done. even a little poor video of the time. never talked about.

[@stuartlast8156]

It couldn't have anything to do with them lifting them by crane and setting them in concrete could it ? 😂

[@stephengent9974]

total BS . There is no way this is right. If it was there would be other material from the same place the blue stones came from. There isn't We know where these stones come from based on careful analysis. End of story.

[@declanmurphy6427]

Was Stonehenge built by the family of the Green Murphy's?