Quarrying of Stonehenge 'bluestones' dated to 3000 BC

EurekAlert! ^ | February 19, 2019 | Natasha Downes, University College London

[SunkenCiv]

Geologists have long known that 42 of Stonehenge's smaller stones, known as 'bluestones', came from the Preseli hills in Pembrokeshire, west Wales. Now a new study published in Antiquity pinpoints the exact locations of two of these quarries and reveals when and how the stones were quarried... Professor Mike Parker Pearson (UCL Archaeology) and leader of the team, said: "What's really exciting about these discoveries is that they take us a step closer to unlocking Stonehenge's greatest mystery - why its stones came from so far away. Every other Neolithic monument in Europe was built of megaliths brought from no more than 10 miles away. We're now looking to find out just what was so special about the Preseli hills 5,000 years ago, and whether there were any important stone circles here, built before the bluestones were moved to Stonehenge." The largest quarry was found almost 180 miles away from Stonehenge on the outcrop of Carn Goedog, on the north slope of the Preseli hills... In the valley below Carn Goedog, another outcrop at Craig Rhos-y-felin was identified by Dr Bevins and fellow geologist Dr Rob Ixer (UCL Archaeology) as the source of one of the types of rhyolite - another type of igneous rock - found at Stonehenge... The team now thinks that Stonehenge was initially a circle of rough, unworked bluestone pillars set in pits known as the Aubrey Holes, near Stonehenge, and that the sarsens (sandstone blocks) were added some 500 years later.

[SunkenCiv]

This is the Stonehenge quarry. Credit: UCL

[SunkenCiv]

• Stonehenge: First residents from west Wales
• Famed British Geologist Was Spectacularly Wrong About Stonehenge
• Stonehenge builders used Pythagoras' theorem 2,000 years before Greek philosopher was born, experts
• Archaeologists may have found architects' camp for Stonehenge

[MtnClimber]

The start of excessive energy use and the beginning of global warming?

[wetgundog]

Because the Alien terrestrials levitated them in place after laser cutting them in the quarry. That’s how.

[SunkenCiv]

The bluestones took a lot of work, and despite the color in the name, Demwits had nothin' to do with it...

[Larry Lucido]

[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

It's been a hard day's night, and Neolithic man was workin' like a dog.

[DoodleBob]

[Teacher317]

So why move them 180 mi instead of 10 or less?

[Songcraft]

There was quite a bit of danger involved in that stone quarrying, and the quarriers had to always keep alert for possible challenges, such as avalanches, and rolling stones, and so forth.

Here is a song that discusses that air of danger surrounding their rock endeavors.

       "In Spite Of All The Danger" - The Quarrymen

[BenLurkin]

Amazing.

[cpdiii]

“So why move them 180 mi instead of 10 or less?”

Only three logical answers:

1. The dude in charge liked the blue stones 180 miles away.
2. The blue stones had some religious significance.
3. The natural fracture pattern on the blue stones made it easier to quarry and transport verses using local stone. It is not easy to quarry bedrock and make monoliths. The area of the blue stones were erect and fractured making the quarrying much easier.

[catnipman]

“Because the Alien terrestrials levitated them in place after laser cutting them in the quarry.”

and deliberately camouflaged the laser cuts with fake tool marks so one would know aliens really did it ...

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Those aliens were good, weren’t they?

[PIF]

That may be a quarry but it also looks like a natural defensive position - a high point overlooking the surrounding country side.