“This led them to conclude that they must have been associated with ancient water cults and rituals that celebrated water as a life-sustaining force. Frequently clustered at high altitudes, specifically at either 6,200 or 8,800 feet above sea level, the monoliths were likely placed symbolically near sources of the snowmelt that provided water for agricultural communities in the valleys below. In the past, it had been difficult to determine exactly how old these monuments were, but new radiocarbon dating ...”
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led them to conclude ... they must have been associated ... were likely placed ... symbolically ... radiocarbon dating
Stone is dated with optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) - very expensive, but far better that radiocarbon dating which only dates carbon, leading to massive assumptions that are usually proven wrong later.
They still have no idea when or why the stones where made and placed there - but they are now eligible for more grant money having “solved” a major problem. Archeology and many scientific disciplines are riddled with this sort of thinking - fitting some facts into a per-existing theory and ignoring all others to look great and get ahead of other people in the discipline.
I’m just glad their approach is riddled with thinking, and that someone is studying this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surface_exposure_dating
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermoluminescence_dating
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optically_stimulated_luminescence