A group of geologists spent countless hours in the Scottish hills, battered by harsh winds, trying to determine the origin of one of Stonehenge’s most mysterious elements. According to them, the results of the analyses suggest that the stone may have been brought from other parts of Scotland, northern England, or even Ireland, reports UNN, citing The Guardian.
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As noted in a new scientific report, the origin of Stonehenge’s "Altar Stone" remains unknown, and the researchers themselves may have been looking in entirely the wrong place.
One scientist called the story of the stone’s origin a "mystery," while another described it as a "geological detective story" that still has no clear resolution.
The situation changed in 2024, when specialists from universities in London, Wales, and Australia examined sandstone grains taken from the Altar Stone. They hypothesized that the stone came from northeastern Scotland — an area located more than 400 miles (about 640 km) from Stonehenge.
One team member called the discovery "stunning." It sparked debate about exactly how the six-ton stone could have been transported to its destination — by sledge or perhaps by sea? — as well as about what close long-distance connections may have existed between people of the Neolithic era.
Additional experts from Canada, Italy, Sweden, and Scotland were brought into the research. They studied the composition of the stone slab in detail, including conducting a non-destructive analysis of the stone itself at its current location, and also examined eight fragments kept in museums.
Armed with the data they had obtained, the researchers traveled to northeastern Scotland, hoping to find an exact match with the local rocks and thereby determine the origin of the Altar Stone precisely.
Nick Pearce, emeritus professor of geochemistry in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences at Aberystwyth University, compared the search for the origin of the Altar Stone to looking for a needle in a haystack.
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"The problem is that this is a huge area — thousands of square kilometers. The only way to find anything out is to go there and find samples," he said. "Everything needs to be planned carefully. One of my colleagues was there recently and got caught in a storm — and those are certainly not the best conditions for geological fieldwork. We collected about 70 samples, brought them back to the laboratories, and examined them."
The research findings indicate that it is unlikely that the Altar Stone came from northeastern Scotland.
Pearce said he was not upset that the mystery had still not been solved. "We are getting closer to solving it. In a geological detective story like this, ruling out likely sources is no less important than identifying new ones. Each location eliminated narrows the search and brings us closer to determining where this stone actually came from. I am not disappointed. It is part of the process."