Stonehenge: Sarsen stones origin

mystery solved
 29 July 2020
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Image copyrightPAImage captionThe origin of the standing sarsens at Stonehenge had been
impossible to identify until now
The origin of the giant sarsen stones at Stonehenge has finally been discovered with the help of
a missing piece of the site which was returned after 60 years.

A test of the metre-long core was matched with a geochemical study of the standing megaliths.

Archaeologists pinpointed the source of the stones to an area 15 miles (25km) north of the site near
Marlborough.

English Heritage's Susan Greaney said the discovery was "a real thrill".

The seven-metre tall sarsens, which weigh about 20 tonnes, form all fifteen stones of Stonehenge's
central horseshoe, the uprights and lintels of the outer circle, as well as outlying stones.

The monument's smaller bluestones have been traced to the Preseli Hills in Wales, but the sarsens
had been impossible to identify until now.

The return of the core, which was removed during archaeological excavations in 1958, enabled
archaeologists to analyse its chemical composition.

No-one knew where it was until Robert Phillips, 89, who was involved in those works, decided to
return part of it last year.
Image copyrightHISTORIC ENGLANDImage captionThe stone samples were removed during
archaeological work in 1958

Researchers first carried out x-ray fluorescence testing of all the remaining sarsens at Stonehenge
which revealed most shared a similar chemistry and came from the same area.

They then analysed sarsen outcrops from Norfolk to Devon and compared their chemical
composition with the chemistry of a piece of the returned core.

English Heritage said the opportunity to do a destructive test on the core proved "decisive", as it
showed its composition matched the chemistry of sarsens at West Woods, just south of
Marlborough.

Prof David Nash from Brighton University, who led the study, said: "It has been really exciting to
harness 21st century science to understand the Neolithic past, and finally answer a question that
archaeologists have been debating for centuries.
 Image copyrightENGLISH HERITAGEImage captionArchaeologists analysed the composition of
the core to pinpoint where the ancient Sarsen stones came from

'Substantial stones'
"Each outcrop was found to have a different geochemical signature, but it was the chance to test the
returned core that enabled us to determine the source area for the Stonehenge sarsens."

Ms Greaney said: "To be able to pinpoint the area that Stonehenge's builders used to source their
materials around 2,500 BC is a real thrill.

"While we had our suspicions that Stonehenge's sarsens came from the Marlborough Downs, we
didn't know for sure, and with areas of sarsens across Wiltshire, the stones could have come from
anywhere.

"They wanted the biggest, most substantial stones they could find and it made sense to get them
from as nearby as possible."

Ms Greaney added the evidence highlights "just how carefully considered and deliberate the building
of this phase of Stonehenge was".

Related Topics
 Brighton

 Archaeology

 Stonehenge

 Marlborough
 Missing part of Stonehenge returned 60
years on
 8 May 2019
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Image copyrightHISTORIC ENGLANDImage captionThe stone samples were removed during

archaeological work in 1958

A missing piece of Stonehenge has been returned to the site 60 years after it was taken.

A metre-long core from inside the prehistoric stone was removed during archaeological excavations
in 1958.

No-one knew where it was until Robert Phillips, 89, who was involved in those works, decided to
return part of it.

English Heritage, which looks after Stonehenge, hopes the sample might now help establish where
the stones originally came from.

In 1958 archaeologists raised an entire fallen trilithon - a set of three large stones consisting of two
that would have stood upright, with the third placed horizontally across the top.
During the works, cracks were found in one of the vertical stones and in order to reinforce it, cores
were drilled through the stone and metal rods inserted.

The repairs were masked by small plugs cut from sarsen fragments found during excavations.

Image copyrightENGLISH HERITAGE

Image copyrightENGLISH HERITAGEImage captionArchaeologists hope to analyse the
composition of the core to pinpoint where the ancient Sarsen stones might have come from

For 60 years Mr Phillips, an Englishman who now lives in retirement in Florida, kept his piece of
Stonehenge - first in a plastic tube at his office in Basingstoke and later on the wall at home in the
US.

In the 1950s he had been employed by a diamond-cutting firm brought in to help reinforce the giant
stones.

Image copyrightFAMILY PHOTOImage captionRobert Phillips now lives in Aventura, to the north
of Miami, Florida

The company, Van Moppes, bored three holes into one stone before stabilising metal rods were
inserted.

During the process workers extracted three 1m-long (3ft) cores of stone and Mr Phillips took one of
them.

But on the eve of his 90th birthday, he decided to return it.

Image copyrightFAMILY PHOTOImage captionMr Phillips's sons Lewis and Robin travelled to
Stonehenge to hand the sample over

Archaeologists hope to analyse the chemical composition of the core to try to pinpoint where the
ancient Sarsen stones might have come from.

Although the sample was handed back last May, English Heritage said it had not announced the find
until now as it had to first understand its significance.

Historic England said the stone sample looks "incongruously pristine" alongside the "weathered"
stones currently standing at the monument.

The smaller bluestones at Stonehenge were brought to the site from the Preseli Hills is south west
Wales but the source of the larger Sarsen stones is unknown.

The discovery of part of the missing core now means a team will be able to analyse it in order to
"pinpoint their source".

Researchers have already used a spectrometer to look at the chemical composition of the stone.
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The whereabouts of the other two Stonehenge cores remains a mystery and English Heritage is
appealing for anyone with any information to contact them.

Heather Sebire from English Heritage said "the last thing we expected was to get a call from
someone in America saying they had part of Stonehenge".

"Studying the Stonehenge core's DNA could help tell us more about where those enormous Sarsen
stones originated," she added.

Prof David Nash from Brighton University, which is leading the study into the stone core, said it was
possible the Sarsen stones came from multiple locations.

"Conventional wisdom suggests they they all came from the relatively nearby Marlborough Downs,"
he said.
 "But initial results from our analysis suggest that in fact the Sarsens may come from more than one
location."

Related Topics
 History

 Amesbury

 Archaeology

 Stonehenge

 Basingstoke