The original Stonehenge? A dismantled stone circle in the Preseli Hills of west Wales

Abstract

Abstract

Portable XRF investigation of Stonehenge Stone 62 and potential source dolerite outcrops in the Mynydd Preseli, west Wales

“…Finally, the importance of establishing a source for bluestone Stone 62 lies in a link proposed by Parker Pearson et al (2021) between that stone and an ancient monument at Waun Mawn in the Mynydd Preseli (see Figure 1). Waun Mawn is thought to be a stone circle analyses, for most elements, further analyses make little difference to the running average, and after 16 analyses, the running average does not vary more than +/-5% from the overall average for all elements, indicating that the analyses are representative even in such heterogeneous, coarse-grained materials.…”

“…Over the last ten years or so, detailed petrological and geochemical investigations in the Mynydd Preseli and adjacent areas by Bevins (2010, 2011) and Bevins et al (2011Bevins et al ( , 2012Bevins et al ( , 2014 have led to the identification of two probable Neolithic quarry sites, at Craig Rhos-y-Felin (Parker Pearson et al, 2015) and Carn Goedog (Parker Pearson et al, 2019), whilst most recently Parker Pearson et al (2021) proposed transport of a megalith (Stonehenge Stone 62) from a stone circle at Waun Mawn, in the Mynydd Preseli, to Stonehenge at the earliest phase of its construction. Continued application of modern analytical techniques to geochemically characterize the Stonehenge bluestones offers the potential for further refinement of their sources.…”

Beyond the bluestones: links between distant monuments in Late Neolithic Britain and Ireland

“…Another possibility is that architectural connections between different regions celebrated alliances formed between distant communities. Mike Parker Pearson and his colleagues raise a similar possibility (2021: 100).…”

“…These issues regarding changing patterns of movement and regional connections are particularly relevant to a discussion in this journal of the relationship between Stonehenge in Wessex and a recently investigated monument at Waun Mawn in south-west Wales (Parker Pearson et al . 2021, 2022; Darvill 2022). The discussion raises some important questions.…”

Road Salt Damage to Historical Milestones Indicates Adaptation of Winter Roads to Future Climate Change May Damage Arctic Cultural Heritage

“…Many historical phenomena do not exist in sufficiently large numbers within a given geographical or climatic region for large statistical analyses to be possible. There is, for example, only one Stonehenge [22] and the earliest presence of humans in Northern Europe was represented by a single set of footprints now lost to rising sea levels [23]. These examples are the basis for a considerable part of our understanding of European prehistory.…”