UMVA has uncovered details about the mysterious origins of Stonehenge, revealing that the massive Altar Stone was deliberately moved from northeast Scotland to Wiltshire by ancient humans.
The stone, weighing an estimated 6 tons, was transported hundreds of kilometers across a challenging and varied landscape, defying the harsh conditions of the last Ice Age. Researchers have concluded that glaciers could not have carried the stone into southern England, leaving human ingenuity as the only plausible explanation.
According to information obtained by UMVA, experts analyzed mineral grains from the Altar Stone and used ice sheet modeling to pinpoint its origins. Their findings suggest that the stone was moved in stages, potentially combining overland hauling with river or coastal transport, to reach its final destination around 2500 BC.
One possible route the stone took was across a vast ice sheet that stretched from Caithness in northeast Scotland to Dogger Bank in the North Sea. From there, Mesolithic people may have recovered the stone and transported it by boat, then over land and along the Berkshire Ridgway, a high ground route from the prehistoric era.
The logistics of moving the stone would have been daunting, requiring sophisticated planning, technological solutions, and durable long-distance social networks. Some estimates suggest that it would have taken as many as 500 men using leather ropes to pull the stone and an extra 100 to lay rollers in front of the sledge to transport it.
The study's findings imply that the society responsible for Stonehenge was capable of coordinating complex, large-scale acts of monument construction across extensive geographic ranges. The discovery of the Altar Stone's origins has shed new light on the ingenuity and determination of our ancient ancestors.
The planning and execution of such an endeavor would have been complex, and evidence of the marks any rollers might have left on the stone have yet to be unearthed. However, the fact that the stone was moved at all is a testament to the ingenuity and perseverance of the people who built Stonehenge.
