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Stonehenge

The bluestones traveled 250 km from Wales. And the altar stone, from Scotland. Why those particular stones?

Lieu: England · Europe
Civilisation: Néolithique britannique
Période: −3000 → −2000
Technique: Sarsens de 25 t, tenons et mortaises
Études: 1 000+ publications

appui réel, pas tranché. Photographie révisable de l’état des recherches, jamais un jugement.

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Les éléments du site

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Localisation

Où se trouve le site

51.180° N, 1.830° O · vue satellite

🔬 Science

Ce que dit la science

La provenance galloise des pierres bleues (collines de Preseli) est confirmée par géochimie.
L’axe solsticial est mesuré, pas supposé : lever au solstice d’été, coucher au solstice d’hiver.
Sépultures, crémations et dépôts font consensus sur une fonction cérémonielle et funéraire.
Les 50 sarsens principaux (~25 t, jusqu'à 7 m de haut) proviennent de West Woods, Wiltshire, à seulement ~25 km au nord : une source locale identifiée par géochimie PXRF (Nash et al., Science Advances 2020). Deux sarsens outliers ont une provenance différente, non encore identifiée.
La séquence de construction en 5 phases (Darvill, Marshall, Parker Pearson & Wainwright, Antiquity 2012) s'étend d'environ 3000 à 1500 av. J.-C. : Phase 1 = henge de terre et Aubrey Holes (~3000 BCE) ; Phase 2 = premières pierres bleues (~2600 BCE) ; Phase 3 = grande architecture sarsen (~2500 BCE) ; Phases 4-5 = réarrangements des bluestones (~2200–1500 BCE).
63 individus incinérés ont été identifiés dans les Aubrey Holes, enterrés sur ~500 ans (~3000–2500 av. J.-C.). Au moins 10 sur 25 individus analysés étaient d'origine non locale ; 4 parmi les premiers enterrés sont géochimiquement compatibles avec une origine dans l'ouest du Pays de Galles (Snoeck et al., Scientific Reports 2018).

🜂 Mystère

Ce qui reste inexpliqué

thèmes & techniques

Relié à

NéolithiqueArchéoastronomieTransport mégalithiqueEurope atlantique

chaque ligne est vérifiable

Études & sources

ConsensusBevins R.E., Ixer R.A. & Pearce N.J.G. — «Carn Goedog is the likely major source of Stonehenge doleritic bluestones: Evidence based on compatible element geochemistry and Principal Component Analysis» — Journal of Archaeological Science 42 (2014), pp. 179–193↗ConsensusParker Pearson M., Pollard J., Richards C., Welham K. et al. — «Megalith quarries for Stonehenge's bluestones» — Antiquity 93/367 (2019), pp. 45–62↗Peer-reviewBevins R.E., Pearce N.J.G. & Ixer R.A. — «Revisiting the provenance of the Stonehenge bluestones: Refining the provenance of the Group 2 non-spotted dolerites using rare earth element geochemistry» — Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 38 (2021), 103083↗Peer-reviewBevins R.E., Pearce N.J.G., Parker Pearson M. & Ixer R.A. — «Identification of the source of dolerites used at the Waun Mawn stone circle in the Mynydd Preseli, west Wales and its implications for the proposed link with Stonehenge» — Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 45 (2022), 103556↗ConsensusNash D.J., Ciborowski T.J.R., Ullyott J.S., Parker Pearson M., Darvill T., Greaney S., Maniatis G. & Whitaker K.A. — «Origins of the sarsen megaliths at Stonehenge» — Science Advances 6/31 (2020): eabc0133↗

Voir les 21 autres sources

ConsensusClarke A.J.I., Kirkland C.L., Bevins R.E., Pearce N.J.G., Glorie S. & Ixer R.A. — «A Scottish provenance for the Altar Stone of Stonehenge» — Nature 632/8025 (2024), pp. 570–575↗Peer-reviewBevins R.E., Pearce N.J.G., Hillier S., Pirrie D., Ixer R.A. et al. — «Was the Stonehenge Altar Stone from Orkney? Investigating the mineralogy and geochemistry of Orcadian Old Red sandstones and Neolithic circle monuments» — Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 58 (2024), 104738↗Peer-reviewParker Pearson M., Bevins R., Bradley R., Ixer R., Pearce N. & Richards C. — «Stonehenge and its Altar Stone: the significance of distant stone sources» — Archaeology International 27/1 (2025), pp. 113–137↗Peer-reviewClarke A.J.I. et al. (Curtin University) — «From Highlands to Henge: Refining the Provenance and Transport Pathways of Stonehenge's Altar Stone» — Journal of Quaternary Science (2026)↗Peer-reviewParker Pearson M., Bevins R., Ixer R. et al. — «Reconstructing extraction techniques at Stonehenge's bluestone megalith quarries» — Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 46 (2022), 103697↗Peer-reviewBevins R.E., Pearce N.J.G., Ixer R.A., Scourse J., Daw T., Parker Pearson M. et al. — «The enigmatic 'Newall boulder' excavated at Stonehenge in 1924: new data and correcting the record» — Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 66 (2025), 105303↗Peer-reviewBevins R.E., Ixer R.A., Pearce N.G., Scourse J. & Daw T. — «Lithological description and provenancing of a collection of bluestones from excavations at Stonehenge by William Hawley in 1924 with implications for the human versus ice transport debate» — Geoarchaeology 38 (2023), pp. 771–785↗AlternatifJohn B. — «A bluestone boulder at Stonehenge: implications for the glacial transport theory» — E&G Quaternary Science Journal 73 (2024), pp. 117–126 [position minoritaire, contestée par Bevins et al. 2025]↗ConsensusDarvill T., Marshall P., Parker Pearson M. & Wainwright G. — «Stonehenge remodelled» — Antiquity 86/334 (2012), pp. 1021–1040↗Peer-reviewDarvill T. & Wainwright G. — «Stonehenge excavations 2008» — The Antiquaries Journal 89 (2009), pp. 1–19↗ConsensusParker Pearson M., Chamberlain A., Jay M., Marshall P., Pollard J., Richards C., Thomas J., Tilley C. & Welham K. — «Who was buried at Stonehenge?» — Antiquity 83/319 (2009), pp. 23–39↗ConsensusWillis C., Marshall P., McKinley J., Pitts M., Pollard J., Richards C., Richards J., Thomas J., Waldron T., Welham K. & Parker Pearson M. — «The dead of Stonehenge» — Antiquity 90/350 (2016), pp. 337–356↗ConsensusSnoeck C., Pouncett J., Claeys P., Goderis S., Mattielli N., Parker Pearson M., Willis C., Zazzo A., Lee-Thorp J.A. & Schulting R.J. — «Strontium isotope analysis on cremated human remains from Stonehenge support links with west Wales» — Scientific Reports 8 (2018), 10790↗ConsensusRuggles C.L.N. — «Astronomy and Stonehenge» — in Cunliffe B. & Renfrew C. (éds), Science and Stonehenge, Proceedings of the British Academy 92 (1997), pp. 203–229. Oxford University Press↗AlternatifDarvill T. — «Keeping time at Stonehenge» — Antiquity 96/386 (2022), pp. 319–335↗AlternatifMagli G. & Belmonte J.A. — «Archaeoastronomy and the alleged 'Stonehenge calendar'» — Antiquity 97/393 (2023) [réfutation de Darvill 2022]↗Peer-reviewParker Pearson M., Pollard J., Richards C. et al. — «The original Stonehenge? A dismantled stone circle in the Preseli Hills of west Wales» — Antiquity 95/379 (2021), pp. 85–103↗ConsensusParker Pearson M. (2012). Stonehenge: Exploring the Greatest Stone Age Mystery. Simon & Schuster↗ConsensusCleal R.M.J., Walker K.E. & Montague R. (1995). Stonehenge in its Landscape: Twentieth-Century Excavations. English Heritage Archaeological Report 10, London↗ConsensusHistoric England — Astronomical research at Stonehenge (axe solsticial)↗Peer-reviewOlalde I. et al. (2018). « The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest Europe ». Nature 555 (7695) : 190-196.↗

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