It’s a pretty major achievement to discover the location of the millennia-old quarry down to a few metres, but this also throws up some new mysteries. The rhyolitic rocks differ from all others in South Wales. The presumption is that they were chosen for a specific reason. How were they identified and why? There has been some interesting work done elsewhere into the acoustic qualities of particular stones at prehistoric sites. Is this important?
And this discovery has also kicked a hole in theories of how the stones were transplanted to Salisbury Plain. A consensus was growing that they were floated on rafts along the coast, but the exact location’s inaccessibility to water makes this unlikely. The old geologic theory – that the stones were pushed by advancing glaciers from Wales to Wiltshire during the ice age – is pretty flimsy as there aren’t any other Welsh rocks scattered around the Plain.
Hey Mark how’s it going, thanks for that – I hadn’t heard. This certainly changes things. Have you read about any other theories which you think are more plausible? (like they used peanut butter and marmite to lubricate the rocks and had giant pieces of toast acting as sleights etc?)
A chance tactile discovery many many years ago that the alternant menhiers were smooth and the alternant were rough leads to the pyhsical conclusion that the smoothness was,is creation of activity that has left a lasting pattern.Does’nt specify which stones are alternate in the pattern.
Experimental sound has also been appllied to Stone hengeDepends on the instraments of sound what evidence is exemplified within and beyond. Interesting engagements with sound and language at Cresswell crags by the partner of Glennie Kindred,Auther, a few years ago
Interesting – didn’t know about the smooth/rough arrangement. I’ve come across Glennie’s work, but I haven’t read anything about the Cresswell Crags experiment.