On December 7th 2015, a team of British archaeologists announced that they had solved the mystery of the Stonehenge Bluestones. The team, working out of the University of Central London, said that they had found evidence of quarrying for Neolithic stones at two site in Wales. The new excavations pinpoint the location in the Preseli Hills in what is today's Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. It is believed that the stones were transported 140 miles to their present location.
Scientists estimate that Stonehenge dates back to about 4,500 year ago, and believe that the Bluestones were quarried some 500 years before building began. Of an estimated 80 Bluestones, 43 have survived to form the inner horseshoe at the Stonehenge site. The archaeologists have determined when and how the stones were quarried, by examining and dating artifacts that were found there.
Mike Parker Pearson, director of the project, and a professor at the University of Central London says, "While we knew the locations where the rocks originated, the really exciting thing was to find the actual quarries." So far the archaeologists have discovered stone tools, dirt ramps and platforms, burnt charcoal and chestnuts, and an ancient sunken road believed to have been an exit route. Carbon dating has place the age of the burnt charcoal and chestnuts at between 5,400 and 5,200 years ago.
Previous researchers have suggested that the Bluestones were taken southward from the Preseli Hills to Milford Haven, and floated on boats or rafts. Professor Parker Pearson believes that the stones may have been taken either by sea around St David's Head or over land through the valleys, using teams of people or oxen. Professor Parker Pearson and his team also believe that Stonehenge was erected around 2,900 BC.
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