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The Altar Stone is traced to north-east Scotland

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Clarke, Kirkland and colleagues report in Nature that the recumbent Altar Stone at Stonehenge is not Welsh sandstone as long assumed but matches Old Red Sandstone of the Orcadian Basin in north-east Scotland, implying transport of a six-tonne block over several hundred kilometres. It changes the geography of the monument's supply network, and it changes it after two centuries of confident attribution to Wales.

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Assembled narrative · 1

Assembled from 14 blocks · 1 evidence · 18 related

  1. Story
  2. Clarke, Kirkland and colleagues report in Nature that the recumbent Altar Stone at Stonehenge is not Welsh sandstone as long assumed but matches Old Red Sandstone of the Orcadian Basin in north-east Scotland, implying transport of a six-tonne block over several hundred kilometres. It changes the geography of the monument's supply network, and it changes it after two centuries of confident attribution to Wales.
  3. Knowledge
  4. Stonehenge
  5. The Altar Stone is traced to north-east Scotland
  6. Connections
  7. Stonehenge
  8. World Heritage Committee
  9. Megalithic post-and-lintel construction
  10. The sarsen circle and trilithons are raised at Stonehenge
  11. The Stonehenge sarsens are traced to West Woods
  12. The Altar Stone is traced to north-east Scotland
  13. Evidence
  14. Detrital mineral age and chemistry indicate that the Altar Stone derives from Old Red Sandstone of the Orcadian Basin in north-east Scotland rather than from Wales, implying long-distance transport of a block of roughly six tonnes. V55 verification basis: the paper is real and its result widely reported; it was not retrieved in this session and the volume and page range should be confirmed.
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Observed changes · 0

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/atlas?object=EVT_ALTAR_STONE_SCOTLAND_2024&experience=EVT_ALTAR_STONE_SCOTLAND_2024