How much do we know about Stonehenge? Less than we think. And what has Stonehenge got to do with the Ice Age? More than we might think. This blog is mostly devoted to the problems of where the Stonehenge bluestones came from, and how they got from their source areas to the monument. Now and then I will muse on related Stonehenge topics which have an Ice Age dimension...
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Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Another geologist's view of the bluestone problem
There was a very interesting talk last evening from Sid Howells, who works as a geologist with Natural Resources Wales. It was in Moylgrove Village Hall, where Prof MPP and I have also held forth in past months -- and was on the topic of Geology and Scenery in NE Pembrokshire.
It was a wide-ranging and thoroughly entertaining talk with some excellent slides, and Sid was not afraid of entering the bluestone debate. He mentioned the rival theories (and the rival books!), and came down very strongly on the side of Occam's Razor, saying that as far as he is concerned we have to assume that the stones were transported by glacier ice for at least most of the way to Stonehenge, since that's the way the hard evidence on the ground points -- unless the archaeologists come up with some very powerful evidence to suggest otherwise.
It's good to see that there are other geologists around who tend to interpret features (including erratic occurrences) as probably natural phenomena, unless there is clear evidence relating to human involvement. And it's good to see that there are still earth scientists in Wales who trust their own professional judgment and who are not beholden in any way to the archaeological establishment or the media!
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