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Sunday 7 May 2017

Whatever happened to the Boles Barrow Bluestone?


This nice pic of the stone in Salisbury Museum (courtesy Tony H) is from my post of last August, and reminds us that everything has gone rather quiet on the matter of that particular lump of spotted dolerite.

Wasn't there supposed to be a new report on the stone, incorporating some petrology (Ixer and Bevins, I presume?) designed to identify whence it might have come, and the detailed laser scans of its shape and micro-morphology? 

I assume that the Museum was keen on this research, so as to make more of one of its prize exhibits........

Does anybody know anything about the status of this research?  Is there an article in the pipeline?

3 comments:

Myris of Alexandria said...

Read the literature!
The petrography and indeed some petrology has been done and a proposed origin suggested in Bevins et al.- the Carn Goedog paper a few years ago.
It is an ordinary dolerite bluestone from Stonehenge removed by some naughty antiquarian to make a garden ornament.
The pet rock boys had little to do with the new Boles Barrow dolerite work, other than to look at the new photos, there was nothing for them to do.
M

BRIAN JOHN said...

I have read it! No problem there -- I just thought there were rumours of new work.

Your assertion about in being a dolerite bluestone from Stonehenge is of course quite unreliable. Yet another example of an assertion unsupported by actual evidence.

Peter Dunn said...

Has anyone remarked on this before? The profile and size of the Boles Barrow stone is similar to that of the bluestone lintel 36 and that of one of the arc of 6 (stone) holes at West Amesbury (wait for arguement, but if they are not stone holes what are they?).