"Distant Stone Sources" paper now published.......

The latest hypothesis is that the Stonehenge stones have come from all points of the compass, as indicated in this map.  The latest Altar Stone source area is shown as somewhere near Inverness.  Hmmm.....  As for the Irish evidence, watch this space.  As usual, too many hypotheses and not enough evidence.  Will they never learn?

This paper, which should have been published on 20 December 2024 but wasn't, has at last appeared -- weeks after the media feeding frenzy during which scores of gullible journalists apparently did not notice that there was a press release but no article that they could scrutinize.  I'm not sure when it actually appeared on the journal web site -- it is dated as 31 December, but I have my doubts about that.

Anyway, the article is just as preposterous as it was in draft form, as noted on my post of 20 December:

https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2024/12/the-stonehenge-narrative-becomes-even.html

I'm sure there will be a riposte from Scotland, and we await that with interest....

=======================

https://journals.uclpress.co.uk/ai/article/id/3293/

Stonehenge and its Altar Stone: the significance of distant stone sources

Abstract

Geological research reveals that Stonehenge’s stones come from sources beyond Salisbury Plain, as recently demonstrated by the Altar Stone’s origins in northern Scotland more than 700 km away. Even Stonehenge’s huge sarsen stones come from 24 km to the north, while the bluestones can be sourced to the region of the Preseli Hills some 225 km away in west Wales. The six-tonne Altar Stone is of Old Red Sandstone from the Orcadian Basin, an area that extends from the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland to Inverness and eastwards to Banff, Turriff and Rhynie. Its geochemical composition does not match that of rocks in the Northern Isles, so it can be identified as coming from the Scottish mainland. Its position at Stonehenge as a recumbent stone within the southwest arc of the monument, at the foot of the two tallest uprights of the Great Trilithon, recalls the plans of recumbent stone circles of north-east Scotland. Unusually strong similarities in house floor layouts between Late Neolithic houses in Orkney and the Durrington Walls settlement near Stonehenge also provide evidence of close connections between Salisbury Plain and northern Scotland. Such connections may be best explained through Stonehenge’s construction as a monument of island-wide unification, embodied in part through the distant and diverse origins of its stones.


Parker Pearson, M., Bevins, R., Bradley, R., Ixer, R., Pearce, N. & Richards, C., (2024) “Stonehenge and its Altar Stone: the significance of distant stone sources”, Archaeology International 27(1), 113–137. doi: https://doi.org/10.14324/AI.27.1.13

The sealing of the bluestone quarry exits: another five-star fantasy

 

The dig site at Carn Goedog.  The three labelled features are inventions -- as is obvious to anybody who inspects the site.

One of the more extraordinary claims made by MPP and his colleagues is that the so-called "bluestone quarries" at Craig Rhosyfelin and Carn Goedog were used on an industrial scale for the production of bluestone monoliths intended for Stonehenge.  Rhosyfelin was, of course, famously described as "the Pompeii of Neolithic quarries", and for some years the pretence was maintained that scores of monoliths or orthostats were taken from these sites and transported to Stonehenge.  That fantasy had to be abandoned when it was accepted that there is not a single orthostat at Stonehenge that is proved to have come from Rhosyfelin, and that only four or five of the spotted dolerite monoliths at Stonehenge might have come from the Carn Goedog area.  The quarrying story always was absurd, of course -- as pointed out by Dyfed Elis-Gruffydd, John Downes and me in 2015.  The range of rock types in the "bluestone assemblage" at Stonehenge is so great that they cannot possibly all have come from bluestone quarrying sites.

Then came the "lost circle" diversion centred on Waun Mawn, with more wild claims initially made and subsequently quietly forgotten.......

Then we have the latest idea, namely that Rhosyfelin and Carn Goedog were used for the extraction of just one or two very special or sacred stones that were intended as tribute stones to be taken to Stonehenge as part opf MPP's grand unification process.  The timing of that exercise is of course completely unsupported by radiocarbon and other dating exercises, but we'll let that pass.

One of the most egregious claims made by Parker Pearson in print and on the telly is that the two quarries were "sealed" by the deliberate placing of large boulders across the "export trackways", to prevent the removal of any further stones by other tribes or marauding stone-stealing groups.  There were no export trackways, of course, and if there were quarries the stones could have been removed to the right, or to the left, or to any number of other access points. In other words, there were no constrained or narrow "exits" that needed to be blocked.   The whole idea is proposterous and ludicrous.  More serious, however, is the invention of evidence. Parker Pearson claims, at both Carn Goedog and Rhosyfelin, to have identified boulders that were deliberately placed as obstacles.

This is the Carn Goedog claim:  An 11m long, 3m wide ditch  was dug to a depth of 0.4 m, with its upcast deposited on the side away from the outcrop.  The ditch was then filled with large stones, creating a permanent barrier across which no monolith could be transported.  

In reality, careful examination of the site reveals nothing more complex than an irregular ground surface and a scatter of slabs and blocks, with some smaller angular stones or rubble here and there. There is no sign that sediments have been purposefully moved from one location to another, and if any stones had actually been deliberately moved into place they could certainly have very easily been moved away again!

At Rhosyfelin, MPP claims, in the Channel Four documentary, that there was a similar blockage of the "export trackway" in the Neolithic, designed to stop any further exploitation of the quarrying site.  In the film he seems to suggest that the big stones in the image below were the obstacles.  But hang on a minute -- aren't these the very stones that were referred to, in the original research, as the remains of a revetment or quayside set up to facilitate the loading of monoliths onto rafts or sledges prior to export?

One five star fantasy replaced by another.  Well, that's what you get when evidence is invented....... it's all too easy to forget today what you claimed yesterday.  You just have to hope that you don't get rumbled.

Stones exposed at Rhosyfelin following the selective removal of sediment.  This site was originally called a revetment or quayside -- but now it is apparently a site to which large stones were moved in order to stop large stones being moved.  You couldn't make it up, could you?  Well actually, yes you could...........

Sherlock Bevins and the Quest for the Sacred Stone

Remember Indiana Pearson and the Quest for the Lost Circle?  Well, that glorious and heroic tale has faded away recently with the discovery that there never was a lost circle and that it was, after all, just a romantic fantasy.........

But the media cannot resist a heroic figure fighting against the odds to discover some peculiar version of the truth.  And bang on cue, with the broadcasting of the latest Stonehenge blockbuster ("Mysteries of Stonehenge", first broadcast last Sunday) along comes Sherlock Bevins, magnifying glass in hand, with furrowed brow, wandering amongst the rocky crags of Preseli, hunting for clues that will lead him to the source of the Sacred Stone.........

There has to be a distinguishing feature, of course, and in this case it is the ubiquitous Aussie bush hat!  No doubt the director wanted Richrd to wear it for "branding" purposes during filming, and Richard obliged.

I have to admit to being rather disappointed.  I had seen Richard as a responsible scientist who was prepared to hold back some of the wilder fantasies promoted by MPP and his team, and promote the virtues of sound science, responsibly used.  Not any longer.  He has been popping up all over the place in the media, not urging caution but acting as the chief apologist for the MPP narrative, a very handy scientist wheeled out to win the trust of the public and show the media how geochemistry and petrology can be used in the solving of difficult Stonehenge puzzles.  He has even gone on the record, in this latest TV extravaganza, as saying that on the provenancing of the Stonehenge bluestones (including the Altar Stone) his reputation is on the line...........

Anyway, he is now solidly on the record as one of the key creators of the quarrying / human transport narrative  -- and I was appalled by the manner in which -- in the latest Channel Four documnentary -- he threw caution to the winds and espoused the most extreme and fantastical elements of the MPP story.  The section on Rhosyfelin was quite extraordinary, in which he pretended that the quarrying of foliated rhyolites was an established truth and even implied that this was the key location from which most of the Stonehenge bluestones had been taken.  That, of course, is complete tosh -- there is not a single bluestone monolith at Stonehenge which is known to have come from Craig Rhosyfelin, and Richard knows that perfectly well.

And so archaeological science continues its inexorable slide...........

A Scottish erratic at Morvil?

I have been looking again at this report:

Burt, C., Aspden, J., Davies, J., Hall, M., Schofield, D., Sheppard, T., Waters, R., Wilby, P., Williams, M. (2012). Geology of the Fishguard district: a brief explanation of the geological map Sheet 210 Fishguard. British Geological Survey.

https://webapps.bgs.ac.uk/memoirs/docs/B06909.html
 

It's 13 years old now, but while much of the text is dated and rather confused there is some interesting material.  For example:  

In the Eastern Cleddau area, a small incised body of hummocky glacial deposits north of Alltypityll [SM 113 250], similar to materials found in the adjacent Newcastle Emlyn district, is also considered a remnant of an earlier ice advance (Wilby et al., 2007b). Benches and mounds of glaciofluvial deposits present in the upper part of the Eastern Cleddau catchment and glaciofluvial sheet deposits in both the Eastern Cleddau and Taf valleys may comprise the denuded remnants of formerly more extensive kame deposits and outwash sheets dating from this 'Penfro' glaciation.

Till deposits to the north of the Preseli Hills are overlain or replaced by heterogeneous glacial deposits comprising poorly sorted, clast-rich, matrix-supported gravel diamictons, thought to represent proglacial debris. A ridge of such hetregeneous debris immediately east of Llanerch [SN 058 355] may mark the terminal position of a small glacier in the upper reaches of the Gwaun valley.

In the present district, outwash sands and gravels, in the form of Devensian glaciofluvial sheet deposits, were deposited in front of the retreating ice margin (Plate 8). Extensive spreads in the Western Cleddau and the Anghof valley, for example at Stradland Farm [SM 995 265], were sourced from the western tongue of the Devensian ice-sheet. Erratic clasts, including gneissic rocks from northern Britain, for example at Morvil Farm [SN 037 307], Puncheston, confirm an Irish Sea provenance. In the north-east of the district ice-contact glacio-fluvial deposits were formed as accumulations of sand and gravel buttressed against the retreating ice. Degraded sand and gravel landforms of uncertain origin in this area are shown as undifferentiated glaciofluvial deposits. 

(Comment:  where is the Morvil erratic?  The grid ref suggests the roadside not far from the church.  Will check it out...........)

Postglacial sea levels continued to rise throughout the early Holocene, only establishing the modern coastline around 5000 years ago. Raised tidal flat deposits comprising organic-rich clays and silts found at Newport and impounded behind barrier storm beaches in a cove [SN 999 393] facing Fishguard Bay represent the earliest, now abandoned coastal zone deposits. They predate the modern beach, storm beach, tidal river and salt marsh deposits (Plate 8). Inland rivers have deposited extensive alluvial tracts including abandoned and incised river terrace deposits and the alluvium of the modern floodplains. Alluvial fan deposits have formed where tributary streams meet larger rivers. Thin peat and peaty soils are widespread in the upland reaches of the district, but thicker and mappable peat accumulations are confined to areas of impeded drainage and ponding as at Wauncledau [SN 163 320]. Lacustrine deposits have accumulated in enclosed hollows in glacial deposits, possibly former kettleholes, as to the north of Newport [SN 064 3999].

More sites to check out......

Bluestone Museum goes into storage

The Bluestone Museum at our house called Trefelin has gone into storage,  following the sale of the property a few days ago.  After 48 years at the same address, we came to the conclusion, some time ago, that it was too big for us to manage any longer -- and the family agreed.  Two dwelling units and 5 acres of land.  We had a firm offer which we accepted, back in September.  Since then, there has been endless correspondence with solicitors over the minutest of details.  You know the sort of thing.  So the last month or so has been chaos as we approached exchange of contracts and then completion.  Now we are out, and the new owners are in -- and we are in temporary accommodation for 3 months while we look for somewhere small and convenient, in Newport.  So it's a time of happy memories and high emotion...........

What will happen to my rocks and the rest of the display materials?  Who knows?  There is talk of a Newport Town Museum, and if that comes to fruition, maybe a corner will be found there for my disp-lay, which is unique in that it looks at all sides of the bluestone debate.

Large free stones

 

This is fun -- on Facebook Market Place.  Glacial erratics in Kilgetty, not far from Tenby?  Free to good home.  I might just try to find out how they got to where they are now.......... and what they are made of.......

I wonder if there was an equivalent system back in the Neolithic?  I can imagine a message put out on the bush telegraph from our ancient ancestors in Preseli:  "Assortment of rubbish stones that are getting in the way of our development plans.  Free to anybody who cares to just come over and get them......"