The fantasy of the Pembrokeshire cow

The sacred cow -- was she called Myfanwy, or Buttercup?

I have been reading this notorious article even more carefully in he hope of finding some clue as to the origin of the "Pembrokeshire cow."  I am stumped, because I can find nothing at all to support the assertions made in the BGS press release:

https://www.bgs.ac.uk/news/scientists-uncover-secrets-of-stonehenges-mysterious-cattle/
BGS news
Scientists uncover secrets of Stonehenge’s mysterious cattle
Cutting-edge analysis of a Neolithic cow tooth dating back to the construction of the famous landmark provides evidence of Welsh origins.
20/08/2025 By BGS Press

This is the offending article by Evans et al (2025)

Sequential multi-isotope sampling through a Bos taurus tooth from Stonehenge, to assess comparative sources and incorporation times of strontium and lead

Journal of Archaeological Science 180 (2025) 106269
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440325001189?via%3Dihub

The strontium isotope evidence is supposedly most reliable in demonstrating the geographical location of an animal's initial grazing area.  However, the results in this study are not easy to interpret.  Quote:

Using the isotope biosphere map (Evans et al., 2022a), the theoretical higher winter value of 0.7144 excludes most of SE England and southern Scotland. The lower summer theoretical value of 0.7110 has a similar, but higher, spatial coverage to the sample regions at the winter value (i.e. excluding most of SE England). These distributions are based on using the central 90 % model option recommended for herbivores (Evans et al., 2022a) (Fig. 4).

So the most that can be said is that the work excludes most of SE England as the animal's "source area."  There are vast areas in the west and north of Great Britain, and in the Midlands, that by their own admission cannot be excluded by the authors of the paper........

Regarding the tooth in the jawbone of the said cow, its provenance is also said to be shown in the measurements of the lead isotopes.

Quotes:

A discussion of this pattern (ie the variations seen in various slices or samples) is provided below and undertaken in the knowledge that the interpretation of Pb isotope data in fauna, through reference to geological ore data, is a substantial interpretative step. 

This model requires a disconnect between the geological sources of Sr and Pb such that the Sr can be modelled as a two-end member transition down the tooth whereas the Pb source switches twice between Mesozoic and Palaeozoic sources without disrupting the Sr curve. While this model is not discarded it is difficult to model geologically (i.e. it is difficult to identify source zones that could explain this pattern). 3) The disconnect could be caused by the release of previously deposited Pb due to physiological stress.

So this all hinges on the difference between the signatures of Mesozoic and Palaeozoic sources, shown in the following map of "isoscapes":

Broadly, the dark brown area consists mostly of Mesozoic and later rocks while the lighter brown area -- for example in Wales and southern Scotland -- coincides with Palaeozoic rocks to the south of the Iapetus Suture.

The problem with the 8 lead isotope readings for the cow's tooth is that 4 of them fall within the Palaeozoic range and 4 are within the Mesozoic range:

So I can see why the authors are puzzled by the "switching" from one apparent provenance to another. As they say, something else is going on here, unrelated to geographical location.  But then it gets even more bizarre, when we look at this strange diagram.  

The diagram shows that none of the lead isotope readings falls within the data range for Wales. On the other hand there is a reasonable matching for samples from the Pennines, Mendips and SW England. 

More specifically,  the μ values for Wales are shown in a different position on the graph in Fig. 6, and they do not align directly with the enamel slice data points. This suggests that the Welsh Pb ore field may not be the source of the skeletal lead after all. ​ The enamel slice data points appear to align more closely with the μ and T values associated with English Pb ore fields, rather than Welsh ones. ​ This discrepancy highlights the complexity of interpreting Pb isotope data and the need for caution in drawing definitive geographic connections.

And yet, having shown that there is NOT a good match for Wales, the authors (not in the article but in the press release) go on to state that the famous cow has probably come from SW Wales.  So they are promoting a narrative that they themselves have effectively already dismissed........

As far as I can see, the ONLY reason for claiming that the cattle tooth came from an animal raised in SW Wales is that that is where most of the bluestones originated.  Hmmm......

Parker Pearson refers to "yet more fascinating evidence for Stonehenge’s link with south-west Wales, where its bluestones come from".  Evans refers to "the first evidence of cattle movement from Wales" amd Madgwick talks of "unparalleled new detail on the distant origins of the animal and the arduous journey it was brought on". 

We are repeatedly told that we must follow the science.  If this is science, God help us all.