Peter Kokelaar's latest blog update

 

Some of the Scottish erratics found in the Gower raised beaches by Peter Kokelaar, with acknowledgement to his latest blog post.  The pebbles are identified in the caption to Fig 7.

In his latest blog update Prof Peter Kokelaar concentrates on the Scottish erratics found in Gower exposures of the Ipswichian raised beach and on the debate about the source of the Altar Stone.  He also makes a new contribution to the discussion about zircons and the work of Clarke and Kirkland.  He does not mince his words, and his vocabulary is refreshingly colourful...........

https://kokelaargower.com/stonehenge/

He is particularly scathing about the human transport hypothesis with regard to the Stonehenge bluestones. He refers to "serious subjectivity" and "media hype", and to the degrading of public trust in so-called experts.  He agrees with my point that some of the extreme components or "fantastic claims" in the MPP bluestone narrative are now effectively debunked.

Quote: 

"There has been a strong tendency amongst supporters of human transport to interpret all exotic rock fragments (not all of monolith stone types) as reflecting ‘dressing’ and accidental distribution by human hands, and thus to refer to them as ‘debitage’. This might be justified for monolith rock types in the vicinity of the monuments, but the interpretation potentially involves circular reasoning. As carefully detailed by Thorpe et al. (Table 2, 1991), there are bluestone and other rock fragments widely scattered, e.g., 30 km north around Avebury and 3 km south near Lake. Together with pieces of known erratic types in Barrow Amesbury 39 (a burial site), which pre-dates erection of the large stones of Stonehenge, these all together suggest a natural distribution and render associated claims of human scattering as special pleading. "
 

Quote:

"If the stones were glacially delivered, it would explain why experts on Stonehenge archaeology have commented that the site was never fully completed although repeatedly restructured (Late Neolithic ca. 2950 BC to Early Bronze Age ca. 2,100 BC; Parker Pearson 2023). Based on the irregular gaps (Fig. 1) and the use of rather unremarkable and mixed types of small and rounded stones, it has been inferred that the source of substantial dolerite bluestone megaliths must have been “used up”, so that a full pattern of pillars was never completed. There are 43 stones known today; filling the gaps hypothetically yields 80."

Quite so.

In his discussion of the Clarke and Kirkland Salisbury Plain zircon paper Prof Kokelaar does not mince his words.  He accuses them of using the straw man technique in their discussion, and of quite inadequate sampling.  And he says that their dismissial of the glacial transport hypothesis is "absolute nonsense".  On the Boles Barrow bluestone:  "........the range of convoluted and contradictory claims made through time, not helped by the boulder being collected and moved more than once and also the suggestion that it was stolen from Stonehenge for a garden ornament (subsequently refuted), is astonishing and mind-numbing."

There is aninteresting discussion on the zircon work in western Scotland and elsewhere, and again it is argued that the work of Clarke and Kirkland is inadequate and unreliable.

Returning to the arguments of MPP and his colleagues, Peter says:  "The supposed bluestone quarries and previous-monument sources have been disproved and the bizarre embellishment concerning the transport by cattle similarly is unwarranted. The Altar Stone transport from Scotland most sensibly also did not involve humans either."

This is Peter's view of the BBC 2021 Lost Circle "information disaster":  There are hundreds of perfectly natural outcrops of jointed dolerite like this (ie Carn Goedog) dotted throughout upland Britain, some quite nearby too, and of course also abroad. Surely many thousands of years of freeze-thaw mechanical break-up cannot be overlooked? From this nonsense, ignoring simple natural processes and geology and by implication suggesting ancient quarry sites all over the country, there apparently can have been no scientific-editorial oversight and advice for the archaeologist(s). Gross mis-pleading like this, on a television channel that prides itself in distinguishing the truth, surely undermines simple enquiry and learning, undermines the credibility of actual experts, and, given the n-fold repetition of the BBC programme, is effectively misleading a host of people. Thankfully numerous sensible people have taken issue with the programme and the ‘quarries’ have been debunked and abandoned amongst aficionados, although the BBC continues the promotion. Also thankfully, most of the ground excavation has been restored to nature.

And then: 

" The nonsense carried on. After the Altar Stone saga in 2024, in 2025, just this last year, there came another remarkable gem of mis-information. British Geological Survey Press (20/8/2025): “Scientists uncover secrets of Stonehenge’s mysterious cattle” and next day BBC News: “New analysis of a Neolithic cow’s tooth found at Stonehenge shows the animal likely came from Wales, reinforcing theories that cattle helped transport the enormous stones”. And “You can tell that the animal had been grazing on Palaeozoic rock, typical of those found in Wales, particularly in and around where bluestones are found… We’re beginning to see so many connections between Wales and Stonehenge. Not only is it the closest rock, but there are other links as well.” The italics are mine; nothing supports these contentions, which are false and are sheer hype. "

"The claim that the cow-tooth findings add to confirmation of the “theory” that cattle were involved in transport of the megaliths is udderly ridiculous. Apart from confusing theory and hypothesis in this media hype, the unjustified claims were disturbing as they came from the Press Office of the British Geological Survey. No sane geologist would support them. Actually, the original scientific report of the cow-tooth findings, in contrast to the hype, was quite reserved, acknowledging limitations to interpretations that should be borne in mind. What is it then, really, that causes decent science to be so compromised in the media? There certainly is cavalier ignorance on the part of media producers, whose driver seems to be promotion of viewing figures or sales… Honesty about the issues might have been more interesting and more stimulating of genuine interest… Some of the media nonsense is arrogant and insulting."

It's gratifying that  senior geoloist like Peter is now going on the record and making points that are very similar to mine, going back over the years..........  I know that other geologists will shortly be following suit.  Truth will out...........

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