Scientists Solve the Mystery of Stonehenge's Origin

Scientists have solved Stonehenge's mystery, finding the origin of most megalists who make up this popular monument in Wiltshire, England, thanks to an essential stone model that has been preserved in the United States for decades.

Geochemical research shows that 50 of the yellow bloc's 52 genomes, known as sarsen, stem 25 kilometers from the West Woods site near the Wiltshire Marlborough Downs area, researchers said on Wednesday.

The Sarsens were set up in Stonehenge about 2500 BC. The largest one is 9.1m high, and the largest one weighs 30 tons.

“sarzens form an inner circle of cult and a central megalitical structure (two vertical stones supporting a horizontal stone) in Stonehenge. They are large”, said Brighton University geomorphologist David Nash, who conducted the study published in Science Advances.

“How they moved to this country is a matter of speculation,” added Nash. “Considering the size of the rocks, they were pulled or transported by wheels to Stonehenge. We don't know the exact way, but now we have at least one starting point and ending”.

A path of smaller stones from Stonehenge led to Pembrokenshire in Wales 250 miles [250 km] away, but the origin of sarzens could not be identified.

The main information was provided by a sarzen sample, isolated during the conservation work in the late 1950s, when metal support was introduced to stabilise cracked megalitists.

The essential sample was donated as a souvenir to a man named Robert Phillips who worked for a company involved in conservation work and was in the country during the drilling.

Philips took a sample with him when he emigrated to the United States in 1977, living in New York, Illinois, California, and finally Florida since then, Nash said. In 2018, Philips decided to return the champion to the United Kingdom for research. He died this year.

Researchers analyzed samples to determine the geochemical trace of the sarsen from which the samples were taken. The inscription coincided with the stone still located in the West Woods and, with all but two sarzens from Stonehenge.

“I hope that because of what we learned, people will understand more about Stonehenge's big company,”, Nash stressed.