Stonehenge’s famous sarsen stones may have been transported there as part of a Neolithic race, according to an expert.
Win Scutt, curator of properties at Stonehenge, said there may have been an element of competition in lugging the 30–tonne stones from up to 20 miles away.
The prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain features dozens of massive, iconic megaliths that form an outer circle and central horseshoe.
These stones, which stand up to 23 feet (seven metres) tall, have been traced to West Woods, located on the edge of the Marlborough Downs around 15–20 miles (24–32km) away.
While there are countless theories as to why the monument, which is around 5,000 years old, was built, Mr Scutt suggests humanity’s primal urge to compete may have played a role.
‘I think there might have been a sport in getting these stones here,’ he said. ‘Teams of people, a bit of competition, a challenge.’
It comes as English Heritage unveils its largest ever replica of a pre–historic building at Stonehenge, based on evidence of a large structure two miles from the stone circle.
This may have acted as a hall where travellers – and potentially competitors – ate, drank and danced together.
Stonehenge’s sarsen stones are the larger megaliths than form an outer circle and central horseshoe. They could have been transported there as part of a competition, an expert says
It’s possible the stones were transported by being placed on logs, with a team of people pulling them along via ropes. Pictured: A replica of a stone being transported at Stonehenge
While there is no direct evidence for a competition, other archaeologists said the idea does make sense.
Experimental archaeologist Luke Winter, who is overseeing the Neolithic Hall project, said: ‘Competition is a thing in humanity – we like to compete with each other. There has to be that sort of element to it.
‘I always think, if you stood here 4,500 years ago and somebody said to us, “We’ve got this idea, we’re going to need 75 stones weighing up to 45 tonnes, and I’d like them from up to 500 miles away”…you’d be like, seriously?
‘But somebody did say that, and people said yes. For years we’ve talked about that organically happening with goodwill, but you could also argue that people had to be told to do that for a reason.
‘It’s not just a group of mates coming together. If there’s a little bit of edge of competition, that’s going to help.’
Mr Scutt said it’s possible the stones were transported by being placed on logs, with a team of people pulling them along via ropes.
He added: ‘When we look at human societies elsewhere in the world, there is a good chance that something competitive or performative may have been happening here too.
‘If you can harness humanity’s innate competitive edge, then when people are transporting very large stones — whether from the woods nearby or even from Wales — it is not hard to imagine that there might have been an element of competition involved.’
It comes as English Heritage unveils its largest ever replica of a pre–historic building at Stonehenge, based on evidence of a large structure two miles from the stone circle
Experimental archaeologist Luke Winter is overseeing the Neolithic Hall project, which has seen around 100 volunteers reconstruct the building using historically authentic methods
It’s possible that the people who helped construct Stonehenge also made use of a nearby Neolithic Hall, experts said.
This theory is based on archaeological evidence which suggests there may have been a large building nearby.
Excavations of the settlement have found many thousands of animal bones and a vast quantity of pottery, which provides strong evidence for magnificent winter feasts.
An army of around 100 volunteers, led by Mr Winter, have spent the last nine months reconstructing the building using historically authentic methods and local materials.
While it’s hard to say for certain, Mr Winter said it’s possible the hall was used as a meeting space, temporary accommodation, a place to eat together or as a barn or storage building.
Visitors will be able to experience the 23ft (7m)–high hall, funded by the Kusuma Trust, this summer ahead of it becoming a learning space for children in the autumn.
‘Using historically accurate techniques and materials in its construction, we have been able to develop a much keener understanding of the everyday lives of the Neolithic people who came to Stonehenge and settled in the locality,’ Matt Thompson, conservation, curatorial and learning director for English Heritage, said.
‘With its burning hearth, Neolithic crafts and cookery, the hall is a model for living history – instantaneously transporting you back 4,500 years.’
Last year, experts said they may have finally worked out how Stonehenge’s iconic bluestones were transported from Wales to Wiltshire.
One of the main debates has been whether a rock known as the Newall boulder – and other similar stones – reached the site after being transported by glaciers or whether humans moved them more than 5,000 years ago.
A team, led by Professor Richard Bevins from Aberystwyth University, compared the Newall boulder – which is about the size of a football – with samples from a rocky outcrop in Wales.
Through geochemical and microscopic analysis, they concluded ‘there is no evidence to support the interpretation that it is a glacial erratic’.
Instead, the stone is a precise match for the unique characteristics of rocks from Craig Rhos–y–Felin – indicating humans transported the heavy boulder from more than 125 miles (200km) away.
The Stonehenge monument standing today was the final stage of a four part building project that ended 3,500 years ago
Stonehenge is one of the most prominent prehistoric monuments in Britain. The Stonehenge that can be seen today is the final stage that was completed about 3,500 years ago.
According to the monument’s website, Stonehenge was built in four stages:
First stage: The first version of Stonehenge was a large earthwork or Henge, comprising a ditch, bank and the Aubrey holes, all probably built around 3100 BC.
The Aubrey holes are round pits in the chalk, about one metre (3.3 feet) wide and deep, with steep sides and flat bottoms.
Stonehenge (pictured) is one of the most prominent prehistoric monuments in Britain
They form a circle about 86.6 metres (284 feet) in diameter.
Excavations revealed cremated human bones in some of the chalk filling, but the holes themselves were likely not made to be used as graves, but as part of a religious ceremony.
After this first stage, Stonehenge was abandoned and left untouched for more than 1,000 years.
Second stage: The second and most dramatic stage of Stonehenge started around 2150 years BC, when about 82 bluestones from the Preseli mountains in south-west Wales were transported to the site. It’s thought that the stones, some of which weigh four tonnes each, were dragged on rollers and sledges to the waters at Milford Haven, where they were loaded onto rafts.
They were carried on water along the south coast of Wales and up the rivers Avon and Frome, before being dragged overland again near Warminster and Wiltshire.
The final stage of the journey was mainly by water, down the river Wylye to Salisbury, then the Salisbury Avon to west Amesbury.
The journey spanned nearly 240 miles, and once at the site, the stones were set up in the centre to form an incomplete double circle.
During the same period, the original entrance was widened and a pair of Heel Stones were erected. The nearer part of the Avenue, connecting Stonehenge with the River Avon, was built aligned with the midsummer sunrise.
Third stage: The third stage of Stonehenge, which took place about 2000 years BC, saw the arrival of the sarsen stones (a type of sandstone), which were larger than the bluestones.
They were likely brought from the Marlborough Downs (40 kilometres, or 25 miles, north of Stonehenge).
The largest of the sarsen stones transported to Stonehenge weighs 50 tonnes, and transportation by water would not have been possible, so it’s suspected that they were transported using sledges and ropes.
Calculations have shown that it would have taken 500 men using leather ropes to pull one stone, with an extra 100 men needed to lay the rollers in front of the sledge.
These stones were arranged in an outer circle with a continuous run of lintels – horizontal supports.
Inside the circle, five trilithons – structures consisting of two upright stones and a third across the top as a lintel – were placed in a horseshoe arrangement, which can still be seen today.
Final stage: The fourth and final stage took place just after 1500 years BC, when the smaller bluestones were rearranged in the horseshoe and circle that can be seen today.
The original number of stones in the bluestone circle was probably around 60, but these have since been removed or broken up. Some remain as stumps below ground level.
Source: Stonehenge.co.uk
