Evan Bush is a science reporter for NBC News.
Scientists say they’ve cracked a secret of the 6-ton rock at the center of Stonehenge — a discovery that only deepens the site’s mystery. The ancient monument’s “altar stone,” a sandstone rock at its center, likely originated in present-day Scotland, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. That means it was hauled more than 450 miles to southern England — significantly farther than any other stone at Stonehenge with known origins. The finding raises profound questions.
Other Stonehenge tablets are now on top of the altar rock, apparently toppled by time. “It’s a special stone for whatever reason,” said David Nash, a professor of physical geography at the University of Brighton, who has studied Stonehenge but was not involved in the new research. “It’s a very different stone to all of the other stones at the monument.” Kirkland and his fellow researchers examined three ways the altar stone could have traveled from Scotland to Stonehenge.
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