Orcadian Old Red Sandstone - Tim Daw
Because it was unlikely the Altar Stone came from England or Wales the deduction it came from Scotland or Orkney had been floated so that this study provides evidence is fascinating. The hunt is now on to find the actual source, the geochemical fingerprint is known, where the suspects are hiding has been revealed, I can't wait for the next instalment.
The apparent neolithic cultural links between Wessex and Orkney have always had a question mark because of the distance involved so this physical link means that all that work can be reinterpreted with new confidence. The similarity of some of the Orcadian monoliths to the Altar Stone has previously just been thought to be a coincidence but now it is a real possibility it isn't, and that is incredible.
I don't know where the authors have got their thoughts about the difficulty of land travel from, but they don't seem to be in line with the recent work on links between neolithic monuments. And as Stonehenge is about as landlocked as it is possible to be in the UK it would seem to be a strange choice for maritime transport. The whole field of neolithic travel and transport study will be reinvigorated by this paper and the balance between land, river or sea methods re-examined.
Recent work by Joseph Lewis https://x.com/josephlewis1992/status/1785049003274408321
has highlighted natural Least Costs Paths across Britain which may have been used.
His work also reinforces other research that shows the other bluestones, the ones from Wales, could have been brought overland on a gentle route. There are links to ethnographic examples of monolith moving at https://www.sarsen.org/2016/05/normal-sized-people-can-move-big-rocks.html
That the Altar Stone is obviously not a Glacial Erratic hopefully means that the theory of glacial transport of any stones on Salisbury Plain can finally be dismissed as nonsense.
As we know from other Stone Circles and sites such as the Ness of Brodgar (I have blogged about this) neolithic builders didn't just use the nearest stone to hand, rocks had meaning, something more than just their physical form, which meant they were chosen and transported to be used. We can presume they incorporated some spiritual significance or a link to a territory.
How this informs us as to the societal organisation of neolithic people is the start of a great debate. We view the past through the prism of our own times and our desires.
It would be lovely if Neolithic Britain was one happy country where all came together in common worship at Stonehenge, but is that just wishful thinking? Or was it just an example of mutually beneficial trade between separate communities, as we presume with the trade in stone axe heads? But our more recent history has examples of us stealing foreign stones to bring back to our capital, or at least accepting valuable stones as tribute and also of us taking our architecture to our colonies. So one big happy family, stealing from Orkney or a symbol of Orcadian dominance? The jury is out.
His work also reinforces other research that shows the other bluestones, the ones from Wales, could have been brought overland on a gentle route. There are links to ethnographic examples of monolith moving at https://www.sarsen.org/2016/05/normal-sized-people-can-move-big-rocks.html
That the Altar Stone is obviously not a Glacial Erratic hopefully means that the theory of glacial transport of any stones on Salisbury Plain can finally be dismissed as nonsense.
As we know from other Stone Circles and sites such as the Ness of Brodgar (I have blogged about this) neolithic builders didn't just use the nearest stone to hand, rocks had meaning, something more than just their physical form, which meant they were chosen and transported to be used. We can presume they incorporated some spiritual significance or a link to a territory.
How this informs us as to the societal organisation of neolithic people is the start of a great debate. We view the past through the prism of our own times and our desires.
It would be lovely if Neolithic Britain was one happy country where all came together in common worship at Stonehenge, but is that just wishful thinking? Or was it just an example of mutually beneficial trade between separate communities, as we presume with the trade in stone axe heads? But our more recent history has examples of us stealing foreign stones to bring back to our capital, or at least accepting valuable stones as tribute and also of us taking our architecture to our colonies. So one big happy family, stealing from Orkney or a symbol of Orcadian dominance? The jury is out.
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