The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Craig Rhos-y-felin: a Welsh bluestone megalith quarry for Stonehenge

Craig Rhos-y-felin: a Welsh bluestone megalith quarry for Stonehenge
Craig Rhos-y-felin: a Welsh bluestone megalith quarry for Stonehenge
The long-distance transport of the bluestones from south Wales to Stonehenge is one of the most remarkable achievements of Neolithic societies in north-west Europe. Where precisely these stones were quarried, when they were extracted and how they were transported has long been a subject of speculation, experiment and controversy. The discovery of a megalithic bluestone quarry at Craig Rhos-y-felin in 2011 marked a turning point in this research. Subsequent excavations have provided details of the quarrying process along with direct dating evidence for the extraction of bluestone monoliths at this location, demonstrating both Neolithic and Early Bronze Age activity.
britain, preseli, stonehenge, mesolithic, neolithic, megalithic, bluestone, rhyolite, dolerite, prehistoric quarrying
0003-598X
1331-1352
Parker Pearson, M.
f25cdd58-8045-40db-9018-3f8341ad53f4
Bevins, R.
78413820-2ad0-441a-8f55-e9e5bc4eabcf
Ixer, R.
da382cd0-0057-40de-b33d-32b87fe7e221
Pollard, J.
5080faff-bc2c-4d27-b702-e40a5eb40761
Richards, C.
45a8800e-6ecd-4df5-9652-46c1cc6252a4
Welham, K.
d49e03b5-3d90-4308-9277-955727f4aad4
Chan, B.
7fa328a9-d32c-4e6f-8b4e-01296ffe5138
Edinborough, K.
ba88fe66-9eab-480f-870f-a84f94459d16
Hamilton, D.
221baf2d-e9bb-4b2f-b16c-c55a1e8159e4
Macphail, R.
4482f018-08d9-440d-98f7-054904437d24
Schlee, D.
cc9d2973-7918-4152-ac4c-a47f7503d073
Schwenninger, J.-L.
771ea9f0-def4-417a-80e8-4b30c8c40ff1
Simmons, E.
808925dd-db5f-462d-9c3e-e4e504184c4d
Smith, M.
558e1c6b-5c57-444a-9508-509c50128f91
Parker Pearson, M.
f25cdd58-8045-40db-9018-3f8341ad53f4
Bevins, R.
78413820-2ad0-441a-8f55-e9e5bc4eabcf
Ixer, R.
da382cd0-0057-40de-b33d-32b87fe7e221
Pollard, J.
5080faff-bc2c-4d27-b702-e40a5eb40761
Richards, C.
45a8800e-6ecd-4df5-9652-46c1cc6252a4
Welham, K.
d49e03b5-3d90-4308-9277-955727f4aad4
Chan, B.
7fa328a9-d32c-4e6f-8b4e-01296ffe5138
Edinborough, K.
ba88fe66-9eab-480f-870f-a84f94459d16
Hamilton, D.
221baf2d-e9bb-4b2f-b16c-c55a1e8159e4
Macphail, R.
4482f018-08d9-440d-98f7-054904437d24
Schlee, D.
cc9d2973-7918-4152-ac4c-a47f7503d073
Schwenninger, J.-L.
771ea9f0-def4-417a-80e8-4b30c8c40ff1
Simmons, E.
808925dd-db5f-462d-9c3e-e4e504184c4d
Smith, M.
558e1c6b-5c57-444a-9508-509c50128f91

Parker Pearson, M., Bevins, R., Ixer, R., Pollard, J., Richards, C., Welham, K., Chan, B., Edinborough, K., Hamilton, D., Macphail, R., Schlee, D., Schwenninger, J.-L., Simmons, E. and Smith, M. (2015) Craig Rhos-y-felin: a Welsh bluestone megalith quarry for Stonehenge. Antiquity, 89 (348), 1331-1352. (doi:10.15184/aqy.2015.177).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The long-distance transport of the bluestones from south Wales to Stonehenge is one of the most remarkable achievements of Neolithic societies in north-west Europe. Where precisely these stones were quarried, when they were extracted and how they were transported has long been a subject of speculation, experiment and controversy. The discovery of a megalithic bluestone quarry at Craig Rhos-y-felin in 2011 marked a turning point in this research. Subsequent excavations have provided details of the quarrying process along with direct dating evidence for the extraction of bluestone monoliths at this location, demonstrating both Neolithic and Early Bronze Age activity.

Text
__soton.ac.uk_UDE_PersonalFiles_Users_cjp1r10_mydocuments_Josh_PDFs_JP publications_Antiquity bluestone 2015.pdf - Version of Record
Restricted to Repository staff only
Request a copy

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 3 April 2015
e-pub ahead of print date: 7 December 2015
Keywords: britain, preseli, stonehenge, mesolithic, neolithic, megalithic, bluestone, rhyolite, dolerite, prehistoric quarrying
Organisations: Archaeology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 385829
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/385829
ISSN: 0003-598X
PURE UUID: a7b4fe57-b6b1-4dbc-b0bf-ac672e4d8798
ORCID for J. Pollard: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8429-2009

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 22 Jan 2016 15:26
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:38

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: M. Parker Pearson
Author: R. Bevins
Author: R. Ixer
Author: J. Pollard ORCID iD
Author: C. Richards
Author: K. Welham
Author: B. Chan
Author: K. Edinborough
Author: D. Hamilton
Author: R. Macphail
Author: D. Schlee
Author: J.-L. Schwenninger
Author: E. Simmons
Author: M. Smith

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×