The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

The original Stonehenge? A dismantled stone circle in the Preseli hills of west Wales

The original Stonehenge? A dismantled stone circle in the Preseli hills of west Wales
The original Stonehenge? A dismantled stone circle in the Preseli hills of west Wales
The discovery of a dismantled stone circle—close to Stonehenge's bluestone quarries in west Wales—raises the possibility that a 900-year-old legend about Stonehenge being built from an earlier stone circle contains a grain of truth. Radiocarbon and OSL dating of Waun Mawn indicate construction c. 3000 BC, shortly before the initial construction of Stonehenge. The identical diameters of Waun Mawn and the enclosing ditch of Stonehenge, and their orientations on the midsummer solstice sunrise, suggest that at least part of the Waun Mawn circle was brought from west Wales to Salisbury Plain. This interpretation complements recent isotope work that supports a hypothesis of migration of both people and animals from Wales to Stonehenge.
Britain, Neolithic, Preseli, Stonehenge, megaliths, stone circle
0003-598X
85-103
Parker Pearson, Mike
cd0f9361-0def-46ea-b4e5-e1c7a2581f98
Pollard, Josh
5080faff-bc2c-4d27-b702-e40a5eb40761
Richards, Colin
2edfcb8d-f528-432d-b87f-f70531953fe3
Welham, Kate
157bf10f-e048-48d5-afba-7470923c08ab
Kinnaird, Tim
d2c13271-5311-4156-9945-e42e98fdfcd3
Shaw, Dave
1b9334ee-b34e-4864-ad19-dd169bd17db2
Simmons, Ellen
dea97a3a-9ef9-4b58-97eb-747e9c227ee9
Stanford, Adam
c17dfbd5-9be7-49c4-9d16-bb5adda78f87
Bevins, Richard
cc8044e1-7206-4ccd-9bb2-33870b82671f
Ixer, Rob
bbc341cd-a7b1-4531-b800-fc41e7339e6c
Ruggles, Clive
8301cf94-c8ad-48fe-8846-f984a0463058
Edinborough, Kevan
e37dea48-bc5b-46ba-9e7d-3a40d7397930
Rylatt, James
58a84c4c-e312-4c54-b862-e0171cb5c6e0
Parker Pearson, Mike
cd0f9361-0def-46ea-b4e5-e1c7a2581f98
Pollard, Josh
5080faff-bc2c-4d27-b702-e40a5eb40761
Richards, Colin
2edfcb8d-f528-432d-b87f-f70531953fe3
Welham, Kate
157bf10f-e048-48d5-afba-7470923c08ab
Kinnaird, Tim
d2c13271-5311-4156-9945-e42e98fdfcd3
Shaw, Dave
1b9334ee-b34e-4864-ad19-dd169bd17db2
Simmons, Ellen
dea97a3a-9ef9-4b58-97eb-747e9c227ee9
Stanford, Adam
c17dfbd5-9be7-49c4-9d16-bb5adda78f87
Bevins, Richard
cc8044e1-7206-4ccd-9bb2-33870b82671f
Ixer, Rob
bbc341cd-a7b1-4531-b800-fc41e7339e6c
Ruggles, Clive
8301cf94-c8ad-48fe-8846-f984a0463058
Edinborough, Kevan
e37dea48-bc5b-46ba-9e7d-3a40d7397930
Rylatt, James
58a84c4c-e312-4c54-b862-e0171cb5c6e0

Parker Pearson, Mike, Pollard, Josh, Richards, Colin, Welham, Kate, Kinnaird, Tim, Shaw, Dave, Simmons, Ellen, Stanford, Adam, Bevins, Richard, Ixer, Rob, Ruggles, Clive, Edinborough, Kevan and Rylatt, James (2021) The original Stonehenge? A dismantled stone circle in the Preseli hills of west Wales. Antiquity, 95 (379), 85-103. (doi:10.15184/aqy.2020.239).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The discovery of a dismantled stone circle—close to Stonehenge's bluestone quarries in west Wales—raises the possibility that a 900-year-old legend about Stonehenge being built from an earlier stone circle contains a grain of truth. Radiocarbon and OSL dating of Waun Mawn indicate construction c. 3000 BC, shortly before the initial construction of Stonehenge. The identical diameters of Waun Mawn and the enclosing ditch of Stonehenge, and their orientations on the midsummer solstice sunrise, suggest that at least part of the Waun Mawn circle was brought from west Wales to Salisbury Plain. This interpretation complements recent isotope work that supports a hypothesis of migration of both people and animals from Wales to Stonehenge.

Text
AQY-RE-20-013.R1_Proof_hi - Accepted Manuscript
Download (8MB)

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 29 April 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 12 February 2021
Published date: February 2021
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd.
Keywords: Britain, Neolithic, Preseli, Stonehenge, megaliths, stone circle

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 446585
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/446585
ISSN: 0003-598X
PURE UUID: c3971cd6-9bac-4969-af58-f39855944c9f
ORCID for Josh Pollard: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8429-2009

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 15 Feb 2021 17:32
Last modified: 06 Jun 2024 01:48

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Mike Parker Pearson
Author: Josh Pollard ORCID iD
Author: Colin Richards
Author: Kate Welham
Author: Tim Kinnaird
Author: Dave Shaw
Author: Ellen Simmons
Author: Adam Stanford
Author: Richard Bevins
Author: Rob Ixer
Author: Clive Ruggles
Author: Kevan Edinborough
Author: James Rylatt

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.

×