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
85-103
Parker Pearson, Mike
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Pollard, Josh
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Richards, Colin
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Welham, Kate
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Kinnaird, Tim
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Shaw, Dave
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Simmons, Ellen
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Stanford, Adam
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Bevins, Richard
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Ixer, Rob
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Ruggles, Clive
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Edinborough, Kevan
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Rylatt, James
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February 2021
Parker Pearson, Mike
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Pollard, Josh
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Richards, Colin
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Welham, Kate
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Kinnaird, Tim
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Shaw, Dave
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Simmons, Ellen
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Stanford, Adam
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Bevins, Richard
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Ixer, Rob
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Ruggles, Clive
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Edinborough, Kevan
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Rylatt, James
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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), .
(doi:10.15184/aqy.2020.239).
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
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
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Date deposited: 15 Feb 2021 17:32
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:23
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Contributors
Author:
Mike Parker Pearson
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
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