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The search for the origin of Stonehenge’s mysterious Altar Stone intensifies [kra8 cc]

In the hopes of solving one of the enduring mysteries about the iconic monolith, geologists have shifted the search for the origins of Stonehenge’s central Altar Stone to Scotland after recent research redirected the quest from Wales.

But in a surprising twist, a new analysis suggests that the stone didn’t originate from Orkney, an archipelago off Scotland’s northeastern coast that’s home to 5,000-year-old Neolithic sites. The findings, published September 5 in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, come on the heels of a study released in August that pointed to northeastern Scotland as the likely origin for the Altar Stone. That research, published in the journal Nature, overturned a century-old idea that the stone came from current-day Wales.

The Altar Stone, the largest of the bluestones used to build Stonehenge, lies at the heart of the ancient monument in southern England. The 13,227-pound (6-metric ton) block was likely transported over 435 miles (700 kilometers) from northeast Scotland nearly 5,000 years ago, possibly by sea. But the purpose of the stone remains a mystery.

A geologic team, including many of the same authors of the Nature study, examined Neolithic-age stones at two well-known historic landmarks on Mainland, Orkney’s largest island, that were similar in size and rock type to the Altar Stone. But the analysis didn’t detect a connection.