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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2021

Mike Parker Pearson ,
Josh Pollard ,
Colin Richards ,
Kate Welham ,
Timothy Kinnaird Open the ORCID record for Timothy Kinnaird [Opens in a new window] ,
Dave Shaw ,
Ellen Simmons ,
Adam Stanford ,
Richard Bevins  and
Rob Ixer
...Show all authors
Mike Parker Pearson*
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, UK
Josh Pollard
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, UK
Colin Richards
Affiliation:
Archaeology Institute, University of the Highlands & Islands, UK
Kate Welham
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology & Anthropology, Bournemouth University, UK
Timothy Kinnaird
Affiliation:
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St Andrews, UK
Dave Shaw
Affiliation:
Allen Archaeology Ltd, Lincoln, UK
Ellen Simmons
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield, UK
Adam Stanford
Affiliation:
Aerial-Cam Ltd, Upton upon Severn, UK
Richard Bevins
Affiliation:
Department of Natural Sciences, National Museum of Wales, UK
Rob Ixer
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, University College London, UK
Clive Ruggles
Affiliation:
School of Archaeology & Ancient History, University of Leicester, UK
Jim Rylatt
Affiliation:
Past Participate CIC, Sheffield, UK
Kevan Edinborough
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Australia
*
* Author for correspondence: ✉ m.parker-pearson@ucl.ac.uk
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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.

Keywords

BritainPreseliStonehengeNeolithicmegalithsstone circle
Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 95 , Issue 379 , February 2021 , pp. 85 - 103
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd

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