Stonehenge's 'Unique' Feature Hints at Hidden Purpose

The iconic Neolithic monument of Stonehenge may have represented an attempt to unify people living in different parts of prehistoric Britain, researchers have proposed in a study.

The paper analyzes the significance of recently published research in the journal Nature that revealed how the 6-metric-ton "Altar Stone" at the heart of the monument likely originated from what is now northeast Scotland—more than 400 miles away from Stonehenge's location on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, southwest England.

This finding demonstrated that all of the main types of stones that make up the monument originated from many miles away. In light of this, the authors of the study, published in the journal Archaeology International, argue that Stonehenge may have served a unifying purpose. The paper casts new light on the enigmatic significance of the monument in prehistoric Britain.

"The fact that all of its stones originated from distant regions, making it unique among over 900 stone circles in Britain, suggests that the stone circle may have had a political as well as a religious purpose—as a monument of unification for the peoples of Britain, celebrating their eternal links with their ancestors and the cosmos," said study lead author Mike Parker Pearson in a press release.

Pictured is Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England. A study casts new light on the monument's purpose in prehistoric Britain. alzay/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Construction of Stonehenge, which consists of several large stones (known as megaliths) arranged in a circle shape, is thought to have begun around 5,000 years ago, with several changes and additions made to the structure over the next two millennia.

Multiple hypotheses have been proposed to explain the purpose of the monument, ranging from it being an astronomical observatory aligned with solar and lunar cycles to a sacred site for ancestral worship.

Some hypotheses suggest the site served as a ceremonial or religious center, possibly involving funerary rituals, as evidenced by nearby Neolithic burials. In addition, it has been proposed that the site could have functioned as a place for trade or social gatherings.

Archaeological findings at Durrington Walls, a site near Stonehenge, suggest that large feasts took place there during the construction of the monument, possibly coinciding with the winter solstice.

But despite extensive research, the exact purpose of Stonehenge remains one of prehistory's enduring mysteries, with its significance likely multifaceted and evolving over the centuries of its use. The latest research adds a new political dimension to this mix.

"We've known for a while that people came from many different parts of Britain with their pigs and cattle to feast at Durrington Walls, and nearly half the people buried at Stonehenge had lived somewhere other than Salisbury Plain," said Parker Pearson, who is at University College London's Institute of Archaeology.

"The similarities in architecture and material culture between the Stonehenge area and northern Scotland now make more sense. It's helped to solve the puzzle of why these distant places had more in common than we might have once thought," he said.

Beside the Altar Stone, the monument is made up of two main types of stones: sarsen stones and bluestones. Previous research has indicated that the sarsens appear to have been sourced from the West Woods, near the modern Wiltshire town of Marlborough, which is about 15 miles from the monument. The bluestones, on the other hand, seem to originate from the Preseli Hills in west Wales some 140 miles away.

The results of the previously published Nature paper suggest the existence of long-distance trade networks during the era of Stonehenge's construction and a higher level of societal organization than is widely understood to have existed in Neolithic Britain, enabling unexpectedly advanced transportation methods.

Given the geographical features of Britain and the forested nature of the island at the time, transporting megaliths over land would have been extremely challenging. This means a sea route may have been more likely, the authors of the study suggest.

In the Archaeology International paper, the researchers highlight how Stonehenge's horizontal Altar Stone is similar in size and placement to the large, horizontal stones typical of stone circles found in northeast Scotland—where the Altar Stone originated. These "recumbent stone circles" are not found in the rest of Britain.

This indicates that there may have been close ties between northeast Scotland and the people who inhabited the Stonehenge region. The authors suggest the possibility that the Altar Stone may have been brought to Stonehenge as a gift from the people of northeast Scotland to mark an alliance or some form of collaboration. Such megaliths are thought to have had symbolic significance in Neolithic Britain, potentially representing and even embodying ancestors.

The arrival of the Altar Stone at Stonehenge is not clear, but probably occurred roughly between 2500 and 2000 B.C. This period was characterized by a substantial replacement of the indigenous Britons with new arrivals from the European continent.

"The Altar Stone's incorporation into Stonehenge as an attempt at unity may have been a response to a legitimation crisis brought on by this influx of new people," the study authors wrote.

But as an attempt at unification, Stonehenge was ultimately a failure, according to the researchers. By the end of the monument's various construction phases—around 1600 B.C.—Britain's insular Neolithic population appears to have been largely replaced by people with continental European ancestry.

Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about archaeology? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.