4,000 years ago, builders hauled 25-tonne stones 11 miles for Devil’s Arrows
Researchers have confirmed that Neolithic builders transported 25-tonne stones 11 miles from Brimham Rocks to create the Devil's Arrows in Yorkshire. The study used isotopic fingerprinting to prove the stones were intentionally sourced from a distance rather than moved by glaciers.
Why it matters
This discovery provides significant insight into the engineering capabilities and social organization of prehistoric societies in Britain.
The Devil’s Arrows, Britain’s tallest surviving prehistoric stone row, have long raised questions about where they came from and how they reached Boroughbridge. It turns out that ancient Neolithic builders hauled these enormous 25-tonne structures across at least 11 miles to get there.Researchers at the University of York and Curtin University in Australia have shed new light on these prehistoric stones in Yorkshire. Further geological analyses revealed that Neolithic people bypassed more local stone sources to bring the giant megaliths from Brimham Rocks in North Yorkshire, settling a long debate over whether humans or Ice Age glaciers moved them.The researchers also confirmed that a missing stone is hiding in plain sight in the nearby village of Aldborough, in the form of a cross, proving 19th-century theories and local legends to be true.
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