Stonehenge Altar Stone Likely Moved by Humans, Not Glaciers, New Study Says

New research published in the Journal of Quaternary Science challenges the theory that Stonehenge's altar stone was transported by glaciers. In 2024, scientists determined the six-ton sandstone block originated in northeast Scotland, 450 miles from the monument in southern England. Ice flow modeling shows no direct glacial route from Scotland to Stonehenge; most glaciers headed northeast, away from the site, though some traveled southeast to Dogger Bank, 250 miles away. Dogger Bank was a land bridge during the last Ice Age but submerged by 8000 BCE, 3000 years before Stonehenge's construction began. For glacial transport to work, humans would have needed to move the rock from Dogger Bank before it sank and keep it above water for millennia—a scenario the researchers deem implausible. Instead, they argue Neolithic communities deliberately hauled the stone over land and by boat in stages, requiring planning and coordination. The altar stone was added between 2620 and 2480 BCE, part of a monument erected from 3000 to 1520 BCE. Co-author Anthony Clarke of Curtin University told NewScientist the glacial theory requires an 'increasingly elaborate set of circumstances.' Co-author Remy Veness of Sheffield Hallam University suggested to BBC News that Dogger Bank inhabitants may have attached cultural significance to the stone, saving it from rising seas. The findings indicate Stonehenge's builders were more organized and cooperative than previously thought.