Prehistoric builders brought 25-tonne stones from at least 18km away to build Britain’s iconic Devil’s Arrows, archaeologists noted in a new study.
The structure near Boroughbridge, in northern England, is Britain’s tallest surviving prehistoric stone row, rising up to 7m.
In spite of its scale and prominence, the origin of the structure, which forms a rare stone alignment in a lowland setting, is largely a mystery.
Previous research showed the structure was built in the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, possibly around 2000BC, with the stone slabs taken from the nearby Plumpton Rocks.
The latest study challenges this theory. “Our research shows these stones weren’t simply taken from the nearest available source,” Anthony Clarke, an author of the study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society A, explained. “They were deliberately chosen from a challenging landscape 18km away.”
“Plumpton Rocks, which is closer to the Devil’s Arrows, had previously been identified as the probable source of the stones,” Dr Clarke, a geochemist, said.
“Our findings instead point to Brimham Rocks, showing that prehistoric builders transported these enormous stones significantly further than thought.”
Researchers noted that the source of the gigantic stones likely held meaning for the builders. “These results show that ancient communities were making deliberate and meaningful choices about where their stones came from,” Jim Leary, another author of the study from the University of York, said.
“It highlights the importance of landscape and shared belief systems, as well as the remarkable effort involved in transporting and raising stones of this size.”
For the study, researchers used adhesive tape to collect tiny mineral grains from the stones without causing any damage.
They examined the age “fingerprints” of the grains which allowed them to match the stones to their source at Brimham Rocks.
The latest findings rule out a natural process, such as glacial movement, as the driver of the structure’s arrangement.
This showed, researchers said, that prehistoric Britons likely chose megalithic stones from sites that had personal meaning rather than those offering logistical convenience.
“Each stone weighs more than 25 tonnes, so moving them would have required incredible planning, coordination and engineering skill,” Dr Clarke said.
Researchers hope to apply their method to other standing stones of unknown origin to identify their sources.
“These next steps could help us better understand when the stones were moved and how these extraordinary monuments were constructed,” Dr Clarke said.