East Midlands Geological Society

Speaker: Professor Peter Worsley, Emeritus Professor of Quaternary Geology, University of Reading

Stonehenge has recently come into the public eye due to the publication of the results of new geochemical work. The Sun newspaper declared ‘Mystery of where the giant rocks came from SOLVED’ whereas The Guardian was more cautious with a headline ‘Archaeologists discover likely source of Stonehenge’s giant sarsen stones’. The senior English Heritage properties historian said that she was delighted that one of the most intriguing questions about Stonehenge had been answered. The background to this euphoria will be critically examined and the geological fundamentals reviewed.

Apart from the sarsens, the other geological problem lies with the assemblage of ‘foreign’ rocks incorporated into the henge structure, i.e. the so-called Bluestones. There now appears to be little doubt that the Bluestones are primarily derived from outcrops in south-west Wales but the mechanism whereby they arrived to Salisbury Plain is far from being resolved. Most archaeologists have accepted the hypothesis that Neolithic people were responsible for the transport of the Bluestones from their source to the plain but over time the favoured routes have changed drastically. In contrast geologists have been split between those who accept the human transport mode and those who favour natural earth surface processes as being responsible for transportation – i.e. glaciation. The strengths and weaknesses of these competing ideas will be discussed.

This lecture will be preceded by the EMGS Annual General Meeting.