Scientists at University College London and other scientific organizations in the UK have uncovered the mystery of the origin of some of the blue stones in Stonehenge. It turned out that the monoliths previously belonged to another structure located near the quarry, and were later transported to the current site in Salisbury, CNN reports.
Researchers found that the diameters of the Vaun Maun stone circle and the outer moat of Stonehenge are the same and are 110 meters. Vaun Maun is located in Wales, near a quarry in the Preseli Hills, where the blue stone was mined, which was used to build the inner circle of Stonehenge. The distance between the quarry and Stonehenge is about 300 kilometers, but there is evidence that at least five boulders of cromlech were mined in Wales.
The hypothesis is proved by the presence of stone excavations in Vaun Maun, in which the monoliths were once anchored. Both circles also have the same orientation to the point of sunrise on the summer solstice, and one of Stonehenge’s blue stones has an unusual cross-section that matches one of the circle’s holes in Wales.
It is believed that Stonehenge was originally a cromlech made of rough blue stones inserted into Aubrey’s holes – pits on the outside of the structure. Giant sarsen stones, forming a circle with a diameter of about 30 meters, were brought later, after 500 years. Currently, about 43 blue stones have survived at Stonehenge.