--- title: Scientists Trace Stonehenge Rocks to Quarries 180 Miles Away description: A team of U.K. archaeologists traced some of Stonehenge's iconic rocks to two quarries about 180 miles away in west Wales canonical: https://time.com/5534188/stonehenge-bluestone-quarries-180-miles-away/ author: Hillary Leung article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-02-21T10:09:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T00:51:34.000Z og:title: Scientists Trace Stonehenge Rocks to Quarries 180 Miles Away og:description: Scientists found that some of the rocks originate from two quarries in Wales og:url: https://time.com/5534188/stonehenge-bluestone-quarries-180-miles-away/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58368377394c886b/6989458209208f77b54135ed/gettyimages-979611466.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: Summer Sosltice 2018 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Scientists Trace Stonehenge Rocks to Quarries 180 Miles Away twitter:description: Scientists found that some of the rocks originate from two quarries in Wales twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58368377394c886b/6989458209208f77b54135ed/gettyimages-979611466.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Stonehenge's Rocks Have Been Traced to 2 Quarries 180 Miles Away > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=b00bded4-d8b3-4ff3-acfc-2514c19f1c4a&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=b00bded4-d8b3-4ff3-acfc-2514c19f1c4a&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Stonehenge's Rocks Have Been Traced to 2 Quarries 180 Miles Away [Watch (HLS stream): Stonehenge's Rocks Have Been Traced to 2 Quarries 180 Miles Away](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/c7XpxAv5.m3u8) (1:13)  _Published 2019-02-21. A team of archaeologists may have unveiled one of the mysteries about Stonehenge, the iconic circular monument in southwest England._ by [Hillary Leung](https://time.com/author/hillary-leung/) ## Hillary Leung Updated: Dec 13, 2023 12:51 AM UTCPublished: Feb 21, 2019 10:09 AM UTC A team of archaeologists may have unveiled one of the mysteries about Stonehenge, the iconic circular monument in southwest England. by [Hillary Leung](https://time.com/author/hillary-leung/) ## Hillary Leung Updated: Dec 13, 2023 12:51 AM UTCPublished: Feb 21, 2019 10:09 AM UTC A team of archaeologists may have unveiled one of the mysteries about Stonehenge, the iconic circular monument in southwest England. Rocks called bluestones that form an inner horseshoe and outer ring were [traced](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/megalith-quarries-for-stonehenges-bluestones/AAF715CC586231FFFCC18ACB871C9F5E) to two precise quarries in west Wales, around 180 miles away from the towering stone circle. According to [findings revealed](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/megalith-quarries-for-stonehenges-bluestones/AAF715CC586231FFFCC18ACB871C9F5E) this week in _Antiquity_, an archaeology journal, the team excavated quarries named Carn Goedog and Craig Rhos-y-felin in the Welsh hills and found evidence that bluestones were extracted around 3000 B.C., the same period as the initial stage of construction of Stonehenge. Past studies have indicated that the bluestones that wound up on the Salisbury Plain originated from the Preseli Hills in west Wales. But now, new research has revealed the exact quarries from which the rocks were lifted, and suggests that they were transported to the site on land, and by hand. At least five bluestone pillars were taken from Carn Goedog, and at least one from Craig Rhos-y-felin, the study states. Evidence suggests that workers used wedges to loosen pillars from the rock face and tied ropes to control their descent onto an artificial platform. Then, they may have laid timbers on top of the platform so they could be lowered onto a wooden sledge and hauled away. That prehistoric builders traveled such a far distance to obtain the bluestones sets Stonehenge apart from many of Europe’s other megalithic structures, which are crafted from rocks that were found within the site’s vicinities, the Washington _Post_ reports. One of the researchers, Michael Parker Pearson [suggested](https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2019/02/20/scientists-discover-origin-stonehenge-stones-quarries-miles-away/?noredirect=on&utm%5Fterm=.8953ef883dfb) that Stonehenge was perhaps a symbol of unity for British tribes during a time of economic and population decline, according to the _Post_. “A major event like this would have brought together disparate communities that were growing apart,” he said. ## Transcript [00:53] [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] [00:58] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5534188/stonehenge-bluestone-quarries-180-miles-away/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5534188/stonehenge-bluestone-quarries-180-miles-away/"},"headline":"Stonehenge's Rocks Have Been Traced to 2 Quarries 180 Miles Away","datePublished":"2019-02-21T10:09:21.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T00:51:34.000Z","description":"Scientists found that some of the rocks originate from two quarries in Wales","url":"https://time.com/5534188/stonehenge-bluestone-quarries-180-miles-away/","keywords":["Newsfeed","United Kingdom","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58368377394c886b/6989458209208f77b54135ed/gettyimages-979611466.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Hillary Leung","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/hillary-leung/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt58368377394c886b/6989458209208f77b54135ed/gettyimages-979611466.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Summer Sosltice 2018","caption":"Summer Sosltice 2018","creditText":"Ben Birchall—PA Images/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5534188/stonehenge-bluestone-quarries-180-miles-away/","name":"Stonehenge's Rocks Have Been Traced to 2 Quarries 180 Miles Away"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Stonehenge's Rocks Have Been Traced to 2 Quarries 180 Miles Away","description":"A team of archaeologists may have unveiled one of the mysteries about Stonehenge, the iconic circular monument in southwest England.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/c7XpxAv5/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-02-21T14:08:25.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/c7XpxAv5.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5534188/stonehenge-bluestone-quarries-180-miles-away/","duration":"PT1M13S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5534188/stonehenge-bluestone-quarries-180-miles-away/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```