Study confirms prehistoric transportation of Devil's Arrows stones

<p>Stonehenge is a well-known example of megalithic architecture in Britain and Ireland, alongside other sites such as Calanais, Newgrange, and Avebury, as well as the Devil's Arrows. The Devil's Arrows is recognized as Britain's tallest standing stone alignment, but the origins of its stones have been unclear. Recent research has confirmed that the stones were sourced from a location 18 kilometers (11 miles) away and were transported by humans, not by glacial movement, according to a paper published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences.</p><p>Co-author Jim Leary from the University of York stated, "Sites in southern England and Scotland receive considerable attention but monuments like the Devil's Arrows have remained comparatively understudied despite their significance. We have now proved that Neolithic communities moved several 25-ton stones across Yorkshire, transforming a familiar site into an epic quest to create a sacred landscape."</p><p>Stonehenge has been the subject of recent chemical analyses that have traced the origins of its stones, revealing that many were sourced from distant quarries. A 2019 study concluded that the 42 bluestones in the inner ring of Stonehenge originated from western Wales. The outer layer of sarsen stones comes from Marlborough Downs, located 25 to 30 km (17 miles) north of Stonehenge, which contains the largest concentration of sarsen stones in the UK.</p>