Stonehenge’s enigmatic centre stone was hauled 800 kilometres from Scotland

By assessing the age of distinctive crystals, researchers have traced the origin of the monument's central Altar Stone.For centuries, Stonehenge, the Neolithic circle on Salisbury Plain in southern England, has enthralled archaeologists, antiquarians and sightseers.Its building has been variously attributed to the Romans, the Vikings, the Saxons, druids -and even Merlin, King Arthur's court magician who, by one medieval telling, used his wizardly powers to whisk the stones over the sea from Ireland.A geochemical analysis of the Altar Stone -the partially buried slab of sandstone at the centre of the circle -now suggests the truth might be an even livelier tale.A study published in Nature proposes that, around 4,500 years ago, Neolithic mariners might have transported this six-tonne monolith some 800 kilometres by sea from the far north of Scotland, distinguishing its origin from those of the other stones, which came from England and Wales (A.J. I. Clarke et al.Nature 632, 570-575; 2024).The discovery has thrilled archaeologists."It's a fantastic study with some big implications," says Jim Leary, a field archaeologist at the University of York, UK.The findings increase researchers' understanding of the influence of the Neolithic society that lived in Britain between about 4300 and 2000 bc and built the stone circle.The culture flourished in the Orkney