Emily Chan
Long ago, Stonehenge was built in several stages over the span of thousands of years. The ancient monumental structure consists of a circle of standing stones and is located on what is now known as Salisbury Plain in southern England.
One of the biggest mysteries of Stonehenge is the identity of the builders. Researchers don’t know much about the people who created the massive stone monument. However, human remains unburied at the site may reveal who constructed Stonehenge.
Researchers examined bone fragments from the remains of 25 people that were found there. They discovered that at least 10 of the people had come from areas that were around 180 miles away from their burial spot.
The researchers believe that the individuals’ place of origin was in western Wales. The other 15 were locals who lived within 12 miles of the famous monument all their lives.
During Stonehenge’s early years, the site largely served as a cemetery. From 1919 to 1926, excavations took place at Stonehenge, uncovering the remains of 58 cremated individuals.
They were reburied soon after their discovery and were dug up again in 2008, which was when the bone fragments were found.
Radiocarbon dating showed that the individuals lived sometime between 3180 and 2965 to 2565 and 2380 B.C.
The team compared the strontium isotopes in the bones to water, plants, and teeth from modern-day United Kingdom to determine that the origin of the 10 individuals was in western Wales.
Strontium is a metal that humans’ bones absorb through the food and water they consume. It is deposited in bedrock. The stones from the earliest constructions of Stonehenge were also from a quarry in western Wales.
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