The Stonehenge Altar Stone has come from Westray, Orkney imageThe Stonehenge Altar Stone has come from Westray, Orkney imageThe Stonehenge Altar Stone has come from Westray, Orkney image
Today if we move heavy objects any distance we do it using sea transport.  I have always believed that Bluestones from the Preseli Hills involved a sea boat  journey to get to Stonehenge.  If I can find evidence that the Altar Stone came from the Orkney Islands, then it endorses my theory that at least some of the Bluestones were also taken to Stonehenge by sea transport.  I have studied the stones in the Preseli Hills and have found evidence of Neolithic quarrying at Carn Goedog where at least ten spotted dolerite stones have originated from. Archaeologists have determined that the 6 ton Altar Stone has not originated from any of the South Wales Devonian sandstones and now consider that it may have come from Scotland. Two years ago I studied the Rousay flagstones in Orkney Isles looking for a match of the surface patterning of the type found on the Altar Stone.  The intertidal rocks found in the north of Westray and Papa Westray both match the surface patterning, have similar stratification, similar colouration and grain size. What is more is that blocks in rectangular shape are found naturally on the beaches, needing no quarrying to find the correct size.  The Neolithic farmers of Orkney had been using this same stone to build their tombs and monoliths since 3900 BC.  These folk were the experts in moving stones, building boats and designing stone circles and had been doing so for at least 800 years before Stonehenge was conceived.