Stonehenge offers up a new Mystery - The Altar Stone

Many experts assumed that the most likely place of origin was Orkney, based on the islands’ rich neolithic culture and tradition of monument building.

But a separate academic study has now found that Orkney is not, in fact, the source of the altar stone, meaning the tantalising hunt for its place of origin goes on.

The new study, which was conducted separately from last month’s Australian-led paper but involved some of the same scientists, examined the chemical and mineralogical makeup of the stones in Orkney’s two great stone circles – the Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar – as well as field samples of rock deposits across Orkney’s islands.

When their key markers, identified in portable X-rays, were compared with those of the altar stone they were found to be strikingly different, leading the authors to conclude that Orkney could not be its source.

www.theguardian.com...

So not Orkney.

I am not sure why they only tested the sandstone in Orkney, rather than taking samples from all the major outcroppings of sandstone. Time? Money? Perhaps they just wanted to eliminate Orkney before anywhere else and are swiftly moving on to the next sample. I vote they check the Penrith formation next.

Either way, the "altar" stone was transported a considerable distance, relatively speaking, from up North, whether from Caithness or Cumbria. I'd quite like them to excavate the stone so we could actually get a look at it. These types of sandstone can have some really dramatic colourations, banded purples, reds and oranges - particularly when wet.

Getting a good look at the stone, seeing what is underneath it, I think would shed more light than simply pin pointing the quarrying location but is also far more invasive and of course expensive so I shan't hold my breath.