UK research solves mystery of Stonehenge boulders moved by humans

The large boulders arranged in a circle at the British Neolithic site of Stonehenge, in the English county of Wiltshire, were placed in the mists of time by human hands where they still stand today: a destination attracting millions of visitors, the curious, and New Age enthusiasts every year. At least according to the results of new research conducted by a team from Aberystwyth University, a university based in Wales, which appears to definitively rule out the alternative hypothesis of a self-created structure, a singular natural phenomenon, the result of glacial drift dating back to the Ice Age. The mystery lies in the fact that the most impressive and famous primitive cromlech (Breton for "stone circle") ever unearthed in the world is composed of boulders from various parts of the island, including a blue basalt megalith traced to the present-day Welsh county of Pembrokeshire, 225 kilometers from the area of southwest England where Stonehenge stands today, near the historic city of Salisbury. This has fueled a never-quite-resolved debate among archaeologists: most are convinced that the transport was somehow carried out by humans, but others are more inclined to imagine some sort of natural miracle from the Ice Age. The Aberystwyth researchers, however, claim to now be able to provide a credible answer, based on geological evidence. The team focused on the study of the so-called Newall boulder, believed to be one of the oldest erected in Wiltshire 5,000 years ago, unearthed during excavations in 1924 and originating from Craig Rhos-y-Felin, Pembrokeshire. They concluded that "there is no evidence" to lend the slightest support to the ice-dragging theory. Who knows if that will be enough to convince everyone.