Stonehenge Isn’t the Only Prehistoric Monument That’s Been Moved–but It’s Still Unique

Archaeologists are increasingly discovering megaliths across the continent – albeit a small number so far – that were previously put up in earlier monuments.
Stonehenge Isn’t the Only Prehistoric Monument That’s Been Moved–but It’s Still Unique
A general view shows the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge, a world heritage site, near Amesbury in south west England on December 11, 2013. LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images
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I led the team of researchers that discovered that Stonehenge was most likely to have been originally built in Pembrokeshire, Wales, before it was taken apart and transported some 180 miles to Wiltshire, England. It may sound like an impossible task without modern technology, but it wouldn’t have been the first time prehistoric Europeans managed to move a monument.

Archaeologists are increasingly discovering megaliths across the continent—albeit a small number so far—that were previously put up in earlier monuments.

Other ‘Second-Hand’ Monuments

The best example of such a structure outside the United Kingdom is La Table des Marchand, a Neolithic tomb in Brittany, France, built around 4000 B.C. The enormous, 65-ton capstone on top of its chamber is a broken fragment of a menhir, a standing stone, brought from 10km (about 6 miles) away. The original menhir may be 300 years (or more) older than the tomb. Another fragment of this same menhir was incorporated into a tomb at Gavrinis, 5km (about 3 miles) away. This menhir, originally weighing over 100 tons, is actually one of the largest blocks of stone that we know of to have been moved and set up by Neolithic people.

La Table des Marchand. (Myrabella/wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0)
La Table des Marchand. Myrabella/wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
Mike Parker Pearson
Mike Parker Pearson
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