Six minutes on… Stonehenge: The Stone That Came From Scotland

In 1958, a workman kept a piece of Stonehenge. Sixty years later, that core, a few grains of sand and a cow's tooth have told us where the stones came from. The giant sarsens came from a wood near Marlborough. The bluestones were quarried in the Preseli Hills of west Wales. And the Altar Stone, long counted as Welsh, turned out to come from the far north-east of Scotland, more than 400 miles away. Did ice carry it, or people? And why would anyone haul stones from the ends of Britain to Salisbury Plain? Chapters 0:00 The core 0:49 The giants 1:27 The travellers from Wales 2:49 The stone from Scotland 3:58 Ice or people? 5:15 Why? 5:53 Where and why Sources English Heritage · Nash et al., Science Advances (2020) · Parker Pearson et al., Antiquity (2015, 2019, 2021, 2022) · Clarke et al., Nature (14 August 2024) · Bevins et al., Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2024) · Evans et al., Journal of Archaeological Science (2025) · Clarke & Kirkland, Communications Earth & Environment (January 2026) · Clarke, Veness et al., Journal of Quaternary Science (June 2026) · Parker Pearson et al., Archaeology International (December 2024) · Snoeck et al., Scientific Reports (2018) · UCL · Curtin University Archive and photographs Stonehenge from a distance: Noushin Nabavi, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Aerial view of Stonehenge: Edwin Newman / San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives (no known copyright restrictions; retouched crop by Cmglee, CC0) · The Altar Stone: The Stones of Stonehenge (stonesofstonehenge.org.uk), CC BY 4.0 · Preseli Hills: Alan Hughes, geograph.org.uk, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Carn Goedog: ceridwen, geograph.org.uk, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Craig Rhos-y-felin: Kieran Roy Powell, CC BY 4.0 · Waun Mawn: Sandy Gerrard, geograph.org.uk, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ring of Brodgar: Ekrem Canli, CC BY-SA 4.0 · The Millennium Stone: Eirian Evans, geograph.org.uk, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Stonehenge at the winter solstice: Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net), CC BY-SA 4.0 Maps: Natural Earth (public domain). The plan of Stonehenge, the routes, the sampling areas and the stone-circle positions are schematic. Illustrations include AI-generated line art and footage (Higgsfield, Kling). Music and sound effects: ElevenLabs. A film by Jon Cowan · Narrated by Jon Cowan More films:    / @sixminuteson   · sixminuteson.com X @sixminuteson · Bluesky @sixminuteson.bsky.social