Ancient cow tooth used to chip away at Stonehenge mysteryDPAWed, August 27, 2025 at 7:01 AM EDT
2 min read
Stonehenge, about a two-hour drive from London, is one of the most popular stop-offs for travellers in the UK, drawing around 1.4 million visitors last year. Charlotte Zink/dpaA team of scientists and archaeologists have found evidence that some of the massive monoliths placed at Stonehenge around 5,000 years ago were quarried over 200 kilometres away in Wales and possibly transported there with the help of cows.
The origins and purpose of Stonehenge have long been a mystery, including how stones of such size and weight were transported at a time when the required technology and equipment were not supposed to have been developed.
After examining a tooth taken from the jawbone of a cow that had been buried at the site, the UK-based researchers found "clues" that point to it originating from an area with Palaeozoic rocks along the lines of those found in Wales and placed at Stonehenge.
"This is the first time that scientists have seen evidence linking cattle remains from Stonehenge to Wales, adding further weight to theories that cows were used in the transportation of the enormous rocks across the country," the British Geological Survey (BGS) said.
The jawbone, which was dug up in 1924 by archaeologists, "has intrigued historians ever since," according to the BGS, which worked with Cardiff University and University College London to try to find out more about the bovine artefact.
In a paper published by the Journal of Archaeological Science, the team said that their research into the tooth's enamel yielded insights into foddering, seasonality, geographic origin, sex and "deeper skeletal history." The researchers could also determine the animalt's diet, environment and movements from carbon, oxygen, strontium and lead isotopes.
"This research has provided key new insights into the biography of this enigmatic cow whose remains were deposited in such an important location at a Stonehenge entrance," said Cardiff University’s Richard Madgwick.
The BGS research refers to the bluestones weighing about 2-4 tonnes that dot Stonehenge. In 2020, a team of archaeologists narrowed down the origin of the bigger 20-tonne standing stones, or sarsens, to a quarry around 25 kilometres north of the site.
Sitting on Salisbury Plain about a two-hour drive from London, Stonehenge is one of the most popular stop-offs for tourists in the UK, drawing around 1.4 million visitors last year.
Some researchers have speculated that the layout of Stonehenge, which in the past featured more stones than are visible there now, was designed to capture the summer solstice sunrise and sunset of the winter equivalent, in turn suggesting a calendrical function.
Some scientists believe this ancient third molar tooth from a cow could be the answer to the mystery of how Stonehenge came into being. BGS/UKRI/dpahttps://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ancient-cow-tooth-used-chip-110142019.html
