A most unusual object has shed new light on the Welsh origins of Stonehenge according to UK researchers.
Researchers from the British Geological Society, Cardiff University and the University College London have shed new light on the origins of Stonehenge.
The smoking gun? A cow’s tooth.
The researchers examined a cow’s jawbone that had been discovered by Stonehenge’s south entrance in 1924. As part of this, researchers conducted isotope analysis on one of the teeth connected to the jawbone. This dated the tooth between 2995 and 2900 BCE with a likely origin in Wales.
“This is yet more fascinating evidence for Stonehenge’s link with south-west Wales, where its bluestones come from. It raises the tantalising possibility that cattle helped to haul the stones,” UCL Archaeology professor Michael Parker Pearson said.
The new research builds on previous efforts from the 2010s, where researchers, archaeologists and geologists revealed two Welsh quarries were the source of Stonehenge’s bluestones.
In 2015, researchers confirmed that the bluestones were likely to have been quarried from the Preseli hills in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.
Now, a decade on, researchers have consolidated this connection through advanced research techniques. As part of the research, the cow’s third molar tooth was sliced into nine horizontal sections. The researchers were able to extract key information and measurements, including carbon, oxygen, strontium and lead isotopes. From there, the researchers could gain insights into the cow’s lifestyle and movement.
“This study has revealed unprecedented details of six months in a cow’s life, providing the first evidence of cattle movement from Wales as well as documenting dietary changes and life events that happened around 5000 years ago,” BGS honorary research associate professor Jane Evans said.
“A slice of one cow tooth has told us an extraordinary tale and, as new scientific tools emerge, we hope there is still more to learn from her long journey.”
Importantly, the lead isotopes displayed spikes in the composition around late winter into spring. Researchers suggest this composition adds weight to the theory that the cow originated from an area with Palaeozoic rocks like bluestones found in Stonehenge.
“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,” Cardiff University archaeological science professor Richard Madgwick said.
“It provides unparalleled new detail on the distant origins of the animal and the arduous journey it was brought on. So often grand narratives dominate research on major archaeological sites, but this detailed biographical approach on a single animal provides a brand-new facet to the story of Stonehenge.”
