Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-sjtt6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-26T16:30:00.818Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Geological Sources and Transport of the Bluestones of Stonehenge, Wiltshire, UK

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2014

Richard S. Thorpe ,
Olwen Williams-Thorpe ,
D. Graham Jenkins ,
J. S. Watson ,
R. A. Ixer  and
R. G. Thomas
Richard S. Thorpe
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
Olwen Williams-Thorpe
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
D. Graham Jenkins
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
J. S. Watson
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
R. A. Ixer
Affiliation:
School of Earth Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT
R. G. Thomas
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain is one of the most impressive British prehistoric (c. 3000–1500 BC) monuments. It is dominated by large upright sarsen stones, some of which are joined by lintels. While these stones are of relatively local derivation, some of the stone settings, termed bluestones, are composed of igneous and minor sedimentary rocks which are foreign to the solid geology of Salisbury Plain and must have been transported to their present location. Following the proposal of an origin in south-west Wales, debate has focused on hypotheses of natural transport by glacial processes, or transport by human agency. This paper reports the results of a programme of sampling and chemical analysis of Stonehenge bluestones and proposed source outcrops in Wales.

Analysis by X-ray-fluorescence of fifteen monolith samples and twenty-two excavated fragments from Stonehenge indicate that the dolerites originated at three sources in a small area in the eastern Preseli Hills, and that the rhyolite monoliths derive from four sources including northern Preseli and other (unidentified) locations in Pembrokeshire, perhaps on the north Pembrokeshire coast. Rhyolite fragments derive from four outcrops (including only one of the monolith sources) over a distance of at least 10 km within Preseli. The Altar Stone and a sandstone fragment (excavated at Stonehenge) are from two sources within the Palaeozoic of south-west Wales. This variety of source suggests that the monoliths were taken from a glacially-mixed deposit, not carefully selected from an in situ source. We then consider whether prehistoric man collected the bluestones from such a deposit in south Wales or whether glacial action could have transported bluestone boulders onto Salisbury Plain. Glacial erratics deposited in south Dyfed (dolerites chemically identical to Stonehenge dolerite monoliths), near Cardiff, on Flatholm and near Bristol indicate glacial action at least as far as the Avon area. There is an apparent absence of erratics east of here, with the possible exception of the Boles Barrow boulder, which may predate the Stonehenge bluestones by as much as 1000 years, and which derived from the same Preseli source as two of the Stonehenge monoliths. However, 18th-century geological accounts describe intensive agricultural clearance of glacial boulders, including igneous rocks, on Salisbury Plain, and contemporary practice was of burial of such boulders in pits. Such erratics could have been transported as ‘free boulders’ from ‘nunataks’ on the top of an extensive, perhaps Anglian or earlier, glacier some 400,000 years ago or more, leaving no trace of fine glacial material in present river gravels. Erratics may be deposited at the margins of ice-sheets in small groups at irregular intervals and with gaps of several kilometres between individual boulders.

‘Bluestone’ fragments are frequently reported on and near Salisbury Plain in archaeological literature, and include a wide range of rock types from monuments of widely differing types and dates, and pieces not directly associated with archaeological structures. Examination of prehistoric stone monuments in south Wales shows no preference for bluestones in this area. The monoliths at Stonehenge include some structurally poor rock types, now completely eroded above ground. We conclude that the builders of the bluestone structures at Stonehenge utilized a heterogeneous deposit of glacial boulders readily available on Salisbury Plain. Remaining erratics are now seen as small fragments sometimes incorporated in a variety of archaeological sites, while others were destroyed and removed in the 18th century. The bluestones were transported to Salisbury Plain from varied sources in south Wales by a glacier rather than human activity.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 57 , Issue 2 , 1991 , pp. 103 - 157
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abbey, S. 1983. Studies in ‘standard samples’ of silicate rocks and minerals. Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 83, 15.Google Scholar
Allen, P. M. 1982. Lower Palaeozoic volcanism in Wales, the Welsh Borderland, Avon and Somerset. In Sutherland, D. S. (ed.), Igneous Rocks of the British Isles, 65–91. Chichester: J. Wiley & Sons Ltd.Google Scholar
Andrews, J. T., Gilbertson, D. D. & Hawkins, A. B. 1984. The Pleistocene succession of the Severn Estuary: a revised model based upon amino acid racemization studies. Journal of the Geological Society of London 141, 967–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ashbee, P. 1978. Amesbury Barrow 51: Excavations in 1960. Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine 70/71, 1–60.Google Scholar
Ashbee, P. 1981. Amesbury Barrow 39: Excavation 1960. Wiltshire Archaeological Magazine 74/75, 3–34.Google Scholar
Atkinson, R. J. C. 1979. Stonehenge. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd.Google Scholar
Barclay, E. 1908. The Ruined Temple of Stonehenge. London: The St. Catherine Press.Google Scholar
Bartenstein, H. 1973. Geologische Rätsel um Stonehenge? Natur u. Museum 103, 367–74.Google Scholar
Bartenstein, H. & Fletcher, B. N. 1987. The stones of Stonehenge — An ancient observation on their geological and archaeological history. Zeitschrift für deutsche geologische Gesellschaft 138, 23–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bevins, R. E. 1978. Pumpellyite-bearing basic igneous rocks from the Lower Ordovician of north Pembrokeshire. Mineralogical Magazine 42, 81–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bevins, R. E. 1979. The Geology of the Strumble Head–Fishguard Region, Dyfed. Ph.D. thesis, University of Keele.Google Scholar
Bevins, R. E. 1982. Petrology and geochemistry of the Fisguard Volcanic Complex, Wales. Geological Journal 17, 1–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bevins, R. E., Kokelaar, B. P. & Dunkley, P. M. 1984. Petrology and geochemistry of Lower to Middle Ordovician igneous rocks in Wales: a volcanic arc to marginal basin transition. Proceedings of the Geologists Association 95, 337–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bevins, R. E., Lees, G. J. & Roach, R. A. 1989. Ordovician intrusions of the Strumble Head–Mynydd Preseli region, Wales: lateral extensions of the Fishguard Volcanic Complex. Journal of the Geological Society of London 146, 113–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bevins, R. E. & Roach, R. A. 1979. Pillow lava and isolated-pillow breccia of rhyodacitic composition from the Fishguard Volcanic Group, Lower Ordovician, S. W. Wales, United Kingdom. Geological Journal 87, 193–201.Google Scholar
Bevins, R. E. & Roach, R. A. 1980. Early Ordovician volcanism in Dyfed, south-west Wales. In Harris, A. L., Holland, C. H. & Leake, B. E. (eds), The Caledonides of The British Isles — Reviewed, 603–609. Special Publication of the Geological Society of London, 8.Google Scholar
Bevins, R. E. & Roach, R. A. 1982. Ordovician igneous activity in south-west Dyfed. In Bassett, M. G. (ed.), Geological Excursions in Dyfed, South-west Wales, 65–80. Cardiff: National Museum of Wales.Google Scholar
Bevins, R. E. & Rowbotham, G. 1983. Low-grade metamorphism within the Welsh sector of the paratectonic Caledonides. Geological Journal 18, 141–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowen, D. Q. 1970. South-east and central south Wales. In Lewis, C. A. (ed.), The Glaciations of Wales and Adjoining Regions, 197–127. London: Longmans.Google Scholar
Bowen, D. Q. 1980. Pleistocene scenario for Palaeolithic Wales. In Taylor, J. A. (ed.), Culture and Environment in Prehistoric Wales, 1–14. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.Google Scholar
Bowen, D. Q. 1982. Pleistocene deposits and fluvioglacial landforms of north Preseli. In Bassett, M. G. (ed.), Geological Excursions in Dyfed, South-west Wales, 289–95. Cardiff: National Museum of Wales.Google Scholar
Bowen, D. Q. 1989. Amino acid geochronology of landform development in Britain. Abstracts of the International Geological Congress, Washington, 1–186, 1–187.Google Scholar
Bowen, D. Q. & Sykes, G. A. 1988. Correlation of marine events and glaciations on the north-east Atlantic margin. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London B 318, 619–35.Google Scholar
Briggs, C. S. 1976a. Notes on the distribution of some raw material in later prehistoric Britain. In Burgess, C. & Miket, R. (eds), Settlement and Economy in the Third and Second Millennia BC, 267–82. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports.Google Scholar
Briggs, C. S. 1976b. Cargoes and field clearance in the history of the English Channel. Quaternary Research Association Newsletter, 19 June, 10–16.Google Scholar
Briggs, C. S. 1977. Economy and erratics in stone age Britain. Quaternary Research Association Newletter 22, 3–6.Google Scholar
Briggs, C. S. 1989. Axe-making traditions in Cumbrian stone. Archaeological Journal 146, 1–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burl, A. 1979. The Stone Circles of the British Isles. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Burl, A. 1985. Geoffrey of Monmouth and the Stonehenge bluestones. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine 79, 178–83.Google Scholar
Burl, A. 1987. The Stonehenge People. London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd.Google Scholar
Cann, J. R. 1970. Rb, Sr, Y, Zr and Nb in some ocean floor basaltic rocks. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 10, 7–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cantrill, T. C., Dixon, E. E. L., Thomas, H. H. & Jones, O. T. 1916. The Geology of the South Wales Coalfield, Part XII, The Country around Milford. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Charlesworth, J. K. 1957. The Quaternary Era. London: Edward Arnold Ltd.Google Scholar
Chippindale, C. 1987. Stonehenge Complete. London: Thames and Hudson.Google Scholar
Clough, T. H. McK. & Cummins, W. A. (eds) 1979. Stone Axe Studies. London: Council for British Archaeology.Google Scholar
Clough, T. H. McK. & Cummins, W. A. (eds) 1988. Stone Axe Studies, Volume 2. London: Council for British Archaeology.Google Scholar
Conybeare, W. D. 1833. Stonehenge illustrated by geology. Gentlemans Magazine 108, (2), 452–54.Google Scholar
Cox, A. H. 1915. The geology of the district between Abereiddy and Abercastle (Pembrokeshire). Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 71, 273–340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cunnington, W. 1884. Stonehenge notes: the fragments. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine 21, 141–49.Google Scholar
Cunnington, B. H. 1924. The ‘Blue Stone’ from Boles Barrow. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine 42, 431–37.Google Scholar
Cunnington, M. E. 1929. Stonehenge. Antiquity 3, 223–26.Google Scholar
de Luc, J. A. 1811. Geological Travels. Volume III. Travels in England. London: F. C. & J. Rivington.Google Scholar
Drewett, P. L. 1987. An archaeological survey of Mynydd Preseli, Dyfed. Archaeology in Wales 27, 14–16.Google Scholar
Embleton, C. & King, C. A. M. 1975. Glacial Geomorphology. London: ArnoldGoogle Scholar
Engleheart, G. 1933. A second Stonehenge ‘Altar’ stone? Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine 46, 395–97.Google Scholar
English Heritage 1985. Stonehenge and Neighbouring Monuments. London: Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England.Google Scholar
Evans, J. G. with contributions by Atkinson, R. J. C., O'Connor, T. & Green, H. S. 1984. Stonehenge — The Environment in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age and A Beaker-Age Burial. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine 78, 7–30.Google Scholar
Evans, W. D. 1945. The geology of the Prescelly Hills, north Pembrokeshire. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 101, 89–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evens, E. D., Grinsell, L. V., Piggott, S. & Wallis, F.S. 1962. Fourth report of the sub-committee of the south-western group of museums and art galleries on the petrological identification of stone axes. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 28, 209–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evens, E. D., Smith, I. F. & Wallis, F. S. 1972. The petrological identification of stone implements from south-western England. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 38, 235–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fitton, J. G., Thirwall, M. F. & Hughes, D. J. 1982. Volcanism in the Caledonian belt of Britain. In Thorpe, R. S. (ed.), Andesites: Orogenic Andesites and Related Rocks, 611–36. Chichester: J. Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Flint, R. F. 1947. Glacial Geology of the Pleistocene Epoch. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Flint, R. F. 1955. Pleistocene geology of eastern South Dakota. United States Geology Survey Professional Paper, 262.Google Scholar
Flint, R. F. 1957. Glacial and Pleistocene Geology. New York: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Francis, E. L., Francis, J. P. & Preston, J. 1988. The petrological identification of stone implements from Ireland. In Clough, T. H. McK. & Cummins, W. A. (eds), Stone Axe Studies, Volume 2, 137–40. London: Council for British Archaeology.Google Scholar
Geinitz, E. 1886. Der Boden Mecklenburgs. In Lehmann, R. (ed.), Forschungen zur deutschen Landes—und Volskunde, Volume 1, 1–32. Stuttgart: J. Englehorn.Google Scholar
George, T. N. 1933. The glacial deposits of Gower. Geological Magazine 70. 208–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibbons, W. & Gayer, R. A. 1985. British Caledonian terranes. In Gayer, R.A. (ed.), The Tectonic Evolution of the Caledonian—Appalachian Orogen, 3–16. Braunschweig & Wiesbaden: Earth Evolution Sciences, International Monograph Series.Google Scholar
Gillispie, C. C. 1959. Genesis and Geology. New York: Harper & Row.Google Scholar
Gladney, E. S. & Roelandts, I. 1988. 1987 compilation of elemental concentration data for USGS BHVO-1, MAG-1 QLO-1, RGM-1, SCO-1, SDC-1, SGR-1 and STM-1. Geostandards Newsletter 12, 253–361.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gowland, W. 1901. Recent excavations at Stonehenge. Archaeologia 58, 37–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, C. P. 1973. Pleistocene river-gravels and the Stonehenge problem. Nature 243, 214–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griffiths, J. C. 1940. The Glacial Deposits West of the Taff. Ph.D. Thesis, University of London.Google Scholar
Grimes, W. F. 1935. Notes on recent finds of perforated axe-hammers in Wales. Archaeologia Cambrensis 90, 267–78.Google Scholar
Grimes, W. F. 1951. The Prehistory of Wales. Cardiff: National Museum of Wales.Google Scholar
Haddingham, E. 1975. Circles and Standing Stones. London: William Heinemann Ltd.Google Scholar
Harmer, F. W. 1907. On the origin of certain canon-like valleys associated with lake-like areas of depression. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 63, 470–514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, A. B. & Kellaway, G. A. 1971. Field Meeting at Bristol and Bath with special reference to new evidence of glaciation. Proceedings of the Geologists Association 82, 267–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawkins, G. S. 1965. Stonehenge Decoded. Glasgow: Fontana/Collins.Google Scholar
Hawley, W. 1921. Stonehenge: interim report on the exploration. Antiquaries Journal 1, 19–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawley, W. 1922. Second report on the excavations at Stonehenge. Antiquaries Journal 2, 36–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawley, W. 1923. Third report on the excavations at Stonehenge. Antiquaries Journal 3, 13–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawley, W. 1925. Report on the excavations at Stonehenge during the season of 1923. Antiquaries Journal 5, 21–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoare, R. C. 1812. The History of Ancient Wiltshire. Part I. London: William Miller.Google Scholar
Howard, H. 1982. A petrological study of the rock specimens from excavations at Stonehenge, 1979–1980. In Pitts, M. W. (ed.), On the road to Stonehenge: report on investigations beside the A344 in 1968, 1979 and 1980. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 48, 104–26.Google Scholar
Hughes, D. J. 1977. The Petrochemistry of the Ordovician Igneous Rocks of the Welsh Basin. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Manchester.Google Scholar
Jenkins, D. G., Beckinsale, R. D., Bowen, D. Q., Evans, J. A., George, G. T., Harris, N. B. W. & Meighan, I.G. 1985. The origin of granite erratics in the Pleistocene Patella beach, Gower, south Wales. Geological Magazine 122, 297–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
John, B. S. 1965. A possible Würm glaciation in west Pembrokeshire. Nature, London 207, 622–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
John, B. S. 1967. Further evidence for a Middle Würm interstadial and a Main Würm glaciation of south-west Wales. Geological Magazine 104, 630–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
John, B. S. 1968. Age of raised beach deposits of southwestern Britain. Nature, London 218, 665–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
John, B. S. 1970a. The Pleistocene drift succession at Porth Clais, Pembrokeshire. Geological Magazine 107, 439–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
John, B. S. 1970b. Pembrokeshire. In Lewis, C. A. (ed.), The Glaciations of Wales and Adjoining Regions, 229–65. London: Longman.Google Scholar
John, B. S. 1981. Presely Hills. Newport: Greencroft Books.Google Scholar
John, B. S. 1984. Pemrbokeshire. Newport: Greencroft Books.Google Scholar
Jones, O. T. 1956. The bluestones of the Cardigan district. Antiquity 30, 34–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Judd, J. W. 1902. Note on the nature and origin of the rock-fragments found in the excavations made at Stonehenge by Mr Gowland in 1901. In Gowland, W., Recent Excavations at Stonehenge. Archaeologia 58, 106–18.Google Scholar
Keiller, A. 1936. Two axes of Presely stone from Ireland. Antiquity 10, 220–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kellaway, G. A. 1971. Glaciation and the stones of Stonehenge. Nature 232, 30–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kellaway, G. A. (ed.) 1991. The Hot Springs of Bath. Bath: Bath City Council.Google Scholar
Kellaway, G. A., Redding, J. H., Shephard-Thorn, E. R. & Destombes, J. P. 1975. The Quaternary history of the English Channel. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London (A) 279, 189–218.Google Scholar
Kidson, C. & Haynes, J. R. 1972. Glaciation in the Somerset Levels: the evidence of the Burtle Beds. Nature, London 237, 390–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kidson, C., Gilbertson, D. D., Haynes, J. R., Heyworth, A., Hughes, C. E. & Whatley, R. C. 1978. Interglacial marine deposits of the Somerset Levels, south-west England. Boreas 7, 215–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kokelaar, B. P., Howells, M. F., Bevins, R. E., Roach, R. A. & Dunkley, P. N. 1984. The Ordovician marginal basin of Wales. In Kokelaar, B. P. & Howells, M. F. (eds), Volcanic and Associated Sedimentary and Tectonic Processes in Modern and Ancient Marginal Basins, 245–69. Geological Society of London Special Publication 16.Google Scholar
Kokelaar, B. P., Bevins, R. E. & Roach, R. A. 1985. Submarine silicic volcanism and associated sedimentary and tectonic processes, Ramsey Island, south-west Wales. Journal of the Geological Society of London 142, 591–613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leat, P. T. & Thorpe, R. S. 1986a. Geochemistry of an Ordovician basalt-trachybasalt-subalkaline/peralkaline rhyolite association from the Lleyn Peninsula, north Wales, U.K. Geological Journal 21, 29–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leat, P. T. & Thorpe, R. S. 1986b. Ordovician volcanism in the Welsh Borderland. Geological Magazine 123, 129–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leat, P. T. & Thorpe, R. S. 1989. Snowdon basalts and the cessation of Caledonian subduction by the Longvillian. Journal of the Geological Society, London 146, 965–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leat, P. T., Jackson, S. E., Thorpe, R. S. & Stillman, C.J. 1986. Geochemistry of bimodal, basalt-subalkaline/peralkaline rhyolite provinces within the southern British Caledonides. Journal of the Geological Society of London 143, 159–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, C. A. (ed.) 1970. The Glaciations of Wales and Adjoining Regions. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Long, W. 1876. Stonehenge and its barrows. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine 16, 1–244.Google Scholar
Lowman, R. D. W. & Bloxam, T. W. 1981. The petrology of the Lower Palaeozoic Fishguard Volcanic Group and associated rocks east of Fishguard, north Pembrokeshire (Dyfed), south Wales. Journal of the Geological Society of London 138, 47–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Macdonald, R., Davies, G. R., Bliss, C. M., Leat, P. T., Bailey, D.K. & Smith, R. L. 1987. Geochemistry of high-silica peralkaline rhyolites, Naivasha, Kenya Rift Valley. Journal of Petrology 28, 978–1008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maskelyne, N. S. 1878. Stonehenge: the petrology of its stones. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine 17, 147–60.Google Scholar
Merriman, R. J., Bevins, R. E. & Ball, T. K. 1986. Petrological and geochemical variations within the Tal y Fan intrusion: a study of element mobility during low-grade metamorphism with implications for petrogenetic modelling. Journal of Petrology 27, 1409–436.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muir, R. 1981. Riddles in the British Landscape. London: Thames & Hudson.Google Scholar
Newall, R. S. 1929. Stonehenge. Antiquity 3, 75–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newall, R. S. 1959. Stonehenge. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Part, G. M. 1922. Notes on the Ordovician lavas of the Mynydd Prescelly, north Pembrokeshire. Geological Magazine 54, 310–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearce, J. A. & Cann, J. R. 1973. Tectonic setting of basic volcanic rocks determined using trace element analyses. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 19, 290–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearce, J. A. & Norry, M. J. 1979. Petrogenetic implications of Ti, Zr, Y and Nb variations in volcanic rocks. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 69, 33–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pettijohn, F. J., Potter, P. E. & Siever, R. 1973. Sand and Sandstone. New York: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Petrie, W. M. F. 1880. Stonehenge: Plans, Description and Theories. London: Histories and Mysteries of Man, Ltd. (1989).Google Scholar
Phemister, J. 1926. The distribution of Scandinavian boulders in Britain. Geological Magazine 63, 433–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, W. E. A., Stillman, C. J. & Murphy, T. 1976. A Caledonian plate tectonic model. Journal of the Geological Society of London 132, 579–609.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pitts, M. W. 1982. On the road to Stonehenge: reports on investigations beside the A344 in 1968, 1979 and 1980. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 48, 75–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potts, P. J., Webb, P. C. & Watson, J. S. 1984. Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis of silicate rocks for major and trace elements. X-Ray Spectrometry 13, 2–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Potts, P. J. 1987. A Handbook of Silicate Rock Analysis. Glasgow & London: Blackie.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramsey, A. C., Aveline, W. T. & Hull, E. 1858. Geology of Parts of Wiltshire and Gloucestershire (Sheet 34). London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Richards, J. C. 1990. The Stonehenge Environs Project. London: English Heritage.Google Scholar
Roach, R. A. 1969. The composite nature of the St. David's head and Carn Llidi intrusions of north Pembrokeshire. In Wood, A. (ed.), The Precambrian and Lower Palaeozoic Rocks in Wales, 409–33. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.Google Scholar
Robinson, D. & Bevins, R. E. 1986. Incipient metamorphism in the Lower Palaeozoic marginal basin of Wales. Journal of Metamorphic Petrology 4, 101–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, D., Nicholas, R. A. & Thomas, L. J. 1980. Clay mineral evidence for low-grade Caledonian and Variscan metamorphism in south-western Dyfed, south Wales. Mineralogical Magazine 43, 857–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roe, F. E. S. 1979. Typology of stone implements with shaftholes. In Clough, T. H. McK. & Cummins, W. A. (eds), Stone Axe Studies, 23–47. London: Council for British Archaeology.Google Scholar
Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1979. Stonehenge and its Environs. Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Scarre, C. (ed.) 1988. Past Worlds: The Times Atlas of Archaeology. London: Times Books Limited.Google Scholar
Smith, I. F. 1965. Windmill Hill and Avebury: Excavations by Alexander Keiller. Oxford: Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Smith, I. F. 1979. The chronology of British stone implements. In Clough, T. H. McK. & Cummins, W. A. (eds), Stone Axe Studies, 13–22. London: Council for British Archaeology.Google Scholar
Stephen, L. & Lee, S. 1917. The Dictionary of National Biography, vol. V. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Stewart, D. B. 1979. The formation of silicic potassic glassy rocks. In Yoder, H. S. (ed.), The Evolution of the Igneous Rocks: Fiftieth Anniversary Perspectives, 339–50. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Stillman, C. J., & Francis, E. H. 1979. Caledonian volcanism in Britain and Ireland. In Harris, A. L., Holland, C. H. & Leake, B. E. (eds), The Caledonides of the British Isles — Reviewed, 557–77. Special Publication of the Geological Society of London, 8.Google Scholar
Stone, J. F. S. 1938. An early Bronze Age grave in Fargo Plantation near Stonehenge. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine 48, 357–70.Google Scholar
Stone, J. F. S. 1948. The Stonehenge cursus and its affinities. Archaeological Journal 104, 7–19.Google Scholar
Stone, J. F. S. 1950. An axe-hammer from Fifield Bavant, Wiltshire, and the exploitation of Preselite. Antiquaries Journal 30, 145–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stone, J. F. S. & Wallis, F. S. 1951. Third report of the sub-committee of the south-western group of museums and art galleries on the petrological determination of stone axes. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 17, 99–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strahan, A., Cantrill, T. C., Dixon, E. E. L. & Thomas, H. H. 1909. The Geology of the South Wales Coalfield, Part X, The Country around Carmarthen. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Strahan, A., Cantrill, T. C., Dixon, E. E. L., Thomas, H. H. & Jones, O. T. 1914. The Geology of the South Wales Coalfield, Part XI. The Country Around Haverfordwest. London: HMSO.Google Scholar
Synge, F. M. 1970. The Pleistocene Period in Wales. In Lewis, C. A. (ed.), The Glaciations of Wales and Adjoining Regions, 315–50. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Teall, J. J. H. 1894. Notes on sections of Stonehenge rocks belonging to Mr. W. Cunnington. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine 27, 66–68.Google Scholar
Thomas, H. H. 1921. Discussion after Stonehenge: interim report on the exploration by W. Hawley. Antiquaries Journal 1, 39–40.Google Scholar
Thomas, H. H. 1923. The source of the stones of Stonehenge. Antiquaries Journal 3, 239–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, H. H. & Cox, A. H. 1924. The volcanic series of Trefgarn, Roch, and Ambleston (Pembrokeshire). Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 80, 520–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, R. G. 1978. The Stratigraphy, Palynology and Sedimentology of the Lower Old Red Sandstone Cosheston Group, South-West Dyfed, Wales. Ph.D. thesis, University of Bristol.Google Scholar
Thorpe, R. S., Beckinsale, R. D., Patchett, P. J., Piper, J. D. A., Davies, G. R. & Evans, J. A. 1984. Crustal growth and late Precambrian–early Palaeozoic plate tectonic evolution of England and Wales. Journal of the Geological Society of London 141, 521–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorpe, R. S., Leat, P. T., Bevins, R. E. & Hughes, D. J. 1989. Late-orogenic alkaline/subalkaline Silurian volcanism of the Skomer Volcanic Group in the Caledonides of south Wales. Journal of the Geological Society of London 146, 125–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorpe, R. S. & Williams-Thorpe, O. 1991. The myth of long-distance megalith transport. Antiquity 65, 64–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vatcher, F. de M. & Vatcher, H. L. 1969. Excavation and fieldwork in Wiltshire, 1968. Amesbury: King Barrow Wood to Stonehenge. Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine 64, 123.Google Scholar
Walton, E. K., Randall, B. A. O., Battey, M. H. & Tomkieff, O. (eds), 1983. Dictionary of Petrology by S. I. Tomkieff. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Wood, D. A. 1980. The application of a Th-Hf-Ta diagram to problems of tectonomagmatic classification and to establish the nature of crustal contamination of basaltic lavas of the British Tertiary volcanic province. Earth and Planetary Science Letter 50, 11–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, D. A., Joron, J. L. & Treuil, M. 1979. A re-appraisal of the use of trace elements to classify and discriminate between magma series erupted in different tectonic settings. Earth and Planetary Science Letter 45, 326–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodcock, N. H. & Gibbons, W. 1988. Is the Welsh borderland fault system a terrane boundary? Journal ofthe Geological Society of London 145, 915–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziegler, A. M., McKerrow, W. S., Burne, R. V. & Baker, P. E. 1969. Correlation and environmental setting of the Skomer Volcanic Group, Pembrokeshire. Proceedings of the Geologists Association 80, 409–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar