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Archaeologists Find That Stonehenge Was 'Built In Wales' And Then Moved To Wiltshire

By R. Siva Kumar | Update Date: Dec 08, 2015 06:27 PM EST

Archaeologists have a theory on the ancestry of Stonehenge. They say that it was built in what is today called Wales, where it has survived for 500 years, until it was transported to Wiltshire.

Some holes have been cut into rocky outcrops near the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire, matching stones which are part of its inner ring, but were cut centuries before it was created and mounted, according to the Guardian.

These holes were discovered on Carn Goedog and Craig Rhos-y-felin, and date back to 3,400 and 3,200 B.C. Still, it was only in Wiltshire in 2,900 B.C. that Stonehenge was created. The archaeologists found similar stones that had been left, as well as a "loading bay" from which they could be dragged off.

It was an "amazing" discovery, according to the director of the project, Professor Mike Parker Pearson of University College London.

"It could have taken those Neolithic stone-draggers nearly 500 years to get them to Stonehenge, but that's pretty improbable in my view," he said, according to the Independent. "It's more likely that the stones were first used in a local monument, somewhere near the quarries, that was then dismantled and dragged off to Wiltshire."

It was the "first Stonehenge," while the Welsh one is a "second-hand monument," he said.

"Normally, we don't get to make that many fantastic discoveries. But this is one," said Pearson. It would make us understand why it was built and dragged here, he added.

"If we can find the original monument in Wales from which it was built, we will finally be able to solve the mystery of why Stonehenge was built and why some of its stones were brought so far," he theorized. More excavations are hoped to be discovered by 2016.

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