Where the stones that make up Stonehenge's megaliths came from has long been a subject of curiosity and debate. These stones do not exist in the immediate vicinity and needed to be transported from a significant distance. A new article in Science Advances traces their origins using "geochemical" analysis. 50 of the 52 sarcens (the megaliths that make up the primary architecture of the site) were found to share a consistent chemistry and by inference came from a common site. A detailed analysis of a core sample from the sarcens puts this origin at the West Woods, 25 km north of the site - Number 6 on this map.
Note: I carved up the original image (4 maps) to make them more legible in this format.
The smaller "bluestones" at the center of the site have been previously traced to Wales.
The map below shows the sampling sites. There is some confusion in the article as the footnotes are numbered similarly to the maps. It took a few readings to realize that 7-8 and 9-10 below are sampling sites unrelated to footnotes 7-9 and 10. I thought I had found a major cartographic blunder; confusing Wales with southwest England. It turned out to just be my own confusion.
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