18. The Bluestones were carried 140 miles from Wales to Stonehenge
There are two types of stone at Stonehenge, if you look carefully. The larger ones are known as Sarsen stones, and the smaller ones are known as Bluestones. Whilst the Sarsens were locally available, the Bluestones have posed a greater mystery to historians and archaeologists since the 1920s. That type of stone is only found in the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire, Wales. In 2015, archaeologists teamed up with geologists and found the exact quarry where the Bluestones were mined around 2900 BC (above). For anyone not familiar with British geography, the Preseli Hills are 140 miles (225 km) from Stonehenge.
How on earth did the English builders at Stonehenge know about rocks found 140 miles away? Why were Bluestones so important that they were brought such that far? Each of the remaining 43 Bluestones at Stonehenge weighs 2-4 tonnes. So how did these ancient people move them such a distance? We can only guess that the Bluestones were so unusual that people thought them sacred, and tales spread far and wide. But, as for moving them, we really don’t know. They were probably slowly and tediously brought over land, either dragged or carried on wooden lattices, over many years.