Scientists Solve Mystery About Stonehenge

 

British scientists say they have solved a mystery involving Stonehenge, the world-famous¹ stone monument² in Wiltshire, England.

The scientists reported this week that they have identified where many of Stonehenge's large stones, called megaliths, came from. Thousands of years ago, people used such stones to build markers, monuments³ and other structures⁴.

The researchers said part of one megalith helped solve the mystery. The small piece of stone had been kept in the United⁵ States for over 40 years.

Chemical testing suggests that most of Stonehenge's megaliths, known⁶ as sarsens, came from an area called West Woods. It is about 25 kilometers away from the ancient monument, the researchers said on Wednesday.

People set up the sarsens at Stonehenge over 4,000 years ago. The largest sarsen is 9.1 meters tall. The heaviest weighs about 30 tons.

David Nash of the University of Brighton led the study, which was published in the journal⁷ Science Advances.

Nash said that researchers still do not know how people moved the stones to Stonehenge. "Given the size of the stones, they must have either been dragged or moved on rollers," he said. Nash added⁸, "We don't know the exact route⁹ but at least we now have a starting point and an endpoint."

Stonehenge also has smaller stones, called bluestones. Experts believe these stones came from Pembrokeshire in Wales¹⁰, around 250 kilometers away.

A sarsen core¹¹ sample, taken during repair work in the late 1950s, gave important information about Stonehenge's origins. The core sample was given to a man named Robert Phillips. Phillips worked for the company that was repairing the monument.

Phillips took the sample with permission when he moved to the United States in 1977, Nash said. Phillips returned it to Britain for research in 2018. He died this year.

The researchers studied very small pieces of the sample to find where it came from. It was similar to sandstone found at West Woods and all but two of the Stonehenge sarsens.

Nash said he hopes the finding¹² will help people better understand the hard work that went into building Stonehenge.

I'm John Russell.

Words in This Story

monument – n. a building or place that is important because of when it was built or because of something in history that happened there

journal – n. a magazine that reports on things of special interest to a group of people

drag – v. to pull (someone or something that is heavy or difficult to move)

roller – n. a part that rolls and is used to move, press, shape, spread, or smooth something

route – n. a part that rolls and is used to move, press, shape or spread something

core sample – n. a small part of a larger formation

1 world-famous   

adj.世界闻名的

参考例句：

• A world-famous violinist is playing at tonight's concert.一位世界闻名的小提琴家将在今晚的音乐会上演奏。
• Xi'an is a world-famous city for her ancient culture.西安是一座举世闻名的文化古城。

2 monument   

n.纪念碑；遗址，遗迹；有永久价值的作品，不朽的功业

参考例句：

• A monument was set up as a memorial to the dead soldiers.为阵亡将士立了一个纪念碑。
• The monument bears the mark of age.纪念碑上有年深日久的痕迹。

3 monuments   

纪念碑( monument的名词复数 )； 遗迹； 遗址； 丰碑

参考例句：

• The work is one of the great monuments of English literature. 此作品是英国文学的不朽名作之一。
• The monuments of men's ancestors were the most impressive exhortations. 先辈们的丰碑最能奋勉人心的。

4 structures   

n.结构( structure的名词复数 )；[生物学]构造；机构；构造物v.组织( structure的第三人称单数 )；安排；制定

参考例句：

• All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪，并且初步鉴定为神庙。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Flexibility of labour was obtained through the breakup of old trade union structures. 打破了旧的工会结构之后，雇用劳工可以灵活处理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

6 known   

adj.大家知道的；知名的，已知的

参考例句：

• He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
• He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。

7 journal   

n.日志，日记；议事录；日记帐；杂志，定期刊物

参考例句：

• He kept a journal during his visit to Japan.他在访问日本期间坚持记日记。
• He got a job as editor of a trade journal.他找到了一份当商业杂志编辑的工作。

8 added   

adj.更多的，附加的，额外的

参考例句：

• They have added a new scene at the beginning.在开头他们又增加了一场戏。
• The pop music added to our enjoyment of the film.片中的流行音乐使我们对这部电影更加喜爱。

9 route   

n.路径，途径，路线；vt.确定路线，按规定路线发送

参考例句：

• On the way home, we took an indirect route.回家的路上，我们绕了一个大圈。
• The plane did not fly the usual commercial route.飞机没有沿通常的商业航线飞。

10 Wales   

n.威尔士(在大不列颠岛西南部)

参考例句：

• The company are opening up a new factory in Wales.公司将在威尔士开一家新工厂。
• She teaches English at the University of Wales.她在威尔士大学教英语。

11 core   

n.中心；核心；(苹果、梨等果实的)果心

参考例句：

• We didn't get to the core of the subject.我们没触及问题的核心。
• The pear is rotten to the core.这梨全烂了。

12 finding   

n.发现，发现物；调查的结果

参考例句：

• The finding makes some sense.该发现具有一定的意义。
• That's an encouraging finding.这是一个鼓舞人心的发现。