The stones discovered near Stonehenge over 200 years ago are nothing more than a set of tools for working with gold.
This conclusion was reached by British archaeologists who re-examined the stone artifacts from the Bronze Age housed in the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes, England. These artifacts were excavated in 1801 from the Upton Lovell burial mound G2a.
Until now, scientists had no idea about the purpose of the stones found more than two centuries ago.
The burial mound is an earthen hill located not far from Stonehenge. Previous excavations revealed the remains of two individuals. Alongside them were burial artifacts.
A team of researchers studied the findings as part of the Beyond the Three Age System project. They discovered that the stone items are an ancient toolkit for processing gold.
The individual buried near Stonehenge was a highly skilled craftsman specializing in the creation of gold artifacts. In the grave, they found a ceremonial cloak adorned with bone fragments, as reported by the BBC. This indicated that the man was a spiritual leader—one of the few in the early Bronze Age who understood the magic of metalworking.
How the Artifacts Were Identified
Dr. Kristina Tsoraki from the University of Leicester, the lead author of the study, analyzed the wear on the artifacts. On the surface of five of them, she noticed traces of gold, as reported by Heritage Daily.
Joining Dr. Tsoraki was Dr. Chris Standish from the University of Southampton, an expert in early Bronze Age gold processing. To determine the age of the residues, he employed scanning using an electron microscope connected to an energy-dispersive spectrometer.
The research results showed that the stone tools were used for various purposes—some as hammers and anvils, while others were used for smoothing other materials. The residues on the surface of the artifacts were identified by characteristics typical of Bronze Age gold items, which have been found throughout Great Britain at different times.
The project leader, Dr. Oliver Harris, noted that thanks to advanced technologies, the team learned about the manufacturing and purposes of these objects from the distant past. The study also demonstrated the enduring significance of museum collections.