Archaeologists discover Stonehenge was surprisingly easy to build

Archaeologists discover new facts about stonehenge.

(Image credit: THOMAS OLIVA/AFP/Getty Images)

published 31 May 2016

Stonehenge might not be that impressive after all. While moving massive stones 140 miles through the mountains before the advent of heavy construction equipment has long been thought to be a nearly impossible task, a group of archaeologists from University College London has found that the task may only have required a small team of people.

In an experiment to see how the stones might have been moved, archaeologists set a one-ton stone on a sleigh, which was then dragged along tracks. Much to the archaeologists' surprise, a team of just 10 people was able to move the rock. The team managed to pull the rock one foot every five seconds, which, the experiment concludes, would "net a speed of more than one mile per hour." While the rocks from Stonehenge weigh nearly twice as much as the stones used in the experiment, archaeologists surmise that the team could be doubled to 20 people for the same ease of movement, even with the added challenge of the Preseli Mountains' tough terrain.

Archaeologists also point out that the same technique has been used to tackle far more impressive feats. The system was also used to move China's Forbidden City's stones, which weigh 120 tons a piece — more than 60 times that of Stonehenge's stones.