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{\an8}♪♪♪

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-Stonehenge...
Britain's Neolithic concentric

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{\an1}circles of ancient stone,

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{\an1}one of the most iconic
and mysterious monuments

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{\an1}ever constructed in Europe.

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{\an1}For generations, people have
argued over its origin,

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{\an1}its meaning, and its purpose.

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{\an1}But now a dedicated team
of archaeologists

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{\an1}and scientists have made
an incredible discovery,

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{\an1}one that rewrites the entire
history of Stonehenge.

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{\an1}The story begins with a series
of extraordinary digs

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conducted over
the last 10 years,

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roughly 150 miles
from Stonehenge

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in western Wales.

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{\an1}Using the latest science
and their own determination,

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{\an1}archaeologists have unearthed
the remains

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{\an1}of another immense stone circle,

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dismantled in order
to create Stonehenge,

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a monument that stood
centuries earlier,

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{\an1}in another part of Britain.

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"The First Circle
of Stonehenge."

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♪♪♪

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{\an7}- "Secrets of the Dead"
was made possible in part by

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{\an7}contributions to your PBS
station from viewers like you.

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{\an8}Thank you.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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-In the south
of the British Isles,

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on the high plateau
of Salisbury Plain,

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stands Stonehenge,

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{\an1}the most iconic prehistoric
monument in Europe,

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{\an1}built 4,000 to 5,000 years ago

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by a Stone Age people
now long forgotten.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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The looming megaliths
cast an impressive shadow,

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{\an1}but how they ended up here
is still unknown.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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{\an1}The true origins of Stonehenge

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{\an1}have remained shrouded
in mystery.

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{\an1}But all that is changing.

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British archaeologist
Mike Parker Pearson leads a team

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{\an1}that has been transforming
our understanding

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{\an1}of these ancient stones.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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{\an7}-Although my work involves
many different aspects,

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{\an7}many different countries,

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{\an8}Stonehenge I think
really got its hooks into me.

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{\an1}As an archaeologist, you can't
not be interested in Stonehenge.

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{\an1}-The huge Sarsen stones

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are what usually get
the most attention,

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{\an1}but Mike is interested

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{\an1}in the often-overlooked
bluestones.

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{\an1}-The bluestones are much smaller

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{\an1}than the great big stones
of Stonehenge.

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{\an1}They're generally not much
bigger than the human frame.

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{\an1}-Mike's excavations in 2008

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revealed that,
despite their size,

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they are central
to the Stonehenge story.

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{\an1}-When Stonehenge started out,

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{\an1}it looked very different
to how it looks now.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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{\an1}-Mike's early work revealed

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{\an1}the original configuration
of Stonehenge.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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{\an1}At the edge of the site,

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he uncovered a ring
of ancient holes

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that used to hold
the bluestones...

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{\an1}evidence Stonehenge used to look
very different from today.

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{\an1}These holes demonstrate
that the original monument,

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{\an1}dating from around 3000 BC,

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{\an1}was an enormous circle
made entirely of bluestones.

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{\an1}-So, this was a major surprise.

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We'd always thought
that the first Stonehenge

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{\an1}was just a monument of earth,
a ditch and a bank,

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{\an1}but it had actually been
a stone monument

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{\an1}right from the beginning.

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{\an1}-For Mike, this revelation
was the start of a quest

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to discover
the origins of Stonehenge...

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{\an1}a quest that would stretch
over more than a decade.

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{\an1}-To understand Stonehenge, the
secret is in the bluestones...

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To find out
where they came from and why.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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{\an1}-There is a long-held legend
about Stonehenge,

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first recorded
in the Middle Ages.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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{\an1}It tells of the wizard Merlin,

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who led men westward,
to Ireland,

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the Land of Giants...

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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{\an1}...where he found the stones

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{\an1}and, using his magical powers,
transported them to England.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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{\an1}-Mythology and archaeology
make uncomfortable bedfellows,

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{\an1}but sometimes there are
kernels of truth.

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{\an1}We know about Troy from the
stories of Homer, for example,

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and archaeologists
have sometimes wondered,

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{\an1}might there be something
in the Merlin tale?

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-There may be,
because it turns out

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{\an1}the original bluestones
are not local.

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{\an1}-The bluestones actually
come from the far west.

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It's not Ireland,
but it's almost there.

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It's west Wales.

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In fact, at the time
that the story was written down,

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the west of Wales
had actually been regarded

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as part of Ireland.

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-Could there be
an archaeological foundation

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{\an1}to this fantastical story
of giants and magic?

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A century ago,
archaeologists determined

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that Stonehenge's
bluestone megaliths

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{\an1}came from the Preseli Hills
of Pembrokeshire, Wales,

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almost 150 miles west
of Salisbury Plain.

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{\an1}This westerly direction

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fits with the details
of the Merlin myth.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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{\an1}In 2010, to understand why
Stonehenge was built

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{\an1}with stones from so far away,

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{\an1}Mike went to Wales to hunt
for the quarries

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{\an1}where they were mined.

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{\an1}Little did he know that he would
make a far greater discovery...

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{\an1}that once mined, these ancient
bluestones first formed

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an even older,
long-forgotten monument.

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This secret history
revolutionizes the understanding

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of how and why
Stonehenge came to be.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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{\an1}The investigation to pinpoint
the precise source

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{\an1}of the bluestones in Wales
gets under way.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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But the Preseli Hills
are vast...

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{\an1}and peppered with countless
outcrops of volcanic rock,

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{\an1}any one of which could be

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{\an1}where the Stonehenge bluestones
were mined.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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{\an1}By comparing samples from
the Stonehenge bluestones

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{\an7}with rocks in the Preseli Hills,

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{\an7}20th-century geologists
made a crude match

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{\an8}with a couple
of southern outcrops.

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{\an1}But Mike isn't convinced.

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{\an1}He wants to find evidence
of quarrying activity,

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and to ensure he digs
in the right place,

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{\an1}he needs the most up-to-date
geological analysis of the area.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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{\an1}Geologist Richard Bevins
has mapped and sampled

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{\an1}hundreds of Preseli outcrops.

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Each one is unique.

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{\an8}-Examining the rocks
of this area,

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{\an8}there... there are
subtle differences.

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[ Clinking ]

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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{\an1}You have to have experienced
a lot of exposure

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{\an1}to spot the minor differences

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{\an1}which become critical.

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{\an1}-Richard's research is critical

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when comparing
the Stonehenge bluestones

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{\an1}with the Welsh outcroppings.

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{\an1}But it alone is not enough.

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{\an1}With the help of Jane Evans,
Mike and Richard also use

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{\an1}the latest tools of geochemistry
to learn more.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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{\an1}-The idea that we might be able
to use these methods

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{\an7}to pin down the absolute origin,
possibly, of some of these rocks

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{\an7}was a fascinating challenge.

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I don't think
that it's ever been used

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in the archaeological
context before,

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{\an1}so I think this was a first.

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-Bluestone samples
from both Stonehenge

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{\an1}and the Preseli outcrops
are pulverized...

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[ Machine clacking ]

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transformed into
the finest sand...

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{\an1}then panned, like gold,
to separate out the minerals.

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{\an1}-We can look at the chemical
compositions of small crystals

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{\an1}for lots of different elements,

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and then we can do
a matching of those elements,

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{\an1}almost like a fingerprint.

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{\an1}-A favorite mineral marker
is zircon,

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{\an1}nature's geological clock.

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{\an1}-Zircon is a very robust mineral

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{\an1}that never gets affected
by geological processes

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{\an1}and is, therefore, very good
for dating rocks.

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-From the moment
zircon is formed,

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{\an1}the radioactive uranium atoms
inside it

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decay into lead
at a steady rate.

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{\an1}By measuring the ratio
of uranium to lead

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in a sample of rock,

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{\an1}one can determine a unique
isotopic signature

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{\an1}to calculate its precise age.

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{\an1}The results are game-changing.

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The zircon age of
the Stonehenge samples

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{\an1}doesn't match the dates

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for the outcroppings
suggested in the 20th century.

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{\an7}Instead, based on this key
research and other analysis,

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{\an7}two new outcrops are identified
as the source of the bluestones.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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-That was a really
exciting moment.

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{\an1}What the geologists had
discovered was not just

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that archaeologists
and geologists

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had been looking
in the wrong place

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{\an1}for the best part of 100 years,

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{\an1}but that here was somewhere
where we could actually

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find the quarry
where monoliths were extracted.

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{\an1}-With the chemical analyses
of the stones

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guiding them to look
in new locations,

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Mike and his team
have discovered

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the original
Stonehenge quarries.

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{\an1}Reality is replacing myth,

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{\an1}and the secrets that lay
within the ancient quarries

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can now be revealed.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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{\an1}But when were the stones
removed from the quarry?

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It's time to dig.

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{\an1}[ Indistinct conversations ]

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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{\an1}In 2014, a full-scale study

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00:11:02,700 --> 00:11:06,066
at the outcrops
of Craig Rhos-y-felin

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{\an1}and the imposing Carn Goedog

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gets under way.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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{\an1}The team is looking for signs
that prehistoric people

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extracted stone here
thousands of years ago.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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{\an1}-We've got a date for 153,

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{\an1}and it's everything above that.

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{\an8}♪♪♪

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-It isn't long
before the digs confirm

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what the geology
had indicated...

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{\an1}clear evidence of quarrying of
Stonehenge's bluestone pillars.

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{\an1}Some of it is in plain sight.

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-What we've got here are pillars

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that have actually
been detached, ready to go.

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{\an1}One here, one there, one there,

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{\an1}and they're really like
a pack of cards

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that have slipped,
one, two, three.

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{\an1}Just here, we have a wedge mark

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{\an1}where somebody has chiseled

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{\an1}just at that point when these
two were at the same height

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{\an1}to actually split them off,

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{\an1}and that must have been
the moment

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when that fissure
opened right up

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{\an1}that this stone slid downwards.

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00:12:30,366 --> 00:12:32,466
{\an1}-In the dig at the base
of the outcrop,

239
00:12:32,500 --> 00:12:35,900
the team uncovers
strangely positioned stones,

240
00:12:35,933 --> 00:12:41,466
{\an1}suggesting the existence
of a bluestone production line.

241
00:12:41,500 --> 00:12:43,633
-These provide
lots of pivot points

242
00:12:43,666 --> 00:12:48,066
{\an1}so that you can actually swing
and tip the pillar

243
00:12:48,100 --> 00:12:51,533
so the bluestone
can then be balanced onto here,

244
00:12:51,566 --> 00:12:57,466
{\an1}and then we've got one end
on this trestle

245
00:12:57,500 --> 00:13:00,133
{\an1}and another one on this one,

246
00:13:00,166 --> 00:13:03,800
{\an1}and then you're poised
to get the bluestone away

247
00:13:03,833 --> 00:13:05,966
{\an1}and down to the valley.

248
00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:07,966
{\an8}♪♪♪

249
00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:11,366
{\an1}-But how did the stones travel
nearly 150 miles

250
00:13:11,400 --> 00:13:14,300
to Salisbury Plain?

251
00:13:14,333 --> 00:13:17,300
{\an1}In the past, archaeologists
assumed the quarries

252
00:13:17,333 --> 00:13:20,400
were located on
the southern slopes of Preseli,

253
00:13:20,433 --> 00:13:23,300
{\an1}which would have made it easier
to move the stones by sea

254
00:13:23,333 --> 00:13:24,866
for the journey east

255
00:13:24,900 --> 00:13:27,600
and avoid trekking
over mountains.

256
00:13:27,633 --> 00:13:31,566
{\an8}♪♪♪

257
00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:33,400
But the recently
discovered quarries

258
00:13:33,433 --> 00:13:35,966
{\an1}are on the northern slopes
of the hills,

259
00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:39,666
{\an1}which suggests the stones
may have travelled overland.

260
00:13:39,700 --> 00:13:42,866
{\an1}-I think that there's a much
more plausible possibility

261
00:13:42,900 --> 00:13:48,266
{\an1}that they took those stones
as far as they could by land.

262
00:13:48,300 --> 00:13:51,300
{\an1}There's a much more feasible
land route

263
00:13:51,333 --> 00:13:56,033
from the north side
going round the Preselis

264
00:13:56,066 --> 00:14:01,000
{\an7}and then picking up the natural
routeways that have been formed

265
00:14:01,033 --> 00:14:05,800
{\an1}by the system of valleys
in South Wales.

266
00:14:05,833 --> 00:14:07,666
{\an1}-Dragging these stones,

267
00:14:07,700 --> 00:14:10,400
{\an1}each the size and weight
of a small car,

268
00:14:10,433 --> 00:14:14,366
almost 150 miles
seems a staggering feat

269
00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:17,600
{\an1}for Stone Age peoples.

270
00:14:17,633 --> 00:14:19,566
{\an1}Would it have been possible?

271
00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:24,733
{\an8}♪♪♪

272
00:14:24,766 --> 00:14:30,200
{\an1}James Dilley and Luke Winter
are experimental archaeologists.

273
00:14:30,233 --> 00:14:33,166
{\an8}-The Neolithic period
has a very small amount

274
00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:34,733
{\an7}of fragmentary evidence,

275
00:14:34,766 --> 00:14:37,433
{\an8}and what we can do
with experimental archaeology

276
00:14:37,466 --> 00:14:41,533
{\an1}is to start filling those gaps.

277
00:14:41,566 --> 00:14:44,233
{\an1}-They recreate circumstances
as they were

278
00:14:44,266 --> 00:14:45,900
in the ancient past,

279
00:14:45,933 --> 00:14:51,100
using only materials
and tools available then.

280
00:14:51,133 --> 00:14:52,909
{\an1}-So, the tools that we've found
in archaeology

281
00:14:52,933 --> 00:14:55,333
may appear simple.
They're just rocks.

282
00:14:55,366 --> 00:14:57,500
{\an1}Some are sharp. Some are pointy.

283
00:14:57,533 --> 00:14:59,733
{\an1}But actually, they've been
very carefully made.

284
00:14:59,766 --> 00:15:01,566
{\an1}They've selected raw materials

285
00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:05,300
{\an1}that lend their characteristics
to work really well.

286
00:15:05,333 --> 00:15:09,866
{\an8}♪♪♪

287
00:15:09,900 --> 00:15:11,900
{\an8}So, the stone blade
is actually housed

288
00:15:11,933 --> 00:15:16,866
{\an8}inside this piece
of red deer antler here.

289
00:15:16,900 --> 00:15:20,300
{\an1}And the protein that makes up
this antler is so tough

290
00:15:20,333 --> 00:15:22,933
{\an1}and strong that it's...
It's not going to break.

291
00:15:22,966 --> 00:15:25,566
{\an1}I would have to put this
under huge force

292
00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:27,100
{\an1}to actually break this,
so it's really

293
00:15:27,133 --> 00:15:31,966
such a great material
to be using as carpentry.

294
00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:40,000
{\an8}♪♪♪

295
00:15:40,166 --> 00:15:43,066
-Here at the Ancient
Technology Centre,

296
00:15:43,100 --> 00:15:45,000
they are testing
whether the bluestones

297
00:15:45,033 --> 00:15:49,700
{\an1}could have been transported
on wooden sleds.

298
00:15:49,733 --> 00:15:51,466
{\an1}-If you consider the route,
for example,

299
00:15:51,500 --> 00:15:53,433
{\an1}from Preseli to Stonehenge,

300
00:15:53,466 --> 00:15:58,000
it's 140 miles across
all terrains, valleys.

301
00:15:58,033 --> 00:16:00,166
And so what...
What became really apparent

302
00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,266
was that we needed
to work out a method

303
00:16:03,300 --> 00:16:07,333
{\an1}that would encompass all those
terrains and make it feasible...

304
00:16:07,366 --> 00:16:10,133
{\an1}how you can take a stone,
encase it,

305
00:16:10,166 --> 00:16:14,666
{\an1}so that you can drag it
over any number of surfaces.

306
00:16:14,700 --> 00:16:18,766
{\an1}-Luke first experimented
with this method in 2018,

307
00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:22,233
{\an1}based on evidence collected
from Indonesia, Germany,

308
00:16:22,266 --> 00:16:25,433
{\an1}and even ancient Egypt.

309
00:16:25,466 --> 00:16:28,300
{\an1}-We looked at ethnographic
evidence for the way

310
00:16:28,333 --> 00:16:31,366
{\an1}that people have moved
sledges in recent times,

311
00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:33,900
and we looked at
pictorial references

312
00:16:33,933 --> 00:16:37,900
{\an1}of how people were moving
heavy things 5,000 years ago,

313
00:16:37,933 --> 00:16:42,500
{\an1}and we incorporated that
to develop the sledge idea.

314
00:16:42,533 --> 00:16:44,666
{\an1}The stone we're fitting
the cradle round today

315
00:16:44,700 --> 00:16:47,400
is about 1.2 tons,

316
00:16:47,433 --> 00:16:49,666
and the bluestones
that came from Preseli,

317
00:16:49,700 --> 00:16:54,333
{\an1}they range in size from around
1.2 to about 3.2 tons,

318
00:16:54,366 --> 00:16:56,833
{\an1}so this is the smaller end
of the scale

319
00:16:56,866 --> 00:16:58,566
for the bluestones.

320
00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:01,333
So, this is called
a tusk tenon joint.

321
00:17:01,366 --> 00:17:03,566
We have clear,
really solid evidence

322
00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:05,333
{\an1}for this type of joint
from the Neolithic.

323
00:17:05,366 --> 00:17:09,100
{\an1}When it goes together,
it's still reasonably loose,

324
00:17:09,133 --> 00:17:11,300
{\an1}and the thing that tightens it

325
00:17:11,333 --> 00:17:14,066
is the peg
that drives through the hole.

326
00:17:14,100 --> 00:17:16,700
{\an8}♪♪♪

327
00:17:16,733 --> 00:17:19,400
{\an1}-Experimental archaeology
has demonstrated

328
00:17:19,433 --> 00:17:23,400
{\an1}just how effective these
Neolithic sleds could have been.

329
00:17:23,433 --> 00:17:25,400
{\an8}♪♪♪

330
00:17:25,433 --> 00:17:27,109
{\an1}-You can see we've got
two ends of the rope

331
00:17:27,133 --> 00:17:28,400
running up the field.

332
00:17:28,433 --> 00:17:31,533
{\an1}We're going to split you down,
15 on each side.

333
00:17:31,566 --> 00:17:32,909
{\an1}-Today we're going to attempt
to pull this

334
00:17:32,933 --> 00:17:34,133
with schoolchildren.

335
00:17:34,166 --> 00:17:36,233
Obviously, we doubt
whether the Preseli stones

336
00:17:36,266 --> 00:17:37,842
{\an1}were moved by children.
We don't know that,

337
00:17:37,866 --> 00:17:41,066
{\an1}but we assume teams of adults,

338
00:17:41,100 --> 00:17:42,766
{\an1}muscular, strong, fit people.

339
00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:45,566
So it's a real test.

340
00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:48,100
{\an1}-So, everyone's got a good,
firm grip on the rope?

341
00:17:48,133 --> 00:17:49,700
{\an1}Yep? No half measures.

342
00:17:49,733 --> 00:17:51,166
Good, firm grip.

343
00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:54,900
3, 2, 1.

344
00:17:54,933 --> 00:17:56,300
Pull!

345
00:17:56,333 --> 00:17:57,700
Go, go!

346
00:17:57,733 --> 00:17:59,666
Go, go, go!

347
00:17:59,700 --> 00:18:02,033
[ Children speaking
indistinctly ]

348
00:18:02,066 --> 00:18:04,200
{\an8}♪♪♪

349
00:18:04,233 --> 00:18:06,533
Go, go, go!

350
00:18:06,566 --> 00:18:08,866
{\an1}Someone tell us when to stop.

351
00:18:08,900 --> 00:18:13,133
{\an8}♪♪♪

352
00:18:13,166 --> 00:18:14,400
Okay, drop the rope

353
00:18:14,433 --> 00:18:17,500
and give yourselves
a big round of applause.

354
00:18:20,500 --> 00:18:23,066
{\an1}-I thought that was fantastic.
So, that was just pulled.

355
00:18:23,100 --> 00:18:25,766
{\an1}So, that's nearly 1 1/2 tons
with the timber frame,

356
00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:29,966
and that was pulled
by 30 13-year-olds.

357
00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:33,333
We probably did 35,
40 meters up the slope,

358
00:18:33,366 --> 00:18:35,966
{\an1}and it's up an incline,
and I think it...

359
00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:37,166
{\an1}once again, it really...

360
00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:40,066
It sort of shows
that this... this theory works.

361
00:18:40,100 --> 00:18:44,400
{\an1}You can pull a heavy weight
on a sled on raw ground

362
00:18:44,433 --> 00:18:47,600
without the need
for huge timber arrangements

363
00:18:47,633 --> 00:18:50,066
and sleeper trackways
or rollers.

364
00:18:50,100 --> 00:18:51,476
And actually,
it was really surprising

365
00:18:51,500 --> 00:18:52,866
{\an1}how efficient it became.

366
00:18:52,900 --> 00:18:54,809
{\an1}Half the team didn't even seem
to be pulling much.

367
00:18:54,833 --> 00:18:57,300
{\an1}But fantastically successful.

368
00:18:57,333 --> 00:18:59,466
-1, 2, 3,

369
00:18:59,500 --> 00:19:01,666
yay!
- Yay!

370
00:19:01,700 --> 00:19:06,600
{\an8}♪♪♪

371
00:19:06,633 --> 00:19:08,500
{\an1}-The quarry excavations revealed

372
00:19:08,533 --> 00:19:11,133
the ingenious
stone extraction techniques

373
00:19:11,166 --> 00:19:13,200
{\an1}of the Neolithic people.

374
00:19:13,233 --> 00:19:15,366
{\an1}And experimental archaeology
has shown

375
00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:17,833
{\an1}how the multi-ton bluestones

376
00:19:17,866 --> 00:19:20,933
{\an1}might have been transported
over land.

377
00:19:20,966 --> 00:19:23,466
{\an8}♪♪♪

378
00:19:23,500 --> 00:19:24,800
Back at the quarries,

379
00:19:24,833 --> 00:19:28,133
the archaeologists
have unearthed a new mystery

380
00:19:28,166 --> 00:19:32,600
{\an1}sparked by the charred remains
of a Neolithic snack.

381
00:19:35,533 --> 00:19:39,400
In 2014, at the Craig
Rhos-y-felin quarry,

382
00:19:39,433 --> 00:19:41,833
the team excavates
hazelnut shells

383
00:19:41,866 --> 00:19:44,300
{\an1}near a Stone Age fire pit...

384
00:19:44,333 --> 00:19:46,466
{\an8}♪♪♪

385
00:19:46,500 --> 00:19:49,766
{\an1}...evidence a Neolithic person
threw the remains of their meal

386
00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:51,033
into the fire

387
00:19:51,066 --> 00:19:55,433
{\an1}at roughly the same time
as the bluestones were quarried,

388
00:19:55,466 --> 00:19:59,400
preserving them
for more than 5,000 years.

389
00:19:59,433 --> 00:20:01,600
{\an8}♪♪♪

390
00:20:01,633 --> 00:20:05,833
{\an1}The charred hazelnut shells
were gathered and carbon-dated.

391
00:20:05,866 --> 00:20:09,366
{\an1}The shells were burned
around 3300 BC,

392
00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:11,033
roughly 400 years

393
00:20:11,066 --> 00:20:14,600
before Stonehenge's
bluestone circle was built.

394
00:20:14,633 --> 00:20:16,566
{\an1}-That leaves us with a mystery,

395
00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:19,066
{\an7}because where did they go?

396
00:20:19,100 --> 00:20:22,000
{\an7}Did it take them 400 years

397
00:20:22,033 --> 00:20:24,766
to haul those stones
to Stonehenge?

398
00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:26,500
I suspect not.

399
00:20:26,533 --> 00:20:31,466
I think that there's
another place, maybe close by,

400
00:20:31,500 --> 00:20:35,333
that these stones
were initially destined for.

401
00:20:35,366 --> 00:20:39,666
{\an1}-To explain the 400-year gap
between quarry and Stonehenge,

402
00:20:39,700 --> 00:20:41,700
Mike theorizes
that the bluestones

403
00:20:41,733 --> 00:20:46,133
could have originally
stood in Wales.

404
00:20:46,166 --> 00:20:49,733
{\an1}Once again, the Merlin myth
offers some perspective.

405
00:20:49,766 --> 00:20:51,766
{\an1}It describes not just stones

406
00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:54,800
but also an existing
stone circle in the west,

407
00:20:54,833 --> 00:20:58,000
{\an1}called "The Giants' Dance."

408
00:20:58,033 --> 00:21:00,900
The team wonders,
could the Stonehenge bluestones

409
00:21:00,933 --> 00:21:04,600
have been part
of The Giants' Dance?

410
00:21:04,633 --> 00:21:06,166
{\an1}Is there any precedent

411
00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:08,766
for this type
of monumental stone building

412
00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:10,966
{\an1}in this remote part of Britain?

413
00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:12,966
-When archaeologists
talk about Preseli,

414
00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:14,533
{\an1}they don't normally think of it

415
00:21:14,566 --> 00:21:18,666
{\an1}as a great ceremonial center
in Neolithic Britain,

416
00:21:18,700 --> 00:21:22,366
{\an1}but actually, it's got one
of the densest concentrations

417
00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:25,300
{\an1}of Neolithic tombs anywhere.

418
00:21:25,333 --> 00:21:27,633
-The area includes
one of the pinnacles

419
00:21:27,666 --> 00:21:31,866
{\an1}of Neolithic building activity,
dolmens.

420
00:21:31,900 --> 00:21:37,233
{\an1}These gravity-defying structures
were used as tombs.

421
00:21:37,266 --> 00:21:40,566
{\an1}The most famous Welsh example,
Pentre Ifan,

422
00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,133
is only a few miles
from the bluestone quarries

423
00:21:43,166 --> 00:21:45,733
{\an1}where the Stonehenge slabs
came from.

424
00:21:45,766 --> 00:21:48,066
{\an8}♪♪♪

425
00:21:48,100 --> 00:21:49,833
{\an1}There is substantial evidence

426
00:21:49,866 --> 00:21:52,333
{\an1}that the Neolithic people
of Western Britain

427
00:21:52,366 --> 00:21:55,333
{\an1}were skilled stonemasons.

428
00:21:55,366 --> 00:21:58,800
{\an1}The people of ancient Wales
had a culture of stone building

429
00:21:58,833 --> 00:22:03,366
{\an1}that was largely absent
in the east of Britain.

430
00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:07,200
{\an1}-Britain was a divided island
when those earliest farmers

431
00:22:07,233 --> 00:22:10,433
{\an1}arrived in the Neolithic,
that, actually, the monuments

432
00:22:10,466 --> 00:22:12,833
and the pottery
that they were using in the east

433
00:22:12,866 --> 00:22:18,066
{\an1}as opposed to the west
were substantially different.

434
00:22:18,100 --> 00:22:20,866
{\an1}-These two groups of people
began arriving in Britain

435
00:22:20,900 --> 00:22:23,833
at the beginning
of the Neolithic period.

436
00:22:23,866 --> 00:22:26,766
Archaeological
and now genetic studies

437
00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:29,566
{\an1}show how they spread west
across Europe,

438
00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:33,633
around the coasts
and along major rivers.

439
00:22:33,666 --> 00:22:36,400
DNA evidence reflects
the two different routes

440
00:22:36,433 --> 00:22:39,733
{\an1}the prehistoric Europeans
took to reach Britain...

441
00:22:39,766 --> 00:22:43,466
East from Calais
and west from Brittany.

442
00:22:43,500 --> 00:22:45,766
{\an8}♪♪♪

443
00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:48,466
Those who came from
the western edge of Europe,

444
00:22:48,500 --> 00:22:50,666
{\an1}settling in and around Wales,

445
00:22:50,700 --> 00:22:54,900
{\an1}developed a distinct style of
building huge stone monuments,

446
00:22:54,933 --> 00:22:57,700
unlike the people
in the east of Britain.

447
00:22:57,733 --> 00:23:02,100
{\an8}♪♪♪

448
00:23:02,133 --> 00:23:04,000
{\an1}From modern France and Spain,

449
00:23:04,033 --> 00:23:06,633
up through Wales
and into Ireland,

450
00:23:06,666 --> 00:23:10,433
{\an1}the remains of a large number
of huge Neolithic dolmens

451
00:23:10,466 --> 00:23:14,466
and other stone tombs
can be found.

452
00:23:14,500 --> 00:23:18,033
{\an1}The people of the Preseli area
were experienced

453
00:23:18,066 --> 00:23:20,533
{\an1}in building stone monuments.

454
00:23:20,566 --> 00:23:22,700
{\an8}♪♪♪

455
00:23:22,733 --> 00:23:26,000
{\an1}Theorizing that an earlier stone
monument in Western Britain

456
00:23:26,033 --> 00:23:27,366
would explain the gap

457
00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:29,533
{\an1}between when the bluestones
were quarried

458
00:23:29,566 --> 00:23:32,000
{\an1}and when they were used
for Stonehenge,

459
00:23:32,033 --> 00:23:36,666
the team's search
intensifies in 2016.

460
00:23:36,700 --> 00:23:38,400
{\an1}In addition to the dolmens,

461
00:23:38,433 --> 00:23:40,066
the landscape
around the quarries

462
00:23:40,100 --> 00:23:43,866
{\an1}is scattered with standing
stones of unknown age.

463
00:23:43,900 --> 00:23:45,800
But there are no
obvious indications

464
00:23:45,833 --> 00:23:49,633
{\an1}about where the team should
search for this original circle.

465
00:23:49,666 --> 00:23:53,800
{\an1}-How on earth would we find
not just a stone circle,

466
00:23:53,833 --> 00:23:57,000
but a stone circle
that had been taken down?

467
00:23:57,033 --> 00:23:58,900
{\an1}In other words, we were looking
for something

468
00:23:58,933 --> 00:24:02,866
{\an1}that would no longer exist
above ground,

469
00:24:02,900 --> 00:24:04,200
and that's a big ask.

470
00:24:04,233 --> 00:24:07,300
That's a real needle
in a haystack.

471
00:24:07,333 --> 00:24:11,966
{\an1}And for a long time, I thought,
what are the chances?

472
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:14,566
Very, very slim.

473
00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:16,466
{\an1}-To see the invisible,

474
00:24:16,500 --> 00:24:20,566
Mike once again
turns to the latest science.

475
00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:25,500
{\an1}Aerial photographs are studied,
and then aerial photogrammetry

476
00:24:25,533 --> 00:24:28,733
is used to map
sites of interest.

477
00:24:28,766 --> 00:24:32,266
From the photos,
3-D models are created

478
00:24:32,300 --> 00:24:36,233
{\an1}and reveal hidden features
in the Preseli landscape.

479
00:24:36,266 --> 00:24:39,400
{\an1}The geophysics team then
analyzes promising sites

480
00:24:39,433 --> 00:24:42,000
{\an1}with ground penetrating radar.

481
00:24:42,033 --> 00:24:45,233
{\an1}They also use machines
that detect tiny changes

482
00:24:45,266 --> 00:24:47,433
{\an1}in the soil's magnetic field

483
00:24:47,466 --> 00:24:50,466
{\an1}that were caused by the heat
of ancient fire pits

484
00:24:50,500 --> 00:24:52,400
{\an1}and other human activity.

485
00:24:52,433 --> 00:24:55,333
{\an1}-It's a fantastic technique,
because it enables us

486
00:24:55,366 --> 00:24:59,066
{\an1}to cover these very large areas
quite quickly.

487
00:24:59,100 --> 00:25:04,800
{\an8}And it can identify
if there are actually monuments

488
00:25:04,833 --> 00:25:10,166
{\an1}or maybe houses, ditches,
pits, et cetera,

489
00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:11,666
{\an1}that are often associated

490
00:25:11,700 --> 00:25:14,866
{\an1}with the prehistoric archaeology
we're looking for.

491
00:25:14,900 --> 00:25:17,033
{\an8}♪♪♪

492
00:25:17,066 --> 00:25:20,033
{\an1}-They are searching among
the scattered standing stones

493
00:25:20,066 --> 00:25:24,533
{\an1}and ruined monuments for traces
of a circular shape...

494
00:25:24,566 --> 00:25:29,366
{\an7}something that could have been
the original bluestone circle.

495
00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:34,133
{\an8}The data suggests
many promising sites, but one,

496
00:25:34,166 --> 00:25:36,800
{\an7}in a field called Pensarn,

497
00:25:36,833 --> 00:25:39,533
stands out.

498
00:25:39,566 --> 00:25:44,233
{\an1}-It's a low mound, but it could
be a prehistoric monument.

499
00:25:44,266 --> 00:25:47,400
And from that period
of the Neolithic,

500
00:25:47,433 --> 00:25:49,666
we know that
some of these mounds

501
00:25:49,700 --> 00:25:52,433
had surrounds
of standing stones.

502
00:25:52,466 --> 00:25:55,633
{\an1}Now, of course we're a stone's
throw in that direction

503
00:25:55,666 --> 00:25:57,833
{\an1}from the main bluestone quarry.

504
00:25:57,866 --> 00:26:00,266
We're a stone's throw
from the smaller one,

505
00:26:00,300 --> 00:26:02,766
{\an1}so this is the perfect position.

506
00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:08,700
{\an1}So who knows what we're about
to find there.

507
00:26:08,733 --> 00:26:10,766
{\an1}-Encouraged by the scans,

508
00:26:10,800 --> 00:26:13,700
the search for
the lost circle begins.

509
00:26:13,733 --> 00:26:15,700
{\an8}♪♪♪

510
00:26:15,733 --> 00:26:17,933
{\an7}-Stone circles are generally
quite easy to find.

511
00:26:17,966 --> 00:26:19,800
{\an8}They've got whacking
great stones in them.

512
00:26:19,833 --> 00:26:22,533
{\an7}What we are looking for
is the depressions

513
00:26:22,566 --> 00:26:26,333
{\an1}and the hollows that were left
by the removal of the stones.

514
00:26:26,366 --> 00:26:28,900
{\an1}But also, don't just find
a hole in the ground...

515
00:26:28,933 --> 00:26:30,100
{\an1}You have to find a hole

516
00:26:30,133 --> 00:26:34,400
with evidence
of a stone being removed.

517
00:26:34,433 --> 00:26:39,566
{\an1}So we're looking for pits
of a certain sort of size,

518
00:26:39,600 --> 00:26:44,066
{\an1}in a certain formation,
with certain characteristics,

519
00:26:44,100 --> 00:26:45,666
and it's not easy.

520
00:26:45,700 --> 00:26:48,666
{\an8}♪♪♪

521
00:26:48,700 --> 00:26:50,400
{\an1}-I think this could work.

522
00:26:50,433 --> 00:26:52,333
Isn't it? Yeah?

523
00:26:52,366 --> 00:26:55,433
{\an1}-The team quickly finds
what they're looking for...

524
00:26:55,466 --> 00:26:59,233
Stone holes,
just below the surface.

525
00:26:59,266 --> 00:27:01,433
{\an1}-We're looking at features,

526
00:27:01,466 --> 00:27:05,833
{\an1}they're the size of the
bluestone holes at Stonehenge.

527
00:27:05,866 --> 00:27:08,666
{\an8}♪♪♪

528
00:27:08,700 --> 00:27:11,600
{\an1}-And then there is more.

529
00:27:11,633 --> 00:27:13,833
{\an1}-So, what Lisa's just uncovered

530
00:27:13,866 --> 00:27:16,100
is that we have a...

531
00:27:16,133 --> 00:27:18,833
A pit for a stone,
a standing stone.

532
00:27:18,866 --> 00:27:22,333
{\an1}It's got the packing in it,
but, totally unexpected,

533
00:27:22,366 --> 00:27:27,433
{\an1}it's got the broken-off stump
of the bluestone sitting in it.

534
00:27:27,466 --> 00:27:29,533
So, this is the first
direct evidence

535
00:27:29,566 --> 00:27:31,800
that these really are
stone holes.

536
00:27:31,833 --> 00:27:33,500
Marvelous.

537
00:27:33,533 --> 00:27:36,000
We may have done it.

538
00:27:36,033 --> 00:27:38,000
{\an8}♪♪♪

539
00:27:38,033 --> 00:27:39,933
-And that isn't all.

540
00:27:39,966 --> 00:27:41,200
In a nearby field,

541
00:27:41,233 --> 00:27:45,500
the geophysics team
has made another discovery.

542
00:27:45,533 --> 00:27:47,933
{\an1}-What we've found here
is something very exciting.

543
00:27:47,966 --> 00:27:51,266
{\an1}We've got these big rings
within the data set,

544
00:27:51,300 --> 00:27:53,733
and what we think
they might be related to

545
00:27:53,766 --> 00:27:55,966
{\an1}are circular enclosures,

546
00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:00,566
{\an1}some of which are quite large,
up to 40 meters across.

547
00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:01,833
{\an1}-It's possible they have found

548
00:28:01,866 --> 00:28:04,500
not just a single
small stone circle,

549
00:28:04,533 --> 00:28:08,000
{\an1}but a whole complex of them.

550
00:28:08,033 --> 00:28:10,200
Now their findings
must be carbon-dated

551
00:28:10,233 --> 00:28:13,500
to prove a connection
with Stonehenge.

552
00:28:13,533 --> 00:28:16,533
{\an1}[ Indistinct conversations ]

553
00:28:16,566 --> 00:28:17,933
In the meantime,

554
00:28:17,966 --> 00:28:21,333
{\an1}all the activity has sparked
the interest of the locals.

555
00:28:21,366 --> 00:28:24,900
{\an1}Mike's talks at the neighborhood
micro-brewery are packed.

556
00:28:24,933 --> 00:28:26,866
{\an1}-I think that is where the stone

557
00:28:26,900 --> 00:28:29,933
{\an1}that ended up at Stonehenge
was taken from.

558
00:28:29,966 --> 00:28:32,200
Now today...
- The dig is very popular.

559
00:28:32,233 --> 00:28:35,100
{\an8}We have gateposts
that are huge standing stones

560
00:28:35,133 --> 00:28:36,400
{\an7}or were once standing stones.

561
00:28:36,433 --> 00:28:38,833
{\an7}We've got standing stones
in our fields that...

562
00:28:38,866 --> 00:28:42,700
{\an1}that we mow around in tractors,
and, you know, they're...

563
00:28:42,733 --> 00:28:45,933
They are everywhere,
and you can't help

564
00:28:45,966 --> 00:28:50,500
{\an1}but wonder why, you know,
and what was it about this area?

565
00:28:50,533 --> 00:28:53,833
{\an1}-It's what we do this for,
just to tell the story.

566
00:28:53,866 --> 00:28:55,400
{\an1}They're really engaged.

567
00:28:55,433 --> 00:28:57,466
It's their landscape.
It's where they live.

568
00:28:57,500 --> 00:28:59,666
{\an1}You know, it's what happened
under their feet

569
00:28:59,700 --> 00:29:03,266
5,000 years ago,
you know, where they walk.

570
00:29:03,300 --> 00:29:06,566
{\an8}♪♪♪

571
00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:08,133
{\an1}-We came up with a new IPA

572
00:29:08,166 --> 00:29:09,733
which is now one
of our core beers.

573
00:29:09,766 --> 00:29:12,500
{\an1}We thought we would call it
Hammerstone IPA.

574
00:29:12,533 --> 00:29:15,133
So, could you guess
who the image is based on?

575
00:29:15,166 --> 00:29:17,300
[ Laughs ]

576
00:29:17,333 --> 00:29:20,266
-The team has made
a strong start,

577
00:29:20,300 --> 00:29:22,400
{\an1}but are they any closer
to understanding

578
00:29:22,433 --> 00:29:25,200
{\an1}the origins of Stonehenge?

579
00:29:25,233 --> 00:29:27,233
{\an1}[ Indistinct conversations ]

580
00:29:27,266 --> 00:29:30,833
{\an8}♪♪♪

581
00:29:30,866 --> 00:29:36,066
{\an1}The next phase of the dig
begins in September 2017.

582
00:29:36,100 --> 00:29:40,600
{\an1}Mike has now been investigating
Preseli for seven years.

583
00:29:40,633 --> 00:29:44,000
But things no longer
seem so promising.

584
00:29:44,033 --> 00:29:46,600
The test results
from the previous year's finds

585
00:29:46,633 --> 00:29:49,033
{\an1}have proven disappointing.

586
00:29:49,066 --> 00:29:52,100
Carbon dating reveals
the Pensarn circle

587
00:29:52,133 --> 00:29:54,866
{\an1}is in fact a bluestone ring,

588
00:29:54,900 --> 00:29:57,300
{\an1}but from a Bronze Age tomb,

589
00:29:57,333 --> 00:30:01,633
{\an1}1,000 years after Stonehenge.

590
00:30:01,666 --> 00:30:05,333
{\an1}The team's hopes now lay in the
excavations of the new circles

591
00:30:05,366 --> 00:30:09,666
detected by Kate's
geophysics team.

592
00:30:09,700 --> 00:30:11,666
{\an1}But as the dig progresses,

593
00:30:11,700 --> 00:30:16,866
{\an1}the likelihood that they are
Neolithic quickly fades.

594
00:30:16,900 --> 00:30:21,733
{\an1}The stone artifacts found
are uninspiring.

595
00:30:21,766 --> 00:30:24,266
-Someone's thought,
"I can make that into an ax."

596
00:30:24,300 --> 00:30:26,500
{\an1}-Mm, because the shape
was already...

597
00:30:26,533 --> 00:30:28,433
{\an1}-Yeah, yeah. Basically,
you've got, yeah,

598
00:30:28,466 --> 00:30:30,333
what you might call
trimming flakes,

599
00:30:30,366 --> 00:30:35,533
{\an1}taken off both directions
to give it the crudest of edges.

600
00:30:35,566 --> 00:30:38,733
This is really
scraping the barrel.

601
00:30:38,766 --> 00:30:44,433
{\an8}♪♪♪

602
00:30:44,466 --> 00:30:47,966
-The team realizes
this is not a Neolithic circle

603
00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:51,033
{\an1}but an Iron Age settlement.

604
00:30:51,066 --> 00:30:54,633
Once again,
they are thousands of years off.

605
00:30:54,666 --> 00:30:56,666
{\an8}♪♪♪

606
00:30:56,700 --> 00:30:58,500
-You think that,
"That has to be it.

607
00:30:58,533 --> 00:31:00,000
It has to be it."

608
00:31:00,033 --> 00:31:03,233
Perfect prehistoric
circular monuments,

609
00:31:03,266 --> 00:31:05,266
and you think,
"Yes, this is it."

610
00:31:05,300 --> 00:31:08,733
And even though
it's tremendous archaeology,

611
00:31:08,766 --> 00:31:11,633
{\an1}and anybody would be privileged
to dig it,

612
00:31:11,666 --> 00:31:14,366
it's not what
you're looking for.

613
00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:17,933
{\an1}-Whether we're ever going
to find that stone circle,

614
00:31:17,966 --> 00:31:21,566
{\an1}that former stone circle,
that first Stonehenge,

615
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:25,533
{\an1}I'm now, I'm afraid, doubtful.

616
00:31:25,566 --> 00:31:28,666
At that point,
I was disappointed.

617
00:31:28,700 --> 00:31:32,466
{\an1}I thought that maybe we're not
going to find whatever it is.

618
00:31:32,500 --> 00:31:34,900
{\an1}Maybe it never really existed.

619
00:31:34,933 --> 00:31:37,800
{\an8}♪♪♪

620
00:31:37,833 --> 00:31:41,566
{\an1}-They've now excavated
every site on their list...

621
00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,666
{\an8}except one.

622
00:31:44,700 --> 00:31:47,233
{\an8}♪♪♪

623
00:31:47,266 --> 00:31:49,766
{\an1}The remaining location
is an overlooked collection

624
00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:55,000
of four bluestones
on a site called Waun Mawn.

625
00:31:55,033 --> 00:32:00,266
Waun Mawn means
"peaty moorland" in Welsh.

626
00:32:00,300 --> 00:32:02,466
{\an1}Government archaeologists
surveyed the site

627
00:32:02,500 --> 00:32:04,333
in the 20th century

628
00:32:04,366 --> 00:32:09,066
{\an1}and described it as being
"very small" and "unremarkable."

629
00:32:09,100 --> 00:32:12,000
{\an1}-We'd given up, really,
on Waun Mawn,

630
00:32:12,033 --> 00:32:16,933
{\an1}because the geophysics hadn't
really produced very much.

631
00:32:16,966 --> 00:32:20,866
{\an1}Didn't pick up anything,
no sign of other holes

632
00:32:20,900 --> 00:32:24,466
where stones
might have once stood.

633
00:32:24,500 --> 00:32:28,266
{\an1}But there's nowhere else
to look.

634
00:32:28,300 --> 00:32:32,533
-Waun Mawn is now
the team's last hope.

635
00:32:32,566 --> 00:32:35,100
They dig with spades
and shovels,

636
00:32:35,133 --> 00:32:38,400
{\an1}the weather making their work
even more difficult.

637
00:32:38,433 --> 00:32:41,500
{\an8}♪♪♪

638
00:32:41,533 --> 00:32:43,266
-It is fairly
extreme archaeology.

639
00:32:43,300 --> 00:32:47,400
{\an1}The weather isn't fantastic.

640
00:32:47,433 --> 00:32:49,000
We are bailing water
out of holes

641
00:32:49,033 --> 00:32:52,433
{\an1}which will eventually again
fill with rain.

642
00:32:52,466 --> 00:32:58,400
{\an1}I got sent to Waun Mawn
as a bit of a forlorn hope.

643
00:32:58,433 --> 00:33:01,166
{\an1}It's wet. It's exposed.

644
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:03,500
{\an1}The wind never stops up there.

645
00:33:03,533 --> 00:33:09,300
{\an1}The students were rebellious,
and we were all very tired.

646
00:33:09,333 --> 00:33:11,433
We didn't expect
to find anything,

647
00:33:11,466 --> 00:33:13,500
but you can't just
chuck the job in...

648
00:33:13,533 --> 00:33:15,100
"This is terrible.
The weather's bad.

649
00:33:15,133 --> 00:33:16,800
Let's go home."

650
00:33:16,833 --> 00:33:19,933
{\an1}You have to excavate it.

651
00:33:19,966 --> 00:33:22,933
{\an1}-Sending Dave up the top
of the hill to Waun Mawn

652
00:33:22,966 --> 00:33:25,200
{\an1}was the last throw of the dice.

653
00:33:25,233 --> 00:33:28,033
{\an1}It was Last Chance Saloon.

654
00:33:28,066 --> 00:33:32,300
But I'm glad we did,
because it changed everything.

655
00:33:32,333 --> 00:33:38,433
{\an8}♪♪♪

656
00:33:38,466 --> 00:33:39,900
-What's this?

657
00:33:39,933 --> 00:33:42,766
{\an1}It's definitely a fill.

658
00:33:42,800 --> 00:33:46,333
That looks fantastic.

659
00:33:46,366 --> 00:33:52,133
We've found this
potential stone hole.

660
00:33:52,166 --> 00:33:54,466
As well as color,
which is darker,

661
00:33:54,500 --> 00:33:57,066
{\an1}it's also a completely
different texture.

662
00:33:57,100 --> 00:34:01,766
{\an1}It's softer, it's more organic,

663
00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:04,200
{\an1}and it's clearly been disturbed.

664
00:34:04,233 --> 00:34:06,600
{\an1}So, you look for more,

665
00:34:06,633 --> 00:34:10,266
{\an1}and we found another one
at the other end of the arc.

666
00:34:10,300 --> 00:34:14,600
{\an1}When you start finding multiple
stone holes with missing stones,

667
00:34:14,633 --> 00:34:17,166
that's the time
to start getting excited.

668
00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:20,233
{\an8}♪♪♪

669
00:34:20,266 --> 00:34:23,466
Mike's madcap idea
actually had legs.

670
00:34:23,500 --> 00:34:26,633
{\an8}♪♪♪

671
00:34:26,666 --> 00:34:31,766
{\an1}-Where technology failed, hard
work has yielded a breakthrough.

672
00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:34,833
{\an8}♪♪♪

673
00:34:37,466 --> 00:34:41,500
{\an1}But there is still more
to be done.

674
00:34:41,533 --> 00:34:44,466
The following year,
the team continues their work

675
00:34:44,500 --> 00:34:46,266
at Waun Mawn.

676
00:34:46,300 --> 00:34:49,333
The marshy soil means
the geophysical technology

677
00:34:49,366 --> 00:34:50,733
is unusable,

678
00:34:50,766 --> 00:34:53,366
{\an1}and the team must rely
on their own experience

679
00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:56,933
and observations
to find the holes.

680
00:34:56,966 --> 00:34:58,933
{\an1}-It's the texture that's...
That's really crucial

681
00:34:58,966 --> 00:35:00,400
{\an1}and the sound that it makes.

682
00:35:00,433 --> 00:35:04,233
{\an1}When you tap the natural,
and you tap the fill,

683
00:35:04,266 --> 00:35:06,966
{\an1}there's a much hollower sound,
an element of a drum to it.

684
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:09,166
It echoes a bit.

685
00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:12,000
{\an1}They are not easy to find,
but once you find them,

686
00:35:12,033 --> 00:35:16,600
{\an1}you very definitely know
they're there.

687
00:35:16,633 --> 00:35:20,500
-Now if we ever get
a good day here [Laughs]

688
00:35:20,533 --> 00:35:24,133
{\an1}we can see the mountains
of Snowdonia.

689
00:35:24,166 --> 00:35:26,400
{\an1}If you look in that direction,

690
00:35:26,433 --> 00:35:30,100
you can see Ireland
on a clear day.

691
00:35:30,133 --> 00:35:34,066
{\an1}So, these are really quite
extraordinary locations

692
00:35:34,100 --> 00:35:37,600
{\an1}for surveilling the world,

693
00:35:37,633 --> 00:35:39,800
{\an1}and it may be one of the reasons

694
00:35:39,833 --> 00:35:45,200
{\an1}that people are building
monuments in such places.

695
00:35:45,233 --> 00:35:47,466
{\an1}Yeah, so, we'll come out
three from here,

696
00:35:47,500 --> 00:35:51,066
and we'll come out
three from there.

697
00:35:51,100 --> 00:35:52,600
{\an1}Going to put the kettles on.

698
00:35:52,633 --> 00:35:55,700
Now, who's in charge
of tea duties today?

699
00:35:55,733 --> 00:35:58,233
{\an7}-When you're on excavation, you
forget about the outside world,

700
00:35:58,266 --> 00:35:59,376
{\an7}and it's just all of you
together.

701
00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:00,633
{\an1}There are people that you...

702
00:36:00,666 --> 00:36:02,076
{\an1}We've never been friends with
at university.

703
00:36:02,100 --> 00:36:03,109
{\an1}We've known them for two years.

704
00:36:03,133 --> 00:36:04,242
{\an1}You go on an excavation
with them,

705
00:36:04,266 --> 00:36:06,600
{\an1}and suddenly, friendships
are made.

706
00:36:06,633 --> 00:36:08,566
{\an1}It's this close environment
where you don't have

707
00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:11,800
much personal space.
You don't have much time alone.

708
00:36:11,833 --> 00:36:13,933
You're all wet,
you're all muddy,

709
00:36:13,966 --> 00:36:15,400
{\an1}and you just get through it.

710
00:36:15,433 --> 00:36:18,233
{\an1}And the way of getting through
it is just by being friends,

711
00:36:18,266 --> 00:36:21,633
{\an1}having fun, and just sort of
embracing it as much as you can.

712
00:36:21,666 --> 00:36:25,733
{\an8}♪♪♪

713
00:36:25,766 --> 00:36:28,833
{\an1}-As one hole after another
is unearthed,

714
00:36:28,866 --> 00:36:31,533
the shape of a circle
is revealed.

715
00:36:31,566 --> 00:36:36,066
{\an8}♪♪♪

716
00:36:36,100 --> 00:36:40,666
Its dimensions
have the team excited.

717
00:36:40,700 --> 00:36:45,333
{\an7}-Its diameter, 110 meters,
was exactly the same

718
00:36:45,366 --> 00:36:48,500
{\an7}as the outer perimeter
around Stonehenge.

719
00:36:48,533 --> 00:36:51,733
{\an8}♪♪♪

720
00:36:51,766 --> 00:36:55,766
{\an1}The chances of the two having
exactly the same dimensions

721
00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:59,000
are really very slim.

722
00:36:59,033 --> 00:37:04,200
Waun Mawn could be
the predecessor for Stonehenge.

723
00:37:04,233 --> 00:37:06,700
{\an8}♪♪♪

724
00:37:06,733 --> 00:37:09,566
{\an1}-But is there any evidence
of a direct connection

725
00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:11,566
{\an1}between the two monuments?

726
00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:13,566
{\an8}♪♪♪

727
00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:15,700
{\an1}An oddly shaped stone hole

728
00:37:15,733 --> 00:37:20,733
{\an1}provides an opportunity
to use photogrammetry again.

729
00:37:20,766 --> 00:37:23,933
{\an1}-We could see the exact shape
of the base of each stone

730
00:37:23,966 --> 00:37:27,233
{\an1}that had stood in them, and
one of them was very unusual,

731
00:37:27,266 --> 00:37:32,966
{\an1}because it had a slightly kind
of pentagonal cross-section.

732
00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:37,300
{\an1}And what was interesting was
that there was one at Stonehenge

733
00:37:37,333 --> 00:37:39,966
{\an1}which had a very similar form.

734
00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:42,400
{\an8}♪♪♪

735
00:37:42,433 --> 00:37:44,200
{\an1}[ Camera shutter clicking ]

736
00:37:44,233 --> 00:37:46,233
{\an8}♪♪♪

737
00:37:46,266 --> 00:37:49,733
{\an1}-Can they match the shape
of the Waun Mawn hole

738
00:37:49,766 --> 00:37:52,266
{\an1}to the stone at Stonehenge?

739
00:37:52,300 --> 00:37:55,866
{\an8}♪♪♪

740
00:37:55,900 --> 00:37:58,466
{\an1}It fits like a key in a lock.

741
00:37:58,500 --> 00:38:00,900
{\an8}♪♪♪

742
00:38:00,933 --> 00:38:04,633
{\an1}But this evidence alone
is not conclusive.

743
00:38:04,666 --> 00:38:08,933
{\an1}The team still doesn't know when
this circle was constructed.

744
00:38:08,966 --> 00:38:10,566
Is it Neolithic?

745
00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:14,600
And was it built
before Stonehenge?

746
00:38:14,633 --> 00:38:16,000
{\an1}-[ Speaks indistinctly ]

747
00:38:16,033 --> 00:38:19,600
{\an1}-The acidic soil has destroyed
almost all organic matter

748
00:38:19,633 --> 00:38:22,100
that could have been
radiocarbon dated.

749
00:38:26,033 --> 00:38:30,666
{\an8}♪♪♪

750
00:38:30,700 --> 00:38:35,466
{\an1}So Mike calls on the specialist
services of Tim Kinnaird.

751
00:38:35,500 --> 00:38:40,500
{\an8}♪♪♪

752
00:38:40,533 --> 00:38:45,533
{\an8}♪♪♪

753
00:38:45,566 --> 00:38:48,033
-Well, we've got
the section covered now,

754
00:38:48,066 --> 00:38:49,933
{\an8}so I've covered it
in the black cover

755
00:38:49,966 --> 00:38:51,466
{\an8}and I'm going to
go back under now.

756
00:38:51,500 --> 00:38:54,833
{\an7}I'm going to clean back
an additional 10 centimeters

757
00:38:54,866 --> 00:38:57,366
so that I can go in
and start to sample.

758
00:38:57,400 --> 00:39:00,733
{\an8}♪♪♪

759
00:39:00,766 --> 00:39:03,333
-Tim isn't looking
for physical objects.

760
00:39:03,366 --> 00:39:05,966
He is interested
in the soil itself,

761
00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:10,366
which contains traces
of ancient sunlight.

762
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:12,500
{\an1}-You can actually date sediments

763
00:39:12,533 --> 00:39:15,066
{\an1}by measuring the remnant energy

764
00:39:15,100 --> 00:39:17,633
{\an1}in the grains of quartz
in that sediment

765
00:39:17,666 --> 00:39:21,066
since they were
last exposed to light.

766
00:39:21,100 --> 00:39:23,233
And it's a technique
normally used by geologists,

767
00:39:23,266 --> 00:39:26,100
Optically Stimulated
Luminescence.

768
00:39:26,133 --> 00:39:28,333
{\an1}OSL, we call it for short.

769
00:39:28,366 --> 00:39:30,566
{\an8}♪♪♪

770
00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:34,600
{\an1}He has to collect the samples
under darkness

771
00:39:34,633 --> 00:39:36,833
so that he can be
absolutely sure

772
00:39:36,866 --> 00:39:40,833
{\an1}that the quartz grains
within his block of soil

773
00:39:40,866 --> 00:39:45,066
{\an1}have not been affected by light.

774
00:39:45,100 --> 00:39:47,866
{\an1}-They hope these samples
of soil from Waun Mawn

775
00:39:47,900 --> 00:39:52,566
{\an1}will reveal when the stones
were originally set in place.

776
00:39:52,600 --> 00:39:55,633
{\an1}When the soil is bombarded
by lasers in a lab,

777
00:39:55,666 --> 00:39:57,733
{\an1}trapped electrons are released,

778
00:39:57,766 --> 00:40:01,533
{\an1}revealing when the sample
was last lit by the sun.

779
00:40:01,566 --> 00:40:04,566
{\an1}But the analysis takes months.

780
00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:08,266
{\an1}Will Waun Mawn prove to be
from the wrong time period,

781
00:40:08,300 --> 00:40:11,700
{\an1}as all the other sites have?

782
00:40:11,733 --> 00:40:15,833
{\an1}In 2019, test results arrive,

783
00:40:15,866 --> 00:40:19,300
and the OSL data
gives a likely construction date

784
00:40:19,333 --> 00:40:22,533
of around 3300 BC...

785
00:40:22,566 --> 00:40:25,133
exactly what the team
had hoped for

786
00:40:25,166 --> 00:40:28,066
{\an1}after almost a decade of work.

787
00:40:28,100 --> 00:40:30,066
-Well, that was
a pretty good moment.

788
00:40:30,100 --> 00:40:32,800
{\an1}We had dated the thing,
and we knew

789
00:40:32,833 --> 00:40:35,966
that it was shortly
before Stonehenge.

790
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:38,266
{\an8}♪♪♪

791
00:40:38,300 --> 00:40:40,700
-Fantastic news.
Absolutely fantastic.

792
00:40:40,733 --> 00:40:43,400
{\an8}I'm over the moon,
not just for myself

793
00:40:43,433 --> 00:40:45,100
{\an7}and the team, but for Mike.

794
00:40:45,133 --> 00:40:46,900
{\an1}It must have been a great weight
off his mind

795
00:40:46,933 --> 00:40:49,433
{\an1}that here he is. He's done it.

796
00:40:49,466 --> 00:40:51,000
His theory's right.

797
00:40:51,033 --> 00:40:53,466
{\an1}He's bang on the money.

798
00:40:53,500 --> 00:40:56,966
{\an1}-Mike and his team have made
a groundbreaking discovery

799
00:40:57,000 --> 00:40:59,366
and unveiled
a long-forgotten chapter

800
00:40:59,400 --> 00:41:02,100
{\an1}in the history of Stonehenge.

801
00:41:02,133 --> 00:41:05,700
{\an1}After years of searching
in the wind and rain,

802
00:41:05,733 --> 00:41:08,566
{\an1}they found the lost circle.

803
00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:16,033
{\an8}♪♪♪

804
00:41:16,066 --> 00:41:23,466
{\an8}♪♪♪

805
00:41:23,500 --> 00:41:26,866
{\an1}The research proves that
the bluestones of Stonehenge

806
00:41:26,900 --> 00:41:29,600
{\an1}first stood in the Welsh hills,

807
00:41:29,633 --> 00:41:33,266
{\an1}centuries before being raised
in Salisbury Plain,

808
00:41:33,300 --> 00:41:37,800
{\an1}by a people steeped in a culture
of megalithic architecture.

809
00:41:37,833 --> 00:41:41,766
{\an8}♪♪♪

810
00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:45,200
{\an1}But what was the purpose
of Stonehenge?

811
00:41:45,233 --> 00:41:47,566
{\an1}We can only speculate.

812
00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:51,933
{\an1}Mike's theory is that it was
a place to venerate the dead.

813
00:41:51,966 --> 00:41:56,133
{\an1}-Everything we've been learning
about the megalithic monuments

814
00:41:56,166 --> 00:41:59,200
{\an1}is that they represented

815
00:41:59,233 --> 00:42:03,266
{\an1}or even were considered to be
the ancestors,

816
00:42:03,300 --> 00:42:06,100
whether they were
components of tombs,

817
00:42:06,133 --> 00:42:08,066
{\an1}whether they were single
standing stones

818
00:42:08,100 --> 00:42:09,766
or stone circles.

819
00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:11,766
{\an8}♪♪♪

820
00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:16,033
Stone is permanent,
like the ancestors.

821
00:42:16,066 --> 00:42:19,766
{\an8}♪♪♪

822
00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:21,766
-Mike believes
it was not just a place

823
00:42:21,800 --> 00:42:26,000
{\an1}for remembering the dead,
but also a marker in time.

824
00:42:26,033 --> 00:42:29,600
{\an8}♪♪♪

825
00:42:29,633 --> 00:42:32,633
{\an1}He calls in archaeo-astronomer
Clive Ruggles

826
00:42:32,666 --> 00:42:34,600
to examine the site.

827
00:42:34,633 --> 00:42:37,733
{\an8}♪♪♪

828
00:42:37,766 --> 00:42:39,633
{\an1}-Well, this is a Total Station,

829
00:42:39,666 --> 00:42:41,933
{\an1}but what I'm using it for here

830
00:42:41,966 --> 00:42:45,500
{\an8}is for measuring
the azimuth of the sun,

831
00:42:45,533 --> 00:42:49,033
{\an7}the bearing of the sun
in the sky.

832
00:42:49,066 --> 00:42:51,633
We can work out where
all the astronomical bodies,

833
00:42:51,666 --> 00:42:54,266
the sun or the moon
or whatever we're interested in,

834
00:42:54,300 --> 00:42:59,100
{\an1}rise and set and would have
risen and set in the past.

835
00:42:59,133 --> 00:43:01,166
-Mike thinks
that the Neolithic people

836
00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:04,833
{\an1}would have aligned the circle
to key times of the year,

837
00:43:04,866 --> 00:43:10,166
{\an1}linked to the position
of the sun... the solstices.

838
00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:13,233
{\an1}-They are the turning points
of the year.

839
00:43:13,266 --> 00:43:16,966
{\an1}So, from the deep gloom
of midwinter,

840
00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:20,966
{\an1}the knowledge that actually
the land will become warm

841
00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:22,900
and fertile again.

842
00:43:22,933 --> 00:43:26,866
{\an1}And equally, midsummer
is the peak of that fertility,

843
00:43:26,900 --> 00:43:29,466
and that that, too,
is about to change

844
00:43:29,500 --> 00:43:31,833
{\an1}as the days become shorter.

845
00:43:31,866 --> 00:43:35,100
{\an1}So, it's actually the movement
of the sun.

846
00:43:35,133 --> 00:43:38,733
{\an1}It's something that is utterly
permanent and eternal,

847
00:43:38,766 --> 00:43:43,100
{\an1}like the ancestors themselves.

848
00:43:43,133 --> 00:43:45,133
-Where the sun rises
will have changed

849
00:43:45,166 --> 00:43:47,466
{\an1}over the last 5,000 years

850
00:43:47,500 --> 00:43:50,333
by about the diameter
of the sun.

851
00:43:50,366 --> 00:43:52,500
{\an1}So, if we're looking...
Where the sun rose

852
00:43:52,533 --> 00:43:56,066
{\an1}on the longest day then
would be about a sun's diameter

853
00:43:56,100 --> 00:43:59,233
further to the north
than it does now.

854
00:43:59,266 --> 00:44:01,900
{\an1}And when it rises at midwinter,

855
00:44:01,933 --> 00:44:03,866
{\an1}about the same further
to the south.

856
00:44:03,900 --> 00:44:06,366
So, we can...
We can make that correction.

857
00:44:06,400 --> 00:44:11,100
{\an8}♪♪♪

858
00:44:11,133 --> 00:44:13,900
-Clive has found
that Waun Mawn's stones

859
00:44:13,933 --> 00:44:16,833
do indeed show
a solstice alignment.

860
00:44:16,866 --> 00:44:19,200
{\an8}♪♪♪

861
00:44:19,233 --> 00:44:21,966
Two stones,
twisted at right angles,

862
00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:25,733
{\an1}form a target that aligns
with the midsummer sun

863
00:44:25,766 --> 00:44:28,966
{\an1}as it would have risen
5,000 years ago.

864
00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:33,300
{\an8}♪♪♪

865
00:44:33,333 --> 00:44:34,833
It seems Waun Mawn

866
00:44:34,866 --> 00:44:38,133
was an important site
for the Preseli people.

867
00:44:42,200 --> 00:44:44,866
So why then
were these stones moved

868
00:44:44,900 --> 00:44:47,766
{\an1}more than 140 miles to the east?

869
00:44:47,800 --> 00:44:50,566
{\an8}♪♪♪

870
00:44:50,600 --> 00:44:54,366
In the Merlin myth,
the stone circle was stolen.

871
00:44:54,400 --> 00:44:57,800
{\an8}♪♪♪

872
00:44:57,833 --> 00:45:02,633
{\an1}The legend holds that Merlin
came west with a large army.

873
00:45:02,666 --> 00:45:04,633
{\an1}Could the peoples of the east

874
00:45:04,666 --> 00:45:08,400
{\an1}and the stone builders
of the west have been at war,

875
00:45:08,433 --> 00:45:10,600
{\an1}a war that would cause
the easterners

876
00:45:10,633 --> 00:45:14,566
{\an1}to steal the Waun Mawn circle?

877
00:45:14,600 --> 00:45:17,366
{\an1}There is little to support
this theory.

878
00:45:17,400 --> 00:45:19,866
{\an1}Evidence of large-scale warfare
at the time

879
00:45:19,900 --> 00:45:23,266
is as insubstantial
as Merlin himself.

880
00:45:23,300 --> 00:45:29,733
{\an8}♪♪♪

881
00:45:29,766 --> 00:45:33,266
{\an1}Instead, there are signs
that Waun Mawn is an example

882
00:45:33,300 --> 00:45:35,333
of a different kind
of revolution

883
00:45:35,366 --> 00:45:38,233
that eventually
spread across Britain.

884
00:45:38,266 --> 00:45:43,633
{\an8}♪♪♪

885
00:45:43,666 --> 00:45:47,900
{\an1}Stone circles first began to
appear on Britain's west coast

886
00:45:47,933 --> 00:45:50,900
around the same time
the bluestones were mined,

887
00:45:50,933 --> 00:45:53,166
3300 BC.

888
00:45:53,200 --> 00:45:57,666
{\an8}♪♪♪

889
00:45:57,700 --> 00:45:59,533
{\an1}Waun Mawn was at the forefront

890
00:45:59,566 --> 00:46:02,433
of this new style
of stone monument,

891
00:46:02,466 --> 00:46:08,333
{\an1}which seems to be part of
a greater cultural intertwining.

892
00:46:08,366 --> 00:46:10,800
-What's interesting
was that differences

893
00:46:10,833 --> 00:46:12,833
{\an1}were beginning to be erased...

894
00:46:12,866 --> 00:46:17,433
{\an1}that actually, people were using
the same pottery east and west.

895
00:46:17,466 --> 00:46:20,033
They were building
the same kinds of monuments,

896
00:46:20,066 --> 00:46:22,366
{\an1}new circular forms like henges

897
00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:27,100
and stone circles
in east and west.

898
00:46:27,133 --> 00:46:29,833
{\an1}-The later eastern circles
appear to have been inspired

899
00:46:29,866 --> 00:46:31,933
{\an1}by their western counterparts

900
00:46:31,966 --> 00:46:36,466
and were always built
with local stone.

901
00:46:36,500 --> 00:46:40,366
But the Stonehenge
bluestone circle is unique.

902
00:46:40,400 --> 00:46:44,133
{\an1}This is the only circle
known to have been relocated.

903
00:46:44,166 --> 00:46:46,700
{\an8}♪♪♪

904
00:46:46,733 --> 00:46:49,233
{\an1}It wasn't just inspired
by the west...

905
00:46:49,266 --> 00:46:51,966
It was built
from western stones,

906
00:46:52,000 --> 00:46:54,233
despite there
being viable quarries

907
00:46:54,266 --> 00:46:58,333
{\an1}local to the Stonehenge area.

908
00:46:58,366 --> 00:47:01,900
{\an1}So, if an army did not steal
the Waun Mawn circle,

909
00:47:01,933 --> 00:47:06,033
{\an1}are there any traces of the
people who did move the stones?

910
00:47:06,066 --> 00:47:09,233
{\an8}♪♪♪

911
00:47:09,266 --> 00:47:13,066
{\an1}When Mike's team excavated
Stonehenge's outer circle,

912
00:47:13,100 --> 00:47:15,166
{\an1}they unearthed thousands
of fragments

913
00:47:15,200 --> 00:47:17,566
{\an1}of cremated human bone.

914
00:47:17,600 --> 00:47:19,933
{\an8}♪♪♪

915
00:47:19,966 --> 00:47:22,066
People were buried
around Stonehenge

916
00:47:22,100 --> 00:47:25,666
almost as soon
as the bluestones arrived.

917
00:47:25,700 --> 00:47:27,533
But who were they?

918
00:47:27,566 --> 00:47:29,533
{\an8}♪♪♪

919
00:47:29,566 --> 00:47:32,600
By analyzing the type
of strontium in the bones,

920
00:47:32,633 --> 00:47:37,000
{\an1}scientists can determine
where they came from.

921
00:47:37,033 --> 00:47:39,133
-People talk about
you are what you eat.

922
00:47:39,166 --> 00:47:41,766
{\an7}Basically, the strontium
isotope composition

923
00:47:41,800 --> 00:47:44,233
{\an7}that you pick up is related

924
00:47:44,266 --> 00:47:46,233
to the composition
of the food you eat,

925
00:47:46,266 --> 00:47:47,900
and the composition
of the food you eat

926
00:47:47,933 --> 00:47:51,100
{\an1}is related to the soil
and the underlying geology.

927
00:47:51,133 --> 00:47:53,666
{\an8}♪♪♪

928
00:47:53,700 --> 00:47:55,366
-When a team
at Oxford University

929
00:47:55,400 --> 00:47:58,766
{\an1}conducted a strontium analysis
of the bone fragments,

930
00:47:58,800 --> 00:48:01,300
{\an1}the results were surprising.

931
00:48:01,333 --> 00:48:04,033
Many individuals
from the earliest burials

932
00:48:04,066 --> 00:48:07,500
{\an1}were not from the area.

933
00:48:07,533 --> 00:48:11,533
{\an1}Jane Evans illustrates the data.

934
00:48:11,566 --> 00:48:13,966
-So, you can see
that here's Salisbury.

935
00:48:14,000 --> 00:48:16,400
{\an1}We've now put in what would be
a local value,

936
00:48:16,433 --> 00:48:19,100
{\an1}and it highlights basically
the areas that are chalk,

937
00:48:19,133 --> 00:48:20,800
in southern England.

938
00:48:20,833 --> 00:48:23,433
{\an1}So, anybody with a value
like that was probably

939
00:48:23,466 --> 00:48:27,133
{\an1}certainly living there
when that bone formed.

940
00:48:27,166 --> 00:48:31,566
However, some of them
had higher values.

941
00:48:31,600 --> 00:48:33,433
The areas where those
slightly higher values

942
00:48:33,466 --> 00:48:36,566
{\an1}come from are typical of Wales.

943
00:48:36,600 --> 00:48:39,700
Those individuals
could well have come from

944
00:48:39,733 --> 00:48:42,366
{\an1}in and around southwest Wales.

945
00:48:42,400 --> 00:48:46,300
-This looks to me
like a migration signal.

946
00:48:46,333 --> 00:48:49,533
This is the beginning
of a group moving in,

947
00:48:49,566 --> 00:48:52,733
settling themselves
on Salisbury Plain,

948
00:48:52,766 --> 00:48:56,900
{\an1}and then their descendants
continuing to live in that area.

949
00:48:56,933 --> 00:49:03,966
{\an8}♪♪♪

950
00:49:04,000 --> 00:49:07,300
-To Mike, the bones
at Stonehenge suggest

951
00:49:07,333 --> 00:49:09,900
{\an1}these stones were not stolen

952
00:49:09,933 --> 00:49:12,433
{\an1}but may have been brought
by a group of people

953
00:49:12,466 --> 00:49:15,400
{\an1}who themselves were moving east.

954
00:49:15,433 --> 00:49:20,633
{\an8}♪♪♪

955
00:49:20,666 --> 00:49:22,800
{\an1}But why would the Preseli people

956
00:49:22,833 --> 00:49:26,766
{\an1}move their ancestral stone
circle to Salisbury Plain?

957
00:49:26,800 --> 00:49:28,800
{\an8}♪♪♪

958
00:49:28,833 --> 00:49:30,733
It's now believed
they may have been drawn

959
00:49:30,766 --> 00:49:33,800
by a unique feature
of the landscape.

960
00:49:33,833 --> 00:49:38,466
{\an8}♪♪♪

961
00:49:38,500 --> 00:49:42,033
Beneath the soil of
the Stonehenge ceremonial avenue

962
00:49:42,066 --> 00:49:45,566
{\an1}lies a series of glacial
channels in the chalk,

963
00:49:45,600 --> 00:49:50,500
{\an1}stretching nearly 500 feet
to the northeast.

964
00:49:50,533 --> 00:49:54,666
{\an1}5,000 years ago, these channels
would have been visible

965
00:49:54,700 --> 00:49:59,600
and, by coincidence,
aligned with the solstice sun.

966
00:49:59,633 --> 00:50:02,100
Today's Stonehenge
is clearly aligned

967
00:50:02,133 --> 00:50:03,833
{\an1}with this natural feature,

968
00:50:03,866 --> 00:50:07,666
{\an1}similar to the original
bluestone circle in Wales.

969
00:50:07,700 --> 00:50:10,500
-So, my guess
is what we're looking at

970
00:50:10,533 --> 00:50:15,733
{\an1}is people actually bringing
their very identity,

971
00:50:15,766 --> 00:50:21,000
{\an1}their ancestral identity with
them to reposition themselves

972
00:50:21,033 --> 00:50:24,700
at one of the most
important ceremonial complexes

973
00:50:24,733 --> 00:50:28,600
{\an1}within Neolithic Britain.

974
00:50:28,633 --> 00:50:32,433
-Around 3000 BC,
people from the Preseli Hills

975
00:50:32,466 --> 00:50:35,000
may have been drawn
to Salisbury Plain

976
00:50:35,033 --> 00:50:39,733
{\an1}because of its natural
solstice alignments.

977
00:50:39,766 --> 00:50:43,200
{\an1}Mike's theory suggests that they
brought the stones with them

978
00:50:43,233 --> 00:50:45,533
{\an1}to remember their ancestors

979
00:50:45,566 --> 00:50:50,700
{\an1}and mark the eternal cycle
of the sun.

980
00:50:50,733 --> 00:50:54,766
{\an1}Salisbury Plain was about
to enter its golden age.

981
00:50:54,800 --> 00:51:02,433
{\an8}♪♪♪

982
00:51:02,466 --> 00:51:05,466
The construction of
the Stonehenge bluestone circle

983
00:51:05,500 --> 00:51:07,933
{\an1}may have inspired others
who saw it,

984
00:51:07,966 --> 00:51:09,833
becoming the seed
for the creation

985
00:51:09,866 --> 00:51:12,066
{\an1}of even greater monuments.

986
00:51:12,100 --> 00:51:16,133
{\an8}♪♪♪

987
00:51:16,166 --> 00:51:18,533
Less than 2 miles
from Stonehenge

988
00:51:18,566 --> 00:51:20,333
{\an1}lies Durrington Walls,

989
00:51:20,366 --> 00:51:24,133
{\an1}the largest Neolithic site
ever discovered in Britain.

990
00:51:24,166 --> 00:51:26,933
{\an8}♪♪♪

991
00:51:26,966 --> 00:51:30,766
{\an1}At a time when settlements were
rarely more than a house or two,

992
00:51:30,800 --> 00:51:34,166
{\an1}the site was a temporary home
for thousands,

993
00:51:34,200 --> 00:51:38,633
{\an1}a pop-up town full of builders.

994
00:51:38,666 --> 00:51:40,966
Around 2500 BC,

995
00:51:41,000 --> 00:51:44,766
{\an1}its residents constructed
a huge wooden circle,

996
00:51:44,800 --> 00:51:47,800
{\an1}called Woodhenge today.

997
00:51:47,833 --> 00:51:49,533
{\an1}Around that same time,

998
00:51:49,566 --> 00:51:52,600
they repositioned
the bluestone circle,

999
00:51:52,633 --> 00:51:58,000
{\an1}adding the huge Sarsen stones
that define Stonehenge.

1000
00:51:58,033 --> 00:52:03,533
{\an1}Salisbury Plain now had two
complementary sacred monuments.

1001
00:52:03,566 --> 00:52:05,600
{\an1}-The stone circle of Stonehenge

1002
00:52:05,633 --> 00:52:07,933
was a place
associated with the dead.

1003
00:52:07,966 --> 00:52:11,566
{\an1}Woodhenge was actually a place
associated with the living.

1004
00:52:11,600 --> 00:52:14,666
{\an8}♪♪♪

1005
00:52:14,700 --> 00:52:17,900
{\an1}-Animal bones excavated
at Durrington Walls

1006
00:52:17,933 --> 00:52:20,433
{\an1}show it was a feasting site,

1007
00:52:20,466 --> 00:52:23,200
{\an1}unmatched in Neolithic Britain.

1008
00:52:23,233 --> 00:52:25,966
{\an8}♪♪♪

1009
00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:29,933
It was a place
for the living to celebrate,

1010
00:52:29,966 --> 00:52:34,200
{\an1}next to a monument to the dead

1011
00:52:34,233 --> 00:52:37,866
{\an1}that stood the test of time,

1012
00:52:37,900 --> 00:52:41,133
with Welsh bluestones
at its heart.

1013
00:52:47,000 --> 00:52:51,400
But Stonehenge began
with that forgotten stone circle

1014
00:52:51,433 --> 00:52:55,033
in the Welsh hills...

1015
00:52:55,066 --> 00:52:58,733
the original location
of Stonehenge's bluestones,

1016
00:52:58,766 --> 00:53:02,766
now rediscovered
thanks to Mike's determination.

1017
00:53:02,800 --> 00:53:04,766
{\an8}♪♪♪

1018
00:53:04,800 --> 00:53:07,166
-The big story
is that Stonehenge

1019
00:53:07,200 --> 00:53:10,733
is built out of
another monument.

1020
00:53:10,766 --> 00:53:12,966
{\an1}It's not the stones themselves
that are important.

1021
00:53:13,000 --> 00:53:15,500
It's the monument
that they came from.

1022
00:53:15,533 --> 00:53:18,033
And this really
has to change the way

1023
00:53:18,066 --> 00:53:20,133
{\an1}that we think about Stonehenge,

1024
00:53:20,166 --> 00:53:24,600
{\an1}because you're actually
linking two not just places,

1025
00:53:24,633 --> 00:53:29,166
but communities
and their monuments together.

1026
00:53:29,200 --> 00:53:34,700
{\an1}This has been a 10-year search,
and we've finally got there.

1027
00:53:34,733 --> 00:53:36,300
It's a great feeling.

1028
00:53:36,333 --> 00:53:39,433
And as you can tell
with this wonderful weather,

1029
00:53:39,466 --> 00:53:42,166
{\an1}we're really looking forward
to coming back.

1030
00:53:42,200 --> 00:53:44,166
{\an8}♪♪♪

1031
00:53:44,200 --> 00:53:46,400
{\an1}-Despite all of his work,

1032
00:53:46,433 --> 00:53:51,500
{\an1}Mike still has many questions
he wants answered.

1033
00:53:51,533 --> 00:53:54,633
-So, I think there's
every possibility

1034
00:53:54,666 --> 00:53:58,433
that there are more
stone circles to be found.

1035
00:53:58,466 --> 00:54:01,366
{\an1}Looking for these sites
is like a needle in a haystack,

1036
00:54:01,400 --> 00:54:05,366
{\an1}and I think it's something
that I'm not going to give up on

1037
00:54:05,400 --> 00:54:08,466
{\an1}until hell freezes over.

1038
00:54:08,500 --> 00:54:12,200
{\an8}♪♪♪

1039
00:54:12,233 --> 00:54:18,066
{\an1}-An unlikely discovery
on a hillside in West Wales

1040
00:54:18,100 --> 00:54:22,100
{\an1}has rewritten the history
of Stonehenge.

1041
00:54:22,133 --> 00:54:24,933
{\an8}♪♪♪

1042
00:54:24,966 --> 00:54:28,166
{\an1}The monument's connection
to Wales

1043
00:54:28,200 --> 00:54:31,466
{\an1}is deeper than experts
ever thought.

1044
00:54:31,500 --> 00:54:34,433
{\an8}♪♪♪

1045
00:54:34,466 --> 00:54:38,600
{\an1}And in an astonishing,
historical breakthrough,

1046
00:54:38,633 --> 00:54:42,500
{\an1}we now know that the stones
of Stonehenge

1047
00:54:42,533 --> 00:54:45,866
{\an1}didn't just come from Wales.

1048
00:54:45,900 --> 00:54:50,900
{\an1}They first stood in Wales...

1049
00:54:50,933 --> 00:54:53,766
in a lost circle...

1050
00:54:53,800 --> 00:54:58,133
that has transformed
our understanding

1051
00:54:58,166 --> 00:55:02,466
of Stonehenge
and Neolithic Britain.

1052
00:55:02,500 --> 00:55:10,500
{\an8}♪♪♪

1053
00:55:11,333 --> 00:55:19,333
{\an8}♪♪♪

1054
00:55:20,200 --> 00:55:28,200
{\an8}♪♪♪