{"id":32137,"date":"2026-09-09T07:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T23:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/?post_type=media-release&p=32137"},"modified":"2026-09-08T10:57:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T02:57:07","slug":"prehistoric-builders-hauled-25-tonne-stones-18km-to-build-britains-tallest-stone-row","status":"publish","type":"media-release","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/media-release\/prehistoric-builders-hauled-25-tonne-stones-18km-to-build-britains-tallest-stone-row\/","title":{"rendered":"Prehistoric builders hauled 25-tonne stones 18km to build Britain\u2019s tallest stone row"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

New research has revealed ancient builders deliberately transported enormous 25-tonne stones across at least 18 kilometres (11 miles) to build Britain\u2019s tallest surviving prehistoric stone row – the iconic Devil\u2019s Arrows<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Curtin University-led study, in collaboration with the University of York, UK, is the first to identify the geological source of the towering stones, tracing them to the rugged terrain of Brimham Rocks in North Yorkshire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Devil\u2019s Arrows, located near Boroughbridge in northern England, stand up to seven metres tall and form a rare stone alignment in a lowland setting. Despite their scale and prominence, their origins have remained a mystery until now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stones are believed to have been transported and erected during the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, possibly around 2000 BC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lead author Dr Anthony Clarke<\/a>, from the Timescales of Mineral Systems Group<\/a> within Curtin\u2019s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences<\/a>, said the findings challenged long-held assumptions about how and why ancient monuments were built.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur research shows these stones weren\u2019t simply taken from the nearest available source – they were deliberately chosen from a challenging landscape 18 kilometres away,\u201d Dr Clarke said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPlumpton Rocks, which is closer to the Devil\u2019s Arrows, had previously been identified as the probable source of the stones. Our findings instead point to Brimham Rocks, showing that prehistoric builders transported these enormous stones significantly further than thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEach stone weighs more than 25 tonnes, so moving them would have required incredible planning, coordination and engineering skill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis tells us prehistoric people placed real importance on the landscape itself. It wasn\u2019t just about convenience – the location the stones came from likely held meaning for them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-author Dr Jim Leary from the University of York said the findings reshaped how researchers understood prehistoric monument-building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese results show that ancient communities were making deliberate and meaningful choices about where their stones came from,\u201d Dr Leary said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt highlights the importance of landscape and shared belief systems, as well as the remarkable effort involved in transporting and raising stones of this size.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team used a new low-impact sampling method involving adhesive tape to collect tiny mineral grains from the stones without causing damage. By analysing the age \u201cfingerprints\u201d of these grains, researchers were able to match the stones to their source at Brimham Rocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results also rule out natural processes such as glacial movement, demonstrating that the stones were intentionally transported by people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Clarke said the research team planned to apply their non-invasive method to other standing stones with unknown origins and conduct targeted excavations at both the monument and its newly identified source site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese next steps could help us better understand when the stones were moved and how these extraordinary monuments were constructed,\u201d Dr Clarke said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justin Scully, National Trust General Manager for Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal and Brimham Rocks, said the research reveals a direct link between Brimham Rocks and the Devil\u2019s Arrows, connecting two remarkable Yorkshire landscapes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re incredibly grateful to the researchers for helping us uncover this new chapter in the stones\u2019 story and deepen our understanding of the people who shaped this landscape thousands of years ago,\u201d Mr Scully said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Devil\u2019s Arrows are deeply cherished by local communities, and we\u2019re delighted that this discovery adds a new chapter to their story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study, \u2018Deliberate Prehistoric Sourcing of the Devil’s Arrows, Britain’s Tallest Stone Row<\/em>\u2019, was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A<\/em> (https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1098\/rspa.2026.0504<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New research has revealed ancient builders deliberately transported enormous 25-tonne stones across at least 18 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4307,"featured_media":32141,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"7154,4898,7301,6563,6806,5597","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","wds_primary_category":81,"wds_primary_research-areas":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[211,226],"research-areas":[],"class_list":["post-32137","media-release","type-media-release","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-earth-science","tag-research","tag-science"],"acf":{"post_options":{"":null,"additional_content":{"title":"","content":"","image":false},"related_courses":[{"title":"","qualification":"","link":"","description":"","faculty":""}],"credits":{"author":"","photographer":"","media":[24386,30634]},"display_author":true,"banner":{"image":false}},"experts":false},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Devils-Arrows-Yorkshire.-Credit-Dr-Jim-Leary-FOR-WEB-1920x500.png","author_meta":{"first_name":"Lucien","last_name":"Wilkinson","display_name":"Lucien Wilkinson"},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release\/32137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/media-release"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media-release\/32137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32137"},{"taxonomy":"research-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research-areas?post=32137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}