Congratulations to PhD student Anthony Clarke and Professor Chris Kirkland from the Faculty of Science and Engineering for their remarkable research achievement, showcased on the front cover of the latest edition of Nature.

Released earlier this week their groundbreaking study has already captured widespread attention, with major media outlets across Australia and around the globe covering the story, and even more coverage expected in the coming days.

The study, titled “A Scottish Provenance for the Altar Stone of Stonehenge,” challenges long-held beliefs by revealing that Stonehenge’s monumental six-tonne Altar Stone, previously thought to originate from Wales, actually comes from the Orcadian Basin in Scotland – more than 750 km from its current location in southern England.

This discovery suggests that ancient societies may have possessed more advanced transport and organisational capabilities than previously assumed.

Mr Clarke (lead author) and Professor Kirkland (co-author) both from the Timescales of Mineral Systems Group within the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences, along with Lucien Wilkinson from Curtin’s Corporate Communications team, travelled to England this week to meet with Nature and participate in global media briefings and onsite interviews at Stonehenge.

This research was funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project and was conducted in collaboration with Aberystwyth University, The University of Adelaide, and University College London.

For more details see our media release.