Understanding the provenance of megaliths used in the Neolithic stone circle at Stonehenge, southern England, gives insight into the culture and connectivity of prehistoric Britain. The source of the Altar Stone, the central recumbent sandstone megalith, has remained unknown, with recent work discounting an Anglo-Welsh Basin origin^1,2. Here we present the age and chemistry of detrital zircon, apatite and rutile grains from within fragments of the Altar Stone. The detrital zircon load largely comprises Mesoproterozoic and Archaean sources, whereas rutile and apatite are dominated by a mid-Ordovician source. The ages of these grains indicate derivation from an ultimate Laurentian crystalline source region that was overprinted by Grampian (around 460 million years ago) magmatism. Detrital age comparisons to sedimentary packages throughout Britain and Ireland reveal a remarkable similarity to the Old Red Sandstone of the Orcadian Basin in northeast Scotland. Such a provenance implies that the Altar Stone, a 6 tonne shaped block, was sourced at least 750 km from its current location. The difficulty of long-distance overland transport of such massive cargo from Scotland, navigating topographic barriers, suggests that it was transported by sea. Such routing demonstrates a high level of societal organization with intra-Britain transport during the Neolithic period.

了解英格兰南部巨石阵新石器时代石圈中使用的巨石的来源，可以深入了解史前英国的文化和连通性。祭坛石（中央卧状砂岩巨石）的来源仍然未知，最近的研究表明其起源于盎格鲁-威尔士盆地^1,2 。在这里，我们展示了祭坛石碎片中碎屑锆石、磷灰石和金红石颗粒的年龄和化学成分。碎屑锆石主要由中元古代和太古宙物源组成，而金红石和磷灰石主要由中奥陶世物源组成。这些颗粒的年龄表明它们源自最终的劳伦斯结晶源区，该区域被格兰屏（约 4.6 亿年前）岩浆活动所覆盖。与英国和爱尔兰沉积物包的碎屑年龄比较显示，其与苏格兰东北部奥卡迪亚盆地的老红砂岩显着相似。这样的出处意味着祭坛石（一块 6 吨重的块）的产地距离当前位置至少 750 公里。从苏格兰长途陆路运输如此大量的货物，克服地形障碍，非常困难，这表明它是通过海上运输的。这样的路线展示了新石器时代英国内部交通的高水平社会组织。