A Royal College of Art study published in The Journal of Time and Mind has a new explanation for why giant bluestones were transported 200 miles to build the neolithic monument: bluestone rocks have acoustic qualities that allow them to ring like bells. Researcher Paul Deveraux recently told the BBC,
The percentage of the rocks on the Carn Menyn ridge are ringing rocks, they ring just like a bell. And there’s lots of different tones, you could play a tune. In fact, we have had percussionists who have played proper percussion pieces off the rocks…
We don’t know of course that they moved them because they rang, but ringing rocks are a prominent part of many cultures. You can almost see them as a pre-historic glockenspiel, if you like, and you could knock them and hear these tunes.
via Geekosystem
