provenance analysis

Stonehenge Altar Stone location sketch

Stonehenge’s Scottish connection

New research suggests that one of Stonehenge’s famous megaliths may have come from the very north of the UK. The Altar Stone is a six-tonne sandstone slab that currently lies in the middle of the famous stone circle. It was…

Beads in Lake Turkana burials

Stone beads found near Lake Turkana in Kenya are offering a new way to study how early pastoralists in the area interacted with the landscape around them at a time of environmental and cultural change around 5,000 years ago. The…

AE139News

Gems and trade

Egyptian researchers have used three spectroscopic techniques for rapid analysis of gemstones from Egypt, revealing their origins and providing a window into historical trade routes. Gemstones peridot (olivine) and emerald, and semi-gemstones beryl, amazonite, and amethyst, from mines in the…