Stonehenge - Complexities Continue

The more you look at it the more difficult it is to decipher! The main controversy is how all the various types of stone got there. Were they brought by glaciers or by people?

In THIS ARTICLE ( based on THIS ACADEMIC PAPER) the author looks at the presence of the bluestones. These are believed to come from Ordovician volcanics in Pembrokeshire. The assumption of the academic writers is that if the large stones came because of ice transport, the till which brought them would have small grains with the same provenance. So they collected river sands from Salisbury Plain and separated out zircon and apatite grains.

Zircon and apatite are minerals which preserve evidence of their age. This is especially true of the zircon. 550 zircons were analysed, only 1 has an age similar to the bluestones. Which puts paid to the glacial transport theory - or does it?

Welsh glaciers reached Somerset - could the bluestones have been erratics in Somerset?

No doubt the controversy will continue. In the meantime here is a pretty picture of Stonehenge.

 Down to Earth Extra February 2026

The February 2026 edition of Down to Earth Extra has been published. You can download it HERE or you can read it below.

 T. rex - When did they Stop Growing?

THIS ARTICLE in New Scientist, (based on this ACADEMIC PAPER) suggests that they grew until at least forty!

The methodology used is akin to counting tree rings, complicated by the earliest growth rings being destroyed as the bone marrow cavity enlarges. Because of this you need many specimens with overlapping growth stages to allow for this.

And after forty years growth rings are not produced so the maximum age of T. rex cannot be determined.

But only two of the specimens reached the advanced age of forty. 

The New Scientist article makes the research sound very straight forward but the academic paper reveals that the gathering of the evidence is more than just a matter of counting rings. And then we get into the statistics!

Obligatory, scary T. rex picture.

Down to Earth Extra January 2026 - Replacement

The replacement January 2026 edition of Down to Earth Extra has been published. You can download it HERE or you can read it below.