How the stones used to construct Stonehenge came to be on Salisbury Plain has been the subject of debate amongst archaeologists and geologists for nearly three centuries. This talk, by David Nash, summarises ongoing work using geochemical fingerprinting approaches to determine the chemistry of the sarsen stones at the monument and, using this information, establish their provenance.
David is Professor of Physical Geography in the School of Environment and Technology at Brighton University. He has over 30 years’ research experience, with interests in geomorphology and Holocene to recent environmental change in dryland regions of the world. He says his research interests fall into two main areas, spanning geomorphology, climatology, history and archaeology – (1) analyses of duricrusts in landscape and archaeological contexts, and (2) reconstructing historical climate.