ARCHAELOGISTS have located the exact source of some of the rock used to create Stonehenge.

Research by National Museum Wales and Leicester University has identified the rock’s source to within 70m of Craig Rhos-y-felin, near Pont Saeson in Pembrokeshire.

Dr Richard Bevins, keeper of geology at the museum, said the discovery would help experts work out how the stones were moved to Wiltshire.

The work was carried out over nine months by researchers from Leicester University, who collected and identified samples from rock outcrops in Pembrokeshire to try to find the origins of rhyolite debitage rocks at Stonehenge.

By detailing the mineral content and textural relationships within the rock, they found that 99 per cent of the samples could be matched to rocks found in the set of outcrops at Craig Rhos-y-felin.

The origin has been pinpointed to a small enough area for archaeologists to excavate to try to uncover evidence for associated human activity.

“Being able to provenance any archaeologically significant rock so precisely is remarkable; to do it for Stonehenge was quite unexpected and exciting,” said Dr Ixer.

Dr Bevins said: “Many have asked the question over the years, how the stones got from Pembrokeshire to Stonehenge. Was it human transport? Was it due to ice transport? Thanks to geological research, we now have a specific source for the rhyolite stones from which to work and an opportunity for archaeologists to answer the question that has been widely debated. It is important now that the research continues.”