Stonehenge tooth may offer evidence of cows dragging stones from Wales

A cow's tooth from a jawbone deliberately placed beside the entrance to Stonehenge at the Neolithic monument's very beginning in 2995 to 2900 BCE could offer tantalising new evidence about how the stones were transported about 125 miles from Wales to Salisbury Plain.

- Caroline Davies

Analysis of the third molar tooth showed the animal began life in Wales, adding weight to a theory that cows were used as beasts of burden in hauling the enormous stones across the country.

Since the jawbone was discovered a century ago, historians have been intrigued about why it was placed there and where it had come from.

Researchers from the British Geological Survey (BGS), Cardiff University and University College London found lead isotopes revealed composition spikes during the late winter to spring, pointing to a source that was older than the metal in the rest of the tooth. This was because during pregnancy the cow drew on lead already in its skeleton to create the calf, it is thought.

That lead suggested the cow originated from an area with Palaeozoic rocks, such as the bluestones found in Wales, before moving to Stonehenge.