Trail Search: From the Alps to the Stonehenge Area

Which path did the neolithitic “Amesbury Archer”, who was unearthed in 2002 near Stonehenge in England, follow when he migrated from the foothills of the Alps to the area now called the Salisbury Plain? The archer's origin has been deduced from isotopic analysis of his tooth enamel. What made him move that far away from the Alps and how did he acquire wealth and status, as indicated by the rich goods found at his burial site near the River Avon two and a half miles southeast of Stonehenge? While the trail, the archer took, remains a mystery, a falcon's-eye view nicely illustrates his new homeland [1] showing recent understanding of a neolithic area and the relation between sites including Stonehenge, Woodhenge, Durrington Walls and Cursus, one of the cryptic trenches numerous in Britain.

[1] Illustration by Kazuhiko Sano on pages 40 and 41 in the article with the title “If the Stones Could Speak” by Caroline Alexander and Ken Geiger in National Geographic, Vol. 213, No.6, June 2008.