Neolithic Cow Tooth Supports Welsh Origin of Stonehenge Stones

Archaeologists of the University College of London and elsewhere examined a molar tooth of a woman Bos bull (COW) Discovered in Stonehenge.

Stonehenge. Image credit: Regina Wolfs.

In 1924, archaeologists recovered the right mandible from an elderly cow from the bottom of the ditch surrounding Stonehenge Stage 1, built in 2995-2900 BCE.

Using the isotope analysis of one of his teeth, Professor Michael Parker Pearson of the University College of London and his colleagues dated between 3350 and 2920 BCE and has placed its probable origin in Wales.

“These are even more fascinating evidence of Stonehenge’s link with the southwest of Wales, where his Blues come from,” said Professor Parker Pearson.

“This raises the enticing possibility that cattle helped transport the stones.”

The researchers decided the third molar tooth of the cow, which records the chemical signals of the animal’s second year of life, in nine horizontal sections.

They were then able to measure carbon, oxygen, strontium and head isotopes, which each offer clues to food, environment and cow movement.

The different concentrations and varieties of elements integrated into the tooth have given an overview of the life of the cow.

The isotopes of oxygen revealed that the tooth had captured about six months of growth, from winter to summer, while carbon isotopes have shown that the diet of the animal has changed with the seasons: wood fodder in winter and pastures open in summer.

In addition, the isotopes of the strontium indicated that seasonal food sources came from different geological areas, which suggests that the cow has moved seasonally or that winter fodder was imported.

The lead isotopes revealed composition peaks from the end of winter to spring, pointing to a lead source that was older than lead in the rest of the tooth.

The composition suggests that the cow is from an area with much older paleozoic rocks, such as around the preseli hills in the Pembrokeshire, in Wales, where Stonehenge’s Flostones are from before being transported to the Sililsbury plain.

“This study revealed unprecedented details of six months in the life of a cow, providing the first proof of the cattle movement in Wales as well as the documentation of food changes and life events that occurred about 5,000 years ago,” said Professor Jane Evans, archaeologist of the National Environmental Isotope Facility of the British Geological Survey.

“A slice of a cow tooth told us an extraordinary story and, as new scientific tools are emerging, we hope that there will be even more to learn from its long journey.”

In addition, scientists also concluded that the unusual lead signal could not be explained by contamination or local movement alone.

Instead, this lead stored in the cow’s bones had been remobilized during pregnancy stress.

If it is true, it would mean that cow was a woman and pregnant or breastfeed during the tooth formation.

To test the hypothesis, the authors applied a technique of determining sex based on peptides, which showed that there was a high probability that the animal was a woman.

“This research has provided new key perspectives on the biography of this enigmatic cow whose leftovers have been deposited in such an important place at a Stonehenge entry,” said Cardiff University Professor Richard Madgwick.

“It provides new unrivaled details on the distant origins of the animal and the difficult journey it has been caused.”

“So often, major stories dominate research on the main archaeological sites, but this detailed biographical approach on a single animal provides a whole new facet to the history of Stonehenge.”

The results of the team were published on June 17, 2025 in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

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J. Evans and al. 2025. Sequential multi-isotope sampling through a Bos bull Tooth of Stonehenge, to assess comparative sources and times of incorporation of strontium and lead. Journal of Archaeological Science 180: 106269; DOI: 10.1016 / J.Jas. 20106269