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I have given this presentation a few times in the last several years, but I just finished refreshing some of the visuals and examples. If you're interested in how to setup a basic Facebook Page for a small business, this deck might be helpful.
There's also some elements of strategy that might prove useful to you. Caveat: This wasn't intended to make sense without a narrative over it, so it may require a little careful digging to extract the full value from.
Facebook Pages 101 View more presentations from Tyler Willis
Hope you enjoy!
Malcolm Gladwell live! | Strangers, Storytelling, and Psychology
Join the legend of non-fiction in conversation with best-selling author and poker pro Maria Konnikova.
02 August, 2020
Big Think LIVE
Add event to your calendar
<p>
In this Big Think Live session, <strong>Malcolm Gladwell</strong> and host <strong>Maria Konnikova</strong> will explore the quirks of the human mind, the ins and outs of writing about psychology, and the nature of storytelling through the framework of Gladwell's podcast series <a href="http://revisionisthistory.com/seasons" target="_blank">Revisionist History</a> and his latest book <em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316478520?tag=bigthink00-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1" target="_blank">Talking to Strangers</a></em>. <br>
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Ask your questions for Malcolm Gladwell during the audience Q&A!
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<p>
<strong>Join the stream at 12 pm EDT on Tuesday, August 4.</strong>
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<h2>STREAMING LINKS</h2>
<p>
<strong><a href="https://edge.bigthink.com/live_streams/106" target="_self">Big Think Edge</a> | <a href="https://youtu.be/_jb0pM9FrZk" target="_blank">YouTube</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BigThinkdotcom/posts/10157549491758527" target="_blank">Facebook</a></strong>
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<strong>Malcolm Gladwell</strong> is the author of five <em>New York Times</em> bestsellers: <em>The Tipping Point</em>, <em>Blink</em>, <em>Outliers</em>, <em>What the Dog Saw</em>, and <em>David and Goliath</em>. His newest book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316478520?tag=bigthink00-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1" target="_blank"><em>Talking to Strangers</em></a> (2019), is a darker-than-usual look at the miscommunications and assumptions that occur when we interact with people we don't know, told through historical case studies like Sandra Bland, Bernie Madoff, and Adolf Hitler. Gladwell is also the co-founder of Pushkin Industries, an audio content company that produces the podcasts <a href="http://revisionisthistory.com/seasons" target="_blank">Revisionist History</a>, which reconsiders things both overlooked and misunderstood, and <a href="https://brokenrecordpodcast.com/" target="_blank">Broken Record</a>, where he, Rick Rubin, and Bruce Headlam interview musicians across a wide range of genres. Gladwell has been included in the TIME 100 Most Influential People list and touted as one of Foreign Policy's Top Global Thinkers.
</p>
<p>
<strong>Maria Konnikova</strong> is the author of two <em>New York Times</em> bestsellers: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143109871?tag=bigthink00-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1" target="_blank"><em>The Confidence Game</em></a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/014312434X?tag=bigthink00-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1" target="_blank"><em>Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes</em></a>. Her new book is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/052552262X?tag=bigthink00-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1" target="_blank"><em>The Biggest Bluff</em></a> (June 2020). While researching <em>The Biggest Bluff</em>, journalist Konnikova became an international poker champion and the winner of over $300,000 in tournament earnings—and inadvertently turned into a professional poker player. She is a regular contributing writer for <em>The New Yorker</em>, and her writing has been featured in Best American Science and Nature Writing and has been translated into over twenty languages. Maria also hosts the podcast <a href="http://thegriftpodcast.com/" target="_blank">The Grift</a> from Panoply Media, a show that explores con artists and the lives they ruin, and is currently a visiting fellow at NYU's School of Journalism. She graduated from Harvard University and received her PhD in psychology from Columbia University.
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<div class="amazon-assets-widget__title" style="display: block;">Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know</div>
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<div class="amazon-assets-widget__title" style="display: block;">The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win</div>
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Popular
Map of the World's Countries Rearranged by Population
China moves to Russia and India takes over Canada. The Swiss get Bangladesh, the Bangladeshi India. And the U.S.? It stays where it is.
22 November, 2010
Strange Maps
What if the world were rearranged so that the inhabitants of the country with the largest population would move to the country with the largest area? And the second-largest population would migrate to the second-largest country, and so on?
<p>The result would be this disconcerting, disorienting map. In the world described by it, the differences in population density between countries would be less extreme than they are today. The world's most densely populated country currently is Monaco, with 43,830 inhabitants/mi² (16,923 per km²) (1). On the other end of the scale is Mongolia, which is less densely populated by a factor of almost exactly 10,000, with a mere 4.4 inhabitants/mi² (1.7 per km²). </p> <p>The averages per country would more closely resemble the global average of 34 per mi² (13 per km²). But those evened-out statistics would describe a very strange world indeed. The global population realignment would involve massive migrations, lead to a heap of painful demotions and triumphant promotions, and produce a few very weird new neighborhoods.</p> <p>Take the world's largest country: Russia. It would be taken over by its Asian neighbor and rival China, the country with the world's largest population. Overcrowded China would not just occupy underpopulated Siberia - a long-time Russian fear - but also fan out all the way across the Urals to Russia's westernmost borders. China would thus become a major European power. Russia itself would be relegated to Kazakhstan, which still is the largest <em>landlocked</em> country in the world, but with few hopes of a role on the world stage commensurate with Russia's clout, which in no small part derives from its sheer size.</p> <p>Canada, the world's second-largest country, would be transformed into an Arctic, or at least quite chilly version of India, the country with the world's second-largest population. The country would no longer be a thinly populated northern afterthought of the US. The billion Indians north of the Great Lakes would make Canada a very distinct, very powerful global player. </p> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODQxNTUyNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MjMzOTIxN30.JcIJGngnHc-AHZnu_n1zNM4OlhiUg0aGECL8xFSLX-Y/img.jpg?width=980" id="f443a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fff52c5e4714867070b6d879860218b1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit..."><a href="https://imgur.com/c6Agr" target="_blank">Click here </a>to zoom in.</small></p> <p>Strangely enough, the US itself would not have to swap its population with another country. With 310 million inhabitants, it is the third most populous nation in the world. And with an area of just over 3.7 million mi² (slightly more than 9.6 million km²), it is also the world's third largest country (2). Brazil, at number five in both lists, is in the same situation. Other non-movers are Yemen and Ireland. Every other country moves house. A few interesting swaps:</p> <ul class="ee-ul"> </ul><li>Countries with relatively high population densities move to more spacious environments. This increases their visibility. Look at those 94 million Filipinos, for example, no longer confined to that small archipelago just south of China. They now occupy the sprawling Democratic Republic of the Congo, the 12th largest country in the world, and slap bang in the middle of Africa too.</li> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODU4MDE2MS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNDAwMzE5Nn0.kLG-IELwUUY_LkITmkElQIO7BNqARU7mtEgaPrA9MR4/img.png?width=980" id="69cd3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4f98972a01aadfb28598539fbeecd1f3" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <ul class="ee-ul"> </ul><li>The reverse is also true. Mongolia, that large, sparsely populated chunk of a country between Russia and China, is relegated to tiny Belgium, whose even tinier neighbor Luxembourg is populated by 320,000 Icelanders, no longer enjoying the instant recognition provided by their distinctly shaped North Atlantic island home.</li> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODU4MDE2Mi9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTk4OTUxNn0.lciaEW4iMtpGN3zyC380YeEyP3HyJJsiUdwyPAmNhdk/img.png?width=980" id="2036f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="67112628e5132d5382cd0ec22115be55" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <ul class="ee-ul"> </ul><li>Australia's 22.5 million inhabitants would move to Spain, the world's 51st largest country. This would probably be the furthest migration, as both countries are almost exactly antipodean to each other. But Australians would not have to adapt too much to the mainly hot and dry Spanish climate.</li> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODU4MDE2Ni9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwOTM0MTE3MX0.1WycWH7Bg5IFPsgINcMRVP7OvDf_-M5vM2xL73PEGQk/img.png?width=980" id="53e3c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1ec28a96186905680b8b83f246df0238" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <ul class="ee-ul"> </ul><li>But spare a thought for those unfortunate Vietnamese. Used to a lush, tropical climate, the 85 million inhabitants of Vietnam would be shipped off to icy Greenland. Even though that Arctic dependency of Denmark has warmed up a bit due to recent climate changes, it would still be mainly snowy, empty and freezing. One imagines a giant group huddle, just to keep warm.</li> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODU4MDE3MS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxMzA5ODIzM30.rxg2E1ZsakRGKtSmufTpiQRPNYNzl2wu5nfVeuoJikM/img.png?width=980" id="e4135" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5ff315e69f201ab37cf07e330e2f9db4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <ul class="ee-ul"> </ul><li>Jamaica would still be island-shaped - but landlocked, as the Jamaicans would move to Lesotho, an independent enclave completely surrounded by South Africa - or rather, in this strange new world, South Korea. Those South Koreans probably couldn't believe their bad luck. Of all the potential new friends in the world, who gets to be their northern neighbor but their wacky cousin, North Korea? It seems the heavily militarized DMZ will move from the Korean peninsula to the South African-Botswanan border.</li> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODU4MDE3My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1ODk3OTk0Mn0.qEuN2P9KkyOC0IXDWDpem-wzLrjYC0lREcdxMbOQk5Q/img.png?width=980" id="ea7e7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="47d1736f2161025a3b2ae97465faa1e8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <ul class="ee-ul"> </ul><li>The UK migrates from its strategically advantageous island position off Europe's western edge to a place smack in the middle of the Sahara desert, to one of those countries the name of which one always has to look up (3). No longer splendidly isolated, it will have to share the neighborhood with such upstarts as Mexico, Myanmar, Thailand and - good heavens - Iran. Back home, its sceptered isles are taken over by the Tunisians. Even Enoch Powell didn't see that one coming.</li> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODU4MDE3NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MDc1NDAyNX0.36GbL4RUiiudWjYtC6Cxv7mhWSizvBDMCHqX67d_JmQ/img.png?width=980" id="9540b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="acecacc10d6ae05b8f01864d9fb0842b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <ul class="ee-ul"> </ul><li>Some countries only move a few doors down, so to speak. El Salvador gets Guatemala, Honduras takes over Nicaragua, Nepal occupies Burma/Myanmar and Turkey sets up house in Iran. Others wake up in a whole new environment. Dusty, landlocked Central African Republic is moving to the luscious island of Sri Lanka, with its pristine, ocean-lapped shores. The mountain-dwelling Swiss will have to adapt to life in the flood-infested river delta of Bangladesh.</li> <p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODU4MDE3Ni9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNzI3NDYxNH0.BTaBx6teEgttugKkJovED4_5xB0cHYwCkUX3uVpaOL0/img.png?width=980" id="59550" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4c8f5cf89d1dfb0e8d5a0564b2cfd054" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <ul class="ee-ul"> </ul><li>Geography, they say, is destiny (4). Some countries are plagued or blessed by their present location. How would they fare elsewhere? Take Iraq, brought down by wars both of the civil and the other kind, and burdened with enough oil to finance lavish dictatorships and arouse the avidity of superpowers. What if the 31.5 million Iraqis moved to the somewhat larger, equally sunny country of Zambia - getting a lot of nice, non-threatening neighbors in the process?</li> <p>Rearranged maps that switch the labels of the countries depicted, as if in some parlor game, to represent some type of statistical data, are an interesting subcategory of curious cartography. The most popular example discussed on this blog is the map of the US, with the states' names replaced by that of countries with an equivalent GDP (see <a href="http://bigthink.com/ideas/21182">#131</a>). Somewhat related, if by topic rather than technique, is the cartogram discussed in blog post <a href="http://bigthink.com/ideas/21146">#96</a>, showing the world's countries shrunk or inflated to reflect the size of their population.</p> <p><em>Many thanks to all who sent in this map: Matt Chisholm, Criggie, Roel Damiaans, Sebastian Dinjens, Irwin Hébert, Allard H., Olivier Muzerelle, Rodrigo Oliva, Rich Sturges, and John Thorne. The map is referenced on half a dozen websites where it can be seen in full resolution (<a href="http://i.imgur.com/c6Agr.jpg">this one</a> among them), but it is unclear where it first originated, and who produced it (the map is signed, in the bottom right hand corner, by JPALMZ).</em></p> <p><strong>Strange Maps #490</strong></p> <p><em>Got a strange map? Let me know at </em><a href="mailto:strangemaps@gmail.com">strangemaps@gmail.com</a>.</p> <p>(1) Most (dependent) territories and countries in the top 20 of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_density">Wikipedia's population density ranking</a> have tiny areas, with populations that are, in relation to those of other countries, quite negligible. The first country on the list with both a substantial surface and population is Bangladesh, in 9th place with a total population of over 162 million and a density of 1,126 inhabitants/mi² (56 per km²).</p> <p>(2) Actually, the US contends third place with China. Both countries have almost the same size, and varying definitions of how large they are. Depending on whether or not you include Taiwan and (other) disputed areas in China, and overseas territories in the US, either country can be third of fourth on the list.</p> <p>(3) Niger, not to be confused with nearby Nigeria. Nor with neighboring Burkina Faso, which used to be Upper Volta (even though there never was a Lower Volta except, perhaps, Niger. Or Nigeria).</p> <p>(4) The same is said of demography. And of a bunch of other stuff.</p>
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Hulu's original movie "Palm Springs" is the comedy we needed this summer
Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti get stuck in an infinite wedding time loop.
03 August, 2020
Gear
- Two wedding guests discover they're trapped in an infinite time loop, waking up in Palm Springs over and over and over.
- As the reality of their situation sets in, Nyles and Sarah decide to enjoy the repetitive awakenings.
- The film is perfectly timed for a world sheltering at home during a pandemic.
<script async="true" src="https://widgets.stackcommerce.com/js-deal-feed/0.1/widget.js" type="text/javascript"></script><p>Everyone remembers Bill Murray's hilarious time loop in the 1993 film <em>Groundhog Day</em>. While covering the infamous annual event in Punxsutawney, Murray comes to terms with waking up over and over again in the same situation. The movie is responsible for making "Groundhog Day" a metaphor for dealing with monotonous and unpleasant situations. <br></p><p>That's what happens when Sarah (Cristin Milioti), a maid of honor at a <a href="https://stackmedia.io?pub_id=2340&utm_source=0a0b0cv5038&utm_medium=1a0b0cp393&utm_term=scsf-414922&utm_content=100-a0x1P000004slmlQAA" target="_blank">Palm Springs</a> wedding, wakes up the morning after the ceremony only to discover the wedding is that day. She approaches Nyles (Andy Samberg), who she connected with the prior evening, to figure out what's happening to her. </p><p>Nyles has been in the time loop for some time. The story flips the generic romantic comedy on its head as the two figure out how to navigate this shared reality together. </p><p><a href="https://stackmedia.io?pub_id=2340&utm_source=0a0b0cv5038&utm_medium=1a0b0cp393&utm_term=scsf-414922&utm_content=100-a0x1P000004slmlQAA" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><em>Palm Springs</em></a> is a perfectly timed release in a nation that feels like it's stuck in a time loop during the pandemic. In fact, the film offers another perspective from the fear portrayed in the media on a daily basis: the triumph of love during a time of immense confusion and frustration. Instead of being weighed down by the stress of the situation, the characters adapt to their circumstances while learning plenty about themselves along the way. </p><p><em>Palm Springs</em> is a Hulu Original. <a href="https://stackmedia.io?pub_id=2340&utm_source=0a0b0cv5038&utm_medium=1a0b0cp393&utm_term=scsf-414922&utm_content=100-a0x1P000004slmlQAA" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Sign up for a free 30-day trial now</a>. After the trial period expires, enjoy a subscription starting at only $5.99/month. </p><p><em>One month free trial offer valid for Hulu (ad-supported) or Hulu (No Ads) plans only. Offer valid for new and eligible returning subscribers only. After free trial ends subscription fees apply starting at $5.99/mo unless canceled. Cancel anytime. Terms apply.</em></p><p><em>Sponsored by Hulu</em></p>
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Scientists solve the origin of Stonehenge’s sarsen stones
Most of Stonehenge's megaliths, called sarens, came from West Woods, Wiltshire.
03 August, 2020
Culture & Religion
Researchers have known Stonehenge's smaller bluestones came from Preseli Hills, Wales, but the source of its sarsens has remained a mystery. Using chemical analysis, scientists found at matching source at West Woods, approximately 25 kilometer north of the World Heritage Site. But mysteries remain, such as why that site was chosen.
<ul class="ee-ul"></ul>
<p><span>Many mysteries surround </span><a href="https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/" target="_blank">Stonehenge</a><span>. Who built it and what purpose did it serve? Why that arrangement of megaliths and lentils? How did Neolithic people move and erect such massive stones using 5,000-year-old technology? Because Stonehenge's builders left us no written record, historians, archaeologists, enthusiasts, conspiracy theorists, and outright cranks have tried for centuries to translate their prehistoric silence into answers.</span></p><p>As scientific tools and techniques have advanced, we've learned to better discern the forensic clues left behind in the megaliths, <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/stonehenge-site-ancient-burial-ground-dead-came-from-as-far-as-wales-anthropology" target="_blank">inhumed bodies</a>, and landscape of the Salisbury Plain. Today, scientists have traced Stonehenge's "<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/megalith-quarries-for-stonehenges-bluestones/AAF715CC586231FFFCC18ACB871C9F5E" target="_blank">bluestones</a>"—smaller dolerite stones found in the monument's interior—to quarries in Preseli Hills, Wales. They've also established that the bluestones likely served as grave markers for the people buried there, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/aug/02/revealed-stonehenge-buried-welsh" target="_blank">also from Wales</a>. </p><p>Thanks to our scientific tools, and a reclaimed piece of history, another Stonehenge mystery has been solved. Scientists have pinpointed the source area for most of the monument's extant sarsens. And no, aliens did not carry these megaliths with tractor beams to create <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/travel-interests/arts-and-culture/ancient-sites-built-by-aliens/" target="_blank">an interstellar landing pad</a>. Sorry, cranks. Stonehenge's origin is far more terrestrial, found in a little spot near Marlborough Downs.</p>
Discovering Stonehenge's signature
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUyOTYyMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzQ2NDc3Nn0.zb-izy2gdpzY5RboUnWumoX1XqP7WgqqkfANYnMkRSA/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C726%2C0%2C-4&height=700" id="a041b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9872216ca30ec9e5628b8e91f32b5b6b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />In 1958, engineers undertook the task of re-erecting a Stonehenge trilithon that fell in 1797. Three cores drilled into a sarsen disappeared soon after.
<p>"Sarsen" is the common term for the giant sandstone—more specifically, duricrust silcrete—megaliths that enwreathe Stonehenge. Fifty-two of an estimated 80 sarsens remain today. They form both the interior horseshoe and the uprights and lintels of the outer circle, as well as peripheral stones like the Heel and Slaughter Stones. <a href="https://www.livescience.com/22427-stonehenge-facts.html" target="_blank">The largest sarsens</a> stand at about nine meters (30 feet) tall and weight around 22.6 metric tones (25 tons).</p><p>The immense size of these boulders sits at the center of one of Stonehenge's most enticing enigmas. How did people, using only Neolithic technology, manage to move and prop up such massive stones? A major piece to that puzzle has been their source as the answer would inform scientists on the opportunities and challenges facing the builders as they moved the sarsens.</p><p>To find that piece, David Nash, the study's lead author and a professor at Brighton University, and his team analyzed the sarsens using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. This non-intrusive analysis allowed them to generate initial chemical characterizations for the stones' 34 chemical elements.</p><p>"Until recently we did not know it was possible to provenance a stone like sarsen," Nash <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-07/aaft-mos072720.php" target="_blank">said in a release</a>. "It has been really exciting to use 21st century science to understand the Neolithic past and answer a question that archaeologists have been debating for centuries."</p><p>To further hone in on the source area, the team needed to generate high-resolution chemical signatures by analyzing a sample. Of course, the idea of tearing a sample out of <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/373/" target="_blank">this World Heritage Site</a> would be near sacrilege. Luckily, a previously lost piece of history had recently been returned to the British people.</p><p>In 1958, a restoration program re-erected a Stonehenge <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trilithon#:~:text=A%20trilithon%20(or%20trilith)%20is,the%20context%20of%20megalithic%20monuments." target="_blank">trilithon</a> that fell in 1797. After lifting the sarsens, engineers discovered cracks in one of the uprights (Stone 58). They drilled out three cores from the stone and inserted metal ties to reinforce its integrity. The holes were filled with sarsen plugs to hide the intrusion. However, the three cores disappeared.</p><p>Flash forward to 2018. Robert Phillips, an 89-year-old U.S. citizen and on-site worker during the restoration, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-48190588" target="_blank">returned one of the three cores</a>. Nash and his team were granted permission to sample a piece from "Phillips' core." They used a plasma mass spectrometer to create a chemical signature for the monument, one they could compare to potential source sites across southern Britain.</p><p>They found a match in West Woods, Wiltshire. Fifty of Stonehenge's 52 sarsens share a chemical signature with the stones in this area, strongly suggesting they were sourced there. The area also sports a high concentration of evidence for early Neolithic activity, adding to its plausibility.</p><p>"To be able to pinpoint the area that Stonehenge's builders used to source their materials around 2,500 BC is a real thrill," Susan Greaney, senior properties historian at English Heritage, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-53580339#:~:text=The%20origin%20of%20the%20giant,was%20returned%20after%2060%20years.&text=The%20monument's%20smaller%20bluestones%20have,impossible%20to%20identify%20until%20now." target="_blank">told the <em>BBC</em></a>. "While we had our suspicions that Stonehenge's sarsens came from the Marlborough Downs, we didn't know for sure, and with areas of sarsens across Wiltshire, the stones could have come from anywhere."</p><p>She added the evidence showed "how carefully considered and deliberate the building of this phase of Stonehenge was."</p><p>The study was published in <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/31/eabc0133" target="_blank"><em>Science Advances</em></a>.</p>For every answer, another question
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUyOTYyNy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5NzI5NDEzNX0.iNRlen_VApo2Hw6SPd_eiVodaG3UpEb00yD4GX_9JgU/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C164%2C0%2C1&height=700" id="e4fe1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="157f21a6e304f7f50ebec55e2e53e505" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />A view of Stonehenge during the Summer Solstice.
(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
<p>Thanks to Nash and his team, scientists now know the source of Stonehenge's sarsens. This clue can help them solve other Stonehenge mysteries. That most of the stones were sourced from one location, the study notes, suggests that they were erected at about the same time. It also reveals the routes the Neolithic builders had to traverse with their heavy loads.</p><p>But questions remain. Why did the builders choose West Woods when the Salisbury Plain is dense with sarsen? Why were two megaliths (Stones 26 and 160) sourced elsewhere? And were the missing stones gathered from West Woods or elsewhere? </p><p>These questions only touch on the sarsens. The question that intrigues so many of the monument's visitors remains hotly debated: Who built Stonehenge and why? Was it a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/mar/09/archaeology-stonehenge-bones-burial-ground#:~:text=Stonehenge%20may%20have%20been%20burial%20site%20for%20Stone%20Age%20elite%2C%20say%20archaeologists,-This%20article%20is&text=Centuries%20before%20the%20first%20massive,a%20theory%20disclosed%20on%20Saturday." target="_blank">burial site for the Stone age elite</a>? <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120622163722.htm" target="_blank">A monument marking British unification</a>? <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/mar/15/circular-thinking-stonehenges-origin-is-subject-to-new-theory" target="_blank">A Druid Mecca</a>? We don't know, but as scientific tools advance, we may be able to break the prehistoric silence that has laid over Stonehenge for so long.</p>
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