Overview

• Published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, the study analyzed a cow jawbone found in 1924 near Stonehenge’s south entrance and dated it to roughly 2995–2900 BCE.
• The team sliced the third molar into nine sections and measured carbon, oxygen, strontium and lead isotopes, revealing about six months of growth from winter into summer.
• Seasonal shifts showed woodland fodder in winter and open pasture in summer, with strontium values indicating food sources from different geological areas consistent with movement or imported fodder.
• Strontium and especially lead signatures indicate early-life grazing on older Paleozoic rocks that most parsimoniously match southwest Wales, though similar geology also occurs in northern Britain.
• An unusual lead signal was interpreted as mobilized during physiological stress, and peptide-based sexing indicated a high probability the animal was female, suggesting pregnancy or nursing; researchers say the findings support long-distance links and only tentatively suggest cattle could have aided bluestone transport.