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Stonehenge Discovery using 3D Laser Scanning

Posted by michael on from the scientists-do-it-with-lasers dept.

Alligator Descartes writes "The BBC reports - 'High-tech lasers have been used to unlock the secrets of Stonehenge. The work at the ancient site in Wiltshire has already uncovered two carvings which are invisible to the naked eye.' The project website contains lots of images plus some nice animations of the scan data."

2 of 259 comments (clear)

  1. I dunno... by iiioxx · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Looks more like tool marks than "carvings" to me. I think this is just a bunch of archeologists seeing what they want to see.

  2. Erm, radio carbon dating huh? by Senjaz · · Score: 3, Insightful
    From the project website:
    "But the advent of radiocarbon dating showed decisively that Stonehenge was much older than Mycenae. Indeed, the idea of making carvings in stone springs from a long tradition."

    Right, carbon dating rocks eh? Using what carbon? Carbon dating can only date things which had sufficient carbon 14 content and is based on its radio active decay to carbon 12. It only works on things that were once living (I'm no scientist but I'm pretty sure these rocks weren't) and even then it can produce hideously inaccurate results.

    As for the scanning. The markings could be anything. Because of the extent of errosion there is no way you can tell if these were done shortly after construction or years afterwards.

    Nothing but misinformation here.

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