Unfortunately, a growing number of visitors to the famous archaeological site of Stonehenge are leaving with more than just memories.
Yep, that’s right: Bluestone from the site believed to be the source of Stonehenge is being pilfered away by trophy hunters, who either keep them as souvenirs or sell them online on eBay.
The polished stones labelled as “Stonehenge Bluestone Mineral Preseli Hills” are selling from around £8 on the auction site; that’s about $15.
Apparently, the souvenir hunters are stealing bits of bluestone from the Preseli Hills, an area believed to be the potential source of the building blocks used to make Stonehenge 140 miles (225km) away in Wiltshire.
Although they’re not exactly chipping bits off the actual monument, what they’re doing is just as bad, according to Phil Bennett, Cultural Heritage Manager of Pembrokeshire National Park:
“If somebody took a hammer and started bashing chunks off a bluestone at Stonehenge there would be an outcry… To me, what is happening at Carn Menyn is just the same.”
Archaeologists continue to debate the source of the stone used to build Stonehenge and how it made the journey from Wales to Wiltshire more than 5,000 years ago.
More than 1.3 million people visited Stonehenge in 2015.
Is this another example of the dark side of mass tourism?
