Pacific Science Center
Bringing science to life.
PacSci-Doku: “Ancient Mystery”
By Dennis Schatz – Senior Advisor
Do you Sudoku? It’s one of the hottest number games around! Well, here’s a twist we think you’ll love. We call it PacSci-Doku. Can you guess why? Here’s how it works. Instead of filling in the blanks with numbers, we use letters. Hidden in one of the columns or rows is the answer to a science question. You’ll find information about the answer on the answer tab below.
The question in this edition is:
What substance recently uncovered a mystery at Stonehenge?
To find the answer, complete this PacSci-Doku using the following nine letters:
U O I S M R t T N
Puzzle Difficulty: Easy
The Answer
The question in this edition is:
What substance recently uncovered a mystery at Stonehenge?
The answer: Strontium
The analysis of strontium in the skeletons of 25 individuals buried near Stonehenge shows that ten of them likely came from Wales 140 miles away. That doesn’t seem far today, but it was in 3,000 BC when Stonehenge was built. The strontium in the skeletons can be mapped to the level of the element found in different locations in the Britain, and the level of strontium is close to that found in Wales. The blue hue of the rocks making up Stonehenge suggest they came from Wales, so it now appears some of the workers who built Stonehenge probably did also. Learn more about the work to uncover this mystery.