A team of archaeologists have discovered a massive ring of prehistoric trenches at the site of an ancient village about two miles (3.2 km) from the famous Stonehenge monument in the UK. The team believes the circle of pits – carbon dated to about 2,500 BC – could have guided people towards the religious sites and warned others not to cross the boundary.
The find also makes the site the largest prehistoric structure in Britain and possibly in Europe. That’s according to University of Bradford archaeologist Vincent Gaffney, lead author of the analysis, which was published online in Internet Archaeology. Bradford told the New York Times:
It has completely transformed how we understand this landscape — there is no doubt about it.
The 1.2 mile-wide (2 km-wide) ring of shafts – up to 33 feet (10 meters) across and 16 feet (5 meters) deep – was discovered around the ancient village known as the Durrington Walls henge monument. Researchers have identified up to 20 shafts but estimate there may have been more than 30 originally.
This low-level aerial photograph clearly shows the earlier circular earthwork that surrounds the stone monument. Image via English Heritage.
Nick Snashall is National Trust archaeologist for the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site. She said:
As the place where the builders of Stonehenge lived and feasted, Durrington Walls is key to unlocking the story of the wider Stonehenge landscape, and this astonishing discovery offers us new insights into the lives and beliefs of our Neolithic ancestors.
Archaeologists believe the circle of shaft marks a boundary around the massive henge at Durrington. the features, along with an internal post line, could have guided people towards the religious sites and warned others not to cross the boundary. Gaffney told the New York Times:
Stonehenge was for the dead, Durrington was for the living. But now, what we are probably looking at was this great big boundary around them probably warning people of what they are approaching.
Image via The Guardian.
Gaffney said it was extraordinary such a major find had been made so close to Stonehenge. He said in a statement:
The area around Stonehenge is amongst the most studied archaeological landscapes on earth and it is remarkable that the application of new technology can still lead to the discovery of such a massive prehistoric structure which, currently, is significantly larger than any comparative prehistoric monument that we know of in Britain, at least.
When these pits were first noted it was thought they might be natural features – solution hollows in the chalk. Only when the larger picture emerged, through the geophysical surveys undertaken as part of the Stonehenge Hidden Landscape Project, could we join the dots and see there was a pattern on a massive scale.
Stonehenge closed on March 18, 2020 as the British government introduced measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic. But English Heritage has announced that Stonehenge is now open for visitors, although tickets, and other safety measures are required. If you can’t visit, take a virtual tour instead. Image via The Salsbury Journal
Gaffney said:
The size of the shafts and circuit surrounding Durrington Walls is without precedent within the UK. It demonstrates the significance of Durrington Walls Henge, the complexity of the monumental structures within the Stonehenge landscape, and the capacity and desire of Neolithic communities to record their cosmological belief systems in ways, and at a scale, that we had never previously anticipated.
The research on the pits at Durrington was undertaken by a consortium of archaeologists as part of the Stonehenge Hidden Landscape Project.
? Watch the sunrise live over Stonehenge! #summersolstice https://t.co/NlVYtUYIu4
— English Heritage (@EnglishHeritage) June 21, 2020
Source: A Massive, Late Neolithic Pit Structure associated with Durrington Walls Henge
Image via EarthSky Facebook friend Buddy Puckhaber.
Bottom line: A team of archaeologists have discovered a massive ring of prehistoric trenches at the site of an ancient village about 2 miles from the famous Stonehenge monument in the UK.
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/31NavOW
A team of archaeologists have discovered a massive ring of prehistoric trenches at the site of an ancient village about two miles (3.2 km) from the famous Stonehenge monument in the UK. The team believes the circle of pits – carbon dated to about 2,500 BC – could have guided people towards the religious sites and warned others not to cross the boundary.
The find also makes the site the largest prehistoric structure in Britain and possibly in Europe. That’s according to University of Bradford archaeologist Vincent Gaffney, lead author of the analysis, which was published online in Internet Archaeology. Bradford told the New York Times:
It has completely transformed how we understand this landscape — there is no doubt about it.
The 1.2 mile-wide (2 km-wide) ring of shafts – up to 33 feet (10 meters) across and 16 feet (5 meters) deep – was discovered around the ancient village known as the Durrington Walls henge monument. Researchers have identified up to 20 shafts but estimate there may have been more than 30 originally.
This low-level aerial photograph clearly shows the earlier circular earthwork that surrounds the stone monument. Image via English Heritage.
Nick Snashall is National Trust archaeologist for the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site. She said:
As the place where the builders of Stonehenge lived and feasted, Durrington Walls is key to unlocking the story of the wider Stonehenge landscape, and this astonishing discovery offers us new insights into the lives and beliefs of our Neolithic ancestors.
Archaeologists believe the circle of shaft marks a boundary around the massive henge at Durrington. the features, along with an internal post line, could have guided people towards the religious sites and warned others not to cross the boundary. Gaffney told the New York Times:
Stonehenge was for the dead, Durrington was for the living. But now, what we are probably looking at was this great big boundary around them probably warning people of what they are approaching.
Image via The Guardian.
Gaffney said it was extraordinary such a major find had been made so close to Stonehenge. He said in a statement:
The area around Stonehenge is amongst the most studied archaeological landscapes on earth and it is remarkable that the application of new technology can still lead to the discovery of such a massive prehistoric structure which, currently, is significantly larger than any comparative prehistoric monument that we know of in Britain, at least.
When these pits were first noted it was thought they might be natural features – solution hollows in the chalk. Only when the larger picture emerged, through the geophysical surveys undertaken as part of the Stonehenge Hidden Landscape Project, could we join the dots and see there was a pattern on a massive scale.
Stonehenge closed on March 18, 2020 as the British government introduced measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic. But English Heritage has announced that Stonehenge is now open for visitors, although tickets, and other safety measures are required. If you can’t visit, take a virtual tour instead. Image via The Salsbury Journal
Gaffney said:
The size of the shafts and circuit surrounding Durrington Walls is without precedent within the UK. It demonstrates the significance of Durrington Walls Henge, the complexity of the monumental structures within the Stonehenge landscape, and the capacity and desire of Neolithic communities to record their cosmological belief systems in ways, and at a scale, that we had never previously anticipated.
The research on the pits at Durrington was undertaken by a consortium of archaeologists as part of the Stonehenge Hidden Landscape Project.
? Watch the sunrise live over Stonehenge! #summersolstice https://t.co/NlVYtUYIu4
— English Heritage (@EnglishHeritage) June 21, 2020
Source: A Massive, Late Neolithic Pit Structure associated with Durrington Walls Henge
Image via EarthSky Facebook friend Buddy Puckhaber.
Bottom line: A team of archaeologists have discovered a massive ring of prehistoric trenches at the site of an ancient village about 2 miles from the famous Stonehenge monument in the UK.
from EarthSky https://ift.tt/31NavOW
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