Archaeologists stunned by huge 4,500-year-old monument discovery near Stonehenge

Stonehenge: Archaeologists discover 'prehistoric village'

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

The shortest day of the year is upon us, meaning brighter mornings and longer evenings will begin to draw closer. The winter solstice falls on December 21. The solstice occurs when either of the Earth’s poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the sun.

In the Northern Hemisphere, this generally occurs on December 21, though it has been known to fall on December 22, as it did two years ago.

Likewise, this year’s celebrations at Stonehenge will take place on December 22, with crowds set to gather at sunrise.

Stonehenge has always been an important place for pagans, with the solstice being an especially important time of year.

The pagan celebration of winter solstice, otherwise known as Yule, saw Druids (celtic priests) cutting mistletoe that grew on oak trees and giving it as a blessing.

Oaks were considered sacred, and the mistletoe fruit viewed as a symbol of life in the dark winter months.

Druids also introduced the tradition of the yule log. Celts thought the sun stood still for twelve days during mid-winter, and would light a log for 12 days to conquer the darkness, banish evil spirits and bring luck in the coming year.

Thousands of pagans continue to gather at the Neolithic stone circle every year.

The earliest phase of the monument is believed to date back to around 3100 BC, with deposits containing human bone dating back to as early as 3000 BC.

The site, and surrounding area, is an archaeological goldmine.

Lying just two miles (3.2km) north-east of Stonehenge in the parish of Durrington is another henge enclosure.

Initial excavations between 2004 and 2006 revealed seven houses amid previous suggestions that the settlement may have housed up to 4,000 people.

Several years later, in 2015, an announcement from The Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project confirmed evidence of another monument at the Durrington Walls site, consisting of what was believed to be up to 90 standing stones.

DON’T MISS:
Archaeologists stunned at shipwreck ‘frozen in time’ [INSIGHT]
Archaeology: ‘Once in a lifetime find’ with hundreds of human skulls [DISCOVERY]
Archaeology breakthrough after ancient human study: ‘Enormous!’ [REVEALED]

However, ground-penetrating radar revealed a circle of enormous post-holes, but no buried stones, beneath the henge bank. These had later been filled with chalk rubble.

The stones theory had been disproved.

Archaeologist Dr Nicola Snashall told the BBC in 2016: “The response from the radar was so good that the team thought they were dealing with a whole series of stones lying on their side, buried beneath the bank of this ancient earthwork.

“What we’ve discovered is that there are two enormous pits for timber posts. They have got ramps at the sides to lower posts into.

“They did contain timbers which have been vertically lifted out and removed at some stage.”

Dr Snashall believed the monument was built after a settlement on the site went out of use.

She said: “For some strange reason, they took the timbers out and put up the enormous bank and ditch that we see today.”

Since then, a further 20 pits at the site have been discovered. They belonged to what is believed to be a 1.2 mile (1.9km)-diameter circle of large “shafts”, part of which has not survived due to modern development.

If this is correct, Durrington Walls would be Britain’s largest prehistoric monument.

These pits, measuring 10 metres wide and five metres deep, all have the same dimensions — supporting previous theories that these were man-made.

Optically stimulated luminescence tests confirmed that the soil within the pits had not seen daylight since 2400 BC.

The analysis of the site proved that this was indeed a huge Neolithic monument. Professor Vincent Gaffney, an archaeologist from Bradford University, said: “Some of the debate about the discovery and Stonehenge seemed bonkers to me.”

The pits had previously been dismissed as “natural features” but evidence proved otherwise.

Source: Read Full Article

Previous post Inside the new long-haul budget airline that bans kids in part of the plane
Next post Kimberly Wyatt shows off curves in skintight lycra in racy DOI rehearsal clip