Archaeologists have discovered a second henge at Stonehenge, described as the most exciting find there in 50 years.
The circular ditch surrounding a smaller circle of deep pits about a metre (3ft) wide has been unearthed at the world-famous site in Wiltshire.
Archaeologists conducting a multi-million pound study believe timber posts were in the pits.
Project leader Professor Vince Gaffney, from the University of Birmingham, said the discovery was “exceptional”.
The new “henge” – which means a circular monument dating to Neolithic and Bronze Ages – is situated about 900m (2,950ft) from the giant stones on Salisbury Plain.
Images show it has two entrances on the north-east and south-west sides and inside the circle is a burial mound on top which appeared much later, Professor Gaffney said.
“You seem to have a large-ditched feature, but it seems to be made of individual scoops rather than just a straight trench,” he said. “When we looked a bit more closely, we then realised there was a ring of pits about a metre wide going all the way around the edge. When you see that as an archaeologist, you just looked at it and thought, ‘that’s a henge monument’ – it’s a timber equivalent to Stonehenge. From the general shape, we would guess it dates backs to about the time when Stonehenge was emerging at its most complex. This is probably the first major ceremonial monument that has been found in the past 50 years or so. This is really quite interesting and exceptional, it starts to give us a different perspective of the landscape.”
Other wooden structures have been found in the area, one of these being Durrington Walls about 3km (1.86m) to the north east of the stones. Data from the site is being collected as part of a virtual excavation to see what the area looked like when Stonehenge was built. Speculation as to why the 4,500-year-old landmark was built will continue for years to come, but various experts believe it was a cemetery for 500 years, from the point of its inception.
In 2008, the first excavation in nearly half a century was carried out at the iconic site on Salisbury Plain. This latest project is being funded by the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology, in Vienna, and the University of Birmingham, and is assisted by the National Trust and English Heritage.
Professor Gaffney said he was “certain” they would make further discoveries as 90% of the landscape around the giant stones was “terra incognita” – an unexplored region. “The presumption was this was just an empty field – now you’ve got a major ceremonial monument looking at Stonehenge,” he said.
Stonehenge’s newly discovered second henge
by David Gregory, BBC
Science happens in funny places. In this case I was in the back of a truck as number-crunchers in Vienna piped back massive amounts of data to a field near Stonehenge. And what the archaeologists saw made them very excited.
Stonehenge dominates the Wiltshire landscape. So it’s not a complete surprise that everyone from tourists to archaeologists tends to focus on the huge stones themselves.
But I was there filming the work of an international team lead by the University of Birmingham who are turning their back on the ancient monument and facing outward. Examining the 14 sq km around Stonehenge itself. Believe it or not about 90% of this land is, in archaeological terms, a complete blank.
But that’s changing as researchers carry out the biggest archaeological survey of its type in Europe. Not using shovels but instead scanners that can be dragged across the surface of the landscape. Geophysics has revolutionised modern archaeology and this kit is the very latest gear, fresh out of the lab. It can be attached to quad bikes, tractors and even 4×4′s and gather data when driven at high speed.
This new technology means you can now cover a huge area in a short period of time and gather extremely detailed information. It wouldn’t even be possible to carry this sort of survey with a trowel. No matter how many students you convinced to live in a tent for the summer.
The team was very excited when I was there by this black and white image. It’s a scan of an existing barrow and in this image the archaeological team see a segmented ditch and 24 deep pits which they say would probably have been dug for timbers and a wooden structure. A wooden henge. The diagram on the right shows this more clearly.
The team say this is the most exciting discovery at Stonehenge for 50 years. It means at its greatest the monument didn’t stand alone in the landscape but instead there was another henge nearby looking down on it.
Interestingly this barrow has been investigated in the past. But in those days people just dug straight down looking for the burial chamber and any ancient gold. What this scan reveals is what’s going on outside the previous limited archaeological investigations.
And of course that’s true of this entire area that’s been scanned. There’s still much more data to be analysed. Who knows what the team will discover next? In the meantime the equipmen
Related posts:
Comments