An international team of archaeologists and scientists has found a previously undiscovered wooden structure just a little ways from the stone circle that the world knows as Stonehenge.The team consists of scientists from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Germany, and Austria.
Dr. Vince Gaffney, a professor from the University of Birmingham and the chair in Landscape Archaeology and Geomatics, led the international team of scientists on this archaeological dig in the southern part of England.
According to the Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity (IAA), at the University of Birmingham, “Archaeologists from IAA have been involved in re-writing history, following the discovery of a major ceremonial monument less than one kilometre away from Stonehenge.”
The IAA article A new ‘henge’ discovered at Stonehenge, continues with “The new henge was discovered just two weeks into a three year international study that forms part of the multi-million Euro Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project. The aim of the project is to map 14 square kilometres of the Stonehenge landscape, to recreate visually the iconic prehistoric monument and its surroundings and transform how we understand the landscape.”
Dr. Gaffney adds, “It seemed to have a large-ditched feature, but it seemed to be made of individual scoops rather than just a straight trench. When we looked more closely we then realised there was a ring of pits about a metre wide going all the way around the edge.”
And, “When you see that as an archaeologist, you just look at it and think, ‘that’s a henge monument’ – it’s a timber equivalent to Stonehenge.”
The wooden structure was found when magnetic and radar scans were passed over an area about 900 meters (around 3,000 feet) from the site of Stonehenge.
The scans identified a cluster of deep pits, which were surrounded by a ring of smaller holes.
This newly discovered structure appears to be another circular area, similar to the one that is famously known by people all over the world.
According to the July 22, 2010 Huffington Post article Stonehenge Discovery: Wooden Structure Found Near Famous Monument, “The survey team which uncovered the structure said it could be the foundation for a circle of freestanding pieces of timber, a wooden version of Stonehenge.”
However, the article continues with a different perspective of the story: “… Tim Darvill, a professor of archaeology at Bournemouth University in southern England, expressed skepticism, saying he believed it was more likely a barrow, or prehistoric tomb.”
Stonehenge is located in the Salisbury Plain about 3.2 kilometers (2.0 miles) west from the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, and around 13 kilometers (8.1 miles) north of Salisbury, in the southern part of England, within the United Kingdom.
The earliest development of the prehistoric site, consisting of earthworks surrounded by a circular pattern of large standing stones, occurred somewhere in the period of 3100 to 2300 B.C., or around 5,000 years ago.
Further developments, including burial mounds, happened over the next two thousand or so years, and probably ending some time around 3,000 years ago. But, no one really knows for sure.
Please read the Huffington Post article, which was mentioned earlier, for more details on this exciting new discovery in the English county of Wiltshire.
The Huffington Post article also states, “The timber henge – a name given to prehistoric monuments surrounded by a circular ditch – would have been constructed and modified at the same time as its more famous relative, and probably had some allied ceremonial or religious function….”
And, “Exactly what kind of ceremonies those were is unclear. The new henge joins a growing complex of tombs and mysterious Neolithic structures found across the area.”
Also read the July 23, 2010 Cosmos article “Stunning new discovery rivals Stonehenge” for more information on the story.
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