Neolithic tombs found 15 miles from Stonehenge
Archaeologists have found a prehistoric complex, including two 6,000-year-old tombs, in Hampshire, just next to Stonehenge. According to a report in The Times, the Neolithic tombs, which until now had gone unnoticed under farmland despite being just 15 miles from Stonehenge, are some of the oldest monuments to have been found in Britain.
The discovery is also close to Cranborne Chase, one of the most well researched prehistoric areas in Europe. “It’s one of the most famous prehistoric landscapes, a Mecca for prehistorians, and you would have thought the archaeological world would have gone over it with a fine tooth comb,” said Dr Helen Wickstead, the Kingston University archaeologist leading the project.
The tombs were discovered by Damian Grady, an English Heritage photographer, who flew over the area in a light aircraft taking aerial photographs of the land, looking for marks or features on the landscape suggestive of ancient monuments. One photograph showed two long mounds. After discussions with colleagues, Grady was left in little doubt that the mounds were the site of ancient tombs. He contacted Dr Wickstead inviting her to investigate.
After carrying out a survey of the land using electromagnetic detectors and ultrasound, Dr Wickstead created a map of what lay beneath the fields. She was able to identify the two tombs with troughs on each side, known as long barrows, typical of Neolithic burial sites. Her team also found artefacts, including fragments of pottery, flint and stone tools, close to the surface.
more at The Times Online
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Surely the discovery of more burials around Stonehenge adds to the theory that it was a royal palace as such, with only the area's chieftains, priests, kings and queens able to be buried in its vicinity. Each new prehistoric grave site must surely indicate there were common people living in large numbers around the monument.
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