New discoveries in Stonehenge

A team of archaeologists led by Vince Gaffney, a professor at the University of Birmingham, UK, discovered two pits at Stonehenge that were used for sun worship rituals. This is reported in one of the blogs on the Yahoo website. The age of these pits is about 5 thousand years older than the age of the famous stone building.

The discovery was made by the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project, which has been operating at Stonehenge since last year. They use geophysical imaging techniques to restore the original appearance of the monument. The researchers suggest that the pits located within the Neolithic path of Cursus may have been sites along the procession path as part of ancient rituals in the middle of the summer solstice.

Vince Gaffney says the discovery could be a milestone for understanding the role of the mysterious Stonehenge. “This is the first time we’ve seen pits like this at Stonehenge – they can tell us more about the rituals common in the area.” However, so far, scientists can not understand whether Stonehenge was really the habitat of the banshee, said Professor Gaffney.

In September of this year, during excavations in Wales, UK, the tomb of the builders of Stonehenge was discovered. The place where the find was made is called Carn Menyn. These ancient quarries, whose development began in 2300 BC, were used to make part of the stones for Stonehenge. Organic materials found in quarries will be transferred for radiocarbon dating.

Stonehenge is considered the oldest building in England and is included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is a structure of 82 five-ton megaliths, 30 stone blocks, weighing 25 tons and 5 huge so-called triliths, stones, the weight of which reaches 50 tons. Stacked stone blocks form arches that once served as an impeccable pointer to the cardinal directions. Built in the middle of the III thousand BC, it invariably attracts crowds of tourists.

And last year, a group of scientists led by Vince Gaffney discovered a wooden version of Stonehenge, very close to the place where the famous stone structure is located.

Source http://www.vokrugsveta.ru/news/13696/