Archaeologists working near Stonehenge have discovered what appears to be an ancient religious complex containing a treasure trove of artifacts that may finally illuminate the lives and religious practices of the people who built the mysterious monument 4,600 years ago.

The circle of massive stone blocks on England’s Salisbury Plain southwest of London is one of the best known archeological sites in the world, but researchers know surprisingly little about the people who built it and lived in the region.

The new finds, reported at a teleconference organized by the National Geographic Society, vastly increase the knowledge of these early Britons, said archeologist Mary Ann Owoc of Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa., who was not involved in the research.  

“To see the everyday lives of these people, to see people living in their houses, is filling in really important gaps in the record,” she said. “We had some evidence, but this is so much richer.”

The discoveries are also destined to change archaeologists’ views of how the ancient people used the site. Stonehenge itself is typically thought of as a cemetery and an astronomical observatory that was the site of pagan celebrations at the summer solstice.

The monument comprises concentric circles of massive stones, some weighing as much as 50 tons (45 tonnes) apiece, surrounded by a circular earthen bank and a ditch.

Some of the stones were imported from Wales, about 150 miles (241 kilometres) away, while others were quarried about 24 miles (39 kilometres) north of Stonehenge at Marlboro Downs. It was constructed about the same time as the great pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

The new finds at Durrington Walls, two miles (1.6 kms) northeast of the stone circle, indicate that the entire region was a religious centre where the early Britons gathered in mid-winter for raucous feasts and solemn ceremonies before sending their deceased on a voyage to the afterlife.

While Stonehenge itself was a monument to the dead, the complex at Durrington Walls was “very much a place of the living,” said archeologist Mike Parker Pearson of Sheffield University, who led the team along with archeologist Julian Thomas of Manchester University.

Archaeologists already knew there was a henge — a circular banked enclosure with an internal ditch — at Durrington Walls, but the wide excavations carried out in 2006 place it in a new light.

“Such intensive subsurface research has never been attempted on this scale before” near Stonehenge, said archeologist Ruth Tringham of the University of California, Berkeley.

The henge, about 1,400 feet in diameter, enclosed a series of concentric rings of huge timber posts. The team now knows that the posts mimicked Stonehenge in all particulars save one — its orientation.

Stonehenge is aligned with sunrise at the summer solstice and sunset at the winter solstice. The henge at Durrington Walls is the exact opposite, aligned with sunrise at the winter solstice and sunset at the summer solstice.

Artifacts found in the houses indicates that there was a massive mid-winter celebration marking the solstice to complement the summer celebration at Stonehenge.

The team excavated eight houses at the site and magnetic anomalies indicate that there are at least 25 more nearby, Pearson said.

The relatively flimsy wattle and daub walls of the houses are long gone. What remains are the densely packed clay floors. “These are the first ones we have found with intact clay floors from this period,” Pearson said.

“The houses are virtually square, no bigger than the average sitting room — about 14 feet by 14 feet,” he said.

They feature a central fireplace, an oval hearth sunk into the floor. Slight indentations around the walls mark the location of timber fittings for box beds and a dresser opposite the door.

Durrington Walls “is either the richest site or the filthiest that we have ever found for this period,” Pearson said.

“It’s absolutely stuffed full of trash or rubbish: broken pots, chips, flints, burned stones used for cooking and animal bones. Many were thrown away half eaten, a sign of conspicuous consumption. This is an enormous feasting assemblage. People were here to have a really good time.”

Significantly, there was no evidence for the processing of grain or baking it and little evidence of crafts. “This was not a full-time, year-round community, but one for specialized activities.”

Owoc noted that people during this period tended to move from place to place as the seasons changed. It was not until the period 1700 BC to 1200 BC that they began to settle down in walled towns.

Finally, the team unearthed a broad roadway or avenue that led from the settlement to the Avon River.

The avenue was 90 feet wide and 510 feet long, and virtually identical to an avenue at Stonehenge.

Source: Hamilton Spectator

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