Big prehistoric structure discovery near Stonehenge, England

This video says about itself:

Stonehenge: Neolithic monument found at Durrington Walls (UK) – BBC News – 22nd June 2020

Stonehenge: Neolithic monument found near sacred site on Salisbury Plain (in Wiltshire), at Durrington Walls, just two miles away from Stonehenge.

From the University of Bradford in England:

Massive prehistoric circle near Stonehenge

‘Astonishing discovery’ offers new insights into lives of Neolithic ancestors

June 22, 2020

Summary: Archaeologists have discovered a major new prehistoric monument only a short distance away from Stonehenge. Fieldwork and analysis have revealed evidence for 20 or more massive, prehistoric shafts, measuring more than 10 metres in diameter and 5 metres deep. These shafts form a circle more than 2 kilometres in diameter and enclose an area greater than 3 square kilometres around the Durrington Walls henge, one of Britain’s largest henge monuments, and the famous, smaller prehistoric circle at Woodhenge.

What could be one of the largest prehistoric sites in the UK has been discovered near Stonehenge by a consortium of archaeologists led by the University of Bradford.

A massive 2km-wide ring of prehistoric ‘shafts’ up to 10m across and 5m deep has been discovered around the ‘super henge’ at Durrington Walls and the famous site at Woodhenge. The structures have been carbon-dated to about 2500BC.

Archaeologists believe the circle of shaft marks a boundary around the massive henge at Durrington. It is thought the features, along with an internal post line, could have guided people towards the religious sites and warned others not to cross the boundary.

Prof Vince Gaffney, 50th Anniversary Chair of the School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences in the Faculty of Life Sciences, said it was extraordinary such a major find had been made so close to Stonehenge.

“The area around Stonehenge is amongst the most studied archaeological landscapes on earth and it is remarkable that the application of new technology can still lead to the discovery of such a massive prehistoric structure which, currently, is significantly larger than any comparative prehistoric monument that we know of in Britain, at least.”

“When these pits were first noted it was thought they might be natural features — solution hollows in the chalk. Only when the larger picture emerged, through the geophysical surveys undertaken as part of the Stonehenge Hidden Landscape Project, could we join the dots and see there was a pattern on a massive scale.”

Research on the pits at Durrington was undertaken by a consortium of archaeologists led by the University of Bradford as part of the Stonehenge Hidden Landscape Project (https://lbi-archpro.org/cs/stonehenge/), and with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology, the Universities of Birmingham, St Andrews, Warwick, the University of Wales Trinity Saint Davids, and the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (University of Glasgow).

Researchers have identified up to 20 shafts but estimate there may have been more than 30 originally.

“The size of the shafts and circuit surrounding Durrington Walls is without precedent within the UK. It demonstrates the significance of Durrington Walls Henge, the complexity of the monumental structures within the Stonehenge landscape, and the capacity and desire of Neolithic communities to record their cosmological belief systems in ways, and at a scale, that we had never previously anticipated.”

Dr Nick Snashall, National Trust archaeologist for the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site, said: “As the place where the builders of Stonehenge lived and feasted Durrington Walls is key to unlocking the story of the wider Stonehenge landscape, and this astonishing discovery offers us new insights into the lives and beliefs of our Neolithic ancestors.

“The Hidden Landscapes team have combined cutting-edge, archaeological fieldwork with good old-fashioned detective work to reveal this extraordinary discovery and write a whole new chapter in the story of the Stonehenge landscape.”

The universities undertaking field research supporting this press release included the University of Bradford with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology the Universities of Birmingham, St Andrews, Trinity Saint David (University of Wales), Warwick, and the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre. The work was undertaken a part of the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project and brought together experts in non-invasive geophysical prospection and remote sensing, and specialists in British prehistory and landscape archaeology in order to carry out research in one of the most important archaeological landscapes in Europe. The outstanding geophysical survey and visualization capabilities of the team has been made possible only because of the unique expertise and combined resources of the wider project partnership. an international collaboration of the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft (Austria), Amt der Niederösterreichischen Landesregierung (Austria), the University of Vienna (Austria), the Vienna University of Technology (Austria), ZAMG- the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (Austria), Airborne Technologies (Austria), 7reasons (Austria), ÖAW- Austrian Academy of Sciences (Austria), ÖAI — Austrian Archaeological Institute (Austria), RGZM Mainz — Römisch‐Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz (Germany), the University of Birmingham in collaboration with the University of Bradford (GB), Arkeologerna of Statens Historiska Museer (Sweden), NIKU — Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage (Norway), and Vestfold fylkeskommune — Kulturarv (Norway).

British archaeological discovery, bigger than Stonehenge, near Stonehenge

This video from England says about itself:

7 September 2015

At Durrington Walls, 3 km away from Stonehenge, the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project team has now discovered evidence for a super-henge: a row of up to 150 standing stones, some of which may have originally measured up to 4.5 metres in height.

From the BBC today:

Stonehenge researchers ‘may have found largest Neolithic site’

Stone monoliths found buried near Stonehenge could have been part of the largest Neolithic monument built in Britain, archaeologists believe.

The 4,500-year-old stones, some measuring 15ft (4.5m) in length, were discovered under 3ft of earth at Durrington Walls “superhenge”.

The monument was on “an extraordinary scale” and unique, researchers said.

The Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes team has been creating an underground map of the area in a five-year project.

Remote sensing and geophysical imaging technology has been used to reveal evidence of nearly 100 stones without the need for excavation.

The monument is just under two miles (3km) from Stonehenge, Wiltshire, and is thought to have been a Neolithic ritual site.

Experts think it may have surrounded traces of springs and a dry valley leading into the River Avon.

Although no stones have been excavated they are believed to be fashioned from sarsen blocks found locally.

Sarsen stones are sandstone blocks found mainly on Salisbury Plain and the Marlborough Downs in Wiltshire.

A unique sarsen standing stone, The Cuckoo Stone, remains in the field next to Durrington Walls.

The stones are believed to have been deliberately toppled over the south-eastern edge of the bank of the circular enclosure before being incorporated into it.

Lead researcher Vince Gaffney, of the University of Bradford, said: “We don’t think there’s anything quite like this anywhere else in the world.

“This is completely new and the scale is extraordinary.”

Archaeologist Nick Snashall said: “The presence of what appear to be stones, surrounding the site of one of the largest Neolithic settlements in Europe adds a whole new chapter to the Stonehenge story.”

The earthwork enclosure at Durrington Walls was built about a century after the Stonehenge sarsen circle, but archaeologists believe the newly discovered stone row could have been put in place at the same time or even earlier.

Andy Rhind-Tutt, Heritage Trust founder, described the findings as “an incredible discovery”.

He and University of Buckingham researchers have been involved in another nearby site, Blick Mead, thought to be at least 9,500 years old.

Mr Rhind-Tutt fears this and other sites could be damaged or lost to a planned A303 road tunnel past Stonehenge.

“It’s a big concern to all of us, especially as we are at the tip of the iceberg with this particular discovery, and it would be horrible to destroy one of the most significant sites in the world,” he said.

“The hidden treasure trove of the Stonehenge landscape just begs the question about why are all these incredible structures here?”

David Jacques, from the University of Buckingham, who is also involved in Blick Mead, described the find as “absolutely brilliant “and a “game changer”.

“All the monuments have a relationship with each other,” he said.

“So rather than just ‘atomising’ them and looking at them as individual entities there are deliberate lines of sight or knowledge that things are just over the hill.

“When you put that together in the late Neolithic – there’s something vibrant, exciting and dynamic [about the find].”

The findings were being announced on the first day of the British Science Festival being held at the University of Bradford.

A prehistoric monument has been discovered near Stonehenge.

MEET THE MAN WHO BOUGHT, AND THEN GAVE AWAY, STONEHENGE “Cecil Chubb paid £6,600 for the monument at an auction in Salisbury, Wiltshire. It happened, he said, ‘on a whim.'” [BBC]

The great 20-30 tonne stones of Stonehenge were erected by Neolithic farmers whose ancestors had lived in Britain for at least the previous 1,500 years – and new genetic research on 51 skeletons from all over Neolithic Britain has now revealed that during the whole of the Neolithic era, the country was inhabited mainly by olive-skinned, dark-haired Mediterranean-looking people. But some 300 to 500 years after the main phase of Stonehenge was built, that mainly Mediterranean-looking British Neolithic-originating element of the population had declined from almost 100 percent to just 10 per cent of the population: here.

Despite over a century of intense study, we still know very little about the people buried at Stonehenge or how they came to be there. Now, a new University of Oxford research collaboration, published in Scientific Reports suggests that a number of the people that were buried at the Wessex site had moved with and likely transported the bluestones used in the early stages of the monument’s construction, sourced from the Preseli Mountains of west Wales: here.

The spread of Europe’s giant stone monuments may trace back to one region. Ancient sea travelers carried the knowledge of how to build megaliths from France. By Bruce Bower, 3:00pm, February 11, 2019.

Excavations at two quarries in Wales, known to be the source of the Stonehenge ‘bluestones’, provide new evidence of megalith quarrying 5,000 years ago: here.

Related articles

• Giant ‘Stonehenge’ more than 4,500 years old found buried a mile from ancient stone circle
• ‘Extraordinary’ huge stone monument found buried near Stonehenge
• Stonehenge II – Birmingham academic says amazing discovery will ‘rewrite’ history of landmark site
• Forget Stonehenge – ‘superhenge’ found underground a mile from historic site
• Stonehenge discovery ‘immense’ says lead archeologist – video
• Stonehenge archaeologists make ‘extraordinary’ discovery of neolithic monument
• New stone monument near Stonehenge
• Astounding discovery: Remains of monument ‘imbued with magic’ FOUND near Stonehenge
• Huge buried neolithic monument found near Stonehenge
• RSPB creates wildflower meadow for butterflies at Stonehenge

Stonehenge, new discoveries

This 23 June 2020 video from England is called Circular Neolithic Monument Discovered at Stonehenge is 1.3 Miles in Diameter, Hailed “Astonishing”.

From daily The Morning Star in Britain today:

STONEHENGE: An extraordinary hidden complex of archaeological monuments has been uncovered around Stonehenge using hi-tech methods of scanning below the Earth’s surface, it was revealed yesterday.

The finds, dating back 6,000 years, include evidence of 17 previously unknown wooden or stone structures as well as dozens of burial mounds which have been mapped in minute detail.

Most of the monuments are merged into the landscape and are not visible to the eye. The four-year study, the largest geophysical survey ever undertaken, covered an area of 12 square kilometres and penetrated to a depth of three metres.

Stonehenge’s most intricate archaeological finds were ‘probably made by children’: here.

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UK: countryside near Stonehenge may become a wildlife haven

20 November 2005

Countryside near Stonehenge may become a wildlife haven

A large tract of countryside near Stonehenge (Wilthsire, England) will soon become a wildlife haven to help reverse the decline of England’s chalk grassland, a conservation charity said today.

About 80% of the country’s wildlife-rich chalk grassland has disappeared but the purchase of the site in Wiltshire will help reverse that loss, according to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

Acquiring Manor Farm, a 731-acre site near the ancient stones, will narrow the gap between Salisbury Plain and Porton Down, helping to create the largest network of chalk grassland sites in north west Europe, the RSPB said.

Dr Mark Avery, conservation director at the RSPB said: “This is the missing piece of the jigsaw for us and will be the RSPB’s first major chalk grassland nature reserve.

“We all marvel at Stonehenge but forget the wonderful countryside around it. If our appeal for cash is successful we will restore the area to its former glory and show other landowners its potential.

The plan to buy Manor Farm is the subject of a new £2.3 million appeal by the RSPB, made possible by a £933,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

If successful it will become the organisation’s second conservation demonstration site after Grange Farm in Cambridgeshire, a 450-acre working arable farm.

Source: here.

Ancient houses, other archaeological finds, found near Stonehenge: here.

Stonehenge tunnel ditched, wildlife safe – for now: here.

Stonehenge dig, April 2008: here. And here.

If the stones of Stonehenge could talk, they would tell the tale of the unity and peace that followed a long period of intense conflict between eastern and western Britain. At least, that’s what the research team behind the Stonehenge Riverside Project are saying after a decade-long archaeological investigation: here.

Second henge unearthed in England: here.

Top megalithic monuments: here.