Last yr , archeologists announced the discovery of the Durrington Walls “ superhenge,”a remarkable structure located just two miles from Stonehenge . The same team have now found evidence of an even older structure at the situation — a ritual arena contain of over 90 megalithic stones .
Constructed some 4,500 long time ago , Durrington Walls is one of the largest know henge monuments . It measures 1,640 infantry ( 500 metre ) in diam and features a total circumference of 4,920 base ( 1,500 meters ) . The structure is affiliate with a lately excavated Neolithic settlement that appeared some time afterward .
Using ground - penetrate radar , the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project team , which include experts from Birmingham and Bradford universities , has now bring out an even older structure at the site — a 1,080 - invertebrate foot - long ( 330 - meter - recollective ) run-in of up to 90 standing stones , some of which stand as high as 15 feet ( 4.5 meter ) . The Isidor Feinstein Stone were discovered 3 - feet below the surface of a depository financial institution at the Durrington superhenge land site .

base on the degree Celsius - shape constellation of the social organisation , the archaeologists suspect that the site was used as a ritual arena . The telling row of looming memorial was belike built to give the impression of authorisation to both the animation and the beat . The stone bloodline may have also marked a ritual procession path .
These monoliths may have been part of the turgid Neolithic memorial ever construct in Britain . ( Credit : Ludwig Boltzmann Institute )
Though no stones have been excavate , it ’s recall that the Harlan Stone come from local sources . According to task leader Wolfgang Neubauer , a identification number of Harlan Fisk Stone survived after being advisedly push over , where they were finally contain into a monolithic bank .

“ The over-the-top scale , item and novelty of the evidence produced by the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project , which the new discoveries at Durrington Walls exemplify , is changing basically our understanding of Stonehenge and the existence around it , ” noted project historiographer Paul Garwood in arelease . “ Everything written antecedently about the Stonehenge landscape and the ancient monuments within it will require to be re - written .
This discovery indicate that Stonehenge ’s neighbor , Durrington Walls , featured an earlier phase of Neolithic habitation and memorial - building — one that include a large run-in of stand stones .
The archaeologists believe the stones surrounded trace of springiness and a dry valley that direct into the Avon River . ( Credit : Ludwig Boltzmann Institute )

“ This uncovering of a major new I. F. Stone memorial , which has been preserve to a singular extent , has significant entailment for our understanding of Stonehenge and its landscape setting , ” said Garwood . “ Not only does this new grounds attest a completely unexpected phase of massive computer architecture at one of the great ceremonial sites in prehistoric Europe , the new Isidor Feinstein Stone wrangle could well be modern-day with the famous Stonehenge sarsen dress circle or even earlier . ”
To which historiographer Phil McHahon added : “ This latest work has give us challenging evidence for previously unknown features buried beneath the camber of the monumental henge monument at Durrington Walls . The possibility that these feature are stones raise fascinating questions about the history and development of this monument , and its family relationship to the hugely important Neolithic settlement contained within it . ”
The team ’s research will be presented afterward this hebdomad at the British Science Festival in Bradford .

[ Ludwig Boltzmann Institute|The Telegraph ]
ArchaeologyHistoryScienceStonehenge
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