[QUOTE]Archaeologists have discovered evidence of what they believe was a second Stonehenge located a little more than a mile away from the world-famous prehistoric monument.
The new find on the west bank of the river Avon has been called "Bluestonehenge", after the colour of the 25 Welsh stones of which it was once made up.
Excavations at the site have suggested there was once a stone circle 10 metres in diameter and surrounded by a henge – a ditch with an external bank, according to the project director, Professor Mike Parker Pearson, of the University of Sheffield.
The stones at the site were removed thousands of years ago but the sizes of the holes in which they stood indicate that this was a circle of bluestones, brought from the Preseli mountains of Wales, 150 miles away.
The standing stones marked the end of the avenue that leads from the river Avon to Stonehenge, a 1¾-mile long processional route constructed at the end of the Stone Age.
The outer henge around the stones was built about 2400BC but arrowheads found in the stone circle indicate the stones were put up as much as 500 years earlier.
Parker Pearson said his team was waiting for results of radiocarbon dating which could reveal whether stones currently in the inner circle of Stonehenge were originally located at the other riverside construction.
It should also show whether the newly discovered circle's stones were removed by Neolithic people and dragged along the route of the avenue to Stonehenge, to be incorporated within its major rebuilding about 2500BC. After that date Stonehenge consisted of about 80 Welsh stones and 83 local sarsen stones.
Pearson said: "The big, big question is when were our stones erected and when were they removed – and when we get the dating evidence we can answer both those questions."
He added: "We speculated in the past that there might have been something at the end of the avenue near the river. But we were completely unprepared to discover that there was an entire stone circle.
"I think we have found incontrovertible proof that the river was very important to the people who used Stonehenge. I believe that the river formed a conduit between the living and the dead and this is the point where you leave the realm of the living at the river and enter the one of the dead at Stonehenge."
The summer dig, which ended last month, also found evidence that the builders of the stone circle used deer antlers as pickaxes.
Excavations by the Stonehenge Riverside Project, which is a consortium of university teams, have uncovered a wealth of finds in recent years including the Neolithic village of Durrington Walls in 2005.
"Not many people know that Stonehenge was Britain's largest burial ground at that time. Maybe the bluestone circle is where people were cremated before their ashes were buried at Stonehenge itself," Parker Pearson added.
Dr Josh Pollard, project co-director from the University of Bristol, described the discovery as "incredible".
"The newly discovered circle and henge should be considered an integral part of Stonehenge rather than a separate monument and it offers tremendous insight into the history of its famous neighbour. Its landscape location demonstrates once again the importance of the river Avon in Neolithic funerary rites and ceremonies."
Another team member, Professor Julian Thomas, said the discovery indicated that this stretch of the river Avon was central to the religious lives of the people who built Stonehenge.
"Old theories about Stonehenge that do not explain the evident significance of the river will have to be rethought," he said.
There have been many theories about the use of Stonehenge, including that it was believed to have healing properties and was a giant astronomical observatory.
Stonehenge only acquired its famous silhouette after centuries of continuous rearrangement. In about 2500BC the gigantic sarsen stones were dragged across Salisbury plain and added to the smaller bluestones. Evidence from earlier excavations had already suggested that more bluestones were brought in to make a more complex pattern.
"The assumption was that they went back to Wales for more," Pearson said. "My hunch is that they just took them from our circle down the road." He believes the new circle marked the processional avenue from the river Avon to Stonehenge.[/QUOTE]
Source: [url]http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/oct/06/second-stonehenge-discovered[/url]
[img]http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2009/10/6/1254846191472/bluestonehenge-001.jpg[/img]
Why didn't we discover this earlier? I mean, it's right next to Stonehenge. You'd think someone would've found it sooner.
[highlight](User was banned for this post ("Read, then reply" - TH89))[/highlight]
[QUOTE=Gmod_Fan77;17709009]Why didn't we discover this earlier? I mean, it's right next to Stonehenge. You'd think someone would've found it sooner.[/QUOTE]
Did you even read it
they dug shit up, of course they wouldnt have found it
If they dig this up it is going to turn out like Doom 3, enjoy your portal to hell.
[QUOTE=breakyourfac;17709156]If they dig this up it is going to turn out like Doom 3, enjoy your portal to hell.[/QUOTE]
Nah, this is only Excavation site 2.
Wasn't the artifact found in Site 3?
[QUOTE=pentium;17709260]Nah, this is only Excavation site 2.
Wasn't the artifact found in Site 3?[/QUOTE]
This is the third one. [url=http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/stonehenge-beneath-waters-of-lake.html]There's another Stonehenge in the great lakes.[/url]
They're all portals to each other. Let's activate them and flood England.
Maybe there are more in the local area. It could of been like a series of pagan festivals.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;17709296]This is the third one. [url=http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/stonehenge-beneath-waters-of-lake.html]There's another Stonehenge in the great lakes.[/url]
They're all portals to each other. Let's activate them and flood England.[/QUOTE]
I live in michigan, I'll go and activate them, it will all be part of my master plot to kill the garry newman MUAHAHAHAHHA.
[editline]11:22AM[/editline]
Actually, not really.
I already made a thread about this
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;17709674]I already made a thread about this[/QUOTE]
Yeah you seem to make a news topic on just about every news article there is
[QUOTE=j-richardson;17709789]Yeah you seem to make a news topic on just about every news article there is[/QUOTE]
I'm just on track with current events.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;17709942]I'm just on track with current events.[/QUOTE]
Or, more realistically, refreshing 8 different news sites constantly.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;17709942]I'm just on track with current events.[/QUOTE]
No offence, but it gets annoying.
I mean, give the rest of us a chance :/
[QUOTE=breakyourfac;17709156]If they dig this up it is going to turn out like Doom 3, enjoy your portal to hell.[/QUOTE]
Bristol already exists.
Who's avatar makes more sense with the story, his UFO or my history emotes?
Isn't there a Woodhenge?
Or there was a Woodhenge.
[QUOTE=Zeke129;17709296]This is the third one. [url=http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/stonehenge-beneath-waters-of-lake.html]There's another Stonehenge in the great lakes.[/url]
They're all portals to each other. Let's activate them and flood England.[/QUOTE]
[img]http://conservationreport.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/mastodon2.jpg[/img]
In case you are wondering.
[editline]06:48PM[/editline]
that's just one of the rocks
[QUOTE=Billiam;17716097]Isn't there a Woodhenge?
Or there was a Woodhenge.[/QUOTE]
Yes, there's a woodhenge about a half mile away I think. But it's been long replaced with stone blocks to mark where it orignally was.
they obviously had trolls back then. These rocks mean nothing
Aliens
/thread
[img]http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc259/ericrider/TapHenge.jpg[/img]
In ancient times, hundreds of years before the dawn of history, an ancient race of people... the Druids. No one knows who they were or what they were doing...
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;17716087]Who's avatar makes more sense with the story, his UFO or my history emotes?[/QUOTE]
You have a habit of thinking every post you didnt make is bad.
[QUOTE=Swimbound;17717681]You have a habit of thinking every post you didnt make is bad.[/QUOTE]
I do?
I'm just saying, Stonehenge is associated with alien conspiracies and history.
Your avatar deals with one, and mine deals with the other.
[QUOTE=M_B;17717608][img]http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc259/ericrider/TapHenge.jpg[/img]
In ancient times, hundreds of years before the dawn of history, an ancient race of people... the Druids. No one knows who they were or what they were doing...[/QUOTE]
All I know is that the cat druids are for fighting...
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;17717730]I do?
I'm just saying, Stonehenge is associated with alien conspiracies and history.
Your avatar deals with one, and mine deals with the other.[/QUOTE]
You seem to spam In The NEws alot too.
[QUOTE=Swimbound;17718323]You seem to spam In The NEws alot too.[/QUOTE]
I'm not spamming. Go to the thread about a man who told kidnappers to "just kill him" about his kid and I give a more detailed explanation that I don't feel like retyping here.
[editline]09:05PM[/editline]
Nor am I saying that my thread is better than yours, I was merely pointing out that I had posted it first. It's generally accepted in the News Section that the second thread on the same subject gets locked.
Your thread has gotten more attention. Fine by me, we're still discussing Stonehenge. The news got out, and that's all that counts.
[QUOTE=M_B;17717608][img]http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc259/ericrider/TapHenge.jpg[/img]
In ancient times, hundreds of years before the dawn of history, an ancient race of people... the Druids. No one knows who they were or what they were doing...[/QUOTE]
Holy shit it's the guys from the safety dance:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcOZ6xFxJqg[/media]
[QUOTE=breakyourfac;17709429]I live in michigan, I'll go and activate them, it will all be part of my master plot to kill the garry newman MUAHAHAHAHHA.
[editline]11:22AM[/editline]
Actually, not really.[/QUOTE]
I'm a lake monster in Lake Michigan, I'll activate it brb.
[editline]09:18PM[/editline]
Fuck I forgot I have flippers. Sorry guys. :(
[QUOTE=hl2poo;17719019]I'm a lake monster in Lake Michigan, I'll activate it brb.
[editline]09:18PM[/editline]
Fuck I forgot I have flippers. Sorry guys. :([/QUOTE]
Damn ancient technology and their tiny keypads
[QUOTE=pyrofiliac;17718974]Holy shit it's the guys from the safety dance:
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcOZ6xFxJqg[/media][/QUOTE]
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpaG-L0zTJ4[/media]
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