The Stonehenge mystery seems to have been solved. The mysterious circle of giant stones in the south of England served as a main burial place for almost five centuries. According to the authors of the new study, the remains of members of a family that have ruled these lands for a long time are buried here
Researchers from the Stonehenge Riverside Project group have subjected cremated remains to radiocarbon analysis, some of which were buried here for another 5 thousand years. Scientists are convinced that this structure was created and grew over time, serving as the "abode of the ancestors."
“It is now clear that burials were an important part of Stonehenge at all major stages,” explains Mike Parker-Pearson, professor of archeology at the University of Sheffield, who leads the group. "Stonehenge served as a burial place from the very beginning until its heyday in the middle of the third millennium BC."
This discovery marks a revolution in the understanding of Stonehenge. In the past, it was believed that people were buried there for a hundred years, but that the building mainly performed ritual and religious functions. In particular, it was believed that the sick came to Stonehenge for healing.
Radiocarbon dating and excavations have revealed that a vast settlement once existed next to the stone structure. In addition, it became known that for 500 years the number of burials has steadily increased - this convinced the researchers that this place had been used for a long time and, most likely, served as a cemetery for representatives of a certain ruling dynasty.
Parker-Pearson said that the discovered pommel - the wider part - of the mace confirms the theory that members of the ruling family are buried here. The mace has long served as a symbol of power in England and is still used in this capacity in the House of Commons.
According to the scientist, representatives of 30-40 generations of the ruling family were buried here, and with each new generation the number of graves increased.
In addition, archaeologists have unearthed ancient houses in the neighboring village of Darrington Walls - according to experts, they are especially well preserved. Apparently, the houses were associated with Stonehenge and were settled at certain times of the year.
Promotional video:
“This is a very unusual settlement. We have never seen anything like it before,”says Parker-Pearson. There were about three hundred houses in the village, and another thousand people settled in summer and winter. The wide roads leading from Stonehenge to the Avon River and from the river to a circle of wooden posts near the settlement are oriented towards the winter and summer solstice points.
“Overall, we found that Stonehenge was a highly developed society with significant success,” says the professor. Stonehenge was abandoned around 1500 BC, and over time some of the stones were removed or broken.
The research was carried out with the support of the National Geographic Society - an article about Stonehenge will be included in the June issue of National Geographic magazine, and the TV channel of the same name this Sunday will show a specially shot film "Deciphered Stonehenge".
In the course of the conducted research, scientists for the first time subjected the cremated remains found at Stonehenge to radiocarbon dating. The graves were excavated in the 1950s, and the finds were kept near Stonehenge - in the Salisbury Museum. In the 1920s, 49 more graves were discovered at Stonehenge, but all the remains were reburied, believing that they were not of scientific interest.
On the territory of Stonehenge, 240 corpses were burned and buried, scientists say.
Stone columns at Stonehenge have long held the minds of archaeologists and the public alike. Smaller chunks of bluish sandstone (it begins to cast blue after rain) have traveled 250 miles from the Preselli Mountains in Wales, larger stones brought from closer places.
The larger boulders are 16 feet (4.8 m) high in a circle and are connected by overhead horizontal stones. Some of the pillars located within the circle are 25 feet (7.5 m) high. Boulders - chunks of hard rock left by a glacier - are common in southern England. In ancient times, they were used in the construction of other, smaller megaliths.
The stones are surrounded by a horseshoe-shaped moat, which is surrounded by a small earthen rampart. This horseshoe, which is 375 feet (112.5 m) across, is the henge of Stonehenge.
The new findings are likely to answer how Stonehenge was used, but other questions remain. For example, archaeologists recently unearthed an ancient antler that was apparently used to dig a large moat two miles long, surrounded by a rampart and two miles from the stones. It is believed that this moat also served ritual functions. The horn is dated between 3630 and 3375 BC, a thousand years ahead of the time the boulders were erected at Stonehenge.
In addition, during recent excavations, scientists have discovered recesses for wooden posts installed 10 thousand years ago in the place where the parking lot in front of Stonehenge is now located.
“Why are they there? This is a really big mystery, says Parker-Pearson. "This is one of the earliest monuments on our planet."
While the researchers who published their findings yesterday are convinced that Stonehenge was primarily a burial site, some are not so sure.
Mike Pitts, editor of British Archeology magazine, who previously participated in excavations at Stonehenge, was skeptical about some of the new findings, writes National Geographic. According to him, there are still disagreements on a number of important provisions of the voiced theory - for example, when the blocks of sandstone were brought here and why around Stonehenge they cultivated fields and grazed cattle, if there was an important ritual object and a cemetery here.
Nevertheless, the magazine quotes Pitts as saying: “The meaning of this interpretation is not limited to the idea that stones were associated with ancestors. This theory considers all nearby objects in the complex. In previous interpretations, various structures were considered separately."