Archaeologists have unveiled the most detailed map ever produced of the earth beneath Stonehenge and its surroundings. They combined different instruments to scan the area to a depth of three metres, with unprecedented resolution.
Early results suggest that the iconic monument did not stand alone, but was accompanied by 17 neighbouring shrines. Future, detailed analysis of this vast collection of data will produce a brand new account of how Stonehenge's landscape evolved over time.
Among the surprises yielded by the research are traces of up to 60 huge stones or pillars which formed part of the 1.5km-wide "super henge" previously identified at nearby Durrington Walls.
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Stonehenge Secrets Revealed by Underground Map
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(Score: 4, Funny) by aristarchus on Thursday September 11 2014, @08:11AM
Not that I was actually there, of course! I am only an ancient Greek, and these boys are way before my time. But when do these "archaeologists" dig up the Stargate? Just asking. It has been so long. Really, so long, and humans have not really been getting any more intelligent, so there is not a lot to do. Even intelligent conversation is rare. Some here on Soylent News, but only some. We need to take it all the way to eleven.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Thursday September 11 2014, @08:50AM
I will be sure to watch the related TV program tonight on BBC2.
Stonehenge is fascinating to me, I'd love to know what society was like back then, how people lived, how much they knew about the rest of the world... I think if I had a one-shot time machine and had to choose just one time to explore: Choice 1 would be a few hundred years in the future, choice 2 would be StoneHenge at its peak.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Geezer on Thursday September 11 2014, @09:12AM
Fascinating indeed, but all the fine science notwithstanding, the real mysteries about the culture that gave rise to Stonehenge are likely to remain just that.
(Score: 3) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Thursday September 11 2014, @09:28AM
You're probably right, but some new details are emerging. For instance, in TFA they mention that they found a trapezoidal building on the site, similar to ones found elsewhere in Europe at around the same time. The idea that even 6000 years ago there was such a sharing of ideas and culture across great distances is amazing to me. I saw another documentary a while back, where they analysed the chemical composition of bones of slaughtered cattle on the site. They were able to see that these animals had been brought from all over the UK, Ireland and northern Europe for the stonehenge feasts.
I might try to attend the solstice one of these years. Not particularly educational, (at least, not historically speaking), but apparently it's a great atmosphere.
(Score: 2) by Geezer on Thursday September 11 2014, @09:47AM
I highly recommend it, at least once as a "bucket list" item. Hallowe'en at Glastonbury Tor and May Eve/Walupurgis Night at the Brockenburg are also quite the experience.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by aristarchus on Thursday September 11 2014, @09:29AM
Actually, archeo-astronomy has become quite a thing. Chaco Canyon is one site that is rather interesting. And there are even cave paintings that portray the constellation Taurus and the Pleiades. Maybe human ancestors were not as stupid as we would like to imagine them to be?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by theronb on Thursday September 11 2014, @02:43PM
It's helpful to remember that, as homo sapiens, ancient peoples had similar brain capacity to what we have now. Technologies were less advanced, but the people were no less clever.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Thexalon on Thursday September 11 2014, @03:26PM
It's also helpful to remember that, as homo sapiens, modern peoples have similar brain capacity to cave men. Technologies are more advanced, but the people are no more clever!
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.