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Scientists find huge ring of ancient shafts near Stonehenge:
Archaeologists said Monday that they have discovered a major prehistoric monument under the earth near Stonehenge that could shed new light on the origins of the mystical stone circle in southwestern England.
Experts from a group of British universities led by the University of Bradford say the site consists of at least 20 huge shafts, more than 10 meters (32 feet) in diameter and 5 meters (16 feet) deep, forming a circle more than 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) in diameter.
The new find is at Durrington Walls, the site of a Neolithic village about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from Stonehenge,
Researchers say the shafts appear to have been dug around 4,500 years ago, and could mark the boundary of a sacred area or precinct around a circular monument known as the Durrington Walls henge.
The hollows were initially thought to be natural voids in the limestone before the larger picture emerged to show a circle.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Immerman on Tuesday June 23 2020, @02:29AM (2 children)
You're not going to adjust, pick up, or otherwise move a hole dug through limestone though. And the fact that the holes form a circle strongly suggest they had some cultural significance, rather than being something purely functional - quarries, wells, cellars, prisons, etc. would be located in places where population centers aligned with the appropriate geology, and a cluster probably wouldn't be spread out over such a large area, or arranged in a circle, unless there was some greater significance to them.
Beyond that, *then* you get into pure speculation.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday June 24 2020, @01:41AM (1 child)
And why not? Tourist kept falling into them so they moved all the holes during the depression as a government make-work scheme. They did the same for the stones at Stonehenge [english-heritage.org.uk]. Shifting the holes was easier because they weighed less and could be carried by just one or two people.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Wednesday June 24 2020, @02:25AM
:-) Ah, but these are limestone holes - everyone knows that moving limestone holes leaves permanent scarring in the rock. Even if you get dozens of people to move them very carefully. And at 10x5meters these would be some very heavy holes, not like the little ones at Stonehenge.