4,000-Year-Old Burial Revealed on Britain's 'Island of Druids'

Live Science ^ | June 28, 2019 06:57am ET | Tom Metcalfe,

[BenLurkin]

And although the burial mound is much older than the Druids — who lived about 2,000 years ago, if they existed at all — the excavations have cast new light on the ancient inhabitants of the island of Anglesey.

Overlooking the Irish Sea from the northwest corner of Wales, Anglesey is dotted with numerous Neolithic and Bronze Age stone monuments. The most famous is the 5,000-year-old passage tomb of Bryn Celli Ddu (Welsh for "the mound in the dark grove"), which has an entrance passage that aligns with the rising midsummer sun. It was archaeologically excavated in 1928 and 1929, and later reconstructed.

The excavations have shown that the burial mound was built during the Bronze Age, much later than the original Neolithic tomb, while some artifacts could be even older than the tomb, she said. "This suggests that Bryn Celli Ddu has been a special ceremonial location for thousands of years."

At Bryn Celli Ddu, archaeological evidence now suggests that the original tomb was started in the Neolithic period, about 5,000 years ago, and added to over the centuries, she said.

Distinctive pieces of Bronze Age pottery and flint tools were found during the latest excavations, which indicated the burial mound was built around 1,000 years later than the Neolithic passage tomb, she said.

Geophysical surveys and excavations also revealed much older structures and artifacts buried at different locations around the Bryn Celli Ddu tomb, including a circle of Neolithic pits, pieces of Neolithic pottery and the remains of a stone ax.

[SunkenCiv]

Time Team S14-E04 The Druids' Last Stand, Anglesey



Time Team - Season 14, Episode 4 - The Druids' Last Stand (Amlwch, Anglesey)

[SunkenCiv]

Apropos of nothing, a couple of image searches...

Bryn Celli Ddu

http://www.google.com/search?q=Bryn+Celli+Ddu&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&tbm=isch

(so called) Treasury of Atreus

http://www.google.com/search?q=treasury+of+atreus&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&tbm=isch

[SunkenCiv]

Sorry, wrong island, but this just works for me. :^)

Stan Rogers performs "Giant" Halifax, 1982 Guitar, Stan Rogers; vocal Stan Rogers; fiddle and electric guitar, Garnet Rogers; bass, Jim Morison; guitar, Paul Mills

Stan Rogers | Giant | Published on February 26, 2009

[Red Badger]

Was she a Druish American princess? Those are the worst..................

[Red Badger]

...some writers have raised the possibility that Julius Caesar made them up.

I doubt JC had any reason to make stuff up....................

[dp0622]

I’m trying to figure if the cat comment or this one was funnier :)

Always a pleasure when I see your name atop a post.

Some would like to see my head atop a pole :)

[Red Badger]

[dp0622]

ROFL!!

You’re not all there :)