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Vast cemetery of Bronze Age burial mounds unearthed near Stonehenge
Live Science ^ | June 15, 2023 | Tom Metcalfe

Posted on 06/18/2023 6:26:16 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

Archaeologists have discovered a vast cemetery of Bronze Age burial mounds, thought to be up to 4,400 years old, ahead of a building development less than 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Stonehenge.

The cemetery includes more than 20 circular mounds, known as barrows, built between 2400 B.C. and 1500 B.C. on a chalk hillside near Harnham on the outskirts of Salisbury in southwest England.

Other than the site's proximity to Stonehenge, there's no evidence that the cemetery was connected with the famous monument. But the barrows were built around the same time as some of the central stages of Stonehenge, according to a statement from Cotswold Archaeology, a private firm conducting the excavations.

Many archaeologists now think Stonehenge, too, was mainly a burial ground...

The newfound barrows range in size, with the smallest measuring about 33 feet (10 meters) across and the largest spanning 165 feet (50 m). But most of the barrows are between 65 and 100 feet (20 and 30 m) across...

After arriving at the site in 2022, the archaeologists have now fully excavated five barrows in two areas. Four of the barrows had previously been identified, but the fifth was unknown, possibly because it had been covered by loose soil washed down from an uphill area.

One of the barrows was originally enclosed by an oval-shaped ditch that was replaced in prehistory with a nearly circular ditch. That suggests this barrow might have been built before the others, during the Neolithic period, which ended around 2400 B.C.; a mass grave near its center held the skeletal remains of adults and children, the statement said.

(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: ancientautopsies; archaeoastronomy; barrows; bronzeage; godsgravesglyphs; megaliths; rockaroundtheclock; stonehenge
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The burial ground consists of more than 20 roughly-circular burial mounds, or barrows, some more than 100 feet across.
Image credit: © Cotswold Archaeology
Image credit: © Cotswold Archaeology

1 posted on 06/18/2023 6:26:16 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: SunkenCiv

Interesting


2 posted on 06/18/2023 6:27:24 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Two Words: BANANA REPUBLIC!)
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; 31R1O; ...

3 posted on 06/18/2023 6:30:51 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpers are Republicans the same way Liz Cheney is a Republican.)
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To: Gay State Conservative

Thanks. I tried an online roadmap, and couldn’t figure out the location, but it appears to be in a suburban neighborhood. Imagine! We’ve got *nothin’* like that around here. :^)


4 posted on 06/18/2023 6:32:24 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpers are Republicans the same way Liz Cheney is a Republican.)
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To: SunkenCiv

No wonder they have ghosts.


5 posted on 06/18/2023 6:35:12 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: SunkenCiv
Per protocol.


6 posted on 06/18/2023 6:47:48 AM PDT by DoodleBob (Gravity’s waiting period is about 9.8 m/s²)
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To: SunkenCiv

Before there were metal shovels and picks, how would one build a barrow like these? Lots of labor I guess wit what kind of tools?


7 posted on 06/18/2023 7:26:29 AM PDT by JeanLM
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To: JeanLM

There’s another photo at the original that shows antlers — that’s the kind of tool that was used. Also, stone tools would work — the Stone Age lasted a really long time, and didn’t end because people ran out of stones. :^)


8 posted on 06/18/2023 7:30:58 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpers are Republicans the same way Liz Cheney is a Republican.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Paydirt.


9 posted on 06/18/2023 7:38:40 AM PDT by moovova ("The NEXT election is the most important election of our lifetimes!“ LOL...)
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To: moovova
Yup. The fact that Stonehenge turned out to be a large burial ground negated over a century of denial of same, by the unsubstantiated Stonehenge Burial Ground Deniers. :^)

10 posted on 06/18/2023 8:46:36 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpers are Republicans the same way Liz Cheney is a Republican.)
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11 posted on 06/18/2023 8:53:20 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpers are Republicans the same way Liz Cheney is a Republican.)
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To: BenLurkin; DoodleBob

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5IUxtiweLw


12 posted on 06/18/2023 8:54:19 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpers are Republicans the same way Liz Cheney is a Republican.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Fascinating! I wonder if this find will end up on the next season of “Digging for Britain” with Dr. Alice Roberts...and what color her hair will be by then.


13 posted on 06/18/2023 9:27:50 AM PDT by mass55th ("Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway." ~~ John Wayne )
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To: SunkenCiv

Were the graves dug out in this perfect circular fashion or is that just the modern archaeologists way of excavation? If that was how the ancients way of doing a burial it’s impressive.


14 posted on 06/18/2023 9:47:33 AM PDT by Beowulf9
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To: SunkenCiv

https://www.cotswoldjournal.co.uk/news/23591299.cotswold-archaeology-unearth-new-wonders-near-stonehenge/

Looks like a development of 640 homes will be parked on the site...

Holy Poltergeist, Batman!


15 posted on 06/18/2023 9:48:13 AM PDT by mewzilla (We will never restore the republic if we don't first secure the ballot box.)
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To: mewzilla

Related...

https://cotswoldarchaeology.co.uk/how-we-work/heritage-services/fieldwork/mitigation/


16 posted on 06/18/2023 9:51:41 AM PDT by mewzilla (We will never restore the republic if we don't first secure the ballot box.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Excellent.


17 posted on 06/18/2023 9:56:30 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: Beowulf9

They’d start out digging the hole, but they all had their backs to the other diggers, and, well, they invented this form.


18 posted on 06/18/2023 5:08:29 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpers are Republicans the same way Liz Cheney is a Republican.)
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To: mewzilla

And in 6500 AD archaeologists will discover that there had been a large settlement of over 600 homes, and wonder if the home builders had known about the Bronze Age graves.


19 posted on 06/18/2023 5:28:11 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpers are Republicans the same way Liz Cheney is a Republican.)
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The GGG topics (4161565-4137586), sorted, since the last time I did this (4087175-4049220), which was in March 2023:

20 posted on 06/18/2023 7:39:27 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (NeverTrumpers are Republicans the same way Liz Cheney is a Republican.)
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