I find mankind's history fascinating. A new discovery gives us a huge understanding of prehistoric life 1,000 years before Stonehenge was constructed. Neolithic 'halls of the dead' have been unearthed in Herefordshire, England.
Archaeologists are calling the two 6,000-year-old halls of the dead the discovery of a lifetime.
Teams from the University of Manchester and Herefordshire Council made the find on Dorstone Hill, near Peterchurch, close to the border of Wales.
Archaeologists are calling the two 6,000-year-old halls of the dead the discovery of a lifetime.
Teams from the University of Manchester and Herefordshire Council made the find on Dorstone Hill, near Peterchurch, close to the border of Wales.
natureworldnews.com The halls were lit and burnt to the cinders which later formed part of burial mounds. Archaeologists say the fire rituals were a statement of community in a time when groups of people were in the first stages of forming societal structures.
The remains of the halls are thought to have been built between 4000 and 3600 BC. Bodies may have been placed in the halls before being moved to nearby chambered tombs.
Early Neolithic halls are already extremely rare, but to find them placed within a long barrow makes the discovery unique.
Some of the burnt wood unearthed at the site shows the character of the building structure above ground level and experts believe the buildings were probably used by entire communities. Although their size cannot be determined, they may have been of similar length to the Neolithic long barrows, or burial mounds.
The remains of the halls are thought to have been built between 4000 and 3600 BC. Bodies may have been placed in the halls before being moved to nearby chambered tombs.
Early Neolithic halls are already extremely rare, but to find them placed within a long barrow makes the discovery unique.
Some of the burnt wood unearthed at the site shows the character of the building structure above ground level and experts believe the buildings were probably used by entire communities. Although their size cannot be determined, they may have been of similar length to the Neolithic long barrows, or burial mounds.
www.bbd.co.uk A flint axe and a finely-flaked flint knife found on the site are similar to artifacts dating from around 2600 BC found in eastern Yorkshire, giving a possible links between Neolithic communities in Herefordshire and Yorkshire. Rather than being used for trade, the axe and knife may have been part of a ceremony or an ancestral pilgrimage.
The subsequent finds show that 1,000 years after the hall burial mounds were made, the site is still important to later generations living 200 miles away—a vast distance in Neolithic terms.
Archaeologists have long speculated that a close relationship existed between houses and tombs in Neolithic Europe, and that houses of the dead amounted to representations of the houses of the living.
The subsequent finds show that 1,000 years after the hall burial mounds were made, the site is still important to later generations living 200 miles away—a vast distance in Neolithic terms.
Archaeologists have long speculated that a close relationship existed between houses and tombs in Neolithic Europe, and that houses of the dead amounted to representations of the houses of the living.
It's hard to imagine how our predecessors lived or what sort of weather they endured. Perhaps conditions like gathering food and the need for protection from animals made them more socially reliant on each other. The climate must have been good in England because huge assemblies of men traveled from all over England to build ancient monuments like Stonehenge. Visitors even arrived from overseas, according to various artifacts discovered nearby.
This latest dig has cast light on one more piece in the puzzle of mankind's early civilization.
This latest dig has cast light on one more piece in the puzzle of mankind's early civilization.
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