Prehistoric child is discovered buried with 'toy hedgehog' at Stonehenge

Mail Online ^ | October 10 2008 | Daily Mail Reporter

[Beowulf9]

This toy hedgehog, found in a child's grave at Stonehenge, is proof of what we have always known - children have always loved to play. Archaeologists who discovered the grave, where the child was laying on his or her side, believe the toy - perhaps placed there by a doting father - is the earliest known depiction of a hedgehog in British history. The diggers were working to the west of Stonehenge in what is known as the Palisade Ditch when they made the remarkable discovery last month in the top of the pit in which the child was buried. Archaeologist Dennis Price said: 'It is not difficult to envisage the raw emotion and harrowing grief that would have accompanied the death of this child. 'Amid the aura of gloom that surrounds Stonehenge, it comes as a beam of light to find a child's toy lovingly placed with the tiny corpse to keep him or her company through eternity. 'I'm not aware of hedgehogs having any significance in pagan tradition so the discovery must rank as yet another unique and baffling aspect of one of the most famous and instantly recognisable prehistoric monuments on Earth. To my mind, the hedgehog possesses a real charm and an innocent beauty. Dr Joshua Pollard, of the Stonehenge Riverside Project, said: 'Representational art from this period is very rare and so far as I'm aware, if the identification is correct, it's the only known prehistoric depiction of a hedgehog from Britain. Fay Vass, of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, said: 'We are very excited to hear about this find. It shows humans have taken hedgehogs to their hearts for a very long time.'

[Beowulf9]

I thought this story to be so poignant, I had to share it.

I also found it fitting that Stonehenge yields a stone hedgehog.

[Lazamataz]

For a moment, I shared in the pain of the father who buried this child.

Then I got back to my life of eating chicken wings, freeping, and playing Spore.

[apocalypto]

Nice story.

[bamahead]

ping

[Lazamataz]

"..... It shows humans have taken hedgehogs to their hearts for a very long time."

I took a hedgehog to the groin, once.

Took a week to get the spines out.

[bellas_sister]

hahahahha.... must be a distant relative.

[Mercat]

I have some pottery toys from pre columbian Peru - a rattle and a whistle. I value them much more than the pot we have which probably has more value or the copper surgical tools. The toys make noise. They made a child smile over 500 years ago. They’re sacred.

[GoLightly]

Ping

[Cvengr]

So prehistoric dad buried the boy with a box of rocks. Hey, Laz, pass the tobasco.

[Lazamataz]

Hey, Laz, pass the tobasco.

Sure. Hey, is your Spore creature gonna be a carnivore, herbivore, or omnivore?

[scratcher]

Thank you, very nice story.

[patton]

Thus proving that kids have been saying, “Daddy, I’m booooored...” since the dawn of time.

[colinhester]

Thanks for sharing. Passing it on to my wife; she loves hedgehogs....C

[Cooper42]

I didn’t think Ron Jeremy was THAT old!!!

[Goonch]

"I took a hedgehog to the groin, once."

Almost laughed but there's nothing funny 'bout a hedgehog to the groin

[Cvengr]

Ever notice cultural anthropologists are so incredibly daft? (not to make any allusions to the womenfolk and mothers of some political figures,...but if so, what the whoo..) Obviously for such rocks to have been placed in the grave with a child they weren't merely play toys, but highly prized and valued architectural models of Stonehenge, probably used in prehistoric wind tunnels powered by tethered pterodactyls to test the ageless design of the behemoth structure prior to mammoth mastodons leveraged the lintels into place. Then again, in the Islamic State of Mogadishu, Somalia it is illegal to impersonate Elvis without a beard, so who knows what these folks were thinking.

[count-your-change]

A bit of over reaching by archaeologists. How do they know it was a toy and not some totem-like article? Who placed it there? And why? is really unknown.

[Goonch]

"in the Islamic State of Mogadishu, Somalia it is illegal to impersonate Elvis without a beard"

That's why Elvis stayed out of Mogadishu

[TASMANIANRED]

Looked like a rock to me.

Scientists can be such morons sometimes.. The presumption that play is a modern trait in humans is nuts.

The young of every mammalian species plays...Sometimes it is play that leads to hunting behavior but sometimes it is just the joy of life.

[TASMANIANRED]

“Are we there yet” must have been profoundly annoying when you walked.