Posted on 04/20/2013 6:32:59 AM PDT by Sir Napsalot
Excavation near Stonehenge found evidence of a settlement dating back to 7,500 BC, revealing the site was occupied some 5,000 years earlier than previously thought.
Working at Vespasian’s Camp in Amesbury, Wiltshire, less than a mile from the megalithic stones, a team led by archaeologist David Jacques of the Open University unearthed material which contradicted the general belief that no people settled there until as late as 2,500 BC.
Indeed, carbon dating of the material revealed the existence of a semi-permanent settlement which was occupied from 7,500 to 4,700 BC. The dating showed that people were present during every millennium in between.
The team has “found the community who put the first monument up at Stonehenge,” archaeologist Josh Pollard from Southampton University and the Stonehenge Riverside Project, told the BBC.
The researchers believe that the people who settled at Vespasian’s Camp also built the first monument at Stonehenge — large wooden posts erected between the 9th and 7th millennia BC.
The findings, to be broadcast in a documentary on BBC One, shows that Stonehenge wasn’t just abandoned by Mesolithic humans and occupied by Neolithic people thousands of years later. On the contrary, it represents a place where one culture mingled with the other.
......
According to Peter Rowley-Conwy, professor of archaeology at Durham University, the finding is significant.
“The site has the potential to become one of the most important Mesolithic sites in northwestern Europe,” Rowley-Conwy said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.discovery.com ...
ping
More Grant Money....
seems like a pretty bold statement.
What’s next, a million years ago, after that a billion, how far can you ride a dead horse.
Let the debates (amongst scientists, archaeologists, and amateur enthusiasts) begin.
It stands to reason that over the millennia the stonehenge area could have human occupation prior to the actual construction of the monument. Not so surprising.
It’s not 5,000 years older than previously though. It just took 5,000 years to construct because of government red tape and union contracts.
The local timeline there STARTS a couple of thousand years AFTER the end of the Younger Dryas. That gives Britain a chance to regrow forests, etc.
This is a huge deal....It changes the course of history, the people and events. Proves their work is too loose to make it valid...aka....best guess.
stonehedge
Would you expect all that work to cost nothing? How would you pay for it?
CC
As in the words of Senator Toomey, “It is time to move on.”
There is archaeological evidence of all these occurring in the exact same location. Yet, I am certain that the Timuquan had nothing to do with the flowers I put out last week, and that there were no slaves involved.
I guess archaeologists have to do something, but they do themselves no favors by jumping to conclusions on scant evidence.
More Grant Money....
********
Turning over stones as it were. The first job of any researcher is to find another way to get more grant money.
It wasn’t shovel ready. LOL.
People always knew Stonehenge was a sacred site, but like Mecca, they forgot why.
So far as is known there is no accurate carbon dating for goings on at this site
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.