Posted on 09/28/2010 3:45:43 PM PDT by Palter
Chemical tests on teeth from an ancient burial near Stonehenge indicate that the person in the grave grew up around the Mediterranean Sea.
The bones belong to a teenager who died 3,550 years ago and was buried with a distinctive amber necklace.
The conclusions come from analysis of different forms of the elements oxygen and strontium in his tooth enamel.
Analysis on a previous skeleton found near Stonehenge showed that that person was also a migrant to the area.
The findings will be discussed at a science symposium in London to mark the 175th anniversary of the British Geological Survey (BGS).
The "Boy with the Amber Necklace", as he is known to archaeologists, was found in 2005, about 5km south-east of Stonehenge on Boscombe Down.
The remains of the teenager were discovered next to a Bronze Age burial mound, during roadworks for military housing.
"He's around 14 or 15 years old and he's buried with this beautiful necklace," said Professor Jane Evans, head of archaeological science for the BGS.
"The position of his burial, the fact he's near Stonehenge, and the necklace all suggest he's of significant status."
Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick, of Wessex Archaeology, backed this interpretation: "Amber necklaces are not common finds," he told BBC News.
"Most archaeologists would say that when you find burials like this... people who can get these rare and exotic materials are people of some importance."
Chemical record
Professor Evans likened Stonehenge in the Bronze Age to Westminster Abbey today - a place where the "great and the good" were buried.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Interesting that these two related peoples, who had migrated very far and into areas with harsher climates, developed some form of writing very early. Maybe the environmental pressures were killing off the older generations a lot faster, and they had to adapt in order not to lose their knowledge.
“Whoever came up with the idea for building the complex must have had quite a set of stones.”
With these “immigrants” from the Mediterranean, I wonder if they weren’t just bringing their architecture with them? Stone circles and dolmens similar to Stonehenge are pretty common around the area the Phoenicians were living in at that time.
The corbelled dome that appeared in Mycenaean Greece doesn’t seem to have any precursors in the e Mediterranean; the earlier structures which appear to be precursors are in the far west of Europe.
The diffusionist theories have been pretty much trashed these days. They may come back of course!
Interesting. If the people of the Mediterranean were going there to trade, they might have seen some strange architecture by the natives and brought the new techniques back with them.
Wearing a necklace? Maybe he was a Medrosexual.
Although the Romans had not really evolved as a civilization in 1550 BC, there were Minoans, Santorini, Mycenaeans, Egyptians, and others in the Mediterranean that could well have traveled up the coast by ship.
Likewise, land travel from the Med or Black Sea combined with a quick cross channel excursion could have brought travelers to England.
We’re talking about the Bronze Age, not the Stone Age, and quite a lot of technological advances were taking place.
I would bet that long distance travel was one of those.
As for Italy, while there were no Romans yet, there were Etruscans, which left some evidence of a written language or symbolic markings, but they’ve never been translated.
We’re not sure what their capabilities were as far as travel or trade.
Plenty of people from the Med that might decide to go to the British Isles.
You have any thoughts on one of the fringe theories of the Phoenicians?
“The Caspian is thought to be one of the oldest horse or pony breeds in the world today, dating back from the now-extinct miniature horses of Mesopotamia, who lived in the region from 3,000 BCE until the 7th century. The ponies now inhabit an area between the Caspian Sea and the Elburz Mountains, although new groups of horses potentially related to the Caspian have been identified in a much wider range.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_Pony
The idea is that the horse was demonstrated to be so valuable so quickly that ALL of them were caught and put to the bridle, with their breeding controlled.
http://www.amazon.com/Uriels-Machine-Uncovering-Stonehenge-Civilization/dp/193141274X
By 700 BC the "sea Celts" had arrived in Spain and were busy with a major invasion plan to take Ireland and use that as a base of operations to take Southern Britain.
The "sea Celts" had earlier ruled over and extracted tribute from the Germans along the Danube, but they'd been driven out in an uprising. The Greeks noted their arrival in the Black Sea as well as their departure into the Mediterranean.
BTW, the plan worked, the "sea Celts" took over Ireland and then Britain for the next half dozen centuries. They continue to dominate Ireland to this very day ~ somehow ~ since their languages still exist even if their special marker genes don't! They've become genetically identical to the Basque people.
"The body was laid to rest 4,300 years ago during the construction of the monument, along with stone arrow heads and slate wristguards that protected the arm from the recoil of the bow. Archaeologists named him the Amesbury Archer.
Now they have found another skeleton from the same period five yards away. The remains are those of a man, aged 25 to 30, buried in the same posture, on his left side with his face to the north, and legs bent.
“:’) Whoever came up with the idea for building the complex must have had quite a set of stones.” Getting serious doesn’t last long here. Down w/seriosity! Up w/neologisms! Bad spellers of the world, UNTIE! Tippecanoe and Tyler too! (Hard to stop once you get started.) :)
So the knights had to be expert mahouts, too?
Greeks were sailing 7000 years ago...very possibly Greek.
The Museum of Natural History had a horse model dressed in full armor. You’d need a ladder just to get up on it, nevermind handling your weapons with the weight of your own armor. Another thank you to the Creator for not letting me be born a knight. :)
The figure the boy to be about the age of 15. Wonder what he represented or did to be considered so important a figure that he was buried at Stonehenge?
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