Stonehenge boy 'was from the Med'

BBC ^ | 28 Sep 2010 | Paul Rincon

[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.

[wildbill]

Maybe the natives kidnapped foreigners, took them to the alter, and performed gruesome sacrificial rites on them before burying them.

Or maybe not. Could be they were sightseeing and caught Druid’s Revenge and died.

Hard to figure out why buried bodies show up that aren’t native to that lonesome area.

[SunkenCiv]

The project started when the prehistoric chieftain said, “how many menhir?”

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks blam!

[SunkenCiv]

Or the craftsmen.

[Little Bill]

Wasn’t the beaker culture classed as Proto Celts?

[Docbarleypop]

or ate....heeerrrreee hoorrrsssseeeyyy

[muawiyah]

Elephants (so-called Indian elephants) aren't as big as you imagine, but large Belgian warhorses in the Middle Ages were!

I figure the operational size for both animals was pretty much the same ~ because anything beyond human scale would put them beyond "control".

It's only in modern industrial times that we've gotten into using machinery that dwarfs us, and that's only because we build in OFF SWITCHES. Elephants and horses have an off switch but it's buried under feet of flesh and gone. You need a spear to reach it! Last thing you want is an animal you can't turn off ~ like a bull African elephant rampaging in must.

[Silentgypsy]

You PUNished me. How many years in the PUNitentiary is that worth? Pick a cod, any cod at all. That smelt. Why did I say that? Just for the halibut. (You started it.) :)

[allmendream]

There are many theories as to what type and size destriers attained, but they apparently were not enormous draft types.[5] Recent research undertaken at the Museum of London, using literary, pictorial and archeological sources, suggests war horses (including destriers) averaged 14–15 hands, and were distinguished from a riding horse by their strength, musculature and training, rather than their size.[6] This estimate is supported by an analysis of medieval horse armour located in the Royal Armouries, which indicates the equipment was originally worn by horses of 15 to 16 hands,[7] about the size and build of a modern field hunter or ordinary riding horse.[8]

From Wiki....but the sources look legit.

15 - 16 hands = 60-64 inches tall = 5-6 feet tall at the withers or top of the shoulder.

Elephant = Asian male elephant around 11 feet tall. African elephant 10 to 13 feet at the shoulder.

Nobody has ever seen any evidence (armor or skeleton) of a horse as large as an elephant.

[happygrl]

Even the Przewalski horse ?

[muawiyah]

Even the Przewalski. All the wild horses were corraled and eaten or put to the bridle as appropriate ~ for several thousand years. Sometimes they'd get loose ~ they can live in the wild you know. But even the modern "wild horse" is descended from domesticated breeds.

Your typical horsie is like a chicken!

[muawiyah]

We are speaking of elephants small enough to be handled in the environment of a military engagement ~ so no large males ~

[allmendream]

Abul-Abbas the war elephant of Emperor Charlemagne was a large male.

The Elephant Armor I saw on display was for a full sized Elephant, far larger than any horse ever bred.

I think they preferred the elephants to be male, from what I have read.

[SunkenCiv]

I’ll probably keep this up tilapia jected from the forum.

[Silentgypsy]

Tilapia? We were ejected ? Wow!