We were in Stonehenge last month and we saw the principal and tipical
stones here but last year, archeologists announced the discovery of the
Durrington Walls “superhenge,” a remarkable structure located just two miles
from Stonehenge. The same team have now found evidence of an even older
structure at the site—a ritual arena comprised of over 90 megalithic stones.
Constructed some 4,500 years ago, Durrington Walls is one of the largest
known henge monuments. It measures 1,640 feet (500 meters) in diameter and
features a total circumference of 4,920 feet (1,500 meters). The structure is
associated with a recently excavated Neolithic settlement that appeared some
time later.
Based on the c-shape configuration of the structure, the archaeologists
suspect that the site was used as a ritual arena. The impressive row of looming
monuments was likely built to give the impression of authority to both the
living and the dead. The stone line may have also marked a ritual procession
route
This discovery suggests that Stonehenge’s neighbor, Durrington Walls,
featured an earlier phase of Neolithic habitation and monument-building—one
that included a large row of standing stones.
It is said that this discovery of a major new stone monument, which has
been preserved to a remarkable extent, seems to have significant implications
for the understanding of Stonehenge and its landscape setting.Not only does
this new evidence demonstrate an unexpected phase of monumental architecture at
one of the greatest ceremonial sites in prehistoric Europe,but also the new stone row could be contemporary with
the famous Stonehenge circle or even earlier.
