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| Dig throws new light on Stonehenge mystery by David Vallis THREE weeks of excavations at Durrington Walls have been helping to throw new light on the mysteries of the Stonehenge World Heritage site. The dig, which started on August 21 and is due to end today (September 15) has attracted interest from eminent archaeologists, who have been regularly visiting the site since the work got underway. And last Saturday and Sunday members of the public got the chance to view the excavations and talk to members of the team carrying out the research project. The visits were arranged as part of last week's Heritage Open Days and included demonstration of Neolithic craft, performed by a re-enactment group. Durrington Walls lies close to Woodhenge and is one of the key prehistoric monuments of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. It is a circular henge enclosure - the largest of its kind in Britain - and is surrounded by a bank and ditch that is even bigger than that at Avebury. And it was built at the same time as the first stones were put up at Stonehenge. The latest excavations have been taking place as part of the Stonehenge Riverside Research Project, with the aim of exploring the links between Durrington Walls, the River Avon and Stonehenge. It is believed the once massive circular earthwork, which was about 500 metres (about a third of mile) in diameter, was erected for rituals and feasts - such as midsummer pig roasts. And new excavations have revealed traces of a causeway or walkway, leading from Durrington Walls to the Avon, about 30-metres away. This, say archaeologist suggests the dead were ritualistically carried from the earthworks to the river, where their remains were deposited. Archaeologists and students from Salisbury and the universities of Bournemouth, Sheffield, Manchester, Bristol and London have been carrying out the excavations and some of the work has been filmed by Channel 4's Time Team for a programme to be shown next spring. http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.[...]alisbury/news/SALIS_NEWS1.html Reply | with quote | Posted by Ishmael 14th September 2005ce 15:50 In reply to: Durrington Walls (The Eternal) |
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