Mysterious enigma
New research has unearthed a site just a mile from Stonehenge that was occupied by humans thousands of years earlier than thought
Stone monument
Stonehenge was built around 4,600 years ago, but a few pine beams were erected between 8,000 and 6,500 B.C. Until now, no one knew why those beams were erected when there was no other evidence of occupation so early.
Nearby site
David Jacques, a researcher at the Open University, was looking at archival photographs of the area when he noticed a site in nearby Amesbury that had a natural spring. Because wild animals often congregate near springs, he wondered whether ancient man may have as well.
Excavations
The team began excavating and unearthed evidence of burning, thousands of bone tools and hundreds of bone fragments, some dating to 7,500 B.C., nearly 5,000 years before the large megaliths were first raised at Stonehenge.
Wild aurochs
More than 60 percent of the bone fragments were from aurochs, a type of extinct wild cow. That suggests the spring was on a natural migration route for the animals. The researchers think the auroch migration route became a sacred hunting ground.
Stone tools
The tools were made from materials and styles found throughout England. That suggested that the hunting grounds drew people from other areas to feast. The new discovery suggests that Stonehenge got its first sacred associations as a hunting ground, right around the time that ancient people erected pine beams at Stonehenge. Ancient people may have chosen to raise the massive megaliths at Stonehenge - the area had been sacred for thousands of years.
