Stonehenge’s famous megalithic monument is not the oldest in Great Britain, but that recognition corresponds to the enclosure of burial of flagstoneslocated near Dorchester (England), dating from 3200 years before Christ (a. C.), approximately two centuries before what was previously believed, according to a study Published in the latest edition of the magazine Antiquity.
The results of this collaborative research of the University of Exeter and Historic England not only shed light on the origins of monumental architecture during the Neolithic period. In addition, they point out that flagstones may have served as prototype for later monuments like Stonehenge’s, among others.
Flagstones was Discovered in the 1980sduring the construction of the Dorchester ring. The excavations revealed that it was formed by a circular ditch of 100 meters in diameter formed by wells that were probably intersecting a embankment.
At first, there were at least four burials in their pits: an incinerated adult, three children who had not been incinerated and three other partial cremations of adults in other places. They were observed similarities with the first phase of Stonehengedated around 2900 a. C., which led to assume that flagstones should be of a similar date.
“In some aspects, it resembles previous monuments, which we call enclosures with footwear, and in others, it looks a bit like things that we call henges. But we did not know where he was among this type of monuments, ”says the specialist in Neolithic monuments and the Bronze Age of the Department of Archeology and History of the University of Exeter, Susan Greaney.
On this issue, he wanted to delve the research team. They were performed 23 new radiocarbon measurements From some of the findings discovered there, including human remains, deer and coal antlers. These revealed an early neolithic activity, including the excavation of phosses, which took place around 3650 a. C. After an interval of many centuries, the circular enclosure with a pit was created around 3200 a. C., they maintain.
Stonehenge’s older brother?
Researchers believe that this new chronology is “essential to understand the changing sequence of ceremonial and funeral monuments in Britain.”
And put a fundamental question on the table. “Flagstones’ brother is Stonehenge, whose first phase is almost identical, but dates from around 2900 a. C. Could Stonehenge have been a copy of flagstones? Or these findings suggest that our current Stonehenge dating may need a review? ”Greaney questions.
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