A reconstruction depicting how the row of megalithic stones would have looked. Credit: Ludwig Boltzmann Institute.
An enormous row of 90 megalithic stones has been found buried beneath the prehistoric super-henge of Durrington Walls earthworks, only one mile from the world-famous site of Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England. The huge line of megalithic stones lies 3 feet underground and has just been discovered through the use of sophisticated radar equipment. The finding is believed to have been a huge ritual monument.
“We’re looking at one of the largest stone monuments in Europe and it has been under our noses for something like 4,000 years… It’s truly remarkable.” said Professor Vince Gaffney, from the University of Bradford and co-director of the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project, which made the discovery. “We don’t think there’s anything quite like this anywhere else in the world. This is completely new and the scale is extraordinary,” he added.
The discovery was announced at the opening of the British Science Festival in Bradford, and has been described as the most exciting finding of Neolithic Britain for many years.
