Last Wednesday, researcher announced the recent discovery that Stonehenge, the world's most famous complex of pre-historical ceremonial stones, was actually part of a bigger complex and didn't always stand alone in English fields.
The United Kingdom Universities of Birmingham and Bradford, along with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology in Vienna, have undertaken an investigation called 'The Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project', with the purpose of digitally mapping the area in search for new geographical evidence about the mysterious site.
The researchers used a wide array of new technologies to create digital maps of the area, through remote sensing and geophysical surveys, and they found that the visible stones are actually a part of a larger site with 17 more previously undiscovered monuments.
This would mean that, instead of an isolated monument, Stonehenge would actually be part of a larger ceremonial structure. Vince Gaffney, the project's lead researcher, told website Mashable that "We can interpret the structures in a sense as small shrines or chapels - Stonehenge being like the cathedral, in relative terms." Findings would still put Stonehenge as a central point in the ceremonial monument, just not the sole part of the site: actually, small shrines surrounded Stonehenge.
Researchers believe the new findings involved the ritualistic nature of the complex, which has always been associated with the Druids and ancient worshipping of nature. Among the new discoveries, researchers found a massive timber that was used in complex burial rituals that involved the removal of flesh and organs from corpses.
Stonehenge is the most famous monument from pre-historical times, dating back around 5,000 years and bearing witness to England's Neolithic and Bronze Ages. It was added to UNESCO's World Heritage Sites in 1986, as well as being legally protected by the United Kingdom. It is owned by the British crown and managed by English Heritage.
