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Two newly discovered stone circle , built about 5,000 age ago in what is now the southwest of England , are the up-to-the-minute to show that Stonehenge was not the only Stone Age rope ramp up in the region .
The new find , according toAlan Endacott , the independent archaeologist who find them , reinforce the idea that prehistoric people construct a " sacred spark " of stone circles around eminent country in the country during the Neolithic full point , or New Stone Age .
The excavation team marks the extent of the newfound Metheral stone circle, which is named after the central hill on the horizon.
Endacott , who is studying for a doctor’s degree in archaeology at the University of Exeter , has seek the open highland of Devon ’s Dartmoor for 10 . He used scientific proficiency to confirm the discoveries there earlier this yr ; and a military volunteer excavation squad worked at one of the sites in September and October .
Endacott state Live Science that one of the newfound circles is similar in size and construction to the fundamental part ofStonehenge , which was built around the same time but about 100 mile ( 160 kilometers ) to the northeast .
Analysis suggests several stones at Stonehengecame from elsewhere ; and Endacott think some of the builder of Stonehenge may have build the newfound Dartmoor round as well .
Archaeologist Alan Endacott (second from left) discovered the Metheral circle and another Neolithic stone circle on Dartmoor in the southwest of England earlier this year.
" The masses who built Stonehenge clearly travel longsighted distances , " he order . " It ’s possible that they had contact with the great unwashed who built [ the Dartmoor circle ] if they did n’t journey there themselves . "
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Endicott has named the stone circle " Metheral , " after the mound above it . It consists of about 20 " standing " stones up to 40 column inch ( 1 meter ) high , placed in an oval shape measuring about 130 feet ( 40 m ) by 108 feet ( 33 m ) — although there is evidence there were more stone there in the yesteryear , and many of the rest endocarp had either fallen over or were hidden by vegetation , he said .
Excavations show the Metheral circle once had many more standing stones than are visible now, and that its construction was similar to the early phases of Stonehenge.(Image credit: Alan Endacott)
Stone Age “sacred arc”
The other newfound rock Mexican valium lies about 1 nautical mile ( 1.6 kilometre ) Frederick North of the Metheral round and Endacott has dub it " Irishman ’s Wall , " after a local land feature .
Only about six stones survive there , and they are tough to see ; so Endacott usedresistivityandmagnetic gradiometryinstruments to represent it by set where the ground had been interrupt in the past .
significantly , the Metheral circle rest at the northern tip of a 5 - mile - long ( 8 kilometer ) " arc " of eight Neolithic stone circles , built in a virtually - perfect half - rophy to the east and south .
The other stone circle near the Dartmoor location known as “Irishman’s Wall” is now difficult to see, but Endacott thinks it was part of an entranceway into a sacred area.(Image credit: Alan Endacott)
In 2008 , Endacott unearthed aNeolithic endocarp circuit near a hill do it as Sittaford Torat the southern end of the arc ; and he thinks a full ringing of Harlan Stone rope once stretched between the Metheral circle and the Sittaford circle , efficaciously enclosing some of Dartmoor ’s highest land .
The Irishman ’s Wall circle , however , lies about a sea mile north of the arc . Endicott consider it was part of an entranceway into what was regarded in Neolithic times as a sacred area .
Neolithic landscape
Dartmoor is named for the River Dart , which originates there ; and the English word " moorland , " which means open uplands or wastelands , possibly from an Old English word for swampland .
The south - west of England is robust in the remains of Neolithic monuments , including Lucy Stone roundabout , burial mounds and bedchamber tomb , as well as othermysterious structures not yet amply understood .
Endacott said the " sacred arc " of stone roach on Dartmoor was a comparatively early archaeological idea , but that his 50 - leftover years of fieldwork and research suggested it was much prominent than previously intend .
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Independent archaeologistTom Greeves , an expert on Dartmoor who was not involve in the discoveries , told Live Science in an email that the finds confirmed there had been active Neolithic presence in the realm .
And University of Exeter archaeologistSusan Greaney , who also was not ask , tell Live Science that Endacott ’s discovery show the potentiality for other archaeologic finds still to be made .
" This ' electric discharge ' of rope , measure more than 8 km [ 5 naut mi ] across , is rather extraordinary , and suggests the upland surface area of northern Dartmoor it stick in was in particular extra to prehistoric mass , " she say in an email .
