Archaeologists say they’ve found a massive underground structure that could be four times the size of Stonehenge

Archaeologists have confirmed that the ruins of a significant, modern prehistoric stone monument, buried less than 3 kilometres (186 miles) from Stonehenge have been identified.

The site is 15 times the size of Stonehenge. The Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project team – a group of British archaeologists – used multi-sensor technologies to reveal evidence for a row of about 90 standing stones hidden beneath the bank of what is now called Durrington Walls, a super-henge in Britain.

Durrington Walls is one of the largest known henge monuments measuring 500 meters (0.3 miles) in diameter. It’s thought to have been built around 4,500 years ago.

The word henge refers to a particular type of earthwork, typically consisting of a roughly circular or oval-shaped bank with an internal ditch surrounding a central flat area. Henges may have contained (or may still contain) ritual structures such as stone circles, timber circles and coves.

Durrington Walls may have contained an ancient village at one time. The henge surrounds several smaller enclosures and timber circles and is associated with a recently excavated later Neolithic settlement.

The Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project team, using non-invasive geophysical prospection and remote sensing technologies, discovered evidence for a row of up to 90 standing stones, some of which may have originally measured up to 4.5 meters (14.8 feet) in height. Many of these stones have survived because they were pushed over and the massive bank of the later henge raised over the recumbent stones or the pits in which they stood.

These stones have been hidden for millennia.

At Durrington, more than 4.5 thousand years ago, a natural depression near the river Avon appears to have been accentuated by a chalk cut scarp and then delineated on the southern side by the row of massive stones. Essentially forming a C-shaped ‘arena’, the monument may have surrounded traces of springs and a dry valley leading from there into the Avon.

Although none of the stones has yet been excavated, researchers are interested in a unique sarsen standing stone – a kind of sandstone boulder – which they are calling the Cuckoo Stone, in the adjacent field.

The researchers say this particular stone suggests that other stones may have come from local sources.

Previous, intensive study of the area around Stonehenge had led archaeologists to believe that only Stonehenge and a smaller henge at the end of what researchers call Stonehenge Avenue possessed significant stone structures. The researchers now say:

The latest surveys now provide evidence that Stonehenge’s largest neighbour, Durrington Walls, had an earlier phase which included a large row of standing stones probably of local origin and that the context of the preservation of these stones is exceptional and the configuration unique to British archaeology.

The earthwork enclosure at Durrington Walls was built about a century after the Stonehenge sarsen circle (in the 27th century BC), but archaeologists say the new stone row could be contemporary with or earlier than this.

Paul Garwood, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Birmingham is the principal prehistorian on the project. Garwood said in a statement:

The extraordinary scale, detail and novelty of the evidence produced by the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project, which the new discoveries at Durrington Walls exemplify, is changing fundamentally our understanding of Stonehenge and the world around it.

Everything written previously about the Stonehenge landscape and the ancient monuments within it will need to be re-written.

Amateur metal detector uncovers 22,000 Roman coins

An enthusiast of an East Devon metal detector has stumbled on one of Britain’s largest hoards of Roman coins ever discovered, prompting a local museum to launch a campaign to buy the “remarkable” collection for the nation.

It is the fifth-largest discovery of Roman coins in Britain, comprising approximately 22,000 coins dating back more than 1,700 years. The British Museum announced the discovery of the Seaton Down Hoard

Laurence Egerton, 51, a semi-retired builder from East Devon, discovered two ancient coins “the size of a thumbnail” buried near the surface of a field with his metal detector in November last year.

After digging deeper, his shovel came up full of the copper-alloy coins. “They just spilled out all over the field,” he said. “It was an exciting moment. I had found one or two Roman coins before but never so many together.”

The metal detectorist called in the experts and watched amazed as archaeologists discovered thousands of more coins buried about a foot deep. To ensure the site did not tamper with Mr Egerton slept in his car nearby “for three cold nights” until the dig was finished.

“It’s by far the biggest find I’ve ever had. It really doesn’t get any better. It is so important to record all of these finds properly because it is so easy to lose important insights into our history,” Mr Egerton said. He found the coins near the Honeyditches site in Devon where a Roman villa had previously been excavated.

Bill Horner, county archaeologist at Devon County Council, said: “We realised the significance and mobilised a team as fast as we could.” He continued: “The coins were in remarkably good condition. Coming out of the ground you could see the portrait faces; a family tree of the House of Constantine.”

Over the past 10 months the coins have been lightly cleaned, identified and catalogued at the British Museum, although there is still more work to do. They range from late AD 260 to almost AD 350. Mr Horner said the coins bore a range of portraits, describing it as a “family tree of the House of Constantine”.

The British Museum called the scale of the find “remarkable”, adding that it was “one of the largest hoards ever found within the whole Roman Empire”. The largest find in Britain was the Cunetio Hoard of almost 55,000 coins discovered near Mildenhall, Wiltshire in 1978

The coins would not have been particularly valuable at the time; with experts estimated they would then have been worth about four gold coins, equivalent to a worker’s pay for two years. The Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery in Exeter hopes to raise money to buy the collection and appealed to the public to donate.

The hoard is yet to be fully valued, but one expert said it would be worth less than £100,000. The proceeds will be split between Mr Egerton and the landowner, Clinton Devon Estates.

One of the coins is particularly special. It marks the one millionth find of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, set up in 1997 to provide a record of all the finds brought in by members of the public. The scheme is managed by the British Museum and funded by the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport’s grant-in-aid to the institution.

Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum said: “You know what it’s like; you sit waiting for the millionth object to come along and 22,000 come along at once.”

The special coin, called a nummus, was struck by Constantine the Great to celebrate the inauguration of the new city of Constantinople, now Istanbul.

The scheme was set up to keep track of all the finds by metal detectorists and enthusiasts and provide a resource for scholars to study historical objects. Since 1997 a total of 500 Roman coin hoards have been discovered across the country.

Major finds since the PAS scheme was set up include the Staffordshire Hoard, dating to the 7th century, the largest Anglo-Saxon hoard of gold and silver ever found. There have also been significant Viking and Bronze Age finds.

The British Museum said recording the finds has helped revolutionise the understanding of battlefields including Naseby in 1645 and the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. There, the find of a silver-gilt boar badge helped pinpoint where Richard III met his death.

Extremely rare mass grave of decapitated Vikings found in the UK

Archaeologists made the gruesome discovery of 51 Viking corpses buried in the UK – with researchers claiming they may have been killed in sacrifice. Archaeologists believed that the violent killing happened 1000 years ago – the 51 skeletons had languished near Weymouth, Dorset.

Oxford Archaeology removed the skulls which had been placed together in one part of a pit, and the bodies which had been thrown roughly into a heap a few feet away.

Chemical analysis was used to study the teeth from 10 men – and led to a remarkable piece of information.

The men are thought to have grown up in an environment much colder than the UK, with one set of remains believed to be from the Arctic Circle.

Carbon dating showed they were buried between 910 and 1030AD, a time when England was being unified under Saxon kings and when Vikings from Denmark had begun a second wave of raids on the South Coast.

Oxford Archaeology project manager David Score said: “To find out that the young men executed were Vikings is a thrilling development.

“Any mass grave is a relatively rare find, but to find one on this scale, from this period of history, is extremely unusual.”

Researchers had no doubts that the bodies belonged to Vikings.

Evidence suggested they were captured by British soldiers after arriving in the country to raid.

The blows to the back of their necks were so fierce that the swords cut into the jaws and collarbones.

One man had wounds to his hands – indicating that he grabbed for the blade in a futile bid to save himself. Others suffered blows to pelvis, stomach and chest.

There were more bodies than skulls, leading to speculation that three dismembered heads were displayed on stakes.

The first to arrive in Britain were after loot – and they saw the undefended monasteries, which boasted silver-chalices, gold crosses and bejewelled books, as key targets.

Dr Richard Hall, director of archaeology at the York Archaeological Trust, said: “Vikings would be the same build and height as us.

“But there would be few women over 35 because so many died in childbirth. And if you lived to 50 you were doing very well.”

81 ‘rare’ Anglo-Saxon coffins found in England may shed light on early Christians

A remarkable discovery of 81 Anglo – Saxon coffins made from the hollow-out trunks of oak trees may give new insights into how people lived in Britain in the early days of Christianity, archaeologists say

The bones, dated from the 7th and 9th centuries, is discovered by a previously unknown Anglo-Saxon cemetery on a site called Great Ryburgh in Norfolk, eastern England, where six rare plank-lined graves were also found.

Evidence suggesting the cemetery served a community of early Christians includes a timber structure thought to be a church or chapel, wooden grave markers, and a lack of grave goods that would have been expected at pagan burial sites.

“This find is a dramatic example of how new evidence is helping to refine our knowledge of this fascinating period when Christianity and the church were still developing on the ground,” said Tim Pestell, curator at Norwich Castle Museum in Norfolk, where the finds from the dig will be kept.

Few Anglo-Saxon coffins survive because wood normally decays over time, and evidence usually consists of staining in the round from rotten wood.

The site at Great Ryburgh had a combination of acidic sand and alkaline water that allowed the skeletons and wooden graves to survive.

Coffins made from hollowed-out tree trunks were first seen in Europe in the early Bronze Age and reappeared in the early Middle Ages. This is the first time examples of this type of coffin have been properly excavated and recorded by modern archaeologists in Britain.

The plank-lined graves are believed to be the earliest known examples in Britain.

Examination of the bones and wood is taking place at the Northampton offices of the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA).

“This find is absolutely unique in this country,” MOLA project manager Mark Holmes said.

“Finding wooden coffins of this period hasn’t happened before — it’s going to fill in an enormous amount of our knowledge of this period.”

Lead researcher on the dig Jim Fairclough said he hoped further analysis of the bones would reveal more of the individuals themselves, such as what their lifestyle was like and whether they had any family groups in the same cemetery.

“There are earlier Saxon cemeteries where there’s evidence wood was used in burials but all that remains is basically soil marks and staining where the wood has decayed,” he said.

“So this is the first time, especially in an early Christian context, where the wood coffins have been preserved.”

The excavation on private land at Great Ryburgh was launched to check for archaeological remains ahead of building work to create a lake and flood-defense system to boost biodiversity, alleviate flooding and create a new spot for anglers to fish.

Earliest art in the British Isles discovered on Jersey

Experts have found out what they think might be the first works of art in the British Isles. A team of researchers from across the UK have uncovered prehistoric designs on 10 stone fragments, thought to be somewhere between 14,000 and 23,000 years old.

At the archaeological site of Les Varines in the southeast of Jersey, fragments thought of as part of ornamental tablets or plaquettes were discovered.

Experts believe that the Magdalenians, early hunter-gathers who lived in Europe towards the end of the last ice age, have made abstract engravings.

The findings are published in the journal Plos One.

Dr. Chantal Conneller, a senior lecturer at Newcastle University and one of the authors on the study, said: “These engraved stone fragments provide exciting and rare evidence of artistic expression at what was the farthest edge of the Magdalenian world.

“The people at Les Varines are likely to have been pioneer colonisers of the region and creating engraved objects at new settlements may have been a way of creating symbolic relationships with new places.”

The Magdalenian era is thought to represent the culmination of cultural development in Europe around 18,000 years ago.

From cave art and tools, weapons and decorations to engravings on animal bones and teeth, examples of Magdalenian art have been found in various parts of western Europe.

Plaquettes made by Magdalenians have also previously been uncovered at sites in France, Spain and Portugal.

While Magdalenian settlements are known to have existed as far as North West Britain, it is the first time artistic stone engravings from this era have been discovered in the British Isles.

The researchers analysed the Les Varines plaquettes, which revealed groups of fine lines that, they believe, were purposefully made using tools made of stones.

The ornamental work also features curved markings, possibly made through repeated incisions. According to the researchers, the two types of marks may have been created using the same tools, possibly by the same engraver and in short succession.

Lead author Dr Silvia Bello, a researcher at the Natural History Museum in London, said: “Microscopic analysis indicates that many of the lines, including the curved, concentric designs, appear to have been made through layered or repeated incisions, suggesting that it is unlikely that they resulted from the stones being used for a functional purpose.

“The majority of the designs are purely abstract, but others could depict basic forms such as animals, landscapes or people.

“This strongly suggests that the plaquettes at Les Varines were engraved for purposeful artistic decoration.”

The plaquette fragments were found in an area thought to have been used as a hearth, while three of the pieces were recovered from an area of granite slabs which may have served as paving.

Dr Ed Blinkhorn, senior geoarchaeologist at University College London and director of excavations at the site, who is also one of the study authors, said: “The plaquettes were tricky to pick apart from the natural geology at the site – every stone needed turning.

“Their discovery amongst hearths, pits, paving, specialist tools, and thousands of flints shows that creating art was an important part of the Magdalenian pioneer toolkit, as much at camp as within caves.”

Roman Artifacts Recovered in Northwest England

Chester, England—Deeside.com reports that a Roman game piece and other artifacts were uncovered in an area slated for redevelopment in the walled city of Chester, which was founded as a Roman fort in A.D. 79.

Researchers at Chester Northgate’s £ 70 m building site have discovered Roman artifacts, including what is thought to be a rare gaming piece made from bone.

A highly polished piece with a lozenge-shaped shape, probably from use, is approximately 29mm long and features a common Roman decoration of a ring and dot motif.

Experts link this to the game of Ludus Latrunculorum, meaning the Game of Mercenaries, which was a two-player military strategy board game played throughout the Roman Empire, similar to draughts.

Finding it in part of a legionary barracks in Chester would back up this theory. Other artefacts found to date include another bone artefact, possibly a comb; a possible spearhead; and a pin or broach.

With the Northgate scheme well underway, contractor VINCI Construction UK and archaeologists Oxford Archaeology, have been carefully excavating to find signs of Roman life and other historical artifacts.

However, despite all of the activity on site at present, the construction will not result in any major intrusion into the important archaeological remains which remain undisturbed as the works proceed.

The new buildings have been carefully designed to avoid disturbance of archaeological remains as far as possible and a comprehensive mitigation strategy overseen by Historic England is in place to ensure intrusions into the most sensitive strata are kept to an absolute minimum.

Councillor Richard Beacham, Cabinet Member for Housing, Regeneration and Growth, said: “Chester is truly alive with history, and it is pleasing to see such interesting artefacts unearthed as we begin the long-awaited construction at Northgate.

“We will be treading very carefully to protect the sensitive archaeological remains on the site and we will be adding anything we find to our impressive collection of Roman artefacts at the Grosvenor Museum.”

Andrew Davison, Historic England’s Inspector of Ancient Monuments for the North West recently visited the Northgate site to inspect the work to date. He said: “Chester residents are unusually knowledgeable about the City’s heritage, including its archaeology, so these finds will excite great interest.

“They speak volumes about the quality of the archaeology we are dealing with at this very significant site and I look forward to seeing more finds from the site as work continues.”

Man accidentally finds a ‘perfectly preserved’ Roman villa in his backyard

This began out as a bit of basic home improvement, which ended up with the finding of one of the biggest Roman Villas ever to be found in the UK. While laying an electricity cable beneath the grounds of his home, near the village of Tisbury, in Wiltshire, Luke Irwin found the remains of what appeared to be an ornate Roman Mosaic.

Yet it was even more shocking that there was an excavation by archeologists from Historic Great Britain and the Salisbury Museum. They found the mosaic was part of the floor of a much larger Roman property, similar in size and structure to the great Roman villa at Chedworth.

But in a move that will surprise many, the remains – some of the most important to be found in decades – have now been re-buried, as Historic England cannot afford to fully excavate and preserve such an extensive site.

Dr David Roberts, the archaeologist for Historic England, said:  “This site has not been touched since its collapse 1400 years ago and, as such, is of enormous importance. Without question, this is a hugely valuable site in terms of research, with incredible potential.

“The discovery of such an elaborate and extraordinarily well-preserved villa, undamaged by agriculture for over 1500 years, is unparalleled in recent years. 

Overall, the excellent preservation, large scale and complexity of this site present a unique opportunity to understand Roman and post-Roman Britain.”

He added: “Unfortunately, it would cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to fully excavate and the preserve the site, which cannot be done with the current pressures.

“We would very much like to go back and carry out more digs to further our understanding of the site. But it’s a question of raising the money and taking our time, because as with all archaeological work there is the risk of destroying the very thing you seek to uncover.” 

Mr Irwin, a Dublin-born designer who makes hand-made silk, wool and cashmere rugs, made the fortunate find last summer while laying electricity cables beneath a stretch of ground to the rear of his property, so that his children could play table tennis under lighting in an old barn.

His builders had barely begun to dig a trench for the cables when they hit something solid, just 18 inches below the surface. On closer inspection it appeared to be a section of a Roman mosaic in remarkably good condition. Intrigued, Mr Irwin called in experts from the Wiltshire Archaeology Service, Historic England (formerly English Heritage) and nearby Salisbury Museum. 

Further exploratory excavation of the site – now known as the Deverill Villa after the name of Mr Irwin’s 17th-century house – revealed surviving sections of walls, one and a half metres in height, confirming that the mosaic formed part of a grand villa, thought to have been three storeys in height, its grounds extending over 100 metres in width and length.

It is thought the villa, which had around 20 to 25 rooms on the ground floor alone, was built sometime between 175 AD and 220 AD, and was repeatedly re-modelled right up until the mid – 4th century. The remains at Deverill are similar to those found at Chedworth, in Gloucestershire, suggesting that the building belonged to a family of significant wealth and importance. 

Chedworth was built as a dwelling around three sides of a courtyard, with a fine mosaic floor, as well as two separate bathing suites – one for damp-heat and one for dry-heat. The villa was discovered in 1864, and it was excavated and put on display soon afterwards. It was acquired by the National Trust in 1924.

The discovery at Mr Irwin’s home also revealed a number of fascinating objects from the Roman period. Among the artefacts discovered during the excavations were a perfectly preserved Roman well, underfloor heating pipes and the stone coffin of a Roman child. Another was the stone coffin of a Roman child, which had long been used by the inhabitants of the adjoining house as a flower pot, most recently for geraniums.

Also found were discarded oyster shells, which would have had to be transported over 45 miles from the coast– further evidence of the villa would have been the home of a wealthy and important family. Archaeologists believe that during the post-Roman period timber structures were erected within the ruins of the once-ornate villa.

They say further research of what was found at Deverill would  throw light on what remains one of the least understood periods of British history – between fall of the Roman Empire and the completion of Saxon domination in the 7th century.

Simon Sebag Montefiore, one of Britain’s leading historians said: “This remarkable Roman villa, with its baths and mosaics uncovered by chance, is a large, important and very exciting discovery that reveals so much about the luxurious lifestyle of a rich Romano British family at the height of the empire.

“It is an amazing thought that so much has survived almost two millennia.”  Mr Irwin was inspired by his discovery to create a series of rugs based around the theme of the Roman mosaic he unearthed. His collection will be put on display at his showroom in central London.

He said: “When I held some of the tessaras, the mosaic tiles that were found, in the palm of my hand, the history of the place felt tangible, like an electric shock. The brilliance of their colours was just extraordinary, especially as they have been buried for so long.

“To think that someone lived on this site 1,500 years ago is almost overwhelming. You look out at an empty field from your front door, and yet centuries ago one of the biggest homes in all of Britain at the time was standing there.”

But while the artefacts have been removed and are now in the care of Salisbury Museum, the remains of the villa and its mosaics have been re-buried and grassed over to protect them from the elements. To expose and preserve the mosaics and fragments of walls would be prohibitively expensive and beyond the budget of Salisbury Museum. Even if it was financially possible, Mr Irwin does not want his garden turned into an open-air museum.

500,000-Year-Old Earliest European Bone Tools Found In UK

The earliest known bone tools in European archeological history, archaeologists claim, were found. The implements come from the renowned Boxgrove site in West Sussex, which was excavated in the 1980s and 90s.

The bone tools came from a horse that humans butchered at the site for its meat. Flakes of stone in piles around the animal suggest at least eight individuals were making large flint knives for the job.

Researchers also found evidence that other people were present nearby – perhaps younger or older members of a community – shedding light on the social structure of our ancient relatives.

There’s nothing quite like Boxgrove elsewhere in Britain: during excavations, archaeologists uncovered hundreds of stone tools, along with animal bones, that dated to 500,000 years ago.

They were made by the species Homo heidelbergensis, a possible ancestor for modern humans and Neanderthals. Researchers found a shin bone belonging to one of them – it’s the oldest human bone known from Britain.

Project lead, Dr. Matthew Pope, from UCL’s Institute of Archaeology, said: “This was an exceptionally rare opportunity to examine a site pretty much as it had been left behind by an extinct population after they had gathered to totally process the carcass of a dead horse on the edge of a coastal marshland.

“Incredibly, we’ve been able to get as close as we can to witnessing the minute-by-minute movement and behaviours of a single apparently tight-knit group of early humans: a community of people, young and old, working together in a co-operative and highly social way.”

The researchers were able to reconstruct the precise type of stone tool that had been made from the chippings left at the site. However, humans must have taken the tools with them – as they had not been recovered.

At the inter-tidal marshland, which was on what would have been Britain’s southern coastline, there was a nearby cliff that was starting to degrade, producing good rocks for knapping – the process of creating stone tools. Silt from the sea had also built up here, forming an area of grassland.

“Grassland means herbivores and herbivores mean food,” explained Dr. Pope. Dr. Pope added that it was still unclear how the horse ended up in this landscape.

“Horses are highly sociable animals and it’s reasonable to assume it was part of a herd, either attracted to the foreshore for freshwater, or for seaweed or salt licks. For whatever reason, this horse – isolated from the herd – ends up dying there,” Dr. Pope told BBC News.

“Possibly it was hunted – though we have no proof of that – and it’s sat right next to an intertidal creek. The tide was quite low so it’s possible for the humans to get around it. But shortly after, high tide comes in and starts to cover the site in fine, powdery silt and clay. It’s so low energy that everything is left as it was when the hominins moved away from the site.”

The horse provided more than just-food. Analysis of the bones by Simon Parfitt, from the University College London (UCL) Institute of Archaeology, and Dr. Silvia Bello, from London’s Natural History Museum, found that several bones had been used as tools called re-touchers.

Simon Parfitt said: “These are some of the earliest non-stone tools found in the archaeological record of human evolution. They would have been essential for manufacturing the finely made flint knives found in the wider Boxgrove landscape.”

Dr. Bello added: “The finding provides evidence that early human cultures understood the properties of different organic materials and how tools could be made to improve the manufacture of other tools.

She explained that “it provides further evidence that early human populations at Boxgrove were cognitively, social and culturally sophisticated”.

The researchers believe other members of the group – which could have numbered 30 to 40 people – were nearby. They might have joined the hunting party to butcher the horse carcass. This might explain how it was so completely torn apart: the Boxgrove humans even smashed up the bones to get at the marrow and liquid grease.

Dr. Pope said that, far from being an activity for a handful of individuals in a hunting party, butchering could have been a highly social event for these ancient humans. The project has primarily been funded by Historic England, the Arts and Humanities Research Council with support from the UCL Institute of Archaeology, the Natural History Museum and the British Museum.

The detailed findings have been published in a book called The Horse Butchery Site.