Category Archives: WORLD

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

2,200 Year Old Alexander the Great Statue Discovered in Alexandria

2,200 Year Old Alexander the Great Statue Discovered in Alexandria

The Ministry of Antiquities in Cairo has discovered a statue of Alexander the Great within an ancient “residential and commercial zone” in Alexandria that they believe was a trade centre in the region during the Ptolemaic period.

These pots were also found at the ancient Alexandria settlement and indicate that it was a major regional trade centre during the Ptolemaic period (305-30 BC).

The archaeologists made their discovery after 9 months of excavations.

The team discovered moulds for statues of Alexander the Great at the site as well as an alabaster bust of the iconic ancient leader. Also amongst these items were materials for creating amulets for warriors.

The new Alexander the Great statue, made of alabaster, was unearthed at a large dig in Alexandria, Egypt.

As they explored this area of Alexandria, known as the al-Shatby neighbourhood, “the mission found a large network of tunnel tanks painted in pink for storing rain, flood and groundwater to be used during the draught time” said Mostafa Waziri, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt to the Xinhua news agency.

Waziri further explained the layout of the town: “it was composed of the main street and several branch roads that are all connected with a sanitation network.”

He believes that the area was active from the 2nd century B.C. to the 4th century A.D. Waziri also noted that the team found an array of pottery pots, coins, plates, fishing tools, and rest houses for travellers.

A wealth of pottery artefacts has been unearthed at the site.

The ruins of the area’s buildings combined with the artefacts found there have led the team to believe that the town had a lively market that sold pots and had workshops for the construction of statues, amulets, and other items.

Amulets were unearthed at the site.

The fascinating Greek history behind the Egyptian city of Alexandria

The story of Hellenism in Alexandria, Egypt’s second-largest city, goes back more than two millennia and is marked by Alexander the Great’s placement of the first stone as part of the city’s first street in 331 BC.

Alexander III, the “Basileus of Macedon”, the “Hegemon of the Hellenic League”, the “Shahanshah” of Persia, the “Pharaoh” of Egypt and the “Lord of Asia” — better known as Alexander the Great — was one of the most significant figures in human history.

Born in Pella, in modern-day Central Macedonia, northern Greece, in 356 B.C., he was the son of Philip II, the King of Macedon and his wife, Olympias.

But Alexander was no royal place-holder. He became renowned at a very early age both for his military and political capabilities.

Hellenistic Alexandria was best known for the Lighthouse of Alexandria (the Pharos), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World; its Great Library (the largest in the ancient world); and its Necropolis, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages.

Alexandria was at one time the second-most powerful city of the ancient Mediterranean region, after Rome.

In modern times, Greeks began to settle in Alexandria again in the 18th and 19th centuries.

A new wave of immigration flooded Alexandria shortly after the Greek revolution of 1821, marking the beginning of the so-called European era of the city.

EUROPE, WORLD

A 400-year old ship has been found in the Baltic Sea

A 400-year old ship has been found in the Baltic Sea

In June 2011, a Finnish treasure hunting company was scanning the Baltic Sea in the Gulf of Bothnia when “they claimed” their sonar captured what tabloid newspapers reported was “a sunken UFO.”

While most scientists agree that the 2011 Baltic Sea discovery is most likely a natural geological formation, another mystery craft has just been identified by a team of divers in the Baltic Sea. The divers who discovered the “mystery shipwreck” said the “near-perfect” ship they found on the Baltic Sea floor in 2020 was “miraculous.”

Now, that mysterious Baltic Sea ship that was discovered between the mainland of Finland and the Estonian island of Hiiumaa has been identified. The Badewanne dive team that found the Baltic Sea wreck consists of voluntary divers of different nationalities.

The team specializes in documenting wrecks in the Gulf of Finland. Another team of archaeologists and maritime historians solved the ship’s identity, and the answers are amazing.

A bird motif on the Baltic Sea ship, which was initially discovered on the seafloor off the coast of southern Finland in July 2020, and then intensively researched by various experts.

The Baltic Sea Ship Mystery Solved By Its Ancient Motifs

Discovered in great condition at a depth of 85 meters (279 feet) in the Baltic Sea last summer, the Dutch “fluyt” ship was engineered to “carry maximum cargo with a minimum crew,” according to a report in Dutch News. The identity of the ship remained unknown until a team of deep-sea archaeological divers discovered “carved motifs on the transom.”

Archaeologist Niklas Eriksson of Stockholm University, who led the team of divers that solved the mystery of the 400-year-old sunken ship, said the archaeologists are now celebrating a “miraculous breakthrough.”

An article on Diver Net quotes Minna Koivikko, from the Finnish Heritage Agency, who said the discovery “restores one’s faith in miracles.” Koivikko revealed to the media that the ship was named “Swan.”

Furthermore, it is known the craft was built in 1636 AD, and the archaeologists believe that closer examinations of the transom will reveal the coat of arms for the ship’s home port. Archaeologist Martijn Manders, from the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, said the new information found on the ship might even yield the names of the crew members.

A 400-year old ship has been found in the Baltic Sea
A 3D photogrammetric model of the fluyt Baltic Sea ship as it was found on the Baltic Seafloor. Orthometric projection model made with Metashape software.

A Ghost Ship Symbolic Of Dutch Pride

Professor Eriksson said that while divers have found fragments of motifs on previous dives, now archaeologists “have the entire composition.” And with the newly discovered motifs, the team of researchers can now identify the ship in the same way that people in the 17th century did, according to Dutch News, who also said this specific design of seaborne craft “helped forge the Dutch Empire.”

The “fluyt” was a three-masted vessel with a capacious hull, so designed to maximize her cargo capacity. It also had specially designed rigging so that smaller crews could hoist and maintain the sails, and this rig structure also enabled more space, and therefore cut operational costs.

Manders said the fluyt highlighted “the typical Dutch approach to shipbuilding and symbolized the flourishing seafaring trade of the time.”

A drawing of a typical three-masted Dutch fluyt ship by Wenceslaus Hollar (1607–1677).

Fluyts: Kings Among The Fleets Of Early Globalization

The discovery of this ship will add volumes to what is known about how fluyts operated. Moreover, it will almost complete archaeologists’ picture of an ancient transportation vessel that was “a simple, common ship, that created the right circumstances for early globalization,” according to Professor Niklas Eriksson.

Putting the discovery into historic context, when the ship was afloat and serving the Dutch Empire, it added to what was a global powerhouse. In the mid-17th century, Dutch ships carried around half of Europe’s produce and goods. The ship was functional in a period of European history that is known as “The Dutch Golden Age ” and that nation’s maritime power lasted until the late 17th century.

Manders told Dutch News that the team of researchers invited amateur sleuths who are interested in maritime history to join in the search for more clues.

The heritage specialist explained that new research archives have become available in digital form online and that this whole investigation “is an interesting puzzle, just the thing for a bad summer.”

The story of the divers who discovered the ship, and the archaeological team who researched and interpreted the motifs, is currently being made into a new documentary by Handle Productions of Helsinki, Finland, which Ancient Origins will no doubt discuss after it’s aired.

AFRICA, EGYPT, WORLD

The mystery of ‘The Screaming Mummy’ is finally revealed, and it’s chilling

The mystery of ‘The Screaming Mummy’ is finally revealed, and it’s chilling

He’s back. Prince Pentawere, a man who tried (probably successfully) to murder his own father, Pharaoh Ramesses III, and later took his own life after he was put on trial, is now on public display at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

Pentawere’s mummy, popularly known as the “screaming mummy,” was not properly mummified. No embalming fluid was used, and his body was allowed to naturally mummify, with his mouth agape and his facial muscles strained in order to make it appear as if the mummy were screaming.

Whether he died screaming or whether he was made to look like that after death is unclear.

The “screaming mummy,” likely that of Prince Pentawere, a man who tried (likely successfully) to kill his own father pharaoh Ramesses III, is now on public display at the Egyptian Museum.

Those burying him then wrapped his body in sheepskin, a material the ancient Egyptians considered to be ritually impure.

Eventually, someone placed Pentawere’s mummy in a cache of other mummies in a tomb at Deir el-Bahari.

The prince can take solace in the fact that his assassination attempt appears to have been successful. In 2012, a team of scientists studying the mummy of Ramesses III (reign 1184-1155 B.C.) found that Ramesses III died after his throat was slashed, likely in the assassination attempt that Pentawere helped to orchestrate.

The scientists also performed genetic analysis, which confirmed that the “screaming mummy” was a son of Ramesses III. And, based on the mummy’s unusual burial treatment, the researchers confirmed that it is likely Pentawere’s mummy. 

To kill a pharaoh

The Judicial Papyrus of Turin, as modern-day scholars call it, is a manuscript that documents the trials that occurred after Pentawere’s apparently successful attempt at killing his father in 1155 B.C.

A group of butlers who remained loyal to Ramesses III — and his successor, Ramesses IV — oversaw the trial of a vast number of people who had allegedly aided Pentawere, condemning them to death or mutilation.

These conspirators included military and civil officials, women in the royal harem (where the murder of Ramesses III may have happened), and a number of men who were in charge of the royal harem.

Prince Pentawere was allegedly assisted by his mother, a woman named Tiye (no relation to King Tutankhamun), who was one of Ramesses III’s wives.

The judicial papyrus says that Prince Pentawere “was brought in because he had been in collusion with Tiye, his mother, when she had plotted the matters with the women of the harem” (translation by A. de Buck).

Pentawere “was placed before the butlers in order to be examined; they found him guilty; they left him where he was; he took his own life,” the papyrus says.

How exactly Pentawere killed himself is a matter of debate among scholars, with poisoning and hanging (or a combination of the two) generally regarded as being the most likely methods.

While the dead Pharaoh Ramesses III was initially buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings, his mummy was moved after the robbery of his tomb. Interestingly, his mummy was dumped in the same mummy cache at Deir el-Bahari as Pentawere’s.

The mummies of the murdered father and his killer son rested together until the family of a man named Abd el-Rassul found the cache in the 19th century.

The screaming mummy is only being displayed temporarily. The display of the mummy has received widespread media attention and it is not clear how long it will be displayed.

EUROPE, SPAIN, WORLD

2,000-Year-Old Roman-era Chandelier is One-of-a-Kind!

2,000-Year-Old Roman-Era Chandelier is One-of-a-Kind!

A Roman chandelier, which is believed to be the last one remaining, has been reconstructed by Spanish archaeologists after they discovered it among the ruins of a workshop.

The round lamp which was used during the Roman Empire to light up large spaces has a diameter of half a metre and has spots for 32 candles or fuses. 

The rare artefact, which has been lovingly restored by local art teacher Eva Maria Mendiola, is on display at the Elda Museum in Alicante, Spain.

It is believed the light, from the 1st Century AD, was made by a potter named Lucius Eros, The Times reports. 

According to El Pais, Augustus and Tiberius were ruling while Eros was alive and he used to engrave his name on the moulds he made. 

The round lamp which was used during the Roman Empire to light up large spaces has a diameter of half a metre and has spots for 32 candles or fuses
It is believed the light, from the 1st Century AD, was made by a potter named Lucius Eros.

His branding made it possible to identify the craftsman that had originally made the precious item which was found during an archaeological dig.

Another four lamp moulds were found at the archaeological site Elo-Monastil, which is where Eros is believed to have had his workshop and several kilns. 

His workshop was first discovered in 1989 before further kilns were found in 2009 and 2010.

2,000-Year-Old Roman-Era Chandelier is One-of-a-Kind!
The rare artefact, which has been lovingly restored by local art teacher Eva Maria Mendiola, is on display at the Elda Museum in Alicante, Spain.

Speaking in 1989, professor of Ancient History at the University of Alcalá de Henares Antonio M. Poveda explained the chandeliers of this style would have taken a lot of expertise to make. 

As a result, they were quite rare and were only made to order for wealthier people in other cities, including what is now known as Elche and Alicante, with large rooms to light up. 

This latest discovery is the first of its kind to have been preserved. 

The lights worked by poking fuse through holes in the multiple tubes and oil was piped in to keep it alight. 

They were soon replaced by lamps made of metal materials. 

EUROPE, UKRAINE, WORLD

Oldest Circular Structure Discovered – and It’s Made of Mammoth Bones

Oldest Circular Structure Discovered – and It’s Made of Mammoth Bones

Huts built from mammoth bones found along the Dniepr river valley of Ukraine (and also at locations in Moravia, Czech Republic, and in southern Poland) may be the earliest structures built by prehistoric man, and thus the earliest examples of architecture.

Perhaps the earliest example of domed architecture, the mammoth huts found in Mezhyrich, Ukraine, could be up to 25,000 years old. “Mammoth House” as shown at the “Frozen Woolly Mammoth Yuka Exhibit” in Yokoyama, Japan in Summer 2013.
Perhaps the earliest example of domed architecture, the mammoth huts found in Mezhyrich, Ukraine, could be up to 25,000 years old. “Mammoth House” is shown at the “Frozen Woolly Mammoth Yuka Exhibit” in Yokoyama, Japan in Summer 2013.

Some of the most notable of these mammoth bone huts were found in Mezhyrich, a village in central Ukraine, where in 1965, a farmer dug up the lower jawbone of a mammoth while in the process of expanding his cellar.

Further excavations revealed the presence of 4 prehistoric huts, made up of a total of 149 mammoth bones.

These shelters date between 23,000 BCE and 12,000 BCE, and are thought to be some of the oldest dwellings known to have been constructed by prehistoric man, usually attributed to Cro-Magnons.

“They are composed of several hundred bones and tusks arranged in a rough circle, between 6 and 10 m (20 and 33 ft) in diameter.

A hearth typically lies near the centre of the former dwelling, and stone tools and other debris are scattered within and outside the structure. Large pits filled with stone tools, bone fragments and ash have been found near the houses.

Artist rendition of dwelling in Mezhirich, Ukraine, made of mammoth bones. Source: Dolní Věstonice Museum

“Considerable effort must have been required to assemble these structures. Even in a dry state, large mammoth bones weigh hundreds of pounds. It has been suggested that the bones and tusks were recovered from hunting episodes in which entire herds of adult mammoths and their young were slaughtered.

A more likely explanation is that they were gathered from natural accumulations of bones perhaps at the mouths of streams and gullies near the sites.

The primary purpose of the mammoth-bone dwellings which were presumably covered with animal skins was probably sheltered from extreme cold and high winds.

Some archaeologists, impressed with the size and appearance of the structures, have argued that they also possess religious or social significance.

They have been described as the earliest examples of ‘monumental architecture as evidence of increased social complexity and status differentiation during the final phase of the Ice Age.” (Paul G. Bahn (ed) 100 Great Archaeological Discoveries [1995] 54-55)

Mammoth bone dwelling. Reconstruction is based on the example of Mezhirich. Exhibit in the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan.

Other interesting objects have also been found on the site, including a map inscribed onto a bone, presumably showing the area around the settlement.

The remains of a “drum”, made of a mammoth skull painted with a pattern of red ochre dots and lines, were also discovered, along with amber ornaments and fossil shells.

GREENLAND, NORTH AMERICA, WORLD

Massive Greenland shark believed to be up to 512 years old has been found

Massive Greenland shark believed to be up to 512 years old has been found

Greenland sharks are now the longest-living vertebrates known on Earth, scientists say. Researchers used radiocarbon dating to determine the ages of 28 of the animals and estimated that one female was about 512 years old. The team found that the sharks grow at just 1cm a year, and reach sexual maturity at about the age of 150.

The Greenland shark spends most of its time deep underwater but comes to the surface to feed on large mammals
The Greenland shark spends most of its time deep underwater but comes to the surface to feed on large mammals

The research is published in the journal Science. Lead author Julius Nielsen, a marine biologist from the University of Copenhagen, said: “We had our expectations that we were dealing with an unusual animal, but I think everyone doing this research was very surprised to learn the sharks were as old as they were.”

The former vertebrate record-holder was a bowhead whale estimated to be 211 years old. But if invertebrates are brought into the longevity competition, a 507-year-old clam called Ming holds the title of the most aged animal.

Slow swimmers

Greenland sharks are huge beasts, that can grow up to 5m in length. They can be found, swimming slowly, throughout the cold, deep waters of the North Atlantic.

With this leisurely pace of life and sluggish growth rate, the sharks were thought to live for a long time. But until now, determining any ages was difficult. For some fish, scientists are able to examine ear bones called otoliths, which when sectioned, show a pattern of concentric rings that scientists can count as they would the rings in a tree.

Sharks are harder, but some species, such as the Great White, have calcified tissue that grows in layers on their backbones, which can also be used to age the animals.

“But the Greenland shark is a very, very soft shark – it has no hard body parts where growth layers are deposited. So it was believed that the age could not be investigated,” Mr Nielsen told the BBC. However, the team found a clever way of working out the age.

“The Greenland shark’s eye lens is composed of a specialised material – and it contains proteins that are metabolically inert,” explained Mr Neilson.

“Which means after the proteins have been synthesised in the body, they have not renewed anymore. So we can isolate the tissue that formed when the shark was a pup, and do radiocarbon dating.”

The team looked at 28 sharks, most of which had died after being caught in fishing nets as by-catch. Using this technique, they established that the largest shark – a 5m-long female – was extremely ancient. Because radiocarbon dating does not produce exact dates, they believe that she could have been as “young” as 272 or as old as 512. But she was most likely somewhere in the middle, so about Greenland sharks are now the longest-living vertebrates known on Earth, scientists say. Researchers used radiocarbon dating to determine the ages of 28 of the animals and estimated that one female was about 512 years old. years old. It means she was born between the years 1501 and 1744, but her most likely date of birth was in the 17th century.

The scientists studied 28 Greenland sharks. mysterious Picture

“Even with the lowest part of this uncertainty, 272 years, even if that is the maximum age, it should still be considered the longest-living vertebrate,” said Mr Nielsen.

Conversely, if her age is at the upper end of the scale, she will have out-lived Ming the clam – although her age has a greater probability of lying in the middle.

Conservation lessons

The team believes the animals only reach sexual maturity when they are 4m-long. And this new, very lengthy age range, suggests this does not occur until the animals are about 150 years old. The researchers say this has consequences for the future conservation of the animals. Because of their extreme longevity, Greenland sharks may still be recovering from being over-fished before WW2. The sharks’ livers were once used for machine oil, and they were killed in great numbers before a synthetic alternative was found and the demand fell.

“When you evaluate the size distribution all over the North Atlantic, it is quite rare that you see sexually mature females, and quite rare that you find newborn pups or juveniles,” Mr Nielsen explained.

“It seems most are sub-adults. That makes sense: if you have had this very high fishing pressure, all the old animals – they are not there anymore. And there are not that many to give birth to new ones.

“There is, though, still a very large amount of ‘teenagers’, but it will take another 100 years for them to become sexually active.” Another author of the study, Prof Christopher Ramsey, director of Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit at the University of Oxford, said that radiocarbon dating could be used to determine the ages of other animals, but was not likely to be chosen as the primary method.

“For many animals, we have other methods to determine age,” he said.

“Also, the radiocarbon method is not very precise, and so is only really relevant for very long-lived species.” He added that the statistical method used to determine the sharks’ ages was Bayesian statistics.

“Bayesian statistics were first worked out by the Rev Bayes in the 18th Century. This means he will have been working on this when some of these oldest sharks were young.”

WORLD

Have any human societies ever lived underground?

Have any human societies ever lived underground?

From ancient catacombs to modern subways, humans have always travelled underground for short periods of time. But has the entire society of people ever lived underground? Yes. However, historically only in emergencies and when there are no other options. But in the last few decades, it has begun to change.

“The important thing to know about the underground is that we don’t belong to it. Biologically and physiologically, our body is not designed for underground life.” Said Wilhunt, the author of the book.Underground: The history of mankind in the world under our feet“(Random House, 2019).” Still, there are moments when we withdraw underground. “

Historical people temporarily live underwater for a variety of reasons. If they didn’t have the materials to build a house, they dug an underground house, Hunt told Live Science. In places of extreme climate, people went under the earth summer Cool, winter To stay warm. The basement was also a safe place to hide from the enemy.

For example, ancient people built the famous underground city of Cappadocia in what is now Turkey to protect it from both weather and war.

“They were in a very strategic location geographically,” Hunt said. “They were constantly being attacked.” Residents withdrew underground in an emergency, but they did not stay there for a long time, perhaps several weeks at a time.

The underground city of Derinkuyu is in the Cappadocia region of Turkey

One of the largest underground cities in Cappadocia is Derinkuyu. Derinkuyu dates back to the 7th and 8th centuries and was home to about 20,000 people. Geophysicists have discovered that another recently discovered city in the area could be 5 million square feet (13 million square kilometres) and 371 feet (113 m) deep. 

If so, this would make the recently discovered city of Cappadocia about one-third larger than Derinkuyu.

Hunt said the underground city of Cappadocia is an “architectural wonder.” The well plunged deep into the water table. The hole leading to the surface acted as a ventilation shaft.

A layer of Protection — Contains large circular stones that ancient people had Rolled in front of the city entrance — Separated the people inside from the surface intruders.

However, not all underground dwellings were as complex as Cappadocia dwellings. People also lived in natural and man-made caves, Hunt said.

This room, cut out of the porous rock tufa, is in the underground city of Kaymakli in the Cappadocia region of Turkey.

The constructed caves can be found everywhere with the right type of geology. For example, stone hills made of puffs, soft Volcano Rocks that are easy to dig.

“They are very common,” he said. “Some people around the world are building cave dwellings.” Even in modern Australia, in a town called Coober Pedy, about half of the population lives in “dagouts,” or holes carved on the sides of the hills.

Many marginalized people have found shelters under the surface of the abandoned infrastructure of modern cities. These “mole people” in New York are less than in the 1980s, but perhaps more than 1,000 uninhabited people live in tunnels below the streets of the city, Hunt said.

Many homeless people also live in tunnels under Las Vegas. And a large community of orphans lives under the streets of Bucharest, Romania.

As more people move to cities, more of those city dwellers can move underground. Places such as Singapore are looking for options to build downwards.

Unhillie, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Nottingham’s Malaysian campus, who studies the psychology of being underground, said the skills needed to do so are already here. The challenge is to convince people to move underground.

In fact, according to Lee, is under the earth has a negative psychological effect, as long as the lighting, room size, ceiling height, and other physical attributes of the settings match the ground. That has not been shown yet. For example, technologies such as Lightwell, which allows natural light to brighten underground spaces using materials such as reflective paints, can fight.

Depression resulting from lack of sunlight. People may feel isolated or lack control on the surface, but these emotions are manageable, Lee said. But people still hate the idea of ​​living underground.

In any case, Lee believes that people around the world will soon begin to move, inspired by more than 20 miles of underground cities, shopping malls, offices, and other places in Montreal, Canada. increase. , Hotels and schools.

“Realistically, we’ll be going underground soon. Within at least 30 years, we’ll have more underground working environments and more fun underground,” she said. “It’s coming. It’s not just an idea.”

ENGLAND, EUROPE, WORLD

Ancient stone tomb linked to King Arthur legend is older than Stonehenge, scientists say

Ancient stone tomb linked to King Arthur legend is older than Stonehenge, scientists say

According to researchers, a mystery stone tomb in western England known as Arthur’s Stone — named after the mythical King Arthur — originated almost 6,000 years ago as part of an elaborate “ceremonial landscape” across the whole area.

Ancient stone tomb linked to King Arthur legend is older than Stonehenge, scientists say
The ancient monument is linked by legends to the mythical King Arthur, but archaeologists say it was built in the Neolithic period almost 6,000 years ago.

Excavations this year near the ancient stone structure in rural Herefordshire, just east of the River Wye between England and Wales, show that the site was first occupied by an earthen mound pointing to another ancient structure nearby; but that a few hundred years later, it was rebuilt and realigned to point to hills much farther south, project leader Julian Thomas, a professor of archaeology at the University of Manchester in the U.K., told Live Science in an email.

“This is a ceremonial landscape like those around Stonehenge or Avebury, but rather earlier,” Thomas said. “It certainly implies that this is a location that was politically or spiritually important at the start of the Neolithic.”

Recent excavations near Arthur’s Stone have revealed it was the site of two different Neolithic tombs aligned in different directions.

Arthur’s Stone consists of nine upright, or “standing,” stones that support an immense “capstone” weighing more than 25 tons (23 metric tons). The passage underneath leads to what’s thought to be a burial chamber, although no human remains have been found there. 

The structure gets its name from legends of King Arthur, who is said to have resisted the Saxon invasion of Britain about 1,500 years ago. 

Several historical events have also taken place there, including a duel between knights during the Wars of the Roses in the 15th century.

In 1645, during the English Civil War, King Charles dined with his army there. And according to the website Mysterious Britain, Arthur’s Stone was C.S. Lewis’s inspiration for the “stone table” where Aslan the Lion was sacrificed in his “Narnia” stories.

The surviving stones are thought to be part of a tomb built about 5,500 years ago that was aligned to a prominent gap between hills on the horizon.

Stone table

The excavations revealed that the first earthen mound at the Arthur’s Stone site pointed to the so-called Halls of the Dead, which teams led by Thomas discovered on a ridge a little over 1,000 yards (910 meters) away in 2013.

The Halls of the Dead were originally large timber buildings that were deliberately burned down and replaced by three earthen burial mounds, possibly after a local leader had died. The remains of similar wooden buildings have been found at Neolithic cemeteries in Europe. 

The original mound site was retained by a palisade of upright wooden posts and was very similar to the central mound at the Halls of the Dead site, Thomas said. But the posts soon rotted away and the mound collapsed, so a second monument was built at the site up to 200 years later.

The rebuilt monument, probably consisting of the stones that remain today within a second earthen mound, also had an “avenue” of wooden posts that pointed toward a prominent gap between two hills on the horizon about 12 miles (20 kilometres) away, he said. 

“Significantly, the stone elements are on the later alignment, along with the post avenue, and that is one of the reasons why I think they form part of the later version of the monument,” Thomas said. “I think the initial emphasis is on the internal relationships between the monuments that make up the complex but that later, the focus shifts outwards.”

Archaeologists think the first tomb at the site was built about 5700 years ago and aligned with nearby tombs called the “Halls of the Dead.”

King Arthur

Arthur’s Stone is now one of the most distinctive and best-known Neolithic monuments in England. Several local legends link it to King Arthur.  However, it must have stood for several thousand years by his time, and most historians think Arthur probably didn’t exist.

According to one tale, marks on one of the stones were made by Arthur when he knelt there to pray; another story is that those marks are the indentations of the elbows of a giant he killed. The monument also supposedly marks where Arthur was buried.

Mysterious ‘Super-Henge‘ Found Near Stonehenge High-resolution ground-penetrating radar and other archaeological technologies have revealed up to 9 large intentionally placed stones outlining a crescent-shaped arena less than 2 miles away from the well-known Stonehenge in the UK Durrington Walls area. The site was home to a large Neolithic prehistoric settlement built about 4,500 years ago.

Arthur’s Stone seems to have been part of a ceremonial landscape during the early Neolithic period beginning about 5,700 years ago. The realignment of the stones about 5,500 years ago seems to have been part of an expansion of that landscape.

For example, the later alignment may have indicated that that the gap in the hills it pointed to was an important route for travellers or “a source of some important resource, or a place where allied communities lived, or another place of spiritual significance,” Thomas said.

Other features of the landscape, including several other earthen mounds and a Neolithic “causeway” and enclosure, were “an indication that this was a place that people came to for gatherings, meetings, [and] feasting … and a place that retained its significance for centuries,” he said.