Author: Joe Pinkstone for Mailonline
Published: February 5, 2021, 07:34 EDT | Updated: February 5, 2021, 10:53 EDT
New objects found near the proposed road tunnel below Stonehenge can reveal the maker of the famous stone circle.
Early discoveries include various tombs dating back to the Bronze Age and two burial pits of the Beakers who arrived in the UK about 4,500 years ago, after the completion of Stonehenge in the late Neolithic age about 5,000 years ago.
So far, these discoveries have not provided information on who might have built Stonehenge, or how they built it, but researchers believe that the ongoing excavations may help unravel some of the mysteries surrounding the monument.
The small discoveries found at the site are mainly related to daily life. Experts can have a clearer understanding of life images before and after the erection of Stonehenge, which will help provide information for future research and theories about its origin.
Early discoveries include various tombs dating back to the Bronze Age and two tombs of the Beaker who arrived in the UK about 6,500 years ago (pictured), before the completion of the Late Neolithic Stonehenge about 5,000 years ago
The controversial £1.7 billion tunnel project aims to divert traffic away from the iconic location by demolishing the current section of A303, which is only a few hundred yards from the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Archaeologists made various discoveries while cleaning up the area
Early discovery of the proposed site of the Stonehenge Tunnel helps to map how the area has been used for thousands of years
The early discovery of the proposed site of the Stonehenge Tunnel helps to describe how the area has been used for thousands of years.
This indicates that the site was inhabited by the Beaker people, who first landed on the coast of England around 2500 BC.
The beaker tombs at the scene, an adult and a child, show the long-term residence of the area. Stonehenge was built about 5,000 years ago, so these people are likely to live in the shadow of the iconic boulder.
Other discoveries show the existence of tombs and evidence of human society as early as the Iron and Bronze Age.
The current excavation work does not directly reveal when, who or how the monument was built.
However, experts believe that these small discoveries can help build a clearer map of the site, which may have helped to learn more about the origins of Stonehenge over the centuries.
Wessex Archaeology is conducting hundreds of trial excavations around the site to ensure that the construction work that will begin in 2023 will not damage any archaeological objects.
Wessex Archaeology’s A303 Stonehenge consultant archaeologist Matt Leivers told the Guardian: “We have discovered a lot — about the people who have lived in this landscape for thousands of years. Evidence, traces of people’s daily life and death, intimate things."
'Every detail allows us to figure out what happened in that landscape before and after the construction of Stonehenge. Each work makes that photo more focused.
Neolithic objects were also found around the site, including large pieces of pottery, flint and red deer antlers.
These items may have been left by the same person who built Stonehenge, but archaeologists are currently unable to prove this.
One notable discovery is a cylindrical shale found in Beaker’s tomb 4,000 years ago. Archaeologists describe it as "strange" and unique.
The object is believed to have been placed on a staff member or mace, and in the grave of an adult, who also crouched with a small pot and a copper awl.
Near this pit is a cemetery for children of the same period.
Only the inner ear bones of the teenager are left, and the baby is buried in an ordinary jar, which is likely to be a tomb for the deceased.
This bland beaker is unusual in a culture known for its gorgeous objects. Experts believe that this simplicity may reflect the age of the people buried there.
The Beaker site is located near the western entrance of the proposed tunnel, south of the Stonehenge Visitor Center.
In the southern part of the Stonehenge Visitor Center, a team of archaeologists discovered an unusual C-shaped ditch whose purpose is still unknown. "This is a strange pattern of ditches," Matt Levers, an A303 Stonehenge consultant archaeologist for Wessex Archaeology, told the Guardian. "It's hard to say what it is, but we know how old it is because we found a nearly complete Bronze Age pot in one of the ditch (pictured)"
Further south, the team of archaeologists discovered an unusual C-shaped ditch whose purpose is still unknown.
"This is a strange pattern of ditching," Mr. Levers told the Guardian.
"It's hard to say what it is, but we know how old it is because we found a nearly complete Bronze Age pot in one of the ditch."
Excavation also found a large amount of charred flint in the trench, which may indicate its industrial use. Mr. Leivers said this may be related to metal, leather processing, pottery or crops.
Fewer items were found in the excavations at the designated location of the eastern portal of the tunnel, but they themselves aroused the interest of archaeologists.
The proposed tunnel is part of a £27 billion master plan to improve national roads, which was announced in March
An excavation found evidence of debnitage, which is a waste material produced in the manufacture of flint tools. Ditches dating back to the Iron Age have also been discovered in the area, which may be connected to the nearby Vespasian camp, which is a hill in the south.
All objects unearthed so far have been temporarily stored in nearby Salisbury and will eventually be displayed in the city’s museum.
The controversial £1.7 billion tunnel project aims to divert traffic away from the iconic location by demolishing the current section of A303, which is only a few hundred yards from the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Traffic will be transported underground and into the new two-lane tunnel network, which will be 164 feet further from the site than the existing roads to relieve congestion around the landmark. The current road will become a public sidewalk.
Environmentalists, archaeologists, and druids are angry with these plans, which were first announced in 2017 and a legal battle began last year.
The Highways Agency of England stated that compared with the existing A303 route, its two-lane tunnel plan 164 feet away from Stonehenge will eliminate the sight and sound of vehicles passing through the site and shorten the travel time.
When the project was announced in 2002, the cost of the tunnel was £183 million. The latest proposal was approved in 20137 and cost approximately £1.7 billion
The project aims to shorten the travel time of the Wiltshire A303, which is usually closed during bank holidays. Pictured: An artist’s impression of the 2002 design
Stonehenge was built thousands of years before the invention of machinery.
Each of these heavy rocks weighed several tons.
It is believed that some of the stones came from a quarry in Wales, about 140 miles (225 km) from the Wiltshire Monument.
To do this requires a high degree of originality, experts believe that ancient engineers used a pulley system on a moving log conveyor belt.
Historians now believe that the stone ring was built in several different stages. The first stage was completed by the Neolithic British about 5000 years ago. They used primitive tools, possibly made of deer antlers.
Modern scientists now generally believe that Stonehenge was created by several different tribes over time.
After the Neolithic British—probably the natives of the British Isles—started building, their descendants continued to build a few centuries later.
Over time, future generations developed a more public way of life and better tools, which helped erect stones.
The bones, tools, and other artifacts found on the website seem to support this hypothesis.
The area is often severely crowded on one-way streets close to the stone, especially on bank holiday weekends.
However, due to the potential impact of the plan on the area, some environmentalists and archaeologists expressed opposition to the plan.
Modern druids, who celebrate the winter and summer solstices at Stonehenge every year, also praised these plans.
Therefore, Wessex, a well-known leader and expert in the field of commercial excavation, is doing a lot of archaeological preparations.
They recently revealed "Hampton Court, Warwickshire" and a 19th century Victorian bathroom in Bath.
Experts recruited experts to manually excavate and screen more than 2,000 test pits and ditches. Next, the company intends to bring in 150 archaeologists to clear larger land later this year.
Construction of the tunnel is expected to begin in 2023, and Andy Crockett, A303 project director of Wessex Archaeology, admitted that it is impossible to mitigate all the risks of archaeology in an area when it comes to road projects.
The English Road Agency stated that due to the importance of the Stonehenge site, an unprecedented survey of the area was carried out.
David Block, the A303 project manager for the English Highway, told the Guardian: "A lot of investigations have been conducted so that this route can be crossed with as little disturbance as possible."
The road tunnel is planned to be built south of the current A303, a few hundred meters from the famous UNESCO World Heritage Site of Wiltshire. Pictured: Artist's impression of the plan
A plan to build a tunnel at a cost of £1.7 billion to divert traffic from Stonehenge was approved today. Pictured: Artist's impression of the plan
According to a recent study, modern Britons have little to do with the ingenious Neolithic farmers who built Stone Henge 5000 years ago.
On the contrary, the British are related to the "beakers" from modern Holland, who almost wiped out the creator of Stonehenge.
Barry Cunliffe, an archaeologist and professor emeritus at the University of Oxford, said the findings were "absolutely exciting."
"They upset people, but this is part of the excitement."
Many experts believe that what was exported to the UK between 4,400 and 4,700 years ago was only the making and culture of beaker pottery, not the people themselves.
But the new evidence comes from DNA analysis of 400 prehistoric bones, some of which came after Stonehenge, and some were born before it was created.
The genes of these ancient people provide enough clues to determine that the beaker came here from the Netherlands and took over within a few centuries.
They replaced 90% of the Neolithic farmers who built the monument and lived here for 1500.
The creator of Stonehenge looks like the Mediterranean, with olive skin, black hair and eyes.
But Beaker people are more like modern British whites, with fair skin and lighter hair and eyes.
The Beakers may have brought the Black Death to England and killed the ancient engineers behind Stonehenge.
Dr. Mike Parker Pearson, a professor of late British prehistory at University College London, said: “Most of us think that the people who built Stonehenge are our direct ancestors, but in fact this research shows that they are just The distant ones are related to us, if any.
"We now realize that these people have completely disappeared from the British population in 1,000 years."
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