Neolithic

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Stonehenge Is a Monument to Unity
Stonehenge Might Not
Be a Calendar After All
NEW STUDY

Stonehenge Might Not Be a Calendar After All

Archaeologist suggests it's a monument to unity, requiring 'significant coordination across Britain'

(Newser) - Researchers spoke of the connectivity of Neolithic society in announcing Stonehenge's six-ton altar stone was likely transported at least 460 miles from northeast Scotland to southern England 4,500 years ago. Now, a leading expert says the prehistoric megalithic structure could only have been created with the unity of...

'Incredibly Rare' Tomb Holds Hugging Skeletons

Archaeologists unearthed the 5K-year-old tomb in a field in Scotland

(Newser) - On the surface, "it's just a gently rolling field of grass" in Scotland. But below the ground, archaeologists have discovered an "incredibly rare" 5,000-year-old tomb holding the remains of 14 people, two of whom appear to be hugging and one who appears to be reaching out...

'It's 9K Years Old and Everything Was Almost Intact'

Shrine discovered in Jordan desert

(Newser) - A team of Jordanian and French archaeologists said Tuesday that it had found a roughly 9,000-year-old shrine at a remote Neolithic site in Jordan's eastern desert. The ritual complex was found in a Neolithic campsite near large structures known as "desert kites," or mass traps that...

Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Was Ripped Apart by a Shark

Researchers: Earliest known evidence of shark attack on a person identified in Japan

(Newser) - Three millennia ago, a hunter-gatherer ventured to Japan's inland sea in search of a meal. He then became one himself. Researchers believe this Neolithic man, found buried in the Tsukumo Shell-mound cemetery site near the Seto Inland Sea, is the earliest known victim of a shark attack on a...

Mass Grave Tells of Horror When the Men Were Away
Mass Grave Tells of Horror
When the Men Were Away
new study

Mass Grave Tells of Horror When the Men Were Away

Archaeologists probe a 5K-Year-old killing

(Newser) - Talk about a cold case: Archaeologists are investigating a 5,000-year-old mass murder that confirms the brutality of late Neolithic life, LiveScience reports. Eight years ago, a grave was discovered in Poland with 15 women, young men, and children, all killed by head wounds and buried alongside funerary gifts like...

Think Rowers Have Nice Arms? Ancient Women Had Them Beat
Prehistoric Women Had
Muscular Arms to Die For
NEW STUDY

Prehistoric Women Had Muscular Arms to Die For

Stronger than those of today's elite female rowers

(Newser) - Pummeling grains for up to five hours a day gave prehistoric women the kind of muscular arms a girl only dreams of today. That's according to researchers at Cambridge University, who used CT scans to compare the upper arm and shinbones of 83 modern women with those of 94...

Huge Stone Monument Found Buried Near Stonehenge

One researcher calls the find of 90 large stones 'archaeology on steroids'

(Newser) - An English "super-henge" just became more super. Durrington Walls, one of the largest known henges and located less than 2 miles from Stonehenge, was believed to have been built in the Neolithic period around 4,500 years ago, and the way it aligns to the solstices like Stonehenge led...

This Massive Site Might Just Put Stonehenge to Shame

Archaeologists excavating henge 10 times larger than its neighbor

(Newser) - You think Stonehenge is impressive? Archaeologists in Britain are excavating a monument ten times larger than the iconic structure, though it appears to the naked eye to be little more than farmland. A henge is a circular earthwork, and the one in question is Marden Henge, which sits a few...

Ancient Well Hints at Undiscovered Village

Well was submerged under 16 feet of water

(Newser) - Slumbering some 16 feet below the surface of the Mediterranean is a 7,500-year-old well that may contain something more than water. Maritime archaeologists excavating in Israel uncovered the site in October; it's been dated to the pre-pottery Neolithic period, according to a press release from Flinders University. The...

There's a Giant 'Super Henge' Underneath Stonehenge

 There's a Giant 
 'Super Henge' 
 Underneath 
 Stonehenge 
in case you missed it

There's a Giant 'Super Henge' Underneath Stonehenge

Underground mapping reveals network of Neolithic monuments, stones: scientists

(Newser) - Some observers believe Stonehenge was once a full circle of enormous stones—and now there seems to be proof there are even more Neolithic monuments underneath it. A lot of them: Radar mapping that's peeked as far as 2 miles beneath the surface has uncovered an elaborate subterranean network...

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