Ancient Village Unearthed Near Stonehenge

cityhunter007 writes to point out coverage on CNN.com about an ancient village discovered two miles from Stonehenge that may have housed workers building the monument, or perhaps visitors after it was constructed. The village, at a site known as Durrington Walls, dates from about the time Stonehenge was built, 2600 BCE. The article says: "The researchers speculated that Durrington Walls was a place for the living and Stonehenge — where cremated remains have been found — was a cemetery and memorial... Stonehenge was oriented to face the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset, while the wooden circle at Durrington Walls faced the midwinter sunrise and midsummer sunset."

Comments

The Druids

[ENOENT]

Nobody knows who they were
Or what they were doing...

(But they did have the sense to make Stonehenge a bit taller than 18".)

anecdote

[OriginalArlen]

Nothing to do with Stonehenge per se, just an anecdote. We have a neolithic stone, known as the Long Stone, a ten minute walk down the road from where I'm writing this, which is on the edge of the Wye Valley , right up against the Welsh border. It's a single stone, sticking up at an angle of about 75 degrees, perhaps seven feet tall. A few years ago I had to walk from my village to the nearest town to sign on the dole - a tedious 40 minute slog along unmaintained road verges - but passing the stone, I always felt compelled to reach out and give it a pat. I'm a hardcore, Dawkins-type rationalist, but I don't see any contradiction between that and a consciously irrational but of behaviour like patting the stone... it fits my brain, somehow, and it feels good to be connected with the people who lived here four thousand years ago. Poor bastards, it must have been miserable during the winter nights.

Re:anecdote

[AlHunt]

We have a neolithic stone, known as the Long Stone, a ten minute walk down the road from where I'm writing this, ... and it feels good to be connected with the people who lived here four thousand years ago

And, of course, some whistledick modded you down.

Connection to the past is kind of the point of preserving Stone Henge and other historic' places. I live in a house built around 1875 and even that short time is a great connection to the past.

It's easy to stand somewhere like Stonehenge, Long Stone or my parlor and imagine all the people that went before you. It creates a sense of place, of permanence, a sense that long after you're gone people will be standing in the same place doing the same thing you're doing.

4607 years, and we still commute to work

[G4from128k]

2 miles of walking is about half an hour each way. So the Stonehenge workers spent a hour-a-day getting to and from work.

Some things never change.

Re:Previous henges

[Opportunist]

Actually, there is a Woodhenge. Strawhenge, I guess, would be hard to find after so many years.

Though I doubt Stonehenge was built because of that. Wolves are extinct in Britain.

Ain't it lovely how to kill a joke with facts? :)

Re:Sinister

[kfg]

The SPLA: Stonehenge Project Licensing Authority official gift shoppe.

"My parents visited Stonehenge and all I got was this lousy cloak"

KFG