Alpha Centauri 2

Community => Recreation Commons => Our researchers have made a breakthrough! => Topic started by: Buster's Uncle on September 10, 2014, 03:38:06 pm

Title: Scans reveal new monuments at Stonehenge
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 10, 2014, 03:38:06 pm

Scans reveal new monuments at Stonehenge
AFP
28 minutes ago


(http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/rw0sDhwt8AFuGRkLsmU5GA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTUxMjtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz03Njg-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/5c8a0b8c43130a8abdc74fdcd1af472d03aa79d9.jpg)
The mysterious circle of standing stones at Stonehenge is one of the most iconic ancient sites in Europe (AFP Photo/Leon Neal)



London (AFP) - A vast complex of monuments surrounding Britain's prehistoric Stonehenge site has been revealed using hi-tech underground scanning, archaeologists said Wednesday.

The mysterious circle of standing stones, on Salisbury Plain in southwest England, is one of the most iconic ancient sites in Europe and was long thought to stand alone.

But high-resolution scanning of the 12 square kilometres around it, penetrating three metres below the ground, has found it was surrounded by 17 neighbouring shrines.

"Stonehenge is the most iconic archaeological monument, possibly along with the pyramids, on the planet," project leader Professor Vincent Gaffney told the British Science Festival in Birmingham, central England.

"Most of the area around Stonehenge is terra incognita. It has never been explored and everything we think about Stonehenge is on the basis of what we don't know about it.

"This is going to change how we view Stonehenge. It is not yet another find from Stonehenge, it's a fundamental step forward in the way we understand it."

The four-year study used magnetometers -- advanced metal detectors -- ground-penetrating radar, electromagnetic sensors and three-dimensional laser scanners.

It uncovered finds dating back 6,000 years, including evidence of 17 previously unknown wooden or stone structures as well as dozens of burial mounds.

They include giant pits, some of which appear to form astronomical alignments.

The nearby Durrington Walls "super-henge", which has a circumference of nearly a mile (1.5 kilometres), was once flanked by up to 60 posts or stones up to three metres high, the scans showed.

Many burial mounds were found, including one barrow 33 metres long, within which signs of a giant timber building were found.

It is suggested this was the site of complex rituals involving the dead, including the removal of flesh and limbs.

"This project has revealed that the area around Stonehenge is teeming with previously unseen archaeology and that the application of new technology can transform how archaeologists and the wider public understand one of the best-studied landscapes on Earth," said Gaffney.

"New monuments have been revealed, as well as new types of monument that have previously never been seen by archaeologists."

A UNESCO world heritage site, Stonehenge is one of the most impressive prehistoric megalithic monuments anywhere due to its size, sophisticated concentric plan and architectural precision.

It is suggested that the layout formed a theatrical arrangement, with Stonehenge gradually emerging from the landscape as visitors walked towards it on an ancient processional route.


http://news.yahoo.com/scans-reveal-monuments-stonehenge-140503764.html (http://news.yahoo.com/scans-reveal-monuments-stonehenge-140503764.html)

---

But did they find the Pandorica?

Title: Hidden Monuments Reveal 'Stonehenge Is Not Alone'
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 10, 2014, 03:44:26 pm

Hidden Monuments Reveal 'Stonehenge Is Not Alone'
LiveScience.com
by Megan Gannon, News Editor  11 minutes ago


(http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/1NnwrYk62bCTKWHNOZUJ7w--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTMxODtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz01NzU-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/LiveScience.com/Stonehenge_new_monuments_distribution.jpg1410324359)
The red circles mark the spots where archaeologists found satellite shrines around Stonehenge.



The megaliths of Stonehenge, which were raised above England's Salisbury Plain some 5,000 years ago, may be among the most extensively studied archaeological features in the world. Still, the monument is keeping secrets.

Scientists have just unveiled the results of a four-year survey of the landscape around Stonehenge. Using non-invasive techniques like ground-penetrating radar, the researchers detected signs of at least 17 previously unknown Neolithic shrines.

"Stonehenge is undoubtedly a major ritual monument, which people may have traveled considerable distances to come to, but it isn't just standing there by itself," project leader Vincent Gaffney, an archaeologist at the University of Birmingham in the U.K., told Live Science. "It's part of a much more complex landscape with processional and ritual activities that go around it. That's very different from how this has been viewed before. The important point is Stonehenge is not alone. There was lots of other associated ritual activity going on around it."

Scholars still aren't sure why Stonehenge was built, as the monument's Neolithic creators left behind no written records. But the ruins, which align with the sun during the solstices, stand as an impressive feat of prehistoric engineering. The biggest stones at the site, known as sarsens, are up to 30 feet (9 meters) tall and weigh 25 tons (22.6 metric tons); they are believed to have been dragged from Marlborough Downs, 20 miles (32 kilometers) to the north.

At the newfound satellite shrines around Stonehenge, Gaffney and his team revealed underground impressions, presumably left by wooden post holes, stones and ditches — some of which extend up to 13 feet (4 m) deep. Images created with geophysical prospecting tools show that some of these smaller monuments had a concentric circle design, much like Stonehenge.

The researchers also peered inside the Cursus, an immense prehistoric enclosure to the north of Stonehenge that dates back to about 3500 B.C. Stretching about 1.8 miles (3 km) long and 330 feet (100 m) wide, the Cursus had been deemed a barrier to Stonehenge, but it was so big that no one really knew what was inside of it, said Gaffney.


(http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/R3MXCmWpm2atTpVl0LowXA--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTQyMjtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz01NzU-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/LiveScience.com/stonehenge-monument-swirl.jpg1410292001)
Data obtained from magnetometer surveys revealed impressions left by prehistoric monuments around Stonehenge.


When the researchers surveyed this area, they found a large pit buried on the eastern end of the Cursus. This pit was aligned with Stonehenge's "avenue," a processional path that lines up with the sun at dawn during the mid-summer solstice. The team also found a matching pit at the other end of the Cursus. This pit is aligned with the Heel Stone at the entrance to Stonehenge, which is aligned with sunset during the solstice, Gaffney said.

"Suddenly, you've got a link between this very large monument and Stonehenge through two massive pits, which appear to be aligned on the sunrise and sunset on the mid-summer solstice," Gaffney said.

The researchers also mapped dozens of burial mounds in the area, including a long barrow that dates back to an era before Stonehenge. The team detected a timber building buried inside the mound, and the project leaders think this structure might have been used for the ritual inhumation and defleshing of the dead.

Gaffney said it will take his team about a year just to process all the data they collected during their 120 days of fieldwork over the span of four years. And then it will likely be up to English Heritage (the government body in charge of archaeological and historic sites) to decide which features to dig up in a more traditional excavation. Further study should help reveal the ages of these monuments, pits and burial mounds, and help explain how Stonehenge evolved over time.

The findings were revealed as part of the British Science Festival and will be featured in a new BBC Two series, "Operation Stonehenge: What Lies Beneath," which will air at 8 p.m. BST Thursday (Sept. 11). The Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project is led by the University of Birmingham with the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology.


http://news.yahoo.com/hidden-monuments-reveal-stonehenge-not-alone-142421302.html (http://news.yahoo.com/hidden-monuments-reveal-stonehenge-not-alone-142421302.html)

---

Judging from that second pic, I think they DID find the Pandorica...

Title: Scientists Discover Dozens of Monuments Hidden Below Stonehenge
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 10, 2014, 07:16:30 pm

Scientists Discover Dozens of Monuments Hidden Below Stonehenge
The Atlantic Wire
By David Ludwig  34 minutes ago


(http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/EEkyKcL6tIxD.rsOCdj3rw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTM1NTtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz02NzU-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/theatlanticwire/Scientists_Discover_Dozens_of_Monuments-8a9d75273ac2972f52ef39bb204cbc36)



Scientists have new evidence that there is more to Stonehenge — the ancient rock formations that stand alone in a field in Wiltshire, England — than meets the eye.

Based on cutting edge digital mapping technology, researchers at the University of Birmingham working as part of The Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project have discovered a treasure trove of new findings buried beneath the stones themselves.
Stonehenge may never be the same again.

According to the University, the new discoveries include 17 temples, burial mounds, shrines, and massive prehistoric pits that experts say appear to form astrological alignments. Many of the findings,  such as a large timber temple that was likely used to treat and bury the dead, are even older than the prehistoric monument above them, which is dated to 3,100 BCE. 

Scientists noted that the number of structures fundamentally alters the modern perception of Stonehenge from a single monolith to a sprawling complex that was occupied by a large number of people. One of the project leaders, Professor Vincent Gaffney, who is Chair in Landscape Archaeology and Geomatics at the University of Birmingham also indicated that the most recent discovery is likely only the tip of a massive archeological iceberg. 

Quote

Despite Stonehenge being the most iconic of all prehistoric monuments and occupying one of the richest archaeological landscapes in the world, much of this landscape in effect remains terra incognita.

Using radar technology developed at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute in Vienna, teams of researchers have spent years gathering images from around Stonehenge. According to the institute's Director Professor Wolfgang Neubauer, the techniques used in the discovery will likely be employed in future archeological research.

Quote

The developments of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology (LBI ArchPro) offer Europe the opportunity to carry out fundamental archaeological research at a scale and precision never previously attempted.

Meanwhile for something was erected over 4,000 years ago, Stonehenge has certainly seen its fair share of news of late. On his trip back from the NATO Summit in Wales last week, President Obama made his own impromptu trip to the site.

Quote

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BwyuqbmIQAA-2nr.jpg)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/453234358950715392/xzonlofa_normal.jpeg) The White House ✔                                                           Follow
              @WhiteHouse 
"It's spectacular." —President Obama at Stonehenge, his last stop on a trip to Estonia & the NATO Summit in the UK.

3:25 PM - 5 Sep 2014

601 Retweets   739 favorites

This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/09/scientists-discover-dozens-of-monuments-hidden-below-stonehenge/379957/ (http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/09/scientists-discover-dozens-of-monuments-hidden-below-stonehenge/379957/)

Title: High-tech survey exposes hidden Stonehenge
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 11, 2014, 12:03:16 am

High-tech survey exposes hidden Stonehenge
Associated Press
8 hours ago


(http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/J9TQG0tCuo_yzxGPnHHttw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTYzOTtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz05NjA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/27d89c60a3094c235f0f6a7067005087.jpg)
An undated photo made available by the University of Birmingham, England, of Stonehenge where a hidden complex of archaeological monuments has been uncovered using hi-tech methods of scanning below the Earth's surface. (AP Photo/University of Birmingham, Geert Verhoeven)



LONDON (AP) — There is more to Stonehenge than meets a visitor's eye.

Researchers have produced digital maps of what's beneath the World Heritage Site, using ground-penetrating radar, high-resolution magnetometers and other techniques to peer deep into the soil beneath the famous stone circle.

The project produced detailed maps of 17 previously unknown ritual monuments and a huge timber building, which is thought to have been used for burial ceremonies, Birmingham University said Wednesday.

"New monuments have been revealed, as well as new types of monument that have previously never been seen by archaeologists," said Professor Vincent Gaffney, the project leader.

The project also discovered big prehistoric pits, some of which appear to be aligned with the sun, and new information on Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman settlements and fields, the university said.


(http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/Pj_kBIGAn7Q10.SQ5ffGag--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTY0MDtweW9mZj0wO3E9NzU7dz05NjA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/7bfa4d43a3084c235f0f6a706700530d.jpg)
An undated photo made available by the University of Birmingham, England, of a man driving a vehicle with surveying instruments near to Stonehenge where a hidden complex of archaeological monuments has been uncovered using hi-tech methods of scanning below the Earth's surface. (AP Photo/University of Birmingham, Geert Verhoeven)


Professor Wolfgang Neubauer of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology in Vienna says the new maps makes it possible "for the first time, to reconstruct the development of Stonehenge and its landscape through time."

Archaeologists and others have been digging and theorizing at Stonehenge since the 1620s. The monument, 85 miles (140 kilometers) southwest of London, attracts more than 1.2 million visitors a year —including, last week, President Barack Obama.

The universities of Nottingham, Bradford and St. Andrews in the U.K., and the University of Ghent in Belgium were also involved in the project.


http://news.yahoo.com/high-tech-survey-exposes-hidden-123448419.html (http://news.yahoo.com/high-tech-survey-exposes-hidden-123448419.html)