Wednesday, August 13, 2014

SITTINGBOURNE, ENGLAND—Archaeologists excavating an area slated for development in North Kent have uncovered a 6,000-year-old Neolithic henge, reports the Canterbury Times. Consisting of two circular ditches, with the outermost reaching about 100 feet in diameter and featuring an entrance that faces northeast, the site was likely a ceremonial gathering place similar to Stonehenge. SWAT Archaeology's Paul Wilkinson, who led the project, believes the outer ring was made in the Neolithic, and the inner ring was added later, in the Bronze Age, when the henge became a funeral monument. A second, smaller ring discovered nearby may have also been used as a cemetery during the Bronze Age. There are signs that the monuments might have later been repurposed as livestock pens.