Sunday 10 March 2013

Secrets of the Stonehenge skeletons

Any Britons in my readership are invited to watch this documentary on Sunday:
Ancient bodies lie buried beneath Stonehenge, but what can they tell us about Britain's greatest prehistoric monument? One man has found vital clues to this ancient puzzle.
A related BBC story has the title of Stonehenge builders travelled from far, say researchers:
The researchers believed as many as 4,000 people gathered at the site, at a time when Britain's population was only tens of thousands. 
... 
The academics suggested that Stonehenge was built about 200 years earlier than previously thought, some 4,500 years ago.
And the Guardian:
Stonehenge may have been burial site for Stone Age elite, say archaeologists
Dating cremated bone fragments of men, women and children found at site puts origin of first circle back 500 years to 3,000BC
In the rise and wane of the cremation ritual I have hinted at the possible rise of the cremation ritual as a way of disposing of the dead in a way that would make their remains portable. Not sure what the current research has discovered but "cremated remains" + "builders from far" makes for a good combination.
If you do watch and learn something that might interest blog readers, feel free to leave a comment.

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