Shocking discovery of a site “older” than Stonehenge

Nong: Phat hien moi chan dong ca the gioi ve bai da co Stonehenge

Stonehenge has long been considered the oldest stone circle in Britain. However, recent research suggests that the Flagstones site is older than Stonehenge. Photo: Reconstruction by Jennie Anderson.

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Specifically, the researchers determined the age of the Flagstones site using the radiocarbon method. Accordingly, they determined that the Flagstones dated to around 3200 BC. Photo: Courtesy of the Dorset Museum.

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At around 5,200 years old, the Flagstones are around 200 years older than Stonehenge . Photo: Courtesy of the Dorset Museum.

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Previously, archaeologists believed that the Flagstones site dated to the same period as the first phase of Stonehenge . The Flagstones were built and reconstructed over the centuries. Photo: Courtesy of the Dorset Museum.

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“This discovery makes Flagstones the first known large circular monument in Britain,” said the study’s first author, Susan Greaney, a lecturer in archaeology at the University of Exeter in the UK. Photo: Courtesy of the Dorset Museum.

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According to archaeology lecturer Susan, Flagstones is a special monument with a perfectly circular moat structure, along with accompanying tombs and cremations. Photo: Mail Online.

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Experts also suspect that Stonehenge may have been a copy of Flagstones. Therefore, they believe that Stonehenge needs to be reexamined to have an accurate assessment of this ancient structure. Photo: Archaeology News Online Magazine.

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The Flagstones site was discovered in the 1980s during the construction of the Dorchester Bypass in Dorset, England. Subsequent excavations revealed a circular ditch about 100m wide, dug by intersecting pits. The pits contained at least four sets of human remains, including the cremated remains of an adult and the remains of three children. Photo: Susan Greaney.

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Some experts believe that ancient circular stone sites like Flagstones may have been influenced by practices in Ireland, where people buried the cremated remains of their deceased in circular graves at the time. Photo: Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock.