Archaeologists working for the aptly-named Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes team have used 3D imaging technology to examine what’s buried beneath Stonehenge, and they found some pretty sweet new historical secrets. As far as we know, none of them are a giant box containing Amy Pond, but the henge is surrounded by a something that resembles an ancient Roman racetrack, so I’ll just imagine the Last Centurion pacing circles around Stonehenge and I’m not crying you’re crying.
Using six different techniques—including magnetometers, ground-penetrating radar, and 3D laser scanners—the archaeologists were able to get a clear glimpse of what the site looks like below ground at a variety of different depths of up to three meters. After scanning the site (which is the size of over a thousand football fields), the team discovered seventeen neighboring baby henges.
Other finds beneath the various mounds and walls around the henge include an old timber building (probably used for rituals like burying and, uh, skinning people); new pits; huge stones and timber posts; sixty rocks and pillars which once made up the nearby “super henge”; and other never-before-seen ritual monuments.
National Trust Archaeologist for the Avebury and Stonehenge World Heritage Site, Dr. Nick Snashall, said,
“Ha! Listen, you lot, you’re all whizzing about. It’s really very distracting. Could you all just stay still a minute because I. Am. Talking!”
Wait, no. No, that’s not right. Here’s the thing he said:
“Using 21st-century techniques, the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes team has transformed our knowledge of this ancient, precious and very special landscape. Their work has revealed a clutch of previously unsuspected sites and monuments showing how much of the story of this world-famous archaeological treasure house remains to be told.”
But let’s watch that awesome speech anyways, because yowza.
(via BBC News)
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