Archaeologists unearth thousands of prehistoric pits near Stonehenge
They say it shows who roamed the landscape many years ago
Researchers have unearthed thousands of possible prehistoric pits near Stonehenge, which might have been used by hunter-gatherers.
A team from the University of Birmingham and Ghent University in Belgium have made the discovery in the landscape, which could be over 10,000 years old.
A large pit, over 4 metres wide and 2 metres deep dug into chalk bedrock, stands out as the most ancient trace of land use yet discovered there.
The researchers say it bears witness to hunter-gatherers roaming the landscape during the early Mesolithic period, when Britain was re-inhabited after the last Ice Age.
They got the results by using the first extensive electromagnetic induction survey undertaken in the Stonehenge landscape and computer generated analysis of geophysical data.
Philippe De Smedt, Associate Professor at Ghent University said:
“Geophysical survey allows us to visualize what’s buried below the surface of entire landscapes. The maps we create offer a high-resolution view of subsurface soil variation that can be targeted with unprecedented precision. Using this as a guide to sample the landscape, taking archaeological ‘biopsies’ of subsurface deposits, we were able to add archaeological meaning to the complex variations discovered in the landscape.” The combination of novel geophysics and ‘traditional’ archaeology has revealed otherwise elusive archaeological evidence around Stonehenge.
"From 2017, the team carried out excavations to evaluate just how accurate the results of the geophysical survey mapping and interpretation had been. These samples provided information for developing a model of types of archaeological evidence revealed in the geophysical data, resulting in computer-generated maps of traces of prehistoric activity."
The size and shape of the Mesolithic pit suggest it was probably dug as a hunting trap for large game such as aurochs, red deer and wild boar.
Dating to 8200-7800 BCE, it is not only one of the earliest of the very few Mesolithic sites near Stonehenge, it is also the largest known Early Mesolithic pit feature in north-west Europe.
Dr Nick Snashall, Archaeologist for the Stonehenge & Avebury World Heritage Site, said:
“By combining new geophysical survey techniques with coring, and pin point excavation, the team has revealed some of the earliest evidence of human activity yet unearthed in the Stonehenge landscape. The discovery of the largest known Early Mesolithic pit in north-west Europe shows that this was a special place for hunter-gatherer communities thousands of years before the first stones were erected.”