WILTSHIRE, ENGLAND—The Salisbury Journal reports that a ceremonial site dating to 3650 B.C. has been found at Larkhill, about one and one-half miles north of Stonehenge. The causewayed enclosure measured about 220 yards in diameter, and was surrounded by ditches. Pottery, worked flint, animal bones, and human skull fragments have been found in the ditches. Excavators also uncovered a stone saddle quern used for grinding grain. The site is thought to have been used as a temporary settlement, where animals and goods could be exchanged, and for feasting, ritual activity, and disposal of the dead. The site is thought to be about 700 years older than Stonehenge, and to have been built by the ancestors of the people who built Stonehenge. The discoveries have the potential to transform our understanding of prehistoric Wiltshire and the Stonehenge area specifically, according to Martin Brown, principal archaeologist for WYG, the firm in charge of archaeological work at the site. For more, go to “Quarrying Stonehenge.”
