GLOUCESTERSHIRE, ENGLAND—A lidar survey has revealed a previously unknown Bronze Age ring cairn in the Forest of Dean, according to a report from BBC News. When archaeologist Jon Hoyle of the Gloucestershire City Council Archaeological Service first spotted the circular feature in the results of the lidar survey, he thought it might be a World War II–era gun emplacement. But after visiting the site, which is near the village of Tidenham, he determined that it actually dated to between 2500 and 1500 B.C. The ring cairn consists of a circular bank measuring some 16 feet wide and 80 feet in diameter. It includes at least 10 white standing stones, each at most three feet tall. “Nobody knows precisely what [ring cairns] were used for,” said Hoyle. “Some have been found in association with burials, and often there appear to be residues of charcoal in places like this, suggesting rituals that involved fire.” He added that this is the first such structure to have been found in Gloucestershire. For more on archaeology in Gloucestershire, go to “Letter from England: The Scientist’s Garden.”
