Traces of Stone Circle Discovered Near Belfast

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND—According to a statement released by Queen’s University Belfast, a 4,000-year-old stone circle has been discovered in Northern Ireland near the Giant’s Ring, an enclosure surrounded by an earthwork bank. A megalithic tomb rests in the center of the Giant’s Ring. “We came across aerial photography of the area and noticed a number of crop marks in the field, which suggested the Ballynahatty Ritual Complex extended further than we first thought,” said Brian Sloan of Queen’s University Belfast. Sloan assembled a team of volunteers and students to investigate the site. “There is no evidence yet that what we are excavating is associated with any burials,” he said. “We have discovered that the crop mark seems to be a stone circle dating back to the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age. Unfortunately, this was disturbed in the nineteenth century when farmers in the area dismantled sites that were getting in the way of agriculture.” For more on archaeology in the region, go to "Saving Northern Ireland's Noble Bog."