Cidersomerset
30th July 2013, 22:32
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30 July 2013 Last updated at 12:49
Neolithic 'halls of the dead' found in Herefordshire Dorstone Hill archaeological dig
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69015000/jpg/_69015830_dig.jpg
Archaeologists believe they were deliberately burnt down after construction
Two 6,000-year-old "halls of the dead" found in Herefordshire have been called "the
discovery of a lifetime" by archaeologists.Teams from the University of Manchester and
Herefordshire Council made the find on Dorstone Hill, near Peterchurch.The team also
found possible links between Neolithic communities in Herefordshire and
Yorkshire.Professor Julian Thomas said the "very rare" find was of "huge significance to
our understanding of prehistoric life".
The remains of the halls were found within prehistoric burial mounds.
Yorkshire link
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69015000/jpg/_69015834_arrowhead.jpg
Stone artefacts from Yorkshire may have been placed at the site as part of a ceremony
Archaeologists believe they were deliberately burnt down after they were constructed
and their remains incorporated into two burial mounds.They think the timber buildings
may have been "halls of the dead" similar to others from the Neolithic period found in
Europe.Find from Dorstone Hill archaeological dig Stone artefacts from Yorkshire may
have been placed at the site as part of a ceremony
Bodies may have been placed in the halls before being moved to nearby chambered
tombs.Prof Thomas said: "These early Neolithic halls are already extremely rare, but to
find them within a long barrow is the discovery of a lifetime."
The halls are thought to be have been built between 4000 and 3600 BC.
A flint axe and a finely-flaked flint knife found on the site have "close affinities" with
artefacts dating from around 2600 BC found in eastern Yorkshire, the team believe.
Dr Keith Ray, Herefordshire Council's county archaeologist, said the axe and knife may
not have been traded, but placed there as part of a ceremony or an ancestral pilgrimage.
He added: "These subsequent finds show that 1,000 years after the hall burial mounds
were made, the site is still important to later generations living 200 miles away - a vast
distance in Neolithic terms."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23501252
30 July 2013 Last updated at 12:49
Neolithic 'halls of the dead' found in Herefordshire Dorstone Hill archaeological dig
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69015000/jpg/_69015830_dig.jpg
Archaeologists believe they were deliberately burnt down after construction
Two 6,000-year-old "halls of the dead" found in Herefordshire have been called "the
discovery of a lifetime" by archaeologists.Teams from the University of Manchester and
Herefordshire Council made the find on Dorstone Hill, near Peterchurch.The team also
found possible links between Neolithic communities in Herefordshire and
Yorkshire.Professor Julian Thomas said the "very rare" find was of "huge significance to
our understanding of prehistoric life".
The remains of the halls were found within prehistoric burial mounds.
Yorkshire link
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69015000/jpg/_69015834_arrowhead.jpg
Stone artefacts from Yorkshire may have been placed at the site as part of a ceremony
Archaeologists believe they were deliberately burnt down after they were constructed
and their remains incorporated into two burial mounds.They think the timber buildings
may have been "halls of the dead" similar to others from the Neolithic period found in
Europe.Find from Dorstone Hill archaeological dig Stone artefacts from Yorkshire may
have been placed at the site as part of a ceremony
Bodies may have been placed in the halls before being moved to nearby chambered
tombs.Prof Thomas said: "These early Neolithic halls are already extremely rare, but to
find them within a long barrow is the discovery of a lifetime."
The halls are thought to be have been built between 4000 and 3600 BC.
A flint axe and a finely-flaked flint knife found on the site have "close affinities" with
artefacts dating from around 2600 BC found in eastern Yorkshire, the team believe.
Dr Keith Ray, Herefordshire Council's county archaeologist, said the axe and knife may
not have been traded, but placed there as part of a ceremony or an ancestral pilgrimage.
He added: "These subsequent finds show that 1,000 years after the hall burial mounds
were made, the site is still important to later generations living 200 miles away - a vast
distance in Neolithic terms."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23501252