Ring of ancient shafts found near Stonehenge

A group of archaeologists discovered what could be one of the largest prehistoric sites in the United Kingdom near Stonehenge.

Researchers led by the University of Bradford discovered a ring of at least 20 “shafts” around than 10 metres in diameter and five metres deep that form a circle roughly two kilometres in diameter. The ring, which surrounds the site of a Neolithic village called Durrington Walls, could shed new light on the origins of the mystical stone circle in southwestern England.

“The area around Stonehenge is among the most studied archeological landscapes on earth,” Vince Gaffney, chair of the School of Archaeological and Forensic Sciences in the Faculty of Life Sciences, said in a statement. “It is remarkable that the application of new technology can still lead to the discovery of such a massive prehistoric structure which, currently, is significantly larger than any comparative prehistoric monument that we know of in Britain, at least.”

Archaeologists believe the circle of shafts was created about 4,500 years ago and may have marked a boundary around the massive henge at Durrington Walls which could have guided people toward the religious sites and warned others not to cross.

The site is located around a kilometre and a half northeast of Stonehenge. The huge monument was built between 3000 B.C. and 1600 B.C. and is one of the country’s most popular tourist attractions.