NEWS NATURE|Vol 445|8 February 2007 Dig links Stonehenge to circle of life A. STANFORD/AERIAL-CAM FOR NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC NATIONAL FOR A. STANFORD/AERIAL-CAM This settlement found near Stonehenge (inset) could have been home to the monument’s builders. When archaeologists announced last week Stonehenge Riverside Project, which excavated monuments played contrasting roles in cult that they had uncovered a major settlement at the site last year. Stone avenues connect both practices — the wooden one being used to cel- the site of Stonehenge, you could be forgiven circles to the nearby river Avon, but Stone- ebrate life, and the stone one to celebrate death. for asking why it hadn’t been found before. henge is oriented to face midsummer sunrise How did archaeologists miss all this material The legendary circle of standing stones, and midwinter sunset, whereas the wooden before? “Because it’s a World Heritage Site, there located in densely populated southern Eng- circle would have faced midwinter sunrise and has been a bit of a disincentive for people to go land, is a popular tourist attraction and one midsummer sunset. and excavate there,” explains Timothy Darvill, of the most famous prehistoric monuments Carbon dating suggests that an archaeologist at Bourne- in the world. the structures at Durrington “There is a kind of mouth University, UK, who But on 30 January, archaeologists reported Walls were built around the complementarity was not involved in the latest evidence that Stonehenge is just half of a big- same time as Stonehenge, in between the timber dig. “In the past, the thrust has ger ceremonial complex. Excavations at a site 2600–2500 bc, supporting the been to conserve and protect called Durrington Walls, about three kilome- idea that the villagers helped circle and the stone such areas.” tres from Stonehenge, uncovered a cluster of to build the stone monument. circle of Stonehenge.” But in recent years, attitudes GEOGRAPHIC NATIONAL FOR PERKINS/MAGNUM C. STEELE houses and a vast stone avenue that connects As well as being the “richest site have been shifting, says Darvill. the village to what would have been a circular archaeologically speaking, it’s also the filthiest “People have realized that if you do nothing, arrangement of huge timber posts. we have ever seen”, says project director Mike you find nothing.” That shift in philosophy “There is a kind of complementarity bet- Parker Pearson of the University of Sheffield, seems to be paying dividends. ■ ween the timber circle and the stone circle of UK. Some 50,000 animal bones found at the Lucy Odling-Smee Stonehenge,” says Julian Thomas of the Uni- site suggest that people went there for “feast and For a more detailed story and an animation of the versity of Manchester, and a director of the fun”. He speculates that the stone and wooden site, see http://tinyurl.com/2wytlr. 574.