09 September 2023 , 11:15
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A new discovery of a structure near Israel has revealed new evidence that could solve the age-old Stonehenge mystery.
Thousands of visitors flock to the UK every year to see the stone circle structures from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. There are more than 1,000 examples of stone circles in Britain alone, with Scotland taking up the bulk of this share at 508 sites. However, these structures, thousands of years old are also found all over the world. While many of them remain mysteries to researchers, including Stonehenge, a discovery off the coast of Israel could be the missing piece in the story that explains the baffling structure of rocks on the Salisbury plain.
A stone circle off the coast of Atlit, Israel may help explain Stonehenge (Smithsonian Channel' WS)The find, which came just off the small Israeli town of Atlit, was explored during the Smithsonian Channel's short documentary, 'Stonehenge-like Structures Have Been Found All Over the World'. In 1984, maritime archaeologist Ehud Galili made a routine dive around 400 metres offshore searching for shipwrecks revealed by shifting sands after a heavy storm. It was on the trip that he came across an ancient sunken settlement.
He said: "Usually we find remnants from shipwrecks like anchors, metal, nails, all kinds of artefacts. But while we were diving here we found a wall.” The wall was once part of a house, and within days, more foundations were found nearby. Skeletons of the people who once called the site home were also found, with Galili noting that his team found around 15 family homes.
Stonehenge, the Neolithic and Bronze Age monument is in Wiltshire (Getty Images)"We estimated that the population was between 70 to 150 people at one time," he said. "We found walls, dwellings, structures in situ as they were left. Little by little, we came to realise that it is a huge site, 40,000 square metres." Radiocarbon dating revealed that the site was almost 9,000 years old, making it one of the oldest human settlements on Earth. At the centre of the former village stood a mysterious stone circle structure in near-perfect condition.
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But what does this have anything to do with Stonehenge? Well, researchers say it offers a unique insight into understanding why the stone circle structure was made in the first place. The settlement is one of the world's oldest, and the stones part of the structure had cup marks carved into them. Researchers believe they would have once acted as holders for cups, suggesting that the stone circle may have been used for some sort of water ritual.
The Stonehenge, the Neolithic and Bronze Age monument is in Wiltshire (Smithsonian Channel' WS)Another installation found within the stones saw grooves carved into three oval stones that form anthropomorphic figures — potentially figurines of little gods. Mary-Ann Ochota, an anthropologist and archaeologist, said: "When you're looking at Stonehenge you're seeing a culmination of the labour of people, extraordinary use of resources, and an astonishingly complex, perfectly executed idea.
"Every time we find a new stone monument, it gives us another piece of evidence on that detective hunt to try and work out ‘what were the ancestors thinking?; why did they build this? And what did it all mean?’"