New Stonehenge discovery - Fifteen formerly unexplored structures were detected hidden underneath the famous mysteriously arranged gigantic rocks erected at the center of an open field north of Salisbury, England.
The new Stonehenge discovery was brought about by the Stonehenge Hidden Landscaped Project - a four-year collaboration of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and the Virtual Archaeology in Austria, according to the Epoch Times.
While it has been an old knowledge that Stonehenge was not just a lone shrine in an unspoilt scenery, but was part of a much larger complex - evidenced by ditches, burials, scattering of mounds and other significant muniments like the Coneybury, Woodhenge, Amesbury Long Barrow and the Cursus monument all within short proximity to the famous stone circle - the recent research project using magnetic sensors to scan landmarks in Wiltshire have found more proof of human activity, which have remained hidden for thousands of years.
For the new Stonehenge discovery, the research team organized the first detailed underground study of the area encircling mysterious shrine, covering about four quare miles (six kilometers).
Evidence of archaic digging and buildings, including other barrows, henges, ditches and pits, that are believed to contain important information about the ancient site, were detected by the team of experts in the new Stonehenge discovery using 3D laser imaging, ground-piercing radar and other high-end equipments.
"This is among the most important landscapes, and probably the most studied landscape, in the world," archaeologist Vince Gaffney of the University of Birmingham said to the Smithsonian Magazine. "And the area has been absolutely transformed by this survey. It won't be the same again."
Among the recently found prehistoric monuments in the new Stonehenge discovery, is an antediluvian trough that cut across an East-West ditch called "Cursus," the International Business Times reported.
Gaffney believes that the Cursus shrine aligns with the sunrise on the Spring and Fall equinoxes, and that the structure could have been an instrument for people to ceremonially proceed toward the center of the Stonehenge to the south.
The new Stonehenge discovery expands on last October's findings indicating that the area surrounding the site is the oldest steadily occupied region in Britain. According to the research scientists, the region there probably have been inhabited since 8820 B.C., Huffington Post has learned.
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