Stonehenge researchers 'may have found largest prehistoric site'
Stonehenge researchers 'may have found largest neolithic site'
(about 1 hour later)
Standing stones found buried near Stonehenge could be the "largest" intact prehistoric monument ever built in Britain, archaeologists believe.
Nearly 100 stone monoliths found buried near Stonehenge could be the largest neolithic monument built in Britain, archaeologists believe.
Using ground-penetrating radar, some 100 stones were found at the Durrington Walls "superhenge", a later bank built close to Stonehenge.
The 4,500-year-old stones, some measuring 15ft, were discovered under 3ft of earth using ground-penetrating radar at Durrington Walls "superhenge".
The Stonehenge Living Landscapes team has been researching the ancient monument site in a five-year project.
The monument was on "an extraordinary scale" and unique, researchers said.
Finding the stones was "fantastically lucky", researchers said.
The Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes team has been creating an underground map of the area in a five-year project.
The stones may have originally measured up to 4.5m (14ft) in height and had been pushed over the edge of Durrington Walls.
The monument is just under two miles (3km) from Stonehenge, Wiltshire and is thought to have been a ritual site.
The site, which is thought to have been built about 4,500 years ago, is about 1.8 miles (3km) from Stonehenge, Wiltshire.
The stones are believed to have been deliberately toppled over the southern-eastern edge of the bank of the circular enclosure before being incorporated into it.
The stones were found on the edge of the Durrington Walls "henge", or bank, an area which had not yet been studied by researchers.
Lead researcher Vince Gaffney, of the University of Bradford, said: "We don't think there's anything quite like this anywhere else in the world.
Lead researcher, Vince Gaffney said the stones were "lost to archaeology" but found thanks to modern technology.
"This is completely new and the scale is extraordinary."
National Trust archaeologist Dr Nick Snashall said: "In the field that lies to the south we know there's a standing stone which is now the only standing stone, now fallen, that you can go up to and touch in the whole of the Stonehenge landscape," he said.
Archaeologist Nick Snashall said: "The presence of what appear to be stones, surrounding the site of one of the largest neolithic settlements in Europe adds a whole new chapter to the Stonehenge story."
"It's called the Cuckoo Stone.
The findings are being announced on the first day of the British Science Festival being held at the University of Bradford.
"If there are stones beneath the bank... they're probably looking at stones of pretty much the same size as the Cuckoo Stone."
Dr Snashall added there was a "sense" of one area set aside for the living and another for the dead at Durrington Walls - and that had changed over time.
The findings are being announced later on the first day of the British Science Festival being held at the University of Bradford.
