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A massive “curriculum” monument, a site for ancient rituals, which was built around the same time as Stonehenge, has been discovered on the Scottish island of Arran.
The monuments of the Cursus, which were built during the Neolithic period (4000 BC to 2500 BC) are long rectangular terraced enclosures, which means that they are built by modifying the terrain. The long enclosures were often demarcated by wooden poles and were used for ceremonial processions, perhaps to honor the dead or worship ancestors. During some of these ceremonies, the elders would have set fire to these wooden poles, according to The Scotsman, who first reported the results.
The particular monument, which survives as two parallel mounds, likely contained wooden features as well, site discoverer Dave Cowley, the head of the rapid archaeological program at Historic Environment Scotland, told The Scotsman. “Whether it was set on fire or not, we just don’t know at the moment.”
Related: Photos: Harvest marks reveal traces of lost civilizations in England
Cowley and his team first discovered the monument site in 2017 while conducting aerial surveys of the Scottish island using a technology called light sensing and ranging (lidar), which reveals hidden structures by hitting the ground with lasers and measuring the reflected light. . Lidar revealed two nearly parallel lines that spanned about 0.68 miles (1.1 km) and were spaced 98 to 131 feet (30 and 40 meters) apart.
The team made field visits to the monument of the curriculum between the end of 2017 and 2019. These walking tours did not reveal much: “The two banks are light in nature and barely visible on the ground”, wrote the team in field notes published online.
Although the structure is long, the individual mounds inside are only about 10.8 feet (3.3 m) thick and about 1 foot (0.3 m) high. “They appear to be discontinuous and made up of earth or sod with very few stones visible,” the team wrote. But it is “impossible to say” if the structure was designed with ruptures in the mounds or if they emerged over the years as a result of natural processes. In any case, the researchers do not believe that the rectangular structure had a roof.
While around 70 such monuments have already been discovered across Scotland, most on the east coast, this is the only one found on the Isle of Arran. And so that “may have been a goal for communities spread across the island,” Cowley told Live Science in an email. There are still other types of Neolithic monuments discovered on the island. “This is an interesting addition to the ‘portfolio’ of Neolithic monuments on Arran, and suggests that there may be more to be discovered on the west coast.”
The structure could also have been part of something bigger.
“There may be other buried features that we can’t see on the surface,” Cowley said. “Very few archaeological sites in Scotland are excavated, and whether or not this is the case will depend on research questions and funding.”
Originally posted on Live Science.
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