*IRELAND, Ancient Henge Outline, 4,500 Yrs. Old Revealed By Drought, Aerial Drone
'In Ireland, Drought And A Drone Revealed The Outline Of An Ancient Henge,' NPR, July 13, 2018
A drone flight and a lingering dry spell have exposed a previously unknown monument in Ireland's Boyne Valley, forgotten for thousands of years and long covered by crops — which, struggling to cope with a lengthy drought, finally revealed the ancient footprint. Photographer and author Anthony Murphy discovered the site. He was flying a drone near Newgrange, a famous prehistoric stone monument in County Meath, on Tuesday, taking pictures of the known archaeological attractions. Then he saw something strange — a perfect circle, etched in the color of the crops, in an otherwise unremarkable field.
..He knew the local sites well — every passage tomb, every banked enclosure, every archaeological dig. And he'd been flying drones here for months. He'd never seen this. A closer look revealed two concentric circles, the inner one evenly segmented. They immediately sent pictures to archaeologists, who confirmed their suspicions. Murphy and his colleague, Ken Williams, had found the footprint of an ancient henge, or enclosure, that may be some 4,500 years old.
The area around Newgrange is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with a number of ancient and prehistoric monuments, including other henges. The region has been pored over by archaeologists for decades. But this henge was thoroughly hidden, until the drought revealed it. Ireland is famously green, of course, with rainfall usually abundant. But this summer it's been gripped by an unusual heatwave and a lengthy dry spell. Crops are fading in the drought. And the unusual weather circumstances made the remarkable photos possible, Murphy explains.
"In the late Neolithic, people would have built this henge out of timber," he says. Imagine massive posts — possibly whole tree trunks — planted in pits and postholes. "Over time, when the monument fell out of use, the wood all rots away and the holes kind of fill up with organic material," he said. "But they leave a sort of a fingerprint, or a footprint." Archaeologists can see it in soil samples. And, in a drought, you can see the impact on crops.
When we saw this, we knew straight away, this had never been seen or recorded before." A closer look revealed two concentric circles, the inner one evenly segmented. The photos are intriguing, as well as surprising. The function of prehistoric henges is a topic of debate, although many scholars suspect they were ceremonial sites. Archaeologist Geraldine Stout told the Irish Times she believes many monuments around Newgrange were built for prehistoric pilgrims, as part of a "sacred landscape." More...
https://www.npr.org/2018/07/13/628905864/in-ireland-drought-and-a-drone-revealed-the-outline-of-an-ancient-henge
- In the background you can see "Site P," a known henge in the Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site. Anthony Murphy was photographing Site P when he noticed something strange in a field nearby — the previously unknown henge visible in the foreground, in the field.
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