The Prehistory thread

[ICTChris]

History is all well and good but lets be honest, prehistory is far better.  Let's use this thread for all the prehistory chat.

Dutch archeologists in Tiel have uncovered what seems to be a ritual site used by Bronze Age residents.  The site consists of several raised mounds, the largest having a diameter of twenty metres.  The passage opening align with the sun at the summer and winter solstice.  In addition, researchers have uncovered animal skeletons and human heads, either placed in the circle for burial or ritualistic purposes.  The site would have contained rows of poles and nearby featured burial mounds where the remains of up to 80 people have been exhumed.  In addition, the research have found glass beads originating in Iraq, indicating some level of contact between the people who lived there and Mesopotamia, which was more than 5000 km away.

Here is the site

 

Here is an artists impression of how the site could have looked

 

 

 

So many prehistoric sites line up to the winter and summer solstice suns - obviously Stonehenge is the most famous but Callanish stones in Lewis are also argued by some to align with the moon and the Mesolithic site discovered at Crathes in Aberdeenshire aligns with the lunar calendar and is reckoned to be the oldest ever method of tracking time discovered.

Have any P&Bers ever left an animal carcass or severed head at a ritual site?

Please add any breaking prehistory news to this thread.

Edited June 22, 2023 by ICTChris

[TheScarf]

A disappointing lack of ‘Have any P&Bers…….? at the end of this ICTChris post imo.

[Oystercatcher]

There's a cracking programme on netflix about pre history settlements and civilisations called ancient apocalypse.

[Hedgecutter]

44 minutes ago, Oystercatcher said:

There's a cracking programme on netflix about pre history settlements and civilisations called ancient apocalypse.

A series that reinforces the notion that a little bit of information can be dangerous.

More of a comedy than a serious documentary.

[Deanburn Dave]

Homosapiens have been around for more than 200,000 years.     History records only go back about 5000 years.

There must have been some great stories from the first 195,000 years ......if only they had written them down !!     

Thankfully the P&B posters can fill in the gaps. 

 

[Oystercatcher]

8 minutes ago, Hedgecutter said:

A series that reinforces the notion that a little bit of information can be dangerous.

More of a comedy than a serious documentary.

Hancock is a rocket but it's interesting all the same 

[TommyDickFingers]

6 minutes ago, Oystercatcher said:

Hancock is a rocket but it's interesting all the same 

He is indeed, this fellas work might interest you.

 

[moses1924]

Went to the "tomb of the eagles"  in Orkney, pretty amazing site.

[Melanius Mullarkey]

Pretty sure pre history was just one big massive shagging murderathon.

[TommyDickFingers]

6 minutes ago, Melanius Mullarkay said:

Pretty sure pre history was just one big massive shagging murderathon.

Bit like the broadsword in the 80/90s

[Hedgecutter]

Stumbled upon this story recently.  Certainly more inventive than some of the makeshift lockdown stories.

https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/13-000-year-old-fillings-prove-ancient-dentistry-was-brutal

[djchapsticks]

Playing through Assassin's Creed Origins just now and it struck me that in terms of timescale, we are much closer to Marc Anthony and Cleopatra than they were to the Great Pyramids of Giza being built.

It should have been obvious but it was just something I'd never thought of before and was a bit gobsmacked by that.

[ICTChris]

16 minutes ago, Hedgecutter said:

Stumbled upon this story recently.  Certainly more inventive than some of the makeshift lockdown stories.

https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/13-000-year-old-fillings-prove-ancient-dentistry-was-brutal

Not just dentistry, Bronze Age brain surgery was a thriving industry. Kind of.

 

[tamthebam]

I'm sure it was either Mick or Phil on Time Team who said "if we don't know what it was for, archaeologists just say it was ritual"

In 5000 years when they dig up Hampden they'll say that was for ritual gathering which is sort of right I suppose 

[Theroadlesstravelled]

1 hour ago, Deanburn Dave said:

Homosapiens have been around for more than 200,000 years.     History records only go back about 5000 years.

There must have been some great stories from the first 195,000 years ......if only they had written them down !!     

Thankfully the P&B posters can fill in the gaps. 

 

Homo Erectus goes even further back.

 

[invergowrie arab]

There is nothing amazing about neolithic sites lining up with sunrise at either of the solstices. You plant a stick in the ground one year after you have been observing it for decades and then build it up.

The latest theory about stonehenge that rather than being sourced from Wales that it was already an extant henge in Wales which was moved in its entirety is cool though.

As for Iraqi beads, thats not evidence of direct contact between Netherlands and Iraq, its evidence of a continuous chain of trade across Eurasia, which in the bronze age isn't really major news. 

 

 

[Tony Ferrino]

3 hours ago, Oystercatcher said:

There's a cracking programme on netflix about pre history settlements and civilisations called ancient apocalypse.

Have you sucked out your vaccine yet?

[Tony Ferrino]

2 hours ago, Melanius Mullarkay said:

Pretty sure pre history was just one big massive shagging murderathon.

Bit like pre Sky.

[TxRover]

5 hours ago, ICTChris said:

 

Nice touch to illustrate with Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music, eh?

[welshbairn]

1 hour ago, tamthebam said:

I'm sure it was either Mick or Phil on Time Team who said "if we don't know what it was for, archaeologists just say it was ritual"

In 5000 years when they dig up Hampden they'll say that was for ritual gathering which is sort of right I suppose 

What can this stick with a spongy roller be? Most likely something to impress the Gods, who they needed to keep onside with invaders from the East to contend with.