The site is reminiscent of Stonehenge hill, the prehistoric monument in England where the same phenomena were observed. COMMUNITY TIEL / REUTERS
Archaeologists have found an “open-air sanctuary”.Cincluding a burial mound that served as a solar calendar and contained the remains of about sixty men, women, and children.
Dutch archaeologists announced on Wednesday that they had uncovered a 4,000-year-old religious site with a burial mound used as a solar calendar “Stonehenge of the Netherlands” by the media alluding to the famous megalithic monumental complex. About 20 meters across, the mound, which contained the remains of about 60 men, women and children, had passageways that let in direct sunlight on the longest and shortest days of the year.
The excavations, the results of which were released on Wednesday, began in 2017 in Tiel, some 50km south-east of Utrecht. “What an extraordinary archaeological discovery! Archaeologists have discovered a 4,000-year-old religious sanctuary on an industrial site.enthused the city of Tiel on their Facebook page. “This is the first time such a site has been discovered in the Netherlands”, underlined the city. By examining the differences in composition and color of the clay, archaeologists have located three burial mounds on the site, just a few kilometers from the banks of the Waal.
The corridors inside the tumulus made it possible to use it as a solar calendar “to determine important times such as festivals and harvest days”said the archaeologists. “This hill is reminiscent of Stonehenge, the famous and mysterious prehistoric monument in England, where this phenomenon also occurs.”, commented on the Dutch public broadcaster NOS. Researchers also discovered two other smaller burial mounds. According to archaeologists, these three mounds were used as burial sites for around 800 years.
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Archaeologists have made another sensational discovery: a glass bead in a burial site that, after analysis, turned out to be from Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq. “This pearl traveled a distance of about 5000 kilometers four millennia ago”said team leader Cristian van der Linde to NOS. “The glass was not made here, the pearl must have been an extraordinary object for the people because it was an unknown material”, added Stijn Arnoldussen from the University of Groningen. But the pearl certainly didn’t make its way from Mesopotamia to the burial site all at once, he says. Back then things were traded.
