Prehistoric site found near UK's Stonehenge

(AP) -- Archaeologists have discovered a smaller prehistoric site near Britain's famous circle of standing stones at Stonehenge.

Researchers have dubbed the site "Bluehenge," after the color of the 27 Welsh stones that were laid to make up a path. The stones have disappeared, but the path of holes remains.

Researchers from Sheffield University in northern England say the new circle represents an important find. The site is about a mile (2 kilometers) away from Stonehenge, which is believed to have been built around 2500 B.C.

Bluehenge, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of London, is thought to date back to the same period, but the exact circumstances of Bluehenge's construction aren't clear.

Researchers plan to publish more information about it next year.

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• barakn - Oct 03, 2009
  • Rank: 4 / 5 (4)
  The stones have disappeared and yet they know they were blue. Hmmm....
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• Sean_W - Oct 03, 2009
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  Well they don't not look like they weren't not blue... so they must have been blue.
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• Mandan - Oct 04, 2009
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  Um, believe it or not folks, microscopic analysis of archaeological soil samples is now possible and the original stones almost certainly would have left such traces. Also, particular mineral types have particular surface textures/fracture characteristics, which also would have certainly been left in the outlines of any imprints.
  
  So, rather than trying to go all Albert Einstein here in a clever, but embarrassing attempt to try to seem smarter than the experts in a comments section, why not "dig a little deeper", if you'll pardon the pun? If the question of how they determined the type of stone used is so important to you, why not research the subject of archaeological techniques, or actually find the study?
  
  Googling the term "bluehenge" immediately gave me this:
  "All that remains of the 60ft wide Bluehenge are the holes of 27 giant stones set on a ramped mount. Chips of blue stone found in the holes appear to be identical to the blue stones used in Stonehenge."
  
  Sheesh.
  
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