Stonehenge Workers' Village Found

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- A village of small houses that may have sheltered the builders of the mysterious Stonehenge -- or people attending festivals there -- has been found by archaeologists studying the stone circle in England.

Eight of the houses, with central hearths, have been excavated, and there may be as many as 25 of them, Mike Parker Pearson said Tuesday at a briefing organized by the National Geographic Society.

The ancient houses are at a site known as Durrington Walls, about two miles from Stonehenge. It is also the location of a wooden version of the stone circle. (Watch why find helps clear up Stonehenge mystery )

The village was carbon dated to about 2600 B.C., about the same time Stonehenge was built. The Great Pyramid in Egypt was built at about the same time, said Parker Pearson of Sheffield University.

Julian Thomas of Manchester University noted that both Stonehenge and Durrington Walls have avenues connecting them to the Avon River, indicating a pattern of movement between the sites.

"Clearly, this is a place that was of enormous importance," he said of the new find.

http://edition.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/01/30/stonehenge.village.ap/index.html

"The Great Pyramid in Egypt was built at about the same time"

All the cool kids were doing it.

:7

One of the lesser-known henges.