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The article starts with: > U.K. archeologists are crediting... And spends the rest of the article citing a researcher from University College Dublin. Ireland is not part of the U.K.
...who is British.
(Though I still think saying "U.K. archeologists" was a mistake)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nit, but we know pretty well what the Neolithic structures were for now. It used to be the case that hey were a mystery.
So what were they used for? I thought it was still a mystery.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
County Meath (where the "henge" was discovered) is in the Republic of Ireland...which is not Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is a province within the UK created after the partition of Ireland the landmass in 1921. Dublin is in the Republic of Ireland and the capital city. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/County_Meath https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_of_Ireland
Thanks for being clear about the Republic of Ireland vs the landmass, unlike knolan!
Interesting how there's also one of those little islands in the same field. Don't know what they're called but I've seen enough Time Team to know they sometimes hide archaeological treasure. Something either too cumbersome to move or something marked for preservation. Either way britain feels like a giant trove of discovery when you pay some attention to popular archaeology.
[1] The article is about Ireland, not Britain.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
So what were they used for? I thought it was still a mystery.
Celestial clocks for telling the seasons, and locations for convergent gatherings ever X seasons. The megalithic stone structures at least. The smaller but more numerous wooden pole circles (horseshoe shaped really) were centers of local villages, the Neolithic equivalent of a fort or medieval castle.
Firstly, looking at the actual henge, though the defence hypothesis is strong, there are several henges throughout the UK that lack the defensive structuring, but still take the right form, making it at least partly unlikely. Secondly, they seem to have been built away from population areas. Whilst a strong theory, it hasn't solved those problems, and so other solutions hold equal weight.
Secondly, the celestial clock theory is actually fairly weak. Only about half of the henges featuring large stonework actually line up with astronomical events, even when modeled for the timelines we think they were put in place for. Some might be reasoned to track stars, some mountains, and so on. It doesn't quite fit, especially as their north-offsets are very consistent.
You have some theories, which are popular theories, but so far as I'm aware, there are other equally popular theories held by the people in the field, and this isn't considered to be 'solved'.
* https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-44746447 (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17489990)
* https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-44806069
* https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-4...
Things submerged under reservoirs are becoming temporarily accessible, as well.
* https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-44771632
* https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-politics-4476...
It begins by implicitly indicating that “U.K. archeologists” were involved in the discovery (discussed in other comments). It also states that it was “drone enthusiasts” who captured the image in the first place. In fact, the drone belonged to an Irish historian, Anthony Murphy, who lives in the area and has been researching, recording images of and writing about the Boyne Valley monuments for the past two decades – so not just a random drone enthusiast. After making his discovery, he reported it to the National Monuments Service, an organisation that is part of the Republic of Ireland’s Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.
The coverage by the Irish Times is much better than the linked article:
* Initial report: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/scorched-earth-d...
* Follow-up article: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/newgrange-more-u...
Further background on Anthony Murphy: https://www.mythicalireland.com/about/about-anthony-murphy/
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks for being clear about the Republic of Ireland vs the landmass, unlike knolan!
You may find this useful. https://youtu.be/rNu8XDBSn10
The Republic of Ireland doesn't include Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.
The landmass named Ireland does.
I'm surprised to see that you are still missing that, but, ok, as an American maybe I'm not really understanding what's going on.
The article content isn’t too bad but having “crop circle” in the headline is ridiculous when the phenomenon of crop circles has nothing to do with the subject of the article. In addition, the article itself starts off with some mis-leading information. It begins by implicitly indicating that “U.K. archeologists” were involved in the discovery (discussed in other comments). It also states that it was “drone enthusias…