An "eco-house" built adjacent to Stonehenge was discovered by archeologists from the University of Buckingham. The experts, however, are worried that the ancient home might be destroyed due to a new road tunnel construction.
The group has been unearthing massive amounts of Mesolithic objects from the area called Blick Mead, which is said to date from around 6,300 years ago or 1,300 years before the Stonehenge was built.
They dubbed the discovery as "eco-house" because its walls are made from the foundation of a fallen tree.
The team was able to unearth about 12,000 pieces of worked and burnt flints, along with more than 500 pieces of bones, which are said to have existed for more than 8,000 years now. The materials were all in tiptop shape, with some of the team members sustaining finger cuts from the still sharp objects.
The archaeologists said the most important part of the excavation is that they have now found where the communities who built the Stonehenge monuments settled. Such information has been elusive for scientists in the last 200 years.
Another consequence of the mining is the discovery of rituals performed in latter periods, which suggests that the team has also found an exceptional "multi-phase" location, which was used over numerous millennia into the early medieval era.
Now, the archeologists are baffled as to the government's plan to enhance Stonehenge by installing the A303 in cutting and tunnel. Such project will modify the level of local waters and subsequently destroy or significantly impair the spring and any vital and possible unusual water-logged archaeological objects.
"I am very concerned that any reduction in the groundwater level at the spring site and elsewhere in the Avon valley might potentially be a threat to archaeologically important waterlogged organic artefacts and ancient environmental evidence," said David Jacques, who has been heading the project since 2005.
In 2009, a copper alloy dagger from the Bronze Age was found at the Bluestonehenge monument. An Anglo-Saxon disc brooch from the fifth century and ancient wooden staves were also discovered at two separate springs near the area. The discoveries were all said to support the link between Blick Mead and the early Anglo-Saxon and Amesbury Abbey era.
The team will be furthering their work for two more years through the support of the university's Humanities Research Institute.
