(123)   Mon 17 Nov 97 18:47
By: Mike Pell
To: All
Re: aws - new temple
St:
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@EID:6d35 237195e0
@MSGID: 1:244/506 00150549
UK ARCHEOLOGISTS FIND TEMPLE AS OLD AS STONEHENGE

LONDON (Reuters) - British archeologists have unearthed the ruins of a
pre-historic timber temple which they said was as ``old and
significant'' as Stonehenge, a stone monument built by ancient Britons.

The discovery of the ruins, thought to be 5,000 years old, was described
by officials Monday as the most exciting archeological find in Britain
in 30 years.

Traces of the temple -- in well defined pits within a 440-foot circular
ditch -- were found after archeologists scanned below an ancient site of
Stone Circles at Stanton Drew near the southwestern English port of
Bristol, an official at English Heritage said Monday.

``(The find) is as old and comparable in significance to the megalith
monument at Stonehenge, although twice its size,'' an official
statement reported.

Sir Jocelyn Stevens, chairman of English Heritage, the government
department responsible for preserving historic sites, told a news
conference he thought the complex structure was built as a ``symbol of
power'' by people seeking to control the supernatural.

Geoffrey Wainwright, English Heritage's chief archeologist, said the
discovery was the most significant in British pre-history archeology in
30 years.

``We have about 3,000 stone circles in Britain but previously only seven
timber temples. The Stanton Drew find is by far the largest, twice as
big as anything previously discovered.''

Wainwright said that the timber temples were probably constructed around
3,000 BC, pre-dating stone circles, such as Stonehenge, which began
around 2,500BC.

Tests will be made on parts of the wooden structure but the site itself
will not be dug up as scientists have already examined similar timber
temples at other sites.

[eof]


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