Ritual Timber Circle Found in Denmark may have Links to Stonehenge
An ancient timber circle with a similar arrangement to the famous Stonehenge in England has been discovered in Denmark. The circle, consisting of some 45 wooden posts driven into the ground, was found at a site in Aars, North Jutland.
This so-called “wood henge” is in fact the second to be found in the area, and was discovered in January during excavation at the site. The circle is believed to have been constructed between 2600 BC and 1600 BC, which would make the circle Bronze Age, or maybe even Neolithic.
According to a report published in The Guardian, the discovery was made by Sidsel Wåhlin, a curator at Vesthimmerlands Museum. She was working on taking off the topsoil in the area with the excavation leader, Andreas Bo Nielsen, when she discovered the holes left by the wood posts.
At first Wåhlin thought she had found a series of post holes in a line, maybe for fence posts, but as more of the area was cleared and more holes were discovered it became clear this was a circle. “I was like: ‘Oh my God, a timber circle, there is just no other explanation.’” Wåhlin said. “It is an extraordinary find.”
This may not seem like an important distinction, but such circles had a major role in ancient ritual activity across Europe. Fence posts could be built almost anywhere and for a myriad of practical reasons, but a circle is very special indeed.
Such henges are particularly found in the UK and Ireland, which have dozens of similar structures dating back to 3000 BC both in wood and, more famously, stone. Nor is it a simple thing to build a henge, and the people at Aars must have known what they were doing, and why.
“They are ritual centres and sites that are connected with the worship of the sun and the agricultural ritual practices of the time,” Wåhlin said. “In order to decide to make such a specific monument you have to understand what it means and how to plan it.”
And indeed that seems to have been the case. The newly discovered henge is oriented along the same axis as Stonehenge, thousands of miles away in England. A similar ancient English structure, known as Woodhenge, is also arranged along the same alignment.
Wåhlin explained the significance of this shared axis: “It shows us that they are sharing the same worldviews on large-scale areas on how to be farmers, how society connects with the supernatural. Building monuments on this scale, you need to understand why and how. If a British person from the time would have come to the site they would have known what they are doing in there.”
Now the team need to find out who built this henge, and what they were doing at the site. An analysis of the wood used, believed to be oak, is still pending, and then genetic testing of remains found in the excavation will hopefully tell us who these people were, and from where they came.
Header Image: The team stand amidst the timber circle reconstruction. Source: Vesthimmerlands Museum / Guardian.
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