UK's 4,000-year-old mysterious 'Seahenge' structure finally decoded

[Judi Lynn]

2. England's Mysterious 'Seahenge' Monument May Have Been Built to Prolong Summer

One researcher thinks the structure was used for ancient rituals during a period of bitter cold

Sonja Anderson
Daily Correspondent
June 5, 2024

Some 4,000 years ago, builders arranged a circle of tall timbers on an English beach. This ancient structure—known as “Seahenge”—has long mystified archaeologists. A similarly mysterious monument dating to the same period lies some 300 feet away.

Now, one researcher thinks he’s determined the structures’ purpose: According to a study recently published in GeoJournal, they were an attempt to reverse a bout of climate deterioration.

Ancient communities may have built these structures as “ritual responses” to lengthy periodsf cold weather, as David Nance, a researcher at Scotland’s University of Aberdeen, writes in the paper.

Seahenge, which is also called Holme I, was found at Holme-next-the-sea beach in Norfolk on England’s east coast. The monument’s center was an upside-down tree stump, buried with its roots facing the sky. It was surrounded by a fence of 55 oak timbers that were up to ten feet tall, arranged in an oval measuring over 22 feet across.

More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/englands-mysterious-seahenge-monument-may-have-been-built-to-prolong-summer-180984467/