23/09/2008 07:36:00
Archaeologists have used radiocarbon dating to pinpoint the construction of Stonehenge to 2300BC - a key step in determining how and why the Wiltshire structure was built.
The findings of the procedure are believed to be the most accurate thus far and mean that the original bluestones were erected 300 years later than previously thought. Until now, it was held that the first stone circle was dated between 2600BC and 2400BC.
The dig was conducted by Professor Geoff Wainwright - formerly chief archaeologist at English Heritage - and Tim Darvill of Bournemouth University, by permission of English Heritage. They excavated a patch of earth just 2.5m x 3.5m between the two circles of giant sarsen stones, unearthing about 100 pieces of organic material from the original bluestone sockets. 14 of these were sent to Oxford University for modern carbon dating.
The team of archaeologists also uncovered material indicating that people inhabited the Stonehenge site as long ago as 7200BC - more than 3,500 years earlier than anything previously identified.
Professor Wainwright told BBC News: "It's an incredible feeling, a dream come true.
"We told the world we were going to date Stonehenge, That was a risk, but I was always confident."
The duo believe Stonehenge was a centre for healing, while others have argued that the monument was a calendar to mark the solstices, a shrine to worship ancestors and a meeting point between the land of the living and the dead.
Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick, of Wessex Archaeology, said: "This is a great result - a very important one.
"The date of Stonehenge had been blowing in the wind. But this anchors it. It helps us to be secure about the chronology of events. "
Professors Darvill and Wainwright will publish an academic report of their excavation and will announce their findings next month in a lecture at London's Society of Antiquaries.
A documentary highlighting key moments of the dig will be broadcast by the BBC Timewatch series on Saturday, September 27.