During the summer of 1998, shifting sands on a beach on the east coast of England exposed an ancient monument. Fifty-five oak posts had been situated in a 15-foot-wide circle, and an upturned tree stump was planted in the middle.
Scientists were able to date the monument to 2050 B.C.E. during the Bronze Age. While the monument has been nicknamed Seahenge, scholars referred to it as Holme I, named after the location where it was found.
“It is not a henge, neither is Stonehenge for that matter, although henges sometimes have timber and stone circles in them,” says David Alexander Nance with the Department of Geography and Environment at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
To be considered a henge, a monument must involve “earthwork,” a term that archeologists use to describe changes that ancient builders made to the landscape, like creating levels, mounds, or ridges.
Seahenge is also not ...
