Mysterious stone circle discovered on Dartmoor could be older than Stonehenge

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Bronze Age Britain: Dartmoor was home to an astonishing ancient community.

    

Archaeologists have discovered a massive ancient stone circle on Dartmoor which could be older than Stonehenge.

The mysterious ruined structure is the first circle to be found on the moor for more than a century and is evidence the area was home to an advanced ancient civilisation.

Although the 30 stones fell down an estimated 4,000 years ago, they would once formed a forbidding circle standing 34 metres wide.

The newly-discovered henge is thought to have formed part of a "sacred arc" of stone circles around Dartmoor's north-eastern edge and is the highest rock ring in southern England.

There is evidence fires were lit inside these stones, suggesting our ancient ancestors used them for religious rites or feasting.

Mike Nendick, an archeology expert and spokesperson for Dartmoor National Parks, painted an evocative picture of what this arc may have looked like.

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Sittaford stone circle.

    

"It's speculation, but it might be that you had ceremonies on dark, clear nights, with flames visible from one circle to the other," he told Mirror Online.

"These stone enclosures stood on remote moorland and looked across the hills.

"It's incredible to imagine this civilisation, who would have spoken an alien language and behaved totally differently to modern-day British people."

Archaeologists used carbon testing to reveal the age of the stones. By testing the peat underneath the fallen rocks, they found the huge slabs fell over roughly 4,000 years ago and may have first been erected as far back into history as 3,000 BC.

Stonehenge is thought to have been built between 3,000 and 2,000 BC.

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Human Rites: Tourism has replaced religion as the main reason to visit Stonehenge.

    

It is known that a large and thriving civilisation lived on Dartmoor. Previous discoveries show they buried kings with great pomp and ceremony - and at massive expense.

Our ancestors are also thought to have mined tin to make bronze, traded with partners as far away as the Baltic and created weapons or trinkets of astonishing beauty.

In a nod to modern life, Nendick added, they also wore jewelry which will be familiar to anyone who's lived in the trendier parts of modern Britain: ear stretchers.

The grave of a girl aged between 14 and 24 showed she wore devices to make huge holes in her ears and lips.

"There's nothing new in the world," Nendick joked.