It is the size of four football fields and consists of several mounds of earth, wooden posts, cemeteries and even a ritual path. This 4,000-year-old sanctuary discovered in the Netherlands is the closest thing to Stonehenge found in decades.
Dedicated to the sun, like the megalithic monument from some 5,000 years ago raised on Salisbury Plain (England), the temple unearthed in Medel, an industrial estate located in the municipality of Tiel, some 50 kilometers southeast of Utrecht, was around 800 years active. People gathered at this point to perform sacrifices, funerals, parties, and other rituals.
The largest mound, some 20 meters in diameter, served as a kind of solar calendar and among the notable finds that have been unearthed is a glass bead from Mesopotamia (Iraq). All evidence that there were already cultural contacts with people from the Middle East, explain the archaeologists on the website of the Tiel town hall.
Although the first excavations at the site took place in 2017, it was not until just a few weeks ago that researchers found this spectacular temple built between the late Stone Age and early Bronze Age. Wooden farmhouses were found next to the sanctuary.
The hills, differentiated by the composition and color of the clay, were not only used to bury people. The largest hill, for example, was also used as an observatory. “A priest or priestess stood on the mound, which was flat on top, and on which was probably a large post. He looked at the position of the sun from the fixed point of the post and thus determined the exact time of the year, which made it possible to have a calendar for the seasons and the days of the harvest”, he affirms.
There was also a shallow ditch with several passages around the hill. On certain days, the sun would shine directly through these pathways, just as it does at Stonehenge, where the sun shines through the stones on important days. The most relevant days, also in Tiel, were June 21, summer solstice (longest day) and December 21, winter solstice (shortest day).
These weren't just important moments for the living. The sun was also shining on the dead on the hill. Archaeologists have also found offerings at places where lightning struck directly through the openings. Animal skeletons, but also human skulls and valuables such as a bronze spearhead.
People 4,000 years ago buried their dead in the nearby fields, even outside the hills. The remains of more than 80 people (including men, women and children) were found, some entombed, others cremated. "These deceased must have played an important role in the rituals," the experts point out.
Near the graves was a glass bead from Mesopotamia, the oldest ever found in the Netherlands. It shows that the inhabitants of this area already had contact with people almost 5,000 kilometers away and that they exchanged products far beyond their immediate area.
The excavation was also relevant because it was very extensive. Rarely do archaeologists have the opportunity to open up so much ground around burial mounds. This allowed them to "learn much more than normal," they say in a statement. Due to the number of finds (more than a million), it took a long time before a global picture of the site could be formed.
Six years after the start of the excavations is when they were finally able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. Several of the finds can be seen in an exhibition that starts this Friday June 23 at the Flipje in Tiel's Streekmuseum and runs through October.
