ANCIENT 'FEAT OF ENGINEERING' NEARLY 1,000 YEARS OLDER THAN THE PYRAMIDS FOUND ON REMOTE NORTH SEA ISLAND [View all]

CHRISTOPHER PLAIN·OCTOBER 31, 2023

Archaeologists studying an ancient site in the North Sea say they have found a “feat of engineering” nearly 1,000 years older than the famed pyramids of Egypt. Located on the remote British island of Orkney, the find included Neolithic architecture that was considered well ahead of its time, as well as fourteen skeletons, offering a glimpse into the builders of this ancient site.

“They really are engineering feats,” said Dr. Hugo Anderson-Whymark, senior curator of prehistory (neolithic) at the National Museums Scotland and one of the researchers responsible for the new find. “The tomb would have been an immense feature in the landscape when it was originally constructed, and the stonework inside would have been very impressive.”

100-YEAR-OLD DISCOVERY YIELDS 5,000-YEAR-OLD TREASURES
Notably, the site was initially ransacked for its stone in the 18th and 19th centuries but otherwise dismissed as being of any historical significance. Then, in 1896, a local farmer stumbled upon part of the newly discovered chamber and eight bodies, resulting in an “antiquary” named James Walls Curister writing about it in a local newspaper.

Still, the site was more or less lost to history until Anderson-Whymark spotted the old article. Focusing on Curister’s description of a “chambered cairn” uncovered by the 19th-century farmer, Anderson-Whymark and his colleague Prof Vicki Cummings, a professor of neolithic archaeology at Cardiff University, zeroed in on the location. Soon, a team of students from the University of Central L:ncashire and some local volunteers joined the search. After three weeks of work, the impressive feat of engineering and the bodies held within were unearthed.

More:
https://thedebrief.org/ancient-feat-of-engineering-nearly-1000-years-older-than-the-pyramids-found-on-remote-north-sea-island/