6,000-year-old 'Halls of the Dead' Unearthed in the UK

Two early Neolithic "halls of the dead" unearthed in rural England near Peterchurch about 60 miles north of Bristol are being hailed as a "discovery of a lifetime." The halls were likely constructed above ground then intentionally burnt to the ground and incorporated into burial mounds, or barrows.

Thought to be about 6,000 years old, the halls were excavated beneath two prehistoric burial mounds on Dorstone Hill by archaeologists from the University of Manchester and the Herefordshire Council.

The exact purpose of the buildings before they were burnt down is unclear, but archaeologists suspect they were used by an entire community of people and a portion of at least one of the buildings was used as a mortuary.

University of Manchester archaeologist Julian Thomas said: "These early Neolithic halls are already extremely rare, but to find them within a long barrow is the discovery of a lifetime."

The halls were identified by remains of burnt wood; enough was present to give archaeologists adequate information to understand the character of the building's structure above ground, reportedly the first time for such an occurrence in the UK. The buildings were likely to have been long structures with aisles, framed by upright posts, and with internal partitions and clay walls.

The smaller of the two barrows contains a large "mortuary chamber," which was bracketed by massive tree trunks and served as a space to hold the remains of the dead.

Thomas and his colleagues believe that the halls were deliberately burnt down after their construction and that the remains were incorporated into the two barrows.

"This find is of huge significance to our understanding of prehistoric life --  so we're absolutely delighted," Thomas said.

"It makes a link between the house and a tomb more forcefully than any other investigation that has been ever carried out."

Thomas added: "The mound tells us quite a bit about the people who built it: they sought to memorialize the idea of their community represented by the dwelling." 

"And by turning it into part of the landscape, it becomes a permanent reminder for generations to come."

"Just think of how the burning of the hall could have been seen for miles around, in the large expanse of what is now the border country between England and Wales."

Keith Ray, Herefordshire Council's County Archaeologist and co-director of the excavation said the site was also of significance not only to the archaeologists of today, but for Neolithic communities of eras past.

In addition to the two long barrows, the site yielded evidence of a series of later burials and "other deliberate deposits, including a cremation burial and a pit containing a flint ax and a finely-flaked flint knife."

Archaeologists report the objects have close affinities with artifacts found in eastern Yorkshire -- hundreds of miles to the north --  in the Late Neolithic (circa 2600 BC).

"These subsequent finds show that 1,000 years after the hall burial mounds were made, the site is still important to later generations living 200 miles away -- a vast distance in Neolithic terms," Ray said.

"The ax and knife may not have been traded, but placed there as part of a ceremony or an ancestral pilgrimage from what is now East Yorkshire. So we witness an interconnected community linking Herefordshire and East Yorkshire by marriage and by descent 5,000 years ago."

He added: "In the British context, the Dorstone find is unique and unprecedented.

"We were hoping our work with The University of Manchester would help us to give us a clearer picture of the origins of these long barrows -- but we were surprised how clearly the story came through.

"It's very exciting for us: for 15 years I have been arguing that Herefordshire has something important to say on the national picture of our Neolithic heritage."