* Astronomy

A circle henge has been uncovered by archaeologists in Cornwall (England). The 5,000 year-old site was discovered during work on the A30 bypass at Goss Moor, between Indian Queens and Bodmin, and is the first of its kind found in the region. The 10-metre diameter site at Deep Tye Farm has excited archaeologists.

"Excavated sites of this period are comparatively rare in Cornwall." - Stuart Foreman, from Oxford Archaeology, which is doing the work.

The excavation is part of a planned set of examinations by archaeologists working ahead of road builders on the £93 million Goss Moor bypass. The discovery won't delay work on the road. The henge was unearthed less than a mile from the Castle-an-Dinas hillfort by a 10 metre wide trench that has been dug along the entire seven-kilometre length of the bypass route.
Also known as a "pit circle", the circle henge dates from the late Neolithic, between 3,000 and 2,000 BCE.



"The site is an important one for the region. The Deep Tye Farm site is a modest example of this type of monument, which can reach quite lavish proportions. Stonehenge is the best known example."- Stuart Foreman.

Large-scale henge monuments are known in the region, including the earthwork at Castilly Henge, which lies at the eastern end of the road scheme near the Innis Downs roundabout.
The site unearthed was relatively small compared to others.

"The Deep Tye Farm site is a modest example of this type of monument, which can reach quite lavish proportions. Stonehenge is the best known example. Such monuments were built by the early farming communities of Britain during the Neolithic period."- Stuart Foreman.

No artefacts have yet been recovered from the Deep Tye Farm site, although sieving of soil filling the pits may yet recover distinctive pottery, flint tools, or charcoal that can be radiocarbon dated.

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