About 20 meters across, the mound, which contained the remains of about 60 men, women and children, had passageways that let in direct sunlight on the longest and shortest days of the year.
The excavations, the results of which were published on Wednesday June 21, began in 2017 in Tiel, some 50 km south-east of Utrecht.
“What an extraordinary archaeological discovery! Archaeologists have discovered a 4,000-year-old religious sanctuary on an industrial site,” enthused the city of Tiel on its Facebook page. “This is the first time such a site has been discovered in the Netherlands,” the city said.
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A solar calendar
By examining the differences in composition and color of the clay, archaeologists have located three burial mounds on the site, just a few kilometers from the banks of the Waal.
The passageways inside the tumulus allowed it to be used as a solar calendar “to mark important times like festivals and harvest days,” the archaeologists said.
“This hill is reminiscent of Stonehenge, the famous and mysterious prehistoric monument in England, where this phenomenon also occurs,” commented Dutch public broadcaster NOS.
Researchers also discovered two other smaller burial mounds. According to archaeologists, these three mounds were used as burial sites for around 800 years.
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Unique archeological vondst in Tiel. From “Stonehenge van Nederland” directly to Medel. And then we have in the earth a stench that is smoked the most. https://t.co/rsqWFacg6X
—Dave Verbeek (@DaveVerbeek) June 21, 2023
A pearl discovered in Iraq
Archaeologists have made another sensational discovery: a glass bead in a tomb that has been analyzed to come from Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq.
“This pearl traveled a distance of around 5,000 kilometers four millennia ago,” research team leader Cristian van der Linde told NOS. “The glass was not made here, the pearl must have been an extraordinary object for people because it was an unknown material,” added Stijn Arnoldussen from the University of Groningen.
But the pearl certainly didn’t make its way from Mesopotamia to the burial site all at once, he says. Back then things were traded.
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