‘Extraordinary’ Monumental Pits Dating to the Mesolithic Period Discovered in England

Archaeologists in Bedfordshire, England, have discovered at least 25 monumental pits dating to the Mesolithic era that tease unprecedented insight into the happenings of ancient hunter-gatherers.

According to the team from Museum of London Archaeology (Mola), the pits are arranged around former stream channels, suggesting they had served a spiritual purpose. Researchers excitedly shared in a statement that the Bedfordshire site contains more pits than anywhere else in England and Wales, counting the famous Stonehenge. Radiocarbon dating of the pits estimate their creation at 7,700 to 8,500 years ago.

“This date makes the site incredibly significant because there are very few Mesolithic sites in the UK that are this substantial,” researchers said in a statement. “Evidence from this period is often slim, only consisting of flint tools and occasional butchered animal remains.”

The vast pits measure up to 16.4 feet wide and 6 feet deep, with round diameters and steep sides. Their usual dimensions and arrangement—the pits are laid out in straight lines—weaken theories that they were used for hunting or storing food.

Yvonne Wolframm-Murray, a project officer at Mola, told the Guardian that the discovery was entirely unexpected: “We knew there was archaeology, but didn’t initially know we had Mesolithic pits until the radiocarbon dates came back. It’s very exciting…There’s only a handful of known other sites with pits that are comparable, certainly quantity-wise.”