Two 'halls of the dead' dating back 6000 yrs unearthed in UK

Archaeologists from the University of Manchester and Herefordshire Council have discovered the remains of two large 6000-year-old halls, each buried within a prehistoric burial mound in Britain.

The sensational finds on Dorstone Hill, near Peterchurch in Herefordshire, were thought to be constructed between 4000 and 3600 BC.

Some of the burnt wood discovered at the site shows the character of the building's structure above ground level-in another UK first.

The buildings, probably used by entire communities, are of unknown size, but may have been of similar length to the Neolithic long barrows beneath which they were found - 70 metres and 30m long.

They were deliberately burnt down after they were constructed and their remains incorporated into the two burial mounds, the team said.

However-much detail has been preserved in the larger barrow: structural timbers in carbonized form, postholes showing the positions of uprights, and the burnt remains of stakes forming internal partitions.

Most importantly, the core of each mound is composed of intensely burnt clay, representing the daub from the walls of the buildings.

The buildings were likely to have been long structures with aisles, framed by upright posts, and with internal partitions.

The smaller barrow contains a 7m by 2.5m mortuary chamber, with huge sockets which would have held upright tree trunks at each end.

These massive posts bracketed a linear 'trough' lined with planks, which would have held the remains of the dead.

In addition to the two long mounds, the site has provided evidence for a series of later burials and other deliberate deposits, including a cremation burial and a pit containing a flint axe and a finely-flaked flint knife.

The objects have close affinities with artefacts found in eastern Yorkshire in the Late Neolithic (c. 2600 BC).