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Stonehenges band of brothers

Written by DeadGirl
Monday, 21 June 2004
June 22, 2004 ARCHAEOLOGISTS have discovered the remains of a "band of brothers" whom they believe helped to transport giant bluestones from the Preseli mountains in west Wales to build Stonehenge more than 4000 years ago. They have been dubbed the Boscombe Bowmen after the location of their grave a few kilometres from Britain's most famous prehistoric monument. The first direct evidence that people from Wales accompanied the stones on their epic journey to Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire was found by workmen laying a water pipe. They uncovered a single grave containing the bones of three adults, a teenager and three young children not far from that of the fabulously wealthy "Amesbury Archer" discovered two years ago. Chemical analysis of minerals in their teeth established that the brothers came from the Preselis, 240km from their last resting place, and almost certainly accompanied the bluestones on their epic journey 4300 years ago. It is the first time that archaeologists have been able to establish an apparent direct link between the remains of any individual and the people who created the mysterious monument. They have been named the Boscombe Bowmen because the grave contained flint arrowheads and was found on Boscombe Down. Shards of beaker pots also discovered in the grave are similar to those buried with the Amesbury Archer, whom archaeologists have established came from central Europe and lived at almost the same time at the start of the "metal age". The bones were in varying states of preservation but the shape of the skulls shows that they were related. An adult male, who died between the ages of 30 and 45, had at some point suffered a badly broken leg, leading to speculation that he might have been injured while moving the heavy stones. The three children were buried near his head and may have been his children. One of them, who died between the ages of 2 and 4, had been cremated. The other two were between 5 and 7 years old. The remains of the teenager and the two other men had been rearranged and may have been placed in the grave later. The teenager was between 15 and 18, and the others 25 to 30. The bluestones are the smaller of the two main types of stone erected at Stonehenge but they still weigh about four tonnes each and moving them would have been a major operation, probably involving hundreds of people. Until their arrival the monument was constructed entirely of timber. Andrew Fitzpatrick of Wessex Archaeology, which conducted the excavation, said: "For the first time we have found the mortal remains of one of the families who were almost certainly involved in this monumental task. The Boscombe Bowmen, a band of brothers, must almost certainly be linked with the bringing of the bluestones to Stonehenge." http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9917274%255E2703,00.html

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Taphophilia?

taphophilia (taf′ō-fil′ē-ă)

ORIGIN:
From the Greek words taphos, meaning "tomb" or "sepulcher" and philia, meaning "attraction or affinity to something, in particular the love or obsession with something"

DEFINITION: 1. An excessive interest in graves and cemeteries. 2. A love or fondness for funerals, graves, and cemeteries. 3. In psychiatry, a morbid attraction to graves and cemeteries