A 4,000 year old pavement - or sidewalk, as North Americans call it - has been discovered in Cornwall in south west England.
The pavement was discovered at the Hurlers stone circles near the village of Minions on Bodmin Moor and it is believed to have linked two ceremonial stone circles.
The wider significance and exact date of the enigmatic structure will only be known after tests are carried out on material taken from beneath.
It has not yet been revealed by the archaeologists whether or not the pavement is covered in chewing gum and is splattered with green saliva every 20 yards by spitting Somali asylum seekers.
Britain's oldest pavement dating back 4,000 YEARS is uncovered between two ancient ceremonial circles in Cornwall
- Archeologists uncovered the pavement last week at the Hurlers stone circles
- Various clues to the Bronze Age people who built it have also been found
[*]These include flint tools that will be carbon dated to find exact age of road
By Ellie Zolfagharifard
23 September 2013
Daily Mail
Archaeologists have literally walked through history after discovering Britain’s oldest pavement.
The unique stone pathway was built more than 4,000 years ago and is the only one of its kind in the UK.
Experts at the site claim the 4ft wide stone walkway - known as a ‘crystal causeway’ or ‘processional pathway’ - originally linked two ceremonial circles.
Archaeologists have literally walked through history after discovering Britain's oldest pavement on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall
A team from Cornwall’s Historic Environment department has spent the past week at the Hurlers stone circles site near Minions on Bodmin Moor.
The wider significance and exact date of the enigmatic structure will only be known after tests are carried out on material taken from beneath.
Dig director James Gossip said several clues to the Bronze Age people who built it have been found including two flint tools.
A team from Cornwall's Historic Environment department has spent the past week at the Hurlers stone circles (there are three circles) near Minions carefully uncovering a monument believed to be the only one of its kind in the British Isles. According to a legend which is shared with other British stone circles, it is impossible to accurately count the number of stones of the Hurlers stone circles
He said: ‘What they will be looking for is evidence of burnt material, such as seeds, sealed beneath the pavement.
‘This will be radio carbon dated to give a pretty accurate time of its construction and help to verify our assumption that this is a 4,000-year-old structure contemporary with the circles.’
The dig was part of a wider Heritage Lottery-funded project called Mapping The Sun, organised by Caradon Hill Area Heritage Project.
The unique stone pathway was built more than 4,000 years ago and is the only one of its kind in the UK
Lead archaeologist Jacky Nowakowski said: ‘We have already found two prehistoric flint tools in amongst the stones.
‘This has given us a great deal of confidence about how well preserved it is and also the fact that it is related to the two circles on either side.
‘We still don’t know exactly what it is, but by carrying out this work we may discover more about this extremely enigmatic site.’
The project’s findings are due to be published in a report by the end of the year.
The wider significance and exact date of the enigmatic structure will only be known after tests are carried out on material taken from beneath
The Hurlers (Cornish: An Hurlysi) stone circles
There are three ancient Hurlers stone circles.
The Hurlers are in the Caradon district north of Liskeard near the village of Minions on the southern edge of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. Just to the west of the circles are two standing stones known as the Pipers. Nearby are Rillaton Barrow and Trethevy Quoit, an entrance grave from the Neolithic period.
The name "Hurlers" derives from a legend, in which men were playing Cornish hurling on a Sunday and were magically transformed into stones as punishment. The "Pipers" are supposed to be the figures of two men who played tunes on a Sunday and suffered the same fate. According to another legend, it is impossible to accurately count the number of standing stones.
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