LordDragonII
Dr.Strangelove
Remains found near Stonehenge are almost certainly of an ancient people who built the monument, excited archaeologists have revealed.
Researchers investigating the origins of the seven 4,500 year-old skeletons found buried on Salisbury Plain last year have run chemical tests to trace their origins and age.
They have concluded they are of people from south-west Wales - the same region from where bluestones forming the world-famous iconic monument originate.
Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick, of Wessex Archaeology, said: "In medieval times, people believed that the stones could only have been brought to Stonehenge by Merlin the Wizard.
"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 seven skeletons were found by workmen digging trenches for a housing development at Boscombe, Wiltshire, and have been dubbed the Boscombe Bowmen because of the flint arrowheads found in the graves.
Scientists say the bones of the three children, a teenager and three men are so similar they must be related.
They have tested the enamel on their teeth which as it forms in developing years, provides a unique fingerprint of where they grew up.
Tests by scientists of the British Geological Survey on the strontium isotopes in the Bowmen's teeth show that they grew up in a place where the rocks are very radioactive. This was either in the Lake District or Wales.
Researchers investigating the origins of the seven 4,500 year-old skeletons found buried on Salisbury Plain last year have run chemical tests to trace their origins and age.
They have concluded they are of people from south-west Wales - the same region from where bluestones forming the world-famous iconic monument originate.
Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick, of Wessex Archaeology, said: "In medieval times, people believed that the stones could only have been brought to Stonehenge by Merlin the Wizard.
"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 seven skeletons were found by workmen digging trenches for a housing development at Boscombe, Wiltshire, and have been dubbed the Boscombe Bowmen because of the flint arrowheads found in the graves.
Scientists say the bones of the three children, a teenager and three men are so similar they must be related.
They have tested the enamel on their teeth which as it forms in developing years, provides a unique fingerprint of where they grew up.
Tests by scientists of the British Geological Survey on the strontium isotopes in the Bowmen's teeth show that they grew up in a place where the rocks are very radioactive. This was either in the Lake District or Wales.
