Excavations in that area saw definite signs of ditches and burial mounds. Archaeologists recently discovered a 4,500-year-old Stonehenge-like sanctuary in the central Netherlands. This large area is believed to have been used as a burial ground, like Stonehenge in England, in the past. Interestingly, the earthen mounds are aligned with the Sun on solstices and equinoxes.
The Dutch cemetery is about three times the size of a football ground. All the burial places were made of soil and wood. Archaeologists have also recovered human skulls, animal skeletons and bronze valuables from the site. It is believed that all those things were offered to the deceased. This 9.4 acres (or 3.8 hectares) burial ground has been found in Tiel, 70km east of Rotterdam.
Researchers have stressed that the largest of the three mounds holds the remains of men, women and children who died between about BC 2500 and BC 1200. In other words, people were buried at this sanctuary over a period of eight centuries. While some people were buried, others were cremated. It has prompted the researchers to come to the conclusion that "these deceased must have played an important role in the rituals".
The concerned authorities have issued a statement, mentioning that the newly-found cemetery was once quite important. According to the statement, common people used to visit the place on any special day of the year mainly to perform various rituals or to bury their loved ones. Archaeologists are of the opinion that people used to come to this place as members of processions, as there are poles on both sides of the road.
Although researchers did not find any stone boulders in this sanctuary, they believe that the largest burial mound used to serve as a calendar, helping people mark the movements of the Sun. According to researchers, precious artefacts, like the bronze spearhead, were buried at a place where the Sun's rays hit the ground through an opening at the sanctuary. They also believe that tracking the solstices and equinoxes was "important for religious festivals, for example, but also to calculate what the sowing and harvesting times (were)". Perhaps, people used to celebrate some special solar days, and a farm (discovered at the site) might have served as a spot for festive gatherings.
Researchers reportedly found several tombs here during the discovery of the huge area in 2017. They also recovered a few glass beads from a tomb of a lady. Later, researchers confirmed that those beads were from Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). These glass beads, which are the oldest known beads in the Netherlands, have revealed that people in the region had a close contact with cultures nearly 5,000km away 4,000 years ago.
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