Dramatic discovery links Stonehenge to its original site – in Wales

Listen to the extract from the video and answer the questions below

Dramatic discovery links Stonehenge to its original site – in Wales

Fri 12 Feb 2021 

An ancient myth about Stonehenge, first recorded 900 years ago, tells of the wizard Merlin leading men to Ireland to capture a magical stone circle called the Giants’ Dance and rebuilding it in England as a memorial to the dead.

Geoffrey of Monmouth’s account had been dismissed, partly because he was wrong on other historical facts, although the bluestones of the monument came from a region of Wales that was considered Irish territory in his day.

Now a vast stone circle created by our Neolithic ancestors has been discovered in Wales with features suggesting that the 12th-century legend may not be complete fantasy. Its diameter of 110 metres is identical to the ditch that encloses Stonehenge and it is aligned on the midsummer solstice sunrise, just like the Wiltshire monument.

A series of buried stone-holes that follow the circle’s outline has been unearthed, with shapes that can be linked to Stonehenge’s bluestone pillars. One of them bears an imprint in its base that matches the unusual cross-section of a Stonehenge bluestone “like a key in a lock”, the archaeologists discovered.

Mike Parker Pearson, a professor of British later prehistory at University College London, told the Guardian: “I’ve been researching Stonehenge for 20 years now and this really is the most exciting thing we’ve ever found.”

The evidence backs a century-old theory that the nation’s greatest prehistoric monument was built in Wales and venerated for hundreds of years before being dismantled and dragged to Wiltshire, where it was resurrected as a second-hand monument.

A century ago the geologist Herbert Thomas established that the bluestones at Stonehenge originated in the Preseli hills. The newly discovered circle is virtually a stone’s throw (3 miles) from Preseli, being dragged more than 140 miles to Salisbury Plain some 5,000 years ago.

Question 1: [2 POINTS] Indicate whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE and write down the sentences or part of the text that justifies your answer. No points will be given if the evidence is not correct.

      a)      Wales has always been part of England.

b)      Geoffrey’s myth is likely to be true.

c)       The new site was found underground.

d)      The stones at Stonehenge were taken from Wales.

Question 3: [1,5 POINTS] Find words or phrases in the text that correspond to the words and definitions given. You only need to have five correct answers to get 1,5 points.

a)      to reject (par.2)

b)      Ample (par.3)

c)       Impression (par.4)

d)      to support (par.6)

e)     to undo (par.6)

f)     very near to (par.7)

 

 KEY

Q.1

a)      FALSE “a region of Wales that was considered Irish territory in his day

b)      TRUE “the 12th-century legend may not be complete fantasy” OR “The evidence backs a century-old theory”

c)       TRUE “the circle’s outline has been unearthed”

d)      TRUE “the bluestones at Stonehenge originated in the Preseli hills. The newly discovered circle is virtually a stone’s throw (3 miles) from Preseli”

Q.3

a)      (to) dismiss(ed)

b)      (vast)

c)       imprint

d)      (to) back(s)

e)     (to) dismantle(d)

f)     stone’s throw