In Ireland, an international team of archaeologists used remote scan of the area and with her help found the underground remains of a huge religious complex built in prehistoric times.
according to the newspaper Irish Times, archaeologists believe they have found evidence of the existence of the monumental temples of the iron age on the site of the residences of the first kings of Ulster at Navan Fort, near Armagh.
In the work took part the staff of Queen’s University Belfast, University of Aberdeen and the German archaeological Institute in Frankfurt. Navan Fort was the ancient capital of Ulster and one of the five largest ceremonial centers. The memory of those times keep numerous legends.
a New study shows that life flourished in these places long before the first kings of Ulster and the knights. This is indicated by the data of the lidar survey conducted from the air using a special laser scanning device. It allows you to identify the under surface objects without field excavations.
remote sensing Technology have helped scientists to find evidence of the hypothesis put forward in the 1960-ies. In that period of time here were excavated in which was found a few destroyed prehistoric structures.
the Most notable of these was a religious building, approximately dated to 95 BC. It consisted of several circles made of wooden poles. The diameter of the largest one was 40 meters.
more than half a century ago, scientists suggested that this could be a large temple complex. However, conducting large-scale excavations requires a lot of funding, so they never held. The remains of the buildings that were found in the 1960-ies, just announced the residences of the first kings.
But a new study proves that these structures were built much earlier. Their exact age could be determined only after field work. But it is already clear that it is not one thousand years. This, in particular, says their architecture.
Underground structures, as shown by the scan, was neither luxurious Royal residence or ordinary residential buildings. The researchers came to the conclusion that it was monumental temples of the iron age, which together constituted a single religious complex.
the Discovery confirms the hypothesis that Navan Fort was a sacred place for the inhabitants of this region, since it was built actually on the site of a much older temple complex.
