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Have you heard of Seahenge?
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The summer solstice occurs on June 20 or 21 in the Northern Hemisphere and no site is more popular to see the sunset than Stonehenge in England. But did you know that there is also another structure known as “Seahenge”?
Discovered in 1998, Seahenge is a 4000 year old structure, revealed by shifting sands on the North Norfolk Holme beach on the north Norfolk coast. Archaeologists have estimated it to have been built around 2049 BC.
John Lorimer stumbled upon the upturned tree stump and a Bronze Age axe. He informed Norwich Castle Museum, after which the henge was excavated.
It got the moniker “Seahenge” because it resembled the more famous Stongehenge in Wiltshire, although it was built on the beach. During the Bronze Age, this beach was not a sandy beach, however, but a salt marsh. The mysterious structure was positioned in such a way that the surrounding dunes and mud flats protected it from sea intrusion. Gradually, over the course of 4000 years, the sea has risen, encroaching into the land upon which Seahenge stood, eventually covering the peat that was preserving the Seahenge timber pillars, protecting it from natural decay.
The structure comprises of an unturned tree stump encircled by 55 closely fitted oak posts. There is a second ring adjacent to it, centred…
