Circle of Oak Timbers in England Felled More Than 4,000 Years Ago

A recently discovered circle of 55 oak timbers surrounding a large inverted oak tree has been precisely dated, British researchers report in today’s Nature. The circle, called Seahenge, was discovered in August 1998 in the intertidal zone at Holme-Next-the-Sea in Norfolk.

Using a combination of tree-ring and radiocarbon dating, archeologist Alex Bayliss and his colleagues at English Heritage determined that the center tree was felled sometime between April and June of 2050 BC and that the surrounding trees were harvested at the same time the following year. The precise purpose of the circle, like that of stone henges throughout the country, is not known, but it may be an astronomical observatory.