TEMPLE OF 4000 YEARS AGO

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 304, 19 September 1936, Page 11

TEMPLE OF 4000 YEARS AGO

Discovery in England While digging recently at Maiden Castle, the prehistoric earthwork neat Dorchester. Dorset, students came upon traces of a massive timber*structure, states the "Daily z Telegraph.” It is believed to date from the earliest days of this historic site, some 4000 years ago. A succession of floors dating from the Stone Age to the Roman occupation i-s being investigated. It Is too early to say what this timber structure represents, but further light will be thrown on the discovery within a few days. Dr. R. E. Mortimer Wheeler, Keeper of the London Museum, who is in charge of the excavations, went at once to the sr>ot when students working under his directions made the discovery. They were digging in a deep, narrow trench, whftn they came upon two postholes. The fact that the holes were close together iu the narrow trench suggests that the posts had a great burden to support, and from the size of the portholes the building must have been one of considerable dimensions.

“The nature of this structure is not yet certain,” Dr. Wheeler .said; “but the remains are being explored. It may even prove to be the site of an ancient temple, used for worship hundreds of years liefore Christ. “Our excavation party is larger than In previous years. We have between 50 and 60 students from many British and foreign universities, ranging from China to America, and including a number of people from India. “Work is proceeding upon three separate sites, each relating to one or more of the main periods in the history of the camp. Particular interest attaches to the new discoveries tn relation to the Stone Age occupation of the hilltop some 4000 years ago. 16 centuries or more before Maiden Castle itself was built. “Further lengths of rhe entrenchments which surrounded the Neolithic town are being excavated, and large quantities of pottery representing the three main civilisations of England about 2000 B.C. are being recovered. These civilisations derived partly from France, partly from Scandinavia and partly from the region of the Rhine “We find the three civilisations approaching from different directions and meeting here. The occupation of the village, as Maiden Castle then was. ended at the beginning of the Bronze Age, soon after the nineteenth or eighteenth century B.C.