London, May 6 (IANS): Until now, Thatcham in Buckinghamshire was known as the oldest settlement in Britain but now, archaeologists have unearthed the country's oldest town that dates back more than 10 millennia to 8,820 BC.
An archaeological dig has found the new settlement at a site named ‘Vespasian’s Camp’ at Amesbury in Wiltshire.
The origins of Amesbury were discovered as a result of carbon dating of bones that belonged to aurochs - animals twice the size of bulls, wild boar and red deer.
“The site blows the lid off the Neolithic Revolution - deemed the first agricultural revolution in Middle Eastern history - in a number of ways,” David Jacques, a research fellow in archaeology at University of Buckingham was quoted as saying.
“The first monuments at Stonehenge were built by these people,” the researchers claimed.
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is the remains of a ring of standing stones set within earthworks.
The new findings also dismiss previous theories that the Wiltshire town was conceived by European immigrants.
Instead, relics uncovered point to British natives being behind the settlement.
The dig also unearthed the largest haul of worked flints from the Mesolithic period, media reports said.