The people who built Stonehenge in southernEngland thou-sands of years ago had wild parties, eating barbecued pigs andbreaking pottery. This is accordingto recent workby archaeologists—history experts who investigate how human beings lived inthe past.
Archaeologists digging nearStonehenge last year discovered theremains of a large prehistoric villagewhere they think the builders of themysterious stone circle used to live. The village is about 4,600 years old,
the same age as Stonehenge and as old as the pyramids in Egypt. U isless than two miles from the famous ancient landmark and lies inside amassive man-made circular dirt wall, or " henge " ,known as the DurringtonWalls.
Remains found at the site included jewelry, stone arrowheads, tools made of deer antlers, wooden spears and huge amounts of animal bones and broken pottery. “These finds suggest Stone Age people went to the village at special times of the year to feast andparty, “says Mike Parker-Pearson from Sheffield University in England.
He said many of the pig bones they found had been thrownaway half-eaten. He also said the partygoers appeared to have shotsome of the farm pigs with arrows, possibly as a kind of sport beforebarbecuing them.
An ancient road which led from the village to the River Avonwas also found. Here, the experts think, people came after their par-ties to throw dead relatives in the water so the bodies would bewashed downstream to Stonehenge.
Parker-Pearson believes Stonehenge was like a cemetery whereancient Britons buried the dead and remembered their ancestors. “The theory is that Stonehenge is a kind of spirit home to the ancestors.
The recent discovery of the village within the Durrington Wallsshows that Stonehenge didn't stand alone but was part of a muchbigger religious site, according to Parker-Pearson.
People still come to worship and celebrate at Stonehengetoday. They meet there when the sun sets on the shortest day of winterand when it rises on the longest day of summer. But the days of barbecuing whole pigs there and throwing family members into the riverare a thing of the past.
What was Stonehenge according to the text?
A.A village where hundreds of people once lived. |
B.A place that regularly hosted large parties. |
C.A church where local villagers would get married. |
D.A site where dead people were placed or remembered. |
The underlined word “It” (Paragraph 2) refers to _________
A.the village | B.Stonehenge |
C.the pyramid | D.the dirt wall |
From the text we can infer that the people who came to the village _________
A.liked to drink wine | B.knew how to hunt |
C.were from Egypt | D.lived by the River Avon |
What do experts think people did after the village parties?
A.Returned to live at Stonehenge. |
B.Prayed for good luck in the new year. |
C.Hunted farm pigs as a sport. |
D.Put their dead relatives in the river. |
When do people most often go to Stonehenge today?
A.When a new discovery is made. |
B.At the beginning of summer and winter. |
C.On the longest and shortest days of the year. |
D.When they want to have a barbecue. |