In legend, King Arthur and his knights ruled England more than 1,000 years ago before vanishing from history.
Now, archaeologists have found that the mysterious site known as King Arthur’s Hall is 4,000 years older than previously thought.
King Arthur’s Hall in Bodmin, Cornwall was once considered to be nothing more than a simple medieval animal pen.
However, a team of researchers have now revealed that the site actually dates back to the early Neolithic period 5,500 years ago.
This means the strange stone structure could be even older than Stonehenge and predates the legend of Arthur by thousands of years.
And, like its more famous counterpart, scientists say that the original purpose of King Arthur’s Hall remains a total mystery.
Built as ancient Britons first settled down in permanent locations, the site is without comparison anywhere in the UK or Europe.
Pete Herring, President of the Cornwall Archaeological Society, says: ‘The monument retains its mystery: there are no Neolithic parallels for a stone-lined sunken and embanked rectangular enclosure.’
Archaeologists say that the mysterious site known as King Arthur’s Hall (pictured) is 4,000 years older than had previously been thought
Scientists once thought that the strange stone structure was nothing more than a medieval animal pen. Now, scientists date the structure back to the Neolithic period
The site is located on the western side of Bodmin Moor, near Helston.
It consists of a large banked enclosure measuring 49m (160ft) long by 21m (69ft) wide, lined with 56 standing stones up to 1.8m (5.9ft) tall.
The name first emerged in 1583 as local legends began to surround the enigmatic structure but, for many years, scientists simply believed the ‘hall’ to be a type of medieval animal pen called a pound.
However, when investigations by a local volunteer group raised questions about the site’s medieval origins, Cornwall National Landscape, which manages the surrounding land, ordered a full investigation.
Together, scientists from the Cornwall Archaeological Unit, local volunteers, and experts from the universities of Reading, St Andrews and Newcastle carefully dug down into the site.
Their excavations uncovered samples of pollen, insects, and parasite eggs which were tested with radiocarbon dating and optically stimulated luminescence.
This revealed that the original interior of the site had been dug away sometime around 3000 BC, 4,000 years earlier than had initially been ᴀssumed.
Dr Tim Kinnaird, an archaeologist from the University of St Andrews, says that the discovery of a definitive date for the hall was a ‘major revelation’.
King Arthur’s Hall is located in Bodmin, Cornwall and consists of a banked structure 49m (160ft) long by 21m (69ft) wide lined with 56 standing stones up to 1.8m (5.9ft) tall
Digging down into the structure, researchers uncovered pollen, insects and parasite eggs which were dated to 3000 BC
‘We now have to re-appraise our understanding of the prehistoric landscape of Bodmin Moor,’ said Dr Kinnaird.
While the archaeologists might have solved the puzzle of when King Arthur’s Hall was built, this earlier date now opens up an even bigger mystery.
King Arthur, if he actually existed, is typically ᴀssociated with the early Anglo-Saxon period in the fifth and sixth centuries.
This means that, despite its royal name, the structure actually pre-dates the time of King Arthur by at least 3,500 years.
In fact, the hall dates back even earlier than the stone circles of the bronze age which dot the Cornish countryside.
During the Neolithic period in which King Arthur’s Hall was built, people had just begun to settle in permanent locations for the first time and built some of the earliest stone enclosures.
Nowhere else in the UK or Europe have scientists discovered a similar banked structure lined with standing stones from this period of time.
That makes King Arthur’s Hall a totally unique structure for its time period, shrouding its original use in mystery.
Experts say that there is no other site like King Arthur’s Hall from this time period anywhere in the UK or Europe, making its original purpose a mystery
The researchers (pictured) hope that by providing an accurate date for the site they will be able to help uncover the mystery of why King Arthur’s Hall was built and what it was used for
Some scientists suggest that the site may have been a gathering place used by ancient communities or that it could have had a religious significance.
But without additional evidence or other sites to compare it to there is simply no way to know exactly what our Neolithic ancestors used King Arthur’s Hall for.
Mr Herring says: ‘We may presume it was a sacred site, a place for gatherings, for rituals or ceremonies but perhaps Neolithic people made and used it for very different purposes.’
To make things more challenging, the researchers also found that the site had been upgraded and added to at several points in its history.
James Gossip, lead archaeologist from the Cornwall Archaeological Unit, says that it may have been used as an animal pen or even a water reservoir during the medieval period.
However, the archaeologists working on the site remain confident that further investigations will be able to unravel the mystery of King Arthur’s Hall and reveal more details about its history.
Mr Gossip adds: ‘Knowing when King Arthur’s Hall was built will help us understand this unique monument form better how it might have originally been used and how it could have been used over time.’
