Like England’s famous Stonehenge, the sanctuary, which is at least three football fields in size and built with earth and wood, was built to align with the sun.
Archaeologists have also discovered valuable items such as animal skeletons, human skulls and a bronze spearhead in areas east of Rotterdam where the sun shines through the openings, according to a statement from the municipality of Tiel.
“The largest mound served as a solar calendar. Like the famous stones of Stonehenge in England,” the archaeologists said in a statement.
“This sanctuary must have been a very important place, a place where people followed the special days of the year, performed rituals and buried their dead. Rows of pillars stood along the trails used for processions,” the explorers said. expressions were used.
Archaeologists also discovered several tombs while excavating the site in 2017. One tomb belonged to a woman buried with a glass bead from Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq.
It is known to be the oldest bead ever found in the Netherlands, and the researchers said this proves that people in this region were in contact with people from about 5,000km away.
Archaeologists have spent six years researching more than a million excavated objects from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman Empire and the Middle Ages.
After the excavation work was completed, the area was covered.
Some of the discoveries will be displayed at a local museum in Tiel and at the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities.