Hundreds of 'Rock Crystals' Found From a 6000-Yr-Old Site Indicate Quartz Fragments Were Used to Decorate Graves
The burial practices of ancient populations have always intrigued researchers because of the glimpse it provides into the past belief system. In 2022, archaeologists announced certain materials they had unearthed from a ceremonial site in western England, which suggested how people in those times made burials stand apart, stated Live Science. Findings regarding the site were published in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal.
The discovery was made at Dorstone Hill, about a mile (1.6 km) south of the monument known as Arthur's Stone. Archaeologists spotted fragments of quartz called 'rock crystal' at the site. The fragments were spread all around but were heavily concentrated in the burial mounds. In all, 337 pieces were collected from the location. These findings implied to experts that the Neolithic population was using these minerals to decorate graves as well as other structures at the site. "You can think of it as a really special event," Nick Overton, an archaeologist at the University of Manchester in England, shared. "It feels like they're putting a lot of emphasis on the practice of working [the crystal] … people would have remembered it as being distinctive and different."
Researchers believe that the processing of these materials must have also been a special occurrence. The whole community possibly gathered to watch artisans breaking the crystal into fragments. The group perhaps thought that they were watching a magical particle come to life. The whole process must have been fascinating for the supposed viewers because quartz crystal has triboluminescence. This implies that when struck by something, these crystals emit flashes of light. "If you bash two of these crystals together, they emit little flashes of bluish light, which is really fascinating," Overton explained. "It must have been an arresting experience — the material is quite rare and quite distinctive in this period where there is no glass and no other solid transparent material."
Researchers noted that some of the fragments were prismatic, meaning they were capable of splitting white light into a rainbow. Based on the place where the largest of these crystals were uncovered at the site, experts claimed that the fragments possibly functioned as grave goods. Initially, researchers overlooked the pieces, believing them to be glass. However, when they began to frequently spot them in the area, their perception changed. "It looked like glass, but then we noticed it was a different color," Overton said. "And we started to think, 'Blimey, maybe this is something else.' So that really got us in the mindset of looking for the stuff."
On examination, researchers concluded that these materials were brought from either a cave in the mountains of Snowdonia in the north of Wales or from St. David's Head on the southwest coast of Wales. Both places were considerably far from the site of discovery. Experts believe further analysis will help them understand how such materials were transported and used in ancient times. "I felt it was really important to point out just how wonderful and how interesting this material is," Overton said. "And it might help us think about other aspects of [the Neolithic] period, such as connections of trade or exchange, and also the way that people think about and engage with materials."