One of oldest monuments in the world sits on UK council estate

While you might expect a phone box to be the oldest relic sitting on a UK council estate, it turns out that one estate has one of the world's oldest stone monuments right next to it.

The single megalith - meaning a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument - is made from grey sandstone and stands at nearly 7ft tall.

Because it's not in a museum or hallowed site, the only clue hinting at its historic status are the railings that surround it to protect it from would-be vandals.

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And this megalith, which is as old as Stonehenge or the Pyramids, is just sat next to a block of flats in a cul-de-sac on Ravenswood Avenue, Edinburgh.

Illustrations from the 19th century show the megalith standing alone in fields near Edinburgh.

It remained untouched on its original site until it was moved in the early 1800s to facilitate road widening in the developing area.

By the 1960s, it was moved again as the new housing estate began to take shape. It currently stands around 100 metres north of its original position.

Some theorise that the ancient stone was put in place to commemorate an ancient battle that we no longer have a record of, but a lot remains unknown about the badly weathered relic.

But it isn't the only one.

In fact, it's one of several megaliths found dotted around the area - but it's the only one found on a housing estate.

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The standing stone is a scheduled monument.

A spokesman for Historic Environment Scotland saying: "The monument is of national importance as an icon of prehistoric ritual, albeit in a modern urban setting.

"Although the stone no longer has any archaeological potential, it is a monument with cultural significance, capable of speaking to a modern urban population, and worthy of legal protection in its present setting."

And researchers have also stumbled upon another discovery at Vindolanda, a Roman fort south of Hadrian's Wall in northern England.

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Excavations indicate the area was under Roman occupation from roughly 85 AD to 370 AD, and it was while working there in 1992, that researchers came across a wooden object around 6.2 inches in length.

The object, carved from ash, had been honed by humans to create a long, smooth shaft and an unmistakeable tip, bringing a whole new meaning to the term 'wood'.

Yep, you guessed it, experts from the University of Cambridge have recently revisited the find and concluded that it could have been used as a sex toy or to ward off evil back in the day.

Let's not think about the splinters though.