4,000-year-old ‘Stonehenge-like’ discovery found by archaeologists under housing estate

Builders putting together a new housing estate have stumbled across a 4,000-year-old site linked to Stonehenge. And the eye-opening thing about this is that the site is not in the United Kingdom, but on mainland Europe.

Accidentally discovered in the North Jutland region of Denmark, it has been labelled an 'extraordinary' find by archaeologists that took over the site after it was found by builders.

The 'Stonehenge-like' site has wowed experts after coming across at least 45 wooden posts set up in a ring shape, roughly 30 metres or 100 feet in diameter.

And now after studying the site, there is a belief it could link cultures right across Europe dating back to the Neolithic period; also known as the New Stone Age.

Stonehenge in England (Getty Stock Images)

Dating back to between 2,600 BC and 1,600 BC, making it up to 4,625 years old, it was first thought that the discovery was a row of post holes until the wider site was discovered in January during an excavation of the area.

Excavation leader Andreas Bo Nielsen and Vesthimmerlands Museum curator Sidsel Wahlin quickly realised they had an incredibly important site under their control.

Dubbed a 'woodhenge' site, it is the second of its kind to be discovered in the local area of Aars. Now, experts say it demonstrates how widespread shared belief systems were and the close connection between Denmark and England despite the North Sea separating the two nations.

Sidsel Wahlin (front left) and Andreas Bo Nielsen (right) with excavation team members Jeppe Skovgaard and Julie Baunvig Aagaard (Vesthimmerlands Museum)

Bo Nielson labelled it an 'extraordinary find' while Wahlin said: "I was like, 'oh my God, a timber circle, there is just no other explanation'."

Historically, these circle structures have links to sun worship, with the likes of Stonehenge a site visited particularly during the winter and summer solstices (something people make the journey for to this day).

Stonehenge itself dates back to between 3,100 BC and 1,600 BC, with the massive stone slabs arranged in a similar circle pattern. To this day those studying the site remain at odds over its true purpose.

The discovery of a second 'woodhenge' site in Denmark has led experts to believing there may have been a shared religion or cultural belief that transcended oceans.

The original Woodhenge site in Wiltshire, England (Getty Stock Images)

"They are ritual centres and sites that are connected with the worship of the sun and the agricultural ritual practices of the time," Wahlin said.

"In order to decide to make such a specific monument you have to understand what it means and how to plan it."

On the new 'woodhenge' in Denmark, Wahlin said it tells us that communities in England and Europe 'shared the same worldviews on large-scale areas on how to be farmers, how society connects with the supernatural'.

The Castlerigg Stone Circle in the Lake District is another Neolithic site in England (Getty Stock Images)

"Building monuments on this scale, you need to understand why and how. If a British person from the time would have come to the site they would have known what they are doing in there," she explained.

DNA testing is now the hope to see if there can be links between this site and other Neolithic sites in the UK.