There is a mound there that served as a "solar calendar."

Archaeologists in Tiel revealed an "amazing find, unique in the Netherlands": a more than 4,000-year-old "outdoor shrine" where locals gathered to perform sacrifices and ceremonies.

The archaeological monument, known as "Dutch Stonehenge," is the size of three football fields and features a mound that served as a "solar calendar."

Over 60 men's, women's, and children's remains were found inside the mound, which had a diameter of about 20 meters. During the longest and shortest days of the year, sunlight directly entered via its holes.

The excavation, whose findings were revealed today, started in Tiel, which is located about 50 kilometers from Utrecht, in 2017.

"Such a remarkable archeological find! A 4,000-year-old shrine has been discovered by archaeologists in an industrial region. "Tiel's government posted something on its Facebook page. The municipality observed that "it is the first time that such a site has been unearthed in the Netherlands."

Three mounds

Just a few kilometers from the bank of the Vaal, the archaeologists discovered a total of three burial mounds in this region by examining the variations in the soil's chemical makeup.

According to the researchers, the apertures around the main mound served as a solar calendar that "recorded crucial dates such as feasts and harvest."

According to national broadcaster NOS, "this hill is reminiscent of Stonehenge, the famous and enigmatic prehistoric monument in England, where the same phenomenon happens." The size of the other two mounds is smaller. They were all interred for about 800 years.

An old Mesopotamian bead was also discovered

An astonishing find made by archaeologists was a glass bead that was discovered within a tomb and was later determined to have originated in Mesopotamia, which is modern-day Iraq. 5,000 kilometers were covered by this bead four millennia ago, according to team leader Christian van der Linde.

According to Stein Arnoldussen of the University of Groningen, "Glass was not manufactured here; the bead was a surprise thing for people because it was composed of an unfamiliar material. According to scientists, the bead is evidence that people from the two places had previously interacted at that time.