Researchers at the University of Manchester in England and English Heritage, a charity that manages historic monuments and buildings, have started to excavate a 5,000-year-old tomb tied to the legend of King Arthur, known as Arthur's Stone, according to CNN.
Arthur's Stone is located in Herefordshire and "according to legend, it was here that Arthur slew a giant who left the impression of his elbows on one of the stones as he fell," per the University of Manchester.
"Like many prehistoric monuments in western England and Wales, this tomb has been linked to King Arthur since before the 13th century," the University of Manchester added in a news release.
Ginny Slade, Volunteer Manager at English Heritage, said that the tomb's excavation will be available for the public to view.
"Arthur’s Stone is one of the country’s most significant Stone Age monuments, and this excavation gives a really rare and exciting chance for members of the public to come and see archaeology in action," Slade said. "Our team of wonderful volunteers will be on hand to explain the latest findings as they happen - we’re asking people to book in advance to make sure everyone has a chance to enjoy this great opportunity."
Julian Thomas, professor of archaeology at the University of Manchester, added that the excavation will help researchers learn more about the land. The English Heritage added that other examples of tombs or rock structures in the region have discovered "incomplete skeletal remains of several people, together with flint flakes, arrowheads and pottery."
"Arthur’s Stone is one of this country’s outstanding prehistoric monuments, set in a breathtaking location - yet it remains poorly understood. Our work seeks to restore it to its rightful place in the story of Neolithic Britain," Thomas said.
“I think it has considerable potential," Thomas told the London Times, according to the Smithsonian Magazine. "It’s a monument of an entirely different kind to the one that we’d imagined."
The University of Manchester explained in the news release the current size and structure of the rocks that make up the tomb, showing just how large they really are.
"Today, only the large stones of the inner chamber remains, which is placed in a mound of earth and stones whose original size and shape remains a mystery," according to the news release. "The chamber is formed of nine upright stones, with an enormous capstone estimated to weigh more than 25 tons on top."
Thomas told CNN in an email that nothing has ever been found at the chamber before, and that we can assume it has been disturbed in modern times. He added that beginnings of a path which lead south from the tomb into the Golden Valley were found last year.
"It was assumed that Arthur’s Stone stood within a wedge-shaped stone cairn, similar to those found in the Cotswolds and South Wales, but Manchester’s Professor Julian Thomas and Cardiff’s Professor Keith Ray found that the monument originally extended into a field to the southwest, and may have taken the form of a low turf mound with rounded ends," the University of Manchester said in the news release.
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