Discovery of up to 25 Mesolithic pits in Bedfordshire astounds archaeologists

Three pits in alignment at Linmere. The discovery could offer extraordinary insights into the period. Photograph: Mola

A prehistoric site with as many as 25 monumental pits has been discovered in Bedfordshire to the astonishment of archaeologists.

Found in Linmere, they date from the Mesolithic period, 12,000 to 6,000 years ago, a time from which few clues into the lives of our hunter-gatherer ancestors survive.