Simpler, older version of Stonehenge found three miles from famous site
Image source, English Heritage
The huge stones at Stonehenge mark the movements of the Sun
ByAlison Francissenior science journalist and Rebecca Morelle science editor
Archaeologists believe they have discovered an earlier, much simpler version of Stonehenge about 3 miles (5km) away from the prehistoric monument.
All that remains of the older structure is two holes in the ground, but the team says they held wooden posts that lined up with the Sun on the summer and winter solstices - the longest and shortest days of the year - in the same way as Stonehenge.
The site has been dated to about 5,000 years old, which predates Stonehenge by 500 years.
Artefacts were also found at the site, including pottery, flint tools and animal bone, suggesting prehistoric people held gatherings there.
Phil Harding, from Wessex Archaeology, who led the excavation, said it was one of the best finds of his long career.
"Two post pits tell me [much] more about the people 5,000 years ago," he said.
"This tells me about the whole community, this tells me about how they were thinking, how they were behaving, how they were revering the heavens."
Image source, Tony Jolliffe/BBC News
Phil Harding says discovering the structure has been a career high
The huge stones at Stonehenge are precisely placed to line up with the Sun.
If you stand in middle of the circle at sunrise on the summer solstice, you will see the Sun come up over a stone called the heel stone to the north east of the circle.
On midwinter, if standing in the centre of the circle, you would see the sun set over an altar stone to the south west of the site.
The structure, discovered in the village of Bulford, was a much more simple construction made up of just two wooden posts, which have long since rotted away.
They were positioned 120m (394ft) apart and estimated to be between 2m and 4m high.
When Harding uncovered the intriguing holes, he noticed that they seemed to line up with the Sun, just like Stonehenge located a few miles away.
"I got my pencil and ruler, and I joined them up, and I was aware that they were kind of pointing in the general direction of the sunrise on midsummer," he said.
Image source, Tony Jolliffe/BBC News
A number of artefacts were found at the site, including this rounded flint knife
The traces of the earlier structure were found a decade ago in Bulford when the ground was cleared for new army housing.
But it is only now that a detailed analysis of the alignment has been carried out, which involved turning back the celestial clock.
"The sky - the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets and stars - they change very slowly throughout the centuries. We don't really notice it during our lifetimes," said Dr Fabio Silva, an archaeoastronomer from Bournemouth University and the Skyscape Academy.
"So we basically need to reconstruct the sky, what it looked like exactly 5,000 years ago, where the Sun was rising and what time it was rising in those places.
"If you take into account the width of the posts… then the alignment is exactly, exactly right. It's accurately aligned to summer solstice sunrise and winter solstice sunset."
The pits that held these posts were not the only discovery during the excavation, surrounding them were dozens of other holes containing artefacts belonging to the prehistoric people of Bulford village.
These objects have helped to establish the age of the site. The team used radiocarbon dating, which looks at how a special form of carbon changes over time, to work out that the structure was 5,000 years old.
The artefacts included an antler that would have been used for digging, and other carved animal bones, as well as finely decorated fragments of pottery.
Tools made of flint were also uncovered, including a rare Neolithic knife that has been rounded into a disc-shape (discoidal).
"It was, I think, our star find," said Harding of Wessex Archaeology.
"What is so special about it is the workmanship that's gone into it. That is the work of real craftsmanship."
He said the knife was found in an upright position, like it had been carefully placed, and he wonders if it had a symbolic significance.
"Maybe that discoidal shape is some sort of reference to the Sun, who knows?," he said.
Image source, Wessex Archaeology
Each hole was about half a metre wide and the two were separated by 120m (400ft)
The monument at Bulford dates to the same time as the earliest phase of activity at Stonehenge, when the first earthworks were built half a Millennium before the stones were placed.
"The discovery of Bulford actually suggests that maybe the people who built the first stages of Stonehenge were based or living there, or at least gathering seasonally to do the construction work at Stonehenge," said Dr Jennifer Wexler, curator of history at English Heritage.
But why were these prehistoric people so fascinated with the Sun?
"The people who built Stonehenge and the people who were at Bulford were early farmers, and their livelihoods really were connected to the seasons and the Sun doing its job," explained Wexler.
Today, the summer solstice at Stonehenge is the biggest draw, when thousands of people come to witness sunrise at the monument.
But Wexler says 5,000 years ago, the winter solstice - the shortest day of the year -held more significance for the ancient communities.
"Winter might have been particularly important because it's a time of year when the light is literally dying, and maybe you need to do something to evoke that return or mark it, because then it's a return of the spring, when hopefully your crops and your animals will thrive."
Read the full story at BBC ↗
Archaeologists have identified an earlier solar-alignment structure in Bulford, 3 miles from Stonehenge, consisting of two wooden posts spaced 120 metres apart. Radiocarbon dating places the site at approximately 5,000 years old, predating Stonehenge's stone construction by 500 years. The posts aligned with sunrise on the summer solstice and sunset on the winter solstice, matching Stonehenge's solar orientation. Excavation uncovered pottery, flint tools, animal bones, and a carefully crafted disc-shaped flint knife in surrounding pits, indicating the site hosted prehistoric gatherings. The chronological overlap with Stonehenge's earliest earthwork phase raises the possibility that the communities were connected, potentially using Bulford seasonally during construction work. The solar focus of both sites reflects the agricultural societies' reliance on seasonal cycles.
Read the full story at BBC ↗
Image source, English Heritage
The huge stones at Stonehenge mark the movements of the Sun
ByAlison Francissenior science journalist and Rebecca Morelle science editor
Archaeologists believe they have discovered an earlier, much simpler version of Stonehenge about 3 miles (5km) away from the prehistoric monument.
All that remains of the older structure is two holes in the ground, but the team says they held wooden posts that lined up with the Sun on the summer and winter solstices - the longest and shortest days of the year - in the same way as Stonehenge.
The site has been dated to about 5,000 years old, which predates Stonehenge by 500 years.
Artefacts were also found at the site, including pottery, flint tools and animal bone, suggesting prehistoric people held gatherings there.
Phil Harding, from Wessex Archaeology, who led the excavation, said it was one of the best finds of his long career.
"Two post pits tell me [much] more about the people 5,000 years ago," he said.
"This tells me about the whole community, this tells me about how they were thinking, how they were behaving, how they were revering the heavens."
Image source, Tony Jolliffe/BBC News
Phil Harding says discovering the structure has been a career high
The huge stones at Stonehenge are precisely placed to line up with the Sun.
If you stand in middle of the circle at sunrise on the summer solstice, you will see the Sun come up over a stone called the heel stone to the north east of the circle.
On midwinter, if standing in the centre of the circle, you would see the sun set over an altar stone to the south west of the site.
The structure, discovered in the village of Bulford, was a much more simple construction made up of just two wooden posts, which have long since rotted away.
They were positioned 120m (394ft) apart and estimated to be between 2m and 4m high.
When Harding uncovered the intriguing holes, he noticed that they seemed to line up with the Sun, just like Stonehenge located a few miles away.
"I got my pencil and ruler, and I joined them up, and I was aware that they were kind of pointing in the general direction of the sunrise on midsummer," he said.
Image source, Tony Jolliffe/BBC News
A number of artefacts were found at the site, including this rounded flint knife
The traces of the earlier structure were found a decade ago in Bulford when the ground was cleared for new army housing.
But it is only now that a detailed analysis of the alignment has been carried out, which involved turning back the celestial clock.
"The sky - the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets and stars - they change very slowly throughout the centuries. We don't really notice it during our lifetimes," said Dr Fabio Silva, an archaeoastronomer from Bournemouth University and the Skyscape Academy.
"So we basically need to reconstruct the sky, what it looked like exactly 5,000 years ago, where the Sun was rising and what time it was rising in those places.
"If you take into account the width of the posts… then the alignment is exactly, exactly right. It's accurately aligned to summer solstice sunrise and winter solstice sunset."
The pits that held these posts were not the only discovery during the excavation, surrounding them were dozens of other holes containing artefacts belonging to the prehistoric people of Bulford village.
These objects have helped to establish the age of the site. The team used radiocarbon dating, which looks at how a special form of carbon changes over time, to work out that the structure was 5,000 years old.
The artefacts included an antler that would have been used for digging, and other carved animal bones, as well as finely decorated fragments of pottery.
Tools made of flint were also uncovered, including a rare Neolithic knife that has been rounded into a disc-shape (discoidal).
"It was, I think, our star find," said Harding of Wessex Archaeology.
"What is so special about it is the workmanship that's gone into it. That is the work of real craftsmanship."
He said the knife was found in an upright position, like it had been carefully placed, and he wonders if it had a symbolic significance.
"Maybe that discoidal shape is some sort of reference to the Sun, who knows?," he said.
Image source, Wessex Archaeology
Each hole was about half a metre wide and the two were separated by 120m (400ft)
The monument at Bulford dates to the same time as the earliest phase of activity at Stonehenge, when the first earthworks were built half a Millennium before the stones were placed.
"The discovery of Bulford actually suggests that maybe the people who built the first stages of Stonehenge were based or living there, or at least gathering seasonally to do the construction work at Stonehenge," said Dr Jennifer Wexler, curator of history at English Heritage.
But why were these prehistoric people so fascinated with the Sun?
"The people who built Stonehenge and the people who were at Bulford were early farmers, and their livelihoods really were connected to the seasons and the Sun doing its job," explained Wexler.
Today, the summer solstice at Stonehenge is the biggest draw, when thousands of people come to witness sunrise at the monument.
But Wexler says 5,000 years ago, the winter solstice - the shortest day of the year -held more significance for the ancient communities.
"Winter might have been particularly important because it's a time of year when the light is literally dying, and maybe you need to do something to evoke that return or mark it, because then it's a return of the spring, when hopefully your crops and your animals will thrive."
Read the full story at BBC ↗
An earlier solar-alignment structure was discovered in Bulford, approximately 3 miles from Stonehenge. The structure consisted of two wooden posts positioned 120 metres apart. Radiocarbon dating indicates the site is approximately 5,000 years old. The posts aligned with sunrise on the summer solstice and sunset on the winter solstice. The Bulford site predates Stonehenge's stone construction by approximately 500 years. Artifacts including pottery, flint tools, animal bones, and a disc-shaped flint knife were found at the site. The discovery suggests people who built early Stonehenge may have been based in or gathered seasonally at Bulford. The careful placement and craftsmanship of the disc-shaped knife suggests symbolic significance, possibly referencing the Sun. Ancient peoples were fascinated by solar cycles because their livelihoods as early farmers were connected to seasons. Winter solstice held greater significance for ancient communities than summer solstice because the return of light symbolized the return of spring and abundance.
Read the full story at BBC ↗
- Archaeologists discovered a simpler solar-aligned structure 3 miles from Stonehenge, dated to 5,000 years ago—500 years older than the famous site.
- The structure consisted of two wooden posts 120m apart positioned to align with summer and winter solstices, similar to Stonehenge's solar orientation.
- Artifacts found nearby—pottery, flint tools, animal bones, and a specially crafted flint knife—suggest regular prehistoric gatherings at the Bulford site.
- The discovery may indicate the builders of early Stonehenge were based or gathered seasonally in the Bulford area.
- Ancient peoples likely tracked solar cycles due to their dependence on seasons for farming and survival.