A newly discovered monument just 5 kilometers from Stonehenge is giving archaeologists a new window into Britain’s prehistoric landscape. Dating back around 5,000 years, the timber structure was carefully aligned with the summer and winter solstices, making it one of the earliest known examples of its kind in the country.
The discovery was made at Bulford, in Wiltshire, during excavations led by Wessex Archaeology before new Ministry of Defence housing was built. Radiocarbon dating places the monument at around 3000 BC, the same period as the earliest phase of Stonehenge, though centuries before its massive stone trilithons were erected.
The site may not have the dramatic appearance of Stonehenge, but researchers say it has the potential to answer important questions about how prehistoric communities used the landscape. According to The Guardian, archaeologists believe it is the earliest solstice-aligned monument yet identified in Wiltshire and one of the oldest known anywhere in Britain.
A Discovery That Almost Slipped Through The Cracks
Unlike Stonehenge, the Bulford monument wasn’t obvious. The wooden posts that once stood there disappeared thousands of years ago, leaving behind only two large postholes and a scattering of smaller pits.
At first, the excavation team didn’t realize the two larger features were connected. It was only after the dig, while reviewing the site plan, that lead archaeologistPhil Harding noticed something unusual. As reported in the press release published by Wessex Archaeology, he drew a line between the two postholes and immediately realized that it aligned with the direction of the midsummer sunrise.
“The thing that struck me as soon as I saw that was that [the line was] about 50 degrees off the direct north, which was pretty much the line of the midsummer sunrise,” Harding said. “And so I got really, really excited about that.”
The posts were spaced about 120 meters apart, and the depth of the postholes suggests they once stood between 3 and 4 meters high.
Built To Mark The Turning Points Of The Year
After Harding spotted the alignment, the team asked Fabio Silva, a specialist in skyscape archaeology, to examine the site in more detail. As stated by the Wessex Archaeology, Silva confirmed that the monument lined up with the summer solstice sunrise and the winter solstice sunset as they would have appeared around 2950 BC.
Researchers believe the two timber posts acted as a simple viewing marker, creating what they describe as a “gunsight” through which people could observe the Sun during the solstices.
The excavation also produced a rare disc-shaped flint knife from a smaller pit positioned along the same alignment. Archaeologists say the object may have been shaped to represent the Sun, although they cannot determine exactly what it meant to the people who placed it there.
A New Piece In The Stonehenge Story
For the researchers, the Bulford monument shows that the area around Stonehenge was already an important ceremonial landscape long before its most recognizablestone structures were completed.
Matt Leivers, senior research manager at Wessex Archaeology, said the repeated construction of monuments linked to the solstices points to beliefs that lasted for generations.
“What we’re seeing here is the religion of the stone age made manifest in the ground,” Leivers said.
He added that archaeologists cannot say exactly what the Sun represented to these communities, but the effort invested in tracking its movements suggests it played a central role in their lives. Leivers also said it was “inconceivable” that the people using the Bulford monument were unaware of activity at nearby Stonehenge.
“If you had a time machine and went back, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if what we have found is one of the campsites of the builders of the first phase of Stonehenge. I think that’s entirely plausible.”
Based on the same statement, Harding stated that the discoveries like this come along only once in a lifetime.
“It doesn’t matter whether you are a resident of Wiltshire or a resident of the Earth – everybody knows about Stonehenge. And to be able to contribute something to expanding our knowledge of Stonehenge is an incredible privilege.”
