Archaeologists unearth ‘prototype’ for Stonehenge solstice alignments

WorldArchitecture
18 Jun 2026 • 8:18 AM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Archaeologists unearth ‘prototype’ for Stonehenge solstice alignments

  • Archaeologists have unearthed a significant prehistoric religious site at Bulford, Wiltshire, located just three miles from Stonehenge.
  • The discovery, dating back to around 3000 BC, includes 50 ritual pits and two timber monuments, predating the main construction phase of Stonehenge by 450 years.
  • These timber structures were precisely aligned with the summer and winter solstices, revealing that sun worship was a crucial religious practice in the Stonehenge area much earlier than previously thought.
  • The ritual pits contained evidence of communal feasting, including animal bones and pottery, with one pit notably holding a rare circular flint knife, potentially symbolising the sun.
  • This finding suggests that early Stonehenge itself might have featured similar solstice-marking structures and is expected to encourage further research into ancient solar alignments across Europe.

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