- Archaeologists directed by Phil Harding of Wessex Archaeology 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.
IN FULL
