Discover the Ancient Monument that Predates Stonehenge and Celebrated the Summer Solstice

In an astonishing discovery, archaeologists reveal that Stone Age inhabitants in Britain constructed wooden monuments to celebrate the summer solstice approximately 500 years prior to the iconic stone circles at Stonehenge.

Interestingly, the positioning of Stonehenge also aligns with the summer solstice, suggesting that these wooden structures may have served as early prototypes for the stone edifice. This represents one of the earliest known instances of monuments dedicated to astronomical events in Britain.

Phil Harding of Wessex Archaeology, which spearheaded the excavation, remarked at a press conference, “This discovery provides actual evidence of how these ancient people documented the movement of the sun.”

Stonehenge, constructed during the Neolithic period at the conclusion of the Stone Age, is situated on Salisbury Plain, England. This site features an outer circle of vertical sarsen stones topped with horizontal lintels, accompanied by a smaller inner ring of vertical bluestones. These structures are encompassed by earthen embankments and ditches; the earliest parts were erected around 3100 BC, with subsequent modifications continuing until 1600 BC.

Notably, some of the standing stones are meticulously oriented to face the sunrise on the summer solstice and the sunset on the winter solstice. Associated stones began to be erected around 2500 BC.

During the excavation, Harding and his team discovered the remnants of a 500-year-old monument close to the village of Bulford, located approximately five kilometers northeast of Stonehenge. Before the British Ministry of Defense began plans to establish housing for about 5,000 soldiers, Wessex Archaeology conducted excavations at Bulford between 2015 and 2017.

Researchers uncovered a series of pits containing fluted pottery linked to late Neolithic cultures, with radiocarbon dating indicating the pottery dates back to around 2950 BC. The findings included 40 closely clustered date estimates. “This site appears to have been occupied for a short duration,” Harding stated. “The occupation likely spanned around 10 years.”

Susan Greaney, an expert from the University of Exeter, UK, remarked, “This is a significant Middle Neolithic settlement,” although she was not directly involved in the research.

Two of the pits at Bulford exhibited unique characteristics distinct from the others. Their tapered sides extend from 1.2 meters wide down to 0.5 meters at the base and contained no pottery, only chalk rubble. Researchers determined these to be postholes that once supported tall timbers, likely several meters high, stabilized by the surrounding rubble. One of the postholes even contained rowan charcoal.

These two postholes are located approximately 120 meters apart, and Harding noted that a line drawn through them pointed to an angle of roughly 48.1 degrees northeast, aligning with the midsummer sunrise. “I was extremely excited,” Harding expressed.

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Wessex Archaeology collaborated with Fabio Silva, a skyscape archaeologist from Stone x Sky, to further investigate the posthole alignment. Utilizing a 3D landscape reconstruction that excluded modern buildings and incorporated data on the sun’s trajectory, Silva confirmed that the postholes were effectively aligned with the historical summer solstice sunrises.

While the alignment was slightly off by about a degree, Silva mentioned that considering the potential width of the wooden pillars (up to 50 centimeters), this misalignment is acceptable. “The probability of this alignment being coincidental is less than 0.5 percent,” he stated.

A. Cesar González Garcia from Spain’s National Research Council in Santiago de Compostela, who did not participate in the study, noted, “A rough orientation is probably sufficient for the rituals intended at these sites.” He emphasized that there appears to be a broad understanding and interest in astronomical phenomena among ancient cultures.

Previous ruins in the vicinity also exhibit evidence of solar tracking, albeit with less precision. “From the very beginning of Neolithic habitation in this landscape, celestial observations were integrated into their ceremonial architecture,” remarked Matt Leivers, also from Wessex Archaeology.

Greaney added, “Many wooden monuments were arranged in this manner, and the Bulford site could represent an earlier stage in the development of monument construction.” For instance, the nearby Larkhill has a Neolithic enclosure dating back to around 3700 BC and boasts an entrance that aligns northeast. If one stands at this entrance on a midsummer morning, the sun will brilliantly rise above Sidbury Hill, the highest point on the horizon.