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A 5,000-year-old structure discovered at Bulford, 5km (3 miles) from Stonehenge, has been interpreted as a possible ‘prototype’ for the monument’s famous solstice alignment, suggesting that this astronomical event was celebrated on Salisbury Plain at least 500 years earlier than previously thought.
The remains in question were initially uncovered during Wessex Archaeology’s excavations in 2015-2017, carried out on behalf of the MOD/Defence Infrastructure Organisation during the Army Basing Programme (a housing development for service personnel). The wider project revealed features spanning the Early Neolithic period to the Second World War (see CA 326 and 328), and at Bulford a team led by Dr Phil Harding excavated a series of 48 pits scattered along the crest of a hill. They contained a mixture of everyday waste and more unusual objects, ranging from animal bones, worked stone, Grooved Ware pottery, and charcoal to a carved chalk ball and a disc-shaped flint knife. Radiocarbon dating placed the pits in c.2950 BC, and their contents suggest that this site had been used for feasting and possibly ceremonial activities in the Late Neolithic period. Following years of specialist analysis, a press conference held on the eve of this issue’s print deadline (we will bring you a fuller report next month!) has now offered a possible reason for these gatherings.
While most of the pits were fairly uniform in design, measuring about 1m (3.3ft) in diameter with near-vertical sides, two were strikingly different. Tapering to a narrow base, they held little in the way of refuse but were instead filled with chalk rubble, which has been interpreted as packing material to support tall timber posts. These pits were spaced 120m (394ft) apart – and, Phil realised, they appeared to form a line pointing directly at the rising sun during the summer solstice and the setting sun during the winter solstice.
This orientation has now been confirmed by specialist skyscape archaeologist Dr Fabio Silva, using reconstructions of the ancient sky, landscape, and horizon, and the post-pits are thought to represent the earliest-known solstice alignment in the Stonehenge landscape, created at the same time as Stonehenge’s earliest earthworks but pre-dating the erection of its sarsen uprights by five centuries.
At the press conference, Phil, Fabio, and Dr Matt Leivers (Senior Research Manager at Wessex Archaeology) suggested that Neolithic communities could have come to the Bulford site to celebrate the solstices – as in the reconstruction (above) – before more complex, permanent monuments were built nearby. It is even possible, they added, that a similar set-up could have existed at Stonehenge during its first phase, although any traces would have been erased as the site evolved.
Fabio said: ‘This discovery helps us understand Stonehenge not as a singular creation, but as part of a much longer conversation between people, the land, and the sky. The alignment shows that communities were already engaging with both the summer and winter solstices in the Stonehenge landscape, centuries before the sarsen stones were raised. Rather than marking the beginning of a story, Stonehenge now more clearly appears to have emerged from traditions and practices with much deeper roots in this landscape.’
Describing the discovery as ‘probably one of the greatest finds of my career’, Phil added: ‘The sun was incredibly important to these prehistoric communities, and they could plot and record its midsummer rising to a high degree of accuracy. What makes [this discovery] so important is just how early it is.’
Text: Kathryn Krakowka / Image: Marijane Porter, Wessex Archaeology
