Archaeologists believe they have found an older, simpler version of Stonehenge. This discovery was made about three miles (5km) from the famous monument.
All that remains are two holes in the ground. Experts say these holes once held wooden posts. These posts lined up with the Sun during the summer and winter solstices. This is the same way Stonehenge works.
The site is about 5,000 years old. This means it is 500 years older than Stonehenge.
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Start Your News DetoxPottery, flint tools, and animal bones were also found. These items suggest that prehistoric people gathered there.
A Career-Defining Find
Phil Harding from Wessex Archaeology led the dig. He called it one of the best finds of his career.
"Two post pits tell me much more about the people 5,000 years ago," he said. "This tells me about the whole community, how they were thinking, how they were behaving, how they were revering the heavens."
The huge stones at Stonehenge are precisely aligned with the Sun. For example, on the summer solstice, the Sun rises over the heel stone. On the winter solstice, the Sun sets over an altar stone.
The newly found structure is in the village of Bulford. It was much simpler, with only two wooden posts. These posts have long since rotted away. They were 120m (394ft) apart and likely between two and four meters high.
When Harding found the holes, he noticed they lined up with the Sun. This was just like Stonehenge.
"I got my pencil and ruler, and I joined them up," he said. "I was aware that they were kind of pointing in the general direction of the sunrise on midsummer."
Uncovering Ancient Alignments and Tools
The traces of this older structure were found a decade ago. This happened when land was cleared for new army housing in Bulford.
Only now has a detailed analysis of the alignment been done. This involved looking back at the sky as it was 5,000 years ago.
Dr. Fabio Silva, an archaeoastronomer from Bournemouth University, explained this process. "The sky — the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets and stars — they change very slowly throughout the centuries," he said. "So we basically need to reconstruct the sky, what it looked like exactly 5,000 years ago."
He confirmed the alignment was "exactly, exactly right" for the summer solstice sunrise and winter solstice sunset.
Many other holes were found around the post pits. These contained artifacts from the prehistoric people of Bulford. These objects helped date the site to 5,000 years old using radiocarbon dating.
The artifacts included an antler for digging and carved animal bones. Finely decorated pottery fragments were also found. A rare Neolithic knife, rounded into a disc shape, was a "star find," according to Harding.
He noted the knife's craftsmanship and its upright position. He wondered if its discoidal shape was a reference to the Sun.
Connecting to Stonehenge's Origins
The Bulford monument dates to the same period as Stonehenge's earliest phase. This was when the first earthworks were built, 500 years before the stones were placed.
Dr. Jennifer Wexler, curator of history at English Heritage, suggests a connection. "The discovery of Bulford actually suggests that maybe the people who built the first stages of Stonehenge were based or living there," she said. They might have gathered there seasonally for construction work at Stonehenge.
Prehistoric people were deeply interested in the Sun. Wexler explained that these early farmers relied on the seasons and the Sun for their crops and animals.
Today, the summer solstice at Stonehenge draws thousands. However, 5,000 years ago, the winter solstice was more important.
"Winter might have been particularly important because it's a time of year when the light is literally dying," Wexler noted. Marking this return of light could have been a way to ensure the return of spring and thriving crops and animals.
