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Solstice-aligned 5,000-year-old monument ‘once in a lifetime find’, say archaeologists
The Guardian • • world
Key Points:
- Archaeologists have discovered a 5,000-year-old monument near Stonehenge in Bulford, Wiltshire, aligned with the summer and winter solstices, possibly serving as a prototype for Stonehenge's solar alignment.
- Carbon dating places the structure around 3000 BC, contemporaneous with Stonehenge's earliest phase and predating its large trilithon stones by 500 years.
- The monument consisted of two wooden poles 120 meters apart, aligned precisely with midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset, confirmed by radiocarbon analysis and expert astronomical mapping.
- A disc-shaped flint knife found aligned with the poles may symbolize the sun, suggesting the site had religious significance related to solar events and ancient cosmology.
- Experts believe the Bulford site could have been a campsite for Stonehenge builders, highlighting the area's long-standing importance in prehistoric religious and astronomical practices.
