Archaeologists report the discovery of a 5,000-year-old monument near Stonehenge in Wiltshire that appears to align with both the summer and winter solstices. Reported to be located at Bulford, about 5km (3 miles) from the World Heritage Site, the structure is described as a simpler, earlier arrangement that could have served as a prototype for later solar alignments associated with Stonehenge.
Wessex Archaeology says the monument has been carbon dated to around 3000BC, a period that overlaps with the earliest phase of construction at Stonehenge and predates the placement of the site’s famous trilithon stones by roughly 500 years. Multiple outlets describe the find as significant for understanding how Stonehenge’s solstice-focused design developed over time. The monument is characterized as evidence that Stone Age communities built and used solstice-observing features before the larger, more famous stone structures were erected.
The reports cite archaeologists’ assessment that the discovery is rare and notable, while also focusing on the dating and alignment details that link the earlier site to later Stonehenge practices.
