"of primitive early farmers and agriculturists. Ancient strongholds are scattered over the county. Among the most remarkable are Vespasian's Camp, near Amesbury; Silbury Hill, the largest artificial mound in Europe, near Avebury; the mounds of Marlborough and Old Sarum; the camps of Battlesbury and Scratchbury, near Warminster; Yarnbury, to the north of Wylye, in very perfect preservation; Casterley, on a ridgeway about east-southeast of Devizes; Whitesheet and Winkelbury, overlooking the vale of Chalk; Chisbury, near Savernake; Sidbury, near Ludgershall; and Figsbury Ring, five kilometres (3 mi) northeast of Salisbury. Ogbury, ten kilometres (6 mi) north of Salisbury, is an undoubted"
"Avebury Avebury () is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in southwest England. One of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in the world. It is both a tourist attraction and a place of religious importance to contemporary pagans. Constructed over several hundred years in the Third Millennium BC, during the Neolithic, or New Stone Age, the monument comprises a large henge (a bank and a ditch) with a large outer stone circle and two separate smaller stone circles situated inside the centre"
"Beckhampton and West Kennett. Avebury Avebury () is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in southwest England. One of the best known prehistoric sites in Britain, it contains the largest megalithic stone circle in the world. It is both a tourist attraction and a place of religious importance to contemporary pagans. Constructed over several hundred years in the Third Millennium BC, during the Neolithic, or New Stone Age, the monument comprises a large henge (a bank and a ditch) with a large outer stone circle and two separate smaller stone circles"
"monuments in Wiltshire in the care of English Heritage, including the large henges at Marden and Stonehenge, may be culturally or functionally related to Avebury and Silbury. Composed mainly of chalk and clay excavated from the surrounding area, the mound stands high and covers about . The hill was constructed in several stages between 24002300 BC and displays immense technical skill and prolonged control over labour and resources. Archaeologists calculate that it took 18 million man-hours, equivalent to 500 men working for 15 years (Atkinson 1974:128) to deposit and shape of earth and fill. Euan W. Mackie asserts that no"
"wider prehistoric landscape of Wiltshire known as Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites. At , Avebury is respectively about from the modern towns of Marlborough and Calne. Avebury lies in an area of chalkland in the Upper Kennet Valley that forms the catchment for the River Kennet and supports local springs and seasonal watercourses. The monument stands slightly above the local landscape, sitting on a low chalk ridge above sea level; to the east are the Marlborough Downs, an area of lowland hills. The site lies at the centre of a collection of Neolithic and early Bronze Age monuments and was"
"Windmill Hill, Avebury Windmill Hill is a Neolithic causewayed enclosure in the English county of Wiltshire, part of the Avebury World Heritage Site, about 1 mile (2 km) northwest of Avebury. Enclosing an area of , it is the largest known causewayed enclosure in Britain. The site was first occupied around 3800 BC, although the only evidence is a series of pits apparently dug by an agrarian society using Hembury pottery. During a later phase, c. 3300 BC, three concentric segmented ditches were placed around the hilltop site, the outermost with a diameter of 365 metres. The causeways interrupting the"
"Marden Henge Marden Henge (also known as Hatfield Earthworks) is the largest Neolithic henge enclosure discovered to date in the United Kingdom. The monument is northeast of the village of Marden, Wiltshire, within the Vale of Pewsey and between the World Heritage sites of Avebury and Stonehenge. The enclosure is roughly oval in shape, and is enclosed by a typical bank and internal ditch arrangement constructed on the east, north and north-west sides and by the River Avon to the south and west. Its greatest width is 530 m and it encompasses an area of , and is under the"
"Avebury, Wiltshire Avebury () is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is about west of Marlborough and northeast of Devizes. Much of the village is encircled by the prehistoric monument complex also known as Avebury. The parish also includes the small villages of Avebury Trusloe and Beckhampton, and the hamlet of West Kennett. The Avebury monument is vast, and consists of several smaller sites of varying dates. The earliest of these, the earthworks, dates to between 3400 and 2625 BC. Later additions include a henge and several stone circles. Starting in around the 14th century, locals"
"final period (1980-1992) he also spent time travelling to and researching particular landscapes (Snowdonia, Dorset, the Somerset coast, Shropshire) and prehistoric sites, and would often camp out nearby to develop a deeper understanding of and respect for them. Of particular interest at this time was the Avebury Cylce of prehistoric monuments (commencing circa 3,500 bce) in Wiltshire, England: West Kennet Long Barrow, The Ave ue, Silbury Hill, The Sanctuary, Windmill Hill, The Ridgeway, and Avebury Henge. And then began writing about them and their religious and ethical and spiritual significance for living today. A shamanic, or unifying approach to life"
"placed there. The mound lies on top of Gop Hill (823 feet), a natural limestone outcrop, in the side of which are the Gop Caves. The Gop The Gop () is a neolithic mound lying north of Trelawnyd in Flintshire, Wales, in the Clwydian Range. Oval in form, it is the second-largest neolithic mound in Britain after Silbury Hill. Excavations have discovered prehistoric remains both in the caves below and in the mound itself. Excavations have uncovered no burial chambers or other underground works, which may indicate that it was used as a look-out or hill fort; there is evidence"
"inscribed as a World Heritage Site in a co-listing with the monuments at Stonehenge, to the south, in 1986. It is now listed as part of the ""Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites World Heritage Site"". The monuments are preserved as part of a Neolithic and Bronze Age landscape for the information they provide regarding prehistoric people's relationship with the landscape. Radiocarbon dating and analysis of pollen in buried soils have shown that the environment of lowland Britain changed around 4250–4000 BCE. The change to a grassland environment from damp, heavy soils and expanses of dense forest was mostly brought about"
"Thunor. It is known from etymological sources that they associated many prehistoric sites in the Wiltshire area with their gods, for instance within a ten-mile of radius of Avebury there are four sites that were apparently named after Woden: Wansdyke (""Wodin's ditch""), Wodin's Barrow, Waden Hill (""Wodin's Hill)"" and perhaps Wanborough (also ""Woden's Hill""). It is not known if they placed any special religious associations with the Avebury monument, but it remains possible. During the Early Mediaeval period, there were signs of settlement at Avebury, with a ""grubenhaus"", a type of timber hut with a sunken floor, being constructed just"
"Stonehenge area of the WHS is located in south Wiltshire. It covers an area of 26 square km and is centred on the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge. Ownership is shared between English Heritage, the National Trust, the Ministry of Defence, the RSPB, Wiltshire Council, and private individuals and farmers. The Avebury area of the WHS is located in northern Wiltshire. It covers an area of 22.5 square km and is centred on the prehistoric Avebury Henge. The main museums are the Alexander Keiler Museum at Avebury, Salisbury Museum, and Wiltshire Museum in Devizes Other museums with material from Stonehenge and"
"Vespasian's Camp Vespasian's Camp is an Iron Age Hillfort close to the town of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. The camp is less than from the Neolithic and Bronze Age site of Stonehenge and was built on a hill next to the Stonehenge Avenue. Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) located in Wiltshire, England. The WHS covers two large areas of land separated by nearly , rather than a specific monument or building. The sites were inscribed as co-listings in 1986. A number of large and well known monuments lie within the WHS, but the area"
"Salisbury lost one member. Wiltshire is extraordinarily rich in prehistoric antiquities. The stone age is represented by a number of flint and stone implements, preserved in the unsurpassed collection at Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum. Stonehenge, with its circles of giant stones, and Avebury, with its avenues of monoliths leading to what was once a stone circle, surrounded by an earthwork, and enclosing two lesser circles, are the largest and most famous megalithic works in England and indeed Europe. A valley near Avebury is filled with immense sarsen blocks, resembling a 'river of stone', and perhaps laid there by prehistoric"
"and mythology, ritual landscapes were also considered places of protection and renewal. Many ritual landscapes were gradually built around the two earliest classes of Neolithic communal monuments, known as long barrows and causewayed enclosures. In Britain, for instance, the Avebury ritual site featured a giant, flat-topped barrow called Silbury Hill, which is considered the largest artificial mound in prehistoric Europe. The evidence of contemporary settlement within these landscapes is often sparse or absent altogether; conversely, non-utilitarian structures and artifacts are typically abundant. In other cultures, the ritual landscape is strongly influenced by the environment. This is demonstrated in the case"
"shown on Living TV. Avebury is the setting for Robert Goddard's 2005 fictional thriller, ""Sight Unseen"". Avebury, Wiltshire Avebury () is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The village is about west of Marlborough and northeast of Devizes. Much of the village is encircled by the prehistoric monument complex also known as Avebury. The parish also includes the small villages of Avebury Trusloe and Beckhampton, and the hamlet of West Kennett. The Avebury monument is vast, and consists of several smaller sites of varying dates. The earliest of these, the earthworks, dates to between 3400 and 2625 BC."
"An area extending to was studied to a depth of three metres with ground-penetrating radar equipment. As many as seventeen new monuments, revealed nearby, may be Late Neolithic monuments that resemble Stonehenge. The interpretation suggests a complex of numerous related monuments. Also included in the discovery is that the cursus track is terminated by two wide extremely deep pits, whose purpose is still a mystery. Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of a ring of standing stones, with each standing stone around high, wide and weighing around 25 tons. The stones are"
"mediaeval cathedral. Important country houses open to the public include Longleat, near Warminster, and the National Trust's Stourhead, near Mere. The county, in the 9th century written as ""Wiltunscir"", later ""Wiltonshire"", is named after the former county town of Wilton. Wiltshire is notable for its pre-Roman archaeology. The Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age people that occupied southern Britain built settlements on the hills and downland that cover Wiltshire. Stonehenge and Avebury are perhaps the most famous Neolithic sites in the UK. In the 6th and 7th centuries Wiltshire was at the western edge of Saxon Britain, as Cranborne Chase and"
"of the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site. Overton Hill Overton Hill is a 571 ft (174 m) hill at the southern edge of the Marlborough Downs in Wiltshire, England. It is situated just west of the village of West Overton and about west from the town of Marlborough. The A4 road passes close to the north. The hill is notable for being the start point of the Ridgeway National Trail. There are several round barrows (burial mounds) on it, and it is the site of a wooden circle known as The Sanctuary, indicating human activity for thousands of years."
"The Gop The Gop () is a neolithic mound lying north of Trelawnyd in Flintshire, Wales, in the Clwydian Range. Oval in form, it is the second-largest neolithic mound in Britain after Silbury Hill. Excavations have discovered prehistoric remains both in the caves below and in the mound itself. Excavations have uncovered no burial chambers or other underground works, which may indicate that it was used as a look-out or hill fort; there is evidence that there was a considerable amount of stone on the top of hill. In the 17th century, its prominent position allowed a beacon to be"
"and a nearby dam. Gödény-halom is the largest of the so-called Cumanian mounds of central Europe, and the highest prehistoric mound in Hungary with a height 12.2 metres. The Cumanian mounds are structures of uncertain age and origin and made by humans. It is generally thought that they were used as burial places in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. Gödény-halom Gödény-halom () is a prehistoric mound situated near the village of Békésszentandrás in Békés County, in the Southern Great Plain region of south-east Hungary. Gödény-halom is situated 7 kilometres away from the inner area of Békésszentandrás, close to the old"
"that by digging up earth and using it to construct the large banks, those Neolithic labourers constructing the Avebury monument symbolically saw themselves as turning the land ""inside out"", thereby creating a space that was ""on a frontier between worlds above and beneath the ground."" The Avebury monument is a henge, a type of monument consisting of a large circular bank with an internal ditch. The henge is not perfectly circular and measures in diameter and over in circumference. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the henge was made by the middle of the third millennium BC. The top of the bank"
"Stonehenge Cursus The Stonehenge Cursus (sometimes known as the Greater Cursus) is a large Neolithic cursus monument on Salisbury plain, near to Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England. It is roughly long and between and wide. Excavations in 2007 dated the construction of the earthwork to between 3630 and 3375 BCE, several hundred years before the earliest phase of Stonehenge in 3000 BC. The cursus, along with adjacent barrows and the nearby 'Lesser Cursus' are part of the National Trust's Stonehenge Landscape property, and is within the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site. Cursus comes from the Latin for 'racecourse'. Early antiquarians"
"Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of a ring of standing stones, with each standing stone around high, wide and weighing around 25 tons. The stones are set within earthworks in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds. Archaeologists believe it was constructed from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the first bluestones were"
"Walbury Hill Walbury Hill is a hill in Berkshire, England. At above sea level, it is the highest hill in Berkshire and the highest natural point in South East England (West Berkshire being a constituent part of this region), just higher than Leith Hill in Surrey. It is in a southwest corner of the county, on a ridge extending into Hampshire and Wiltshire, around southeast of the town of Hungerford. On the hill's summit is the Iron Age hill fort of Walbury Camp. Combe Gibbet stands on the adjoining Gallows Down. The true summit is marked by a triangulation pillar"
"reference SU 104677. West Kennet Long Barrow The West Kennet Long Barrow is a Neolithic tomb or barrow, situated on a prominent chalk ridge, near Silbury Hill, one-and-a-half miles south of Avebury in Wiltshire, England. The site was recorded by John Aubrey in the 17th century and by William Stukeley in the 18th century. Archaeologists classify it as a chambered long barrow and one of the Severn-Cotswold tombs. It has two pairs of opposing transept chambers and a single terminal chamber used for burial. The stone burial chambers are located at one end of one of the longest barrows in"
"Cissbury Ring Cissbury Ring is a hill fort on the South Downs, in the borough of Worthing, England, and about from its town centre, in the county of West Sussex. It is the largest hill fort in Sussex, the second largest in England and one of the largest in Europe overall, covering some 60 acres (24 hectares). The earthworks that form the fortifications were built around the beginning of the Middle Iron-Age possibly around 250 BC but abandoned in the period 50 BC - 50 AD. The site of the fort contains a Neolithic mine, one of the first flint"
"Mount Caburn Mount Caburn is a 480-foot (146m) prominent landmark in East Sussex, England, about one mile (1.6 km) east of Lewes overlooking the village of Glynde. It is the highest part of an outlier of the South Downs, separated from the main range by Glynde Reach, a tributary of the River Ouse. On the summit of Caburn are the remains of an Iron Age hill fort. The hill fort has been repeatedly excavated, by Augustus Pitt Rivers (1877–78), the Curwens (1925—26), the Curwens again (1937–38), and the Sussex Archaeological Society (1996–98). It may have the most excavations per site"
"Amesbury Amesbury () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is most famous for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is in its parish, and for the discovery of the Amesbury Archer—dubbed the King of Stonehenge in the press—in 2002. It has been confirmed by archaeologists that it is the oldest continuously occupied settlement in the United Kingdom, having been first settled around 8820 BC. King Alfred the Great left it in his will, a copy of which is in the British Library, to his youngest son Aethelweard (c.880-922). Eleanor of Provence, Queen consort of Henry III"
"was found in a Bronze Age pot near Ham Road in East Worthing. The hill fort at Cissbury Ring dates from the middle Iron Age. Covering an extensive 60 acres (24 ha), this is one of the largest iron age hill forts in Britain and indeed Europe. During the Iron Age and earlier, the area between the rivers Adur and Arun was a special area, with high status and ritual significance. From the Bronze Age, Highdown Hill had special status and the enclosures at Chanctonbury and Harrow Hill may have been important sites of ritual performance. In the middle Iron"
"West Kennet Long Barrow The West Kennet Long Barrow is a Neolithic tomb or barrow, situated on a prominent chalk ridge, near Silbury Hill, one-and-a-half miles south of Avebury in Wiltshire, England. The site was recorded by John Aubrey in the 17th century and by William Stukeley in the 18th century. Archaeologists classify it as a chambered long barrow and one of the Severn-Cotswold tombs. It has two pairs of opposing transept chambers and a single terminal chamber used for burial. The stone burial chambers are located at one end of one of the longest barrows in Britain at 100"
"spiritual significance in their culture. Blick Mead Blick Mead is a chalkland spring in Wiltshire England, with a constant temperature of around 11 degrees C so that it never freezes. It is close to an Iron Age hill fort known as Vespasian's Camp and about a mile from the Stonehenge ancient monument. Archaeology at the site conducted since 2005 shows human habitation going back to 10,000BP and to be continuous until 6000 BP. 35,000 worked flints and 2400 animal bones, some cooked, mostly from aurochs, have been found at the site. There is also the remains of a pit dwelling."