With the rise of Paganism in the West, breaking off from the shackles of Middle Eastern Christianity, led by Middle Eastern brown-skinned Jesus, probably turning up on a migrant boat so he can live at the local hotel with other migrants, to get free benefits paid in taxes, which the patriots and nationalists complain about daily. But on the good side, we are seeing more and more discoveries of the UK’s ancient past, which we Hindus can also connect to.
As thousands flock to Stonehenge ahead of summer solstice celebrations on June 21, a team from Wessex Archaeology, led by Phil Harding, has announced the discovery of an ancient structure that may have served as an early ‘prototype’ for the alignment with the solstice at Stonehenge.
Radiocarbon dated to around 5,000 years ago, the discovery reveals evidence for the earliest known alignment with the solstice in the Stonehenge landscape, showing that ancient people were using this feat of astronomical engineering to celebrate the solstice here at least 500 years before the alignment of the stones at Stonehenge.
Located 5km from Stonehenge in Bulford, Wiltshire, the site is contemporary with the earliest phase of Stonehenge when the first earthworks were built. Excavated as part of the Ministry of Defence’s Army Basing Programme, the site was likely a focus for major religious gatherings, with extensive evidence of feasting and large-scale gatherings as people came together to celebrate the solstices much as they still do today at Stonehenge.
Timeline and reconstruction of summer solstice celebrations as they might have appeared at Bulford 5000 years ago © Wessex Archaeology
The structure at the heart of the discovery would have consisted of two wooden poles 120 metres apart, which ancient builders positioned to form a line pointing directly at the rising sun during the summer solstice and at the setting sun during winter solstice.
Little is now left of the structure except the pits in which the poles once stood, which are not accessible to the public, but their alignment with the solstice was confirmed in analysis conducted for Wessex Archaeology by leading skyscape archaeologist, Dr Fabio Silva, who used reconstructions of the ancient sky, landscape, and horizon to show how the structure would have aligned with the solstices to within an accuracy of one degree.
This relatively simple construction would have served as a place for ancient peoples to celebrate the solstices before more permanent, complex monuments could be built. The team suggests that a similar structure may have been present during the earliest phase of Stonehenge, although any traces would have been erased by later work.
Dr Phil Harding, Archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology who led the excavations, said:
“In a few days’ time, Stonehenge will be filled with people celebrating midsummer solstice. But what few will realise is that 5,000 years ago on a nearby hillside overlooking modern day Bulford, people were doing the exact same thing – revering and celebrating the sunrise on midsummer’s day. The sun was incredibly important to these prehistoric communities, and they could plot and record its midsummer rising to a high degree of accuracy.
“This discovery is probably one of the greatest finds of my career and what makes it so important is just how early it is. Up till now, our knowledge of this ancient feat of astronomy was based on Stonehenge and other monuments of a similar period, but what we’ve discovered at Bulford is 500 years earlier than the famous stones we know so well. It makes me incredibly proud to be an archaeologist.”
The original excavations at Bulford, conducted between 2015 and 2017, revealed 48 pits that were radiocarbon dated to around 2950 BC. Artefacts uncovered included pottery, animal bone, worked flints, and charcoal, suggesting that large numbers of people gathered here over a relatively short period of time to celebrate the solar cycle. One of the pits, which may have been part of a ‘viewing station’, contained an extremely rare disc shaped knife, which was deliberately placed here possibly as a symbolic reference to the sun disc.
Dr Matt Leivers, Senior Research Manager at Wessex Archaeology, said:
“The discovery at Bulford is fundamental because it’s the earliest example of people building things here that aim directly at the solstice. When we talk about the solstice, we’re talking about religion. About how prehistoric peoples understood the cosmos, the world, and their place in it. What we see at Bulford, and later at Stonehenge, is a way of celebrating and marking the passage of time, but it’s also about making sure the world keeps working as it should. It’s likely their way of saying to their deities, please keep us in mind, keep us warm and safe. It’s a religious event. That’s why it’s so important.”
Dr Fabio Silva, Skyscape Archaeologist at Stone x Sky and the Skyscape Academy, who conducted the analysis that confirmed the alignment, 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.”
Location map and disc shaped flint knife found at Bulford by Phil Harding © Wessex Archaeology
The ceremonial site was uncovered during excavations south of the Salisbury Plain Training Area ahead of development to provide accommodation for service personnel.
“When we started working on the necessary excavations ahead of the construction of new accommodation for soldiers returning from Germany, none of us could have guessed what we would find. Following deeper study, what at first seemed innocuous has completely re-written our understanding of the ceremonial landscape around Stonehenge. It’s incredibly exciting.”
The discovery will be the focus of an upcoming article for the newsletter of The Prehistoric Society and will feature in a major publication on the findings from the Army Basing Programme to come out later this year, to be made available for free via Wessex Archaeology’s Open Library.
Excavations were undertaken on behalf of the Ministry of Defence and Defence Infrastructure Organisation, with thanks to Tetra Tech Europefor facilitating the works, and to English Heritage for their support of the story.
For more information about this story, images or interviews please email: press@wessexarch.co.uk
https://www.wessexarch.co.uk/Prototype-stonehenge-solar-alignment
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