Overview
- Wessex Archaeology publicly released analyses this week that confirm two post pits at Bulford date to about 2950 BC and predate Stonehenge’s main stone phase by roughly 500 years.
- A skyscape reconstruction by Dr Fabio Silva found the two post pits, set about 120 metres apart, aligned with the summer sunrise and winter sunset to within about one degree.
- Excavations carried out in 2015–2017 uncovered 48 pits filled with pottery, animal bone, worked flints and charcoal, evidence the site hosted large communal gatherings over a short period.
- Archaeologists recovered a rare disc-shaped flint knife deliberately placed upright in one pit, which the team interprets as a possible sun symbol used at a viewing or ritual station.
- The Bulford site was excavated as part of Ministry of Defence Army Basing mitigation, lies largely on MoD land with limited access, and is expected to prompt further study of early solar ritual across the Stonehenge landscape.