Overview
- Wessex Archaeology announced on Thursday that two large post pits at Bulford, about three miles from Stonehenge, once held wooden poles set roughly 120 metres apart that align with the summer sunrise and winter sunset.
- Radiocarbon dating of pits and material places the site at about 2950 BC, making it contemporary with Stonehenge’s earliest earthworks and roughly 500 years older than the later stone settings.
- Skyscape reconstruction by Dr Fabio Silva shows the alignment matches the solstices to within about one degree, and excavations recovered 48 pits with pottery, animal bone, charcoal and worked flints consistent with large seasonal gatherings.
- Among the finds was a rare disc‑shaped flint knife deliberately placed upright in a pit that excavators interpret as a possible sun symbol and part of a solstice 'viewing station.'
- The dig was carried out in 2015–2017 ahead of MoD housing works, the land is not open to the public, and researchers say full academic publication and wider peer review are still needed to test and refine the team’s interpretation.