☀️ Discovery of a Stonehenge prototype, older and astronomically perfect

In the English countryside, not far from the famous site of Stonehenge, archaeologists have uncovered remains of two wooden posts nearly 5,000 years old, perfectly aligned with the summer and winter solstices.

Although the wood has disappeared, the holes that held them are still clearly visible. According to researchers, this structure is older than Stonehenge and may even have been an early version of it.


The posts were about 130 yards (120 meters) apart on a field near the village of Bulford, east of Stonehenge. This area is now controlled by the UK Ministry of Defence, but archaeologists have been digging there since 2015. They had already spotted traces of two "henges" – circles of ditches and banks – as well as dozens of Neolithic pits 5,000 years old, long before Stonehenge was completed.

The alignment of the posts corresponds exactly to sunrise at the summer solstice and sunset at the winter solstice, a feature also found at Stonehenge. Phil Harding, an archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology, explains that these people were able to identify the precise points where the Sun rises and sets at the solstices, a remarkable feat for the time. He compares the structure to an astronomical pioneer.

Animal bones and traces of feasts found in the pits at Bulford indicate that large crowds gathered there for religious festivals. Similar signs of banquets have been found at Stonehenge. Matt Leivers, also an archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology, explains that these celebrations marked the passage of time and helped maintain the order of the world according to the beliefs of the time.

The Bulford site is 500 years older than the famous stone circles of Stonehenge. Researchers therefore believe that this wooden monument may have served as a model for the construction of the stone monument.

Stonehenge remains the most famous Neolithic monument, but its original function has long been debated. Recent studies indicate that it was a burial site, with an alignment on the sunset at the winter solstice possibly linked to the idea of rebirth. However, no burials have been found at Bulford, but the importance of the region for prehistoric peoples is confirmed by these new discoveries.