New discovery may have been Stonehenge prototype

A 5,000-year-old structure discovered in southwest England may have been a prototype for the development of Stonehenge, according to archaeologists.

The structure, which consisted of two wooden poles placed 120 meters (394 feet) apart, would have lined up with the rising sun at summer solstice and the setting sun at winter solstice, the same alignment as the stones at Stonehenge, according to a statement released on Thursday from Wessex Archaeology, a British company that provides archaeological services.

A team led by archaeologist Phil Harding used radiocarbon dating techniques to ascertain that the wooden poles would have been placed into pits 5,000 years ago.

This is around the same time that the first earthworks at Stonehenge were built, while the famous stones weren't put in place until 500 years later.

"The sun was incredibly important to these prehistoric communities, and they could plot and record its midsummer rising to a high degree of accuracy," said Harding in the statement.

"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," he added.

Evidence of the structure was found in Bulford, Wiltshire, just 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from Stonehenge.

Fabio Silva, a skyscape archaeologist involved in the project, then used reconstructions of the ancient sky, landscape and horizon to demonstrate that the poles would have aligned with the solstices.

"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," said Silva in the statement.

Archaeologists also found artifacts such as pottery, animal bone, charcoal and worked flints, suggesting that people would have congregated here to celebrate the solstices.

Among these artifacts was an "extremely rare disc shaped knife, which was deliberately placed here possibly as a symbolic reference to the sun disc," the statement added.

Susan Greaney, a lecturer in archaeology at the University of Exeter, England, who was not involved in the research, said that the news of the discovery was "intriguing," but full details haven't yet been published.

"The possible alignment is part of a significant middle Neolithic settlement at Bulford," Greaney told CNN Thursday.

"It shows just how important the eastern part of the Stonehenge landscape was, with people both living and building monuments on far side of the River Avon.'

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