A new analysis of a site excavated at Bulford, three miles from Stonehenge, has found that two pillars erected about 5,000 years ago were aligned with the rising sun on the summer solstice and the setting sun on the winter solstice. The researchers suggest the structure was an early stage in the tradition from which the famous monument grew – but other scholars are wary of the term “prototype.”
About 500 years before the giant stones now identified with Stonehenge were erected, ancient inhabitants of the Salisbury Plain had already marked the solar cycle with a much simpler monument: two large wooden pillars that stood about 120 meters apart.
The pillars themselves rotted away thousands of years ago, but the deep pits in which they were set have been preserved in the ground near the village of Bulford in Wiltshire, about three miles east of Stonehenge. A new analysis of the site plan has revealed that the line connecting the two pits pointed precisely to where the sun rose on the summer solstice and where it set on the winter solstice.
Researchers from Wessex Archaeology date the structure to around 2950 BC. This means it was built around the time of the earliest phase of Stonehenge, when the circular ditch and earthen mound were dug at the site, but centuries before the construction of the sarsen stones and giant trilithons that we know today.
The find is not a completely new excavation. The site was excavated in 2015–2017 as part of work carried out prior to the construction of residential homes for military families on British Ministry of Defense land. It was only after years of dating, testing, and analyzing the excavation plans that the possible significance of the two pillar pits became clear.
A line discovered with a pencil and ruler
Archaeologist Phil Harding, who led the excavation, said that the connection between the two large pits was initially unclear. They were found among dozens of smaller pits that contained pottery, animal bones, flint tools and charcoal.
At a later stage, Harding connected the two pits with a line on the site plan and noticed that the line inclined about 50 degrees from north – close to the direction of sunrise on the longest day of the year.
Fabio Silva, an archaeologist specializing in the connections between landscape, sky, and ancient sites, reconstructed the appearance of the horizon and the path of the sun in the area around 2950 BC. According to him, the columns were aligned with great precision with the midsummer sunrise in one direction and the midwinter sunset in the opposite direction.
The pits were about a meter deep. From this, the researchers estimate that the wooden pillars rose to a height of about three to four meters. Anyone standing on the line between them could use them as a kind of sight: on the day of the solstice, the sun would appear above a specific point on the horizon, between the pillars or in their continuation.
Nearby, a smaller pit was also discovered that was aligned with the same axis. Inside it was a rare disk-shaped flint tool. The researchers suggest that its round shape was related to solar symbolism, but there is no way to determine with certainty what its meaning was.
A place for meals and gatherings
The finds at Bulford indicate that the site was not only used for observing the sun. Animal bones, pottery, flint, and charcoal remains were found in pits discovered in the area. The concentration of the finds and their narrow date range indicate intense activity that lasted for a relatively short time.
Large groups may have come to the site to hold communal meals, perform rituals, and mark seasonal events. Researchers also suggest that the site served as a temporary camp for people participating in the excavation of the ancient Stonehenge circle.
Other finds at Bulford include pottery in a style associated with traditions that developed in the Orkney Islands in northern Scotland. Evidence of links with distant parts of Britain has also been found at Stonehenge and nearby sites. This reinforces the understanding that Salisbury Plain was not an isolated local centre, but a focal point to which people, objects and ideas came from great distances.
Is this really a prototype of Stonehenge?
The research team suggests that the pillars were a kind of conceptual precursor to the astronomical alignment later built in stone at Stonehenge. This does not mean that they were a scaled-down model planned in advance of the stone circle, but that the site may represent an early stage in a long tradition of marking the movement of the sun in the landscape.
The orientation chosen at Bulford is similar to the central axis of Stonehenge. On the summer solstice, the sun is seen rising over the heel of Stonehenge, while in the opposite direction, the winter solstice is highlighted. The similarity suggests that interest in the solar cycle predates the famous arrangement of stones.
However, not all researchers are convinced that two pits are enough to prove the existence of a directed astronomical axis. Archaeologist Jim Leary of the University of York noted that one would normally expect to see a longer row of pillars to identify a convincing alignment. He said the possibility fits the period, but should be treated with caution.
Even the researchers themselves do not claim to know exactly what the people who erected the columns were thinking. It is not known whether the sun was seen as a deity, whether the solstices marked agricultural dates, or whether the rituals were intended to ensure the continuity of the seasons.
What is clearer is that contemporaries made an effort to mark celestial events and continued to do so in the area for many generations. Stonehenge did not suddenly appear as a single, isolated structure, but grew into a landscape already filled with ceremonial pits, earthen mounds, wooden pillars, burial sites, and gathering places.
From wood to stone
The discovery slightly changes the conventional picture of Stonehenge's origins. The alignment with the sun did not necessarily begin with the massive stones, but may have evolved from earlier, simpler experiments with wood and earth.
Wood was a major building material in the Neolithic world, but it rarely survives for thousands of years. As a result, most wooden monuments are known only by the soil stains and pits left after the columns rotted away. Stonehenge, built partly of stone, became a global symbol of the period precisely because parts of it survived.
Bulford suggests that behind the famous monument lay a much wider world of structures that have disappeared from view. The two pits in the ground may be a relic of one of the first times that humans in the region marked the extreme points of the sun's annual journey on a large scale.
Alongside the announcement of the discovery, a free virtual exhibition by the University of Reading and the British Museum was also launched. It allows visitors to tour a 3D reconstruction of Stonehenge and examine some of the prehistoric artifacts associated with it, but the discovery at Bulford adds an even earlier chapter to the picture.
Comments
The distinction that the excavation was conducted in 2015–2017 but the alignment was identified and verified by later analysis is particularly important for the precise formulation. The sources also make it clear that the structure dates to the early Stonehenge period, and not 500 years before the beginning of the entire site; it predates the great stone circle by about 500 years. (The Guardian)
The brief paragraph on the exhibition is based on a statement from the University of Reading, which states that the free tour launched on June 21, 2026 and includes a 3D reconstruction and content from the British Museum exhibition. (reading.ac.uk)
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Questions and Answers
What was discovered near Stonehenge?
Two pits in which large wooden pillars stood about 5,000 years ago. Analysis of their position indicates that the pillars were aligned with the sunrise on the summer solstice and with its sunset on the winter solstice.
Is this a prototype of Stonehenge?
It is possible, but this is still a scholarly interpretation. The researchers suggest that the pillars represent an ancient tradition of marking the solar cycle, from which the astronomical alignment of Stonehenge later evolved.
Did the pillars predate Stonehenge?
They date back to approximately the site's earliest days, but predate the giant stone array known today by about 500 years.
How do we know that the pillars were aligned with the sun?
The researchers connected the locations of the two pits and checked the axis against the position of the sunrise and sunset of the sun during the period in which they were built. The reconstruction showed a match for the solstices.
What else is on site in Bulford?
Animal bones, pottery, flints, and charcoal were found, probably indicating feasts, gatherings, and ceremonies in which large groups participated.
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