WOODHENGE
Woodhenge is a Late Neolithic monument originally made up of a series of concentric circles of wooden posts within a circular bank and ditch. It is of similar size to Stonehenge and lies between Larkhill and Amesbury, about 2km (1.2miles) north east of Stonehenge itself.
Woodhenge was the first archaeological site to be discovered through aerial photography, when a photograph taken in 1925 revealed rings of dark spots in a crop of wheat within a monument that had been previously assumed to be a disc barrow. Excavation of the site by Maud Cunnington in 1926 and 1927 showed that the dark spots were holes for wooden posts.
A WOOD AND STONE MONUMENT
The site originally consisted of 6 rings of wooden posts radiating out from a central point. They were enclosed within an earthen bank and ditch with a north east entrance. Although the timber monument may be earlier, the construction of the ditch has been dated to between 2470 and 2000BC, making it contemporary with or slightly later than the building of the stone circle of Stonehenge.
Recent excavations at Woodhenge as part of the Stonehenge Riverside Project have shown that there was a substantial stone element to the structure - at least five standing stones were also set up at the site, probably in two phases.
A MYSTERY UNCOVERED
The 1920s excavations at Woodhenge led to the discovery of a young child skeleton, buried near the centre of the monument. Another burial was found within the outer ditch during excavations in the 1970s. Finds included large amounts of Grooved Ware pottery, carved chalk objects and flint tools.
We do not know the purpose of Woodhenge, but it was likely to have been a free-standing setting of posts rather than a roofed building. The burials may have been sacrifices or offerings to mark the use of the monument. The posts and entrance appear to have a similar alignment to that at Stonehenge.
