Bulford, England—according to a report in GuardianTraces of a 5,000-year-old structure corresponding to the summer and winter solstices have been discovered in south-western England, about three miles from Stonehenge. Construction of the first phase of Stonehenge began around this time. Phil Harding of Wessex Archeology was investigating the area ahead of a construction project when he and his colleagues noticed two postholes set about 390 feet apart. These postholes were surrounded by small dustbins. Later, while mapping the site, Harding drew a line to connect the two postholes and realized that they aligned with the summer and winter solstices. Based on the posthole’s three-foot depth, researchers believe the posts were approximately 10 to 13 feet tall. A disc-shaped flint knife, probably intended to represent the Sun, was found in a small crater aligned with the poles. “We don’t know what the sun means to them,” said team member Matt Livers. He added, “We don’t know whether they presented it as a deity or not. But the amount of effort that has gone into marking it and its activities gives us no doubt that it was a major religious event that marked the entire landscape over millennia.” Leavers also suggests that those who gathered at the old monument at Bulford may have been aware of, and may have been involved in, the construction of the first phase of Stonehenge. To read more about the cosmology of the Early Bronze Age people, visit “Stonehenge’s continental cousin“
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