Durrington Walls and Woodhenge
Durrington Walls Henge · Woodhenge Wiltshire
Late Neolithic·Grooved Ware / Wessex·🇬🇧 Wiltshire, Durrington, United Kingdom
About
About Durrington Walls and Woodhenge
Massive Neolithic henge enclosure (c. 2600 BCE), 500 m diameter, largest in Britain, with southern timber circle and dense Late Neolithic settlement (1000+ pits, houses). Woodhenge 2 km south is concentric timber-post oval with bank and ditch, linked to Stonehenge builder residence.
Why it mattersSettlement of Stonehenge builders, revealing Neolithic life via feasting debris.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Relation to Stonehenge construction crews
- 02Woodhenge cremation burial central
Theories
- 01Builder village for Stonehenge Stage 2
- 02Midwinter feasting centre with pig aDNA
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 2600 BCE
- Period
- Late Neolithic
- Culture
- Grooved Ware / Wessex
- Purpose
- Settlement and ceremonial enclosure for Stonehenge builders
- Rediscovered
- Modern excavation 19th–20th century
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 2600 BCE
Initial construction / first occupation at Durrington Walls and Woodhenge
19th century / 1960s
Antiquarian notice and modern systematic excavation of Durrington Walls and Woodhenge
2000s
Conservation and publication of final reports for Durrington Walls and Woodhenge
On the ground
Structures & features
51.1920° N · 1.7860° W · 85 m · 3 mapped features
Southern Timber Circle
timber circle40 m timber circle with 6 concentric post rings inside Durrington Walls
51.1922° N · 1.7859° WWoodhenge Timber Oval
timber circleConcentric oval of 168 timber posts 70 m diameter with bank and ditch
51.1917° N · 1.7861° WEastern Settlement Scatter
settlementDense pit and house scatter with Grooved Ware and pig bones east of henge
51.1922° N · 1.7861° W