Silbury Hill — Avebury Landscape
Silbury Hill Avebury · Silbury Mound
Late Neolithic·Late Neolithic Wessex·🇬🇧 Wiltshire, Avebury, United Kingdom
About
About Silbury Hill — Avebury Landscape
Largest prehistoric artificial mound in Europe (c. 2400 BCE), 39.3 m high conical chalk mound in Avebury World Heritage Site. Built in three tiers with ditch, containing no burial but with Neolithic antler picks and clay deposits, purpose remains enigmatic.
Why it mattersLargest Neolithic mound in Europe, central enigma of Avebury complex.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Purpose without burial
- 02Three-phase construction reason
- 03Relation to Avebury henge
Theories
- 01Ritual platform for ceremonies
- 02Territorial mound marking Avebury landscape
- 03Water-related shrine
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. 2400 BCE
- Period
- Late Neolithic
- Culture
- Late Neolithic Wessex
- Purpose
- Ritual mound (unknown, not burial)
- Rediscovered
- Modern excavation 19th–20th century
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 2400 BCE
Initial construction / first occupation at Silbury Hill — Avebury Landscape
19th century / 1960s
Antiquarian notice and modern systematic excavation of Silbury Hill — Avebury Landscape
2000s
Conservation and publication of final reports for Silbury Hill — Avebury Landscape
On the ground
Structures & features
51.4157° N · 1.8574° W · 185 m · 4 mapped features
Summit Plateau
summitFlat summit 30 m diameter where medieval and later activity recorded
51.4158° N · 1.8573° WQuarry Ditch (Silbury Ditch)
ditchSurrounding quarry ditch 100 m diameter, 7 m deep, now water-filled
51.4155° N · 1.8575° W2007 Tunnel Collapse Scar
excavation feature18th-century Atkinson shaft collapse area conserved with chalk infill
51.4159° N · 1.8573° WChalk Tier 2 Terrace
terraceMiddle construction tier visible as step 15 m up slope
51.4156° N · 1.8573° W