The largest prehistoric stone circle in the world — a Neolithic henge enclosing a village, with avenues of standing stones extending across the downland.
Avebury is the largest prehistoric stone circle in the world, so vast that the village of Avebury sits within its great bank and ditch. Constructed over several centuries from around 2850 BC, the monument comprises a massive circular earthwork enclosure — its ditch originally 9 metres deep — surrounding an outer stone circle of roughly 100 standing sarsen stones, and within it two inner circles each of about 30 stones. Two avenues of paired standing stones once extended from the monument across the surrounding downland, connecting Avebury to other ceremonial sites in this extraordinarily rich prehistoric landscape.
Avebury was the focal point of a sacred landscape that included Silbury Hill, the West Kennet long barrow and the Sanctuary — a circular timber and stone monument on Overton Hill. Together these sites formed an integrated ritual complex used over many centuries. Unlike Stonehenge, Avebury has never been fully excavated, and the full complexity of its constructional sequence remains incompletely understood. The antiquarian William Stukeley mapped it in the early eighteenth century before much of the site was destroyed by local villagers who toppled and buried the stones. Many have since been re-erected.
Part of the Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites UNESCO World Heritage Site, Avebury is the largest henge monument in Britain and the centrepiece of the most important Neolithic sacred landscape in Europe.
Use of the landscape begins with long barrow construction. West Kennet long barrow built c.3650 BC.
Main henge and stone circles constructed. The Kennet and Beckhampton avenues laid out, connecting the monument to outlying sites.
Continued use of the monument complex. Round barrows built across the surrounding downland.
Alexander Keiller's 1930s excavations revealed the skeleton of a medieval barber-surgeon crushed beneath a fallen stone he was attempting to bury
Re-erection of the Kennet Avenue stones by Keiller revealed the alternating pattern of tall pillar and lozenge-shaped stones
Ground-penetrating radar surveys have revealed the buried bases of many missing stones
The Avebury Archaeological and Historical Research Group has identified evidence of earlier timber structures predating the stone circles
Human and animal bones from the ditch deposits indicate ritual feasting and deposition
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in Britain — drawing on Domesday records, Roman heritage, scheduled monuments, and medieval history to reveal the full story of a place.
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