5,000-Year-Old Timber Structure Near Stonehenge Aligns Solar

Archaeologists have announced the discovery of a 5,000-year-old structure near Stonehenge that may represent a prototype for the famous Neolithic monument. The findings, revealed on Thursday, June 18, 2026, indicate that communities in the region were building precise solar alignments centuries before the main stone circle was erected.

The structure, excavated at Bulford in Wiltshire approximately five kilometers from Stonehenge, consisted of two large wooden posts set 120 meters apart. Analysis by archaeoastronomers confirms the posts were aligned to point directly at the rising sun during the summer solstice and the setting sun during the winter solstice. The site predates the main stone circle at Stonehenge by around 500 years, making it the earliest known example of such a precise solar alignment in the area.

Led by archaeologist Phil Harding of Wessex Archaeology, the team uncovered the site during excavations between 2015 and 2017, with the findings requiring years of subsequent analysis. The work was conducted as part of archaeological surveys supporting a British Ministry of Defence program to accommodate troops returning from Germany. The area around Bulford is a major...