Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing
three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in
southwest England. Unique amongst megalithic monuments, Avebury contains
the largest stone circle in Europe, and is one of the best known prehistoric
sites in Britain. It is both a tourist attraction and a place of religious
importance to contemporary Pagans.
Constructed around 2600 BCE, during the Neolithic or 'New
Stone Age, the monument comprises a large henge that is, a bank and a
ditch. Inside this henge is a large outer stone circle, with two separate
smaller stone circles situated inside the centre of the monument. Its original
purpose is unknown, although archaeologists believe that it was most likely
used for some form of ritual or ceremony. The Avebury monument was a part of a
larger prehistoric landscape containing several older monuments nearby,
including West Kennet Long Barrow and Silbury Hill.
By the Iron Age, the site had been effectively abandoned,
with some evidence of human activity on the site during the Roman occupation.
During the Early Mediaeval, a village first began to be built around the
monument, which eventually extended into it. In the Late Mediaeval and Early
Modern periods, locals destroyed many of the standing stones around the henge,
both for religious and practical reasons. The antiquarians John Aubrey and
William Stukeleyhowever took an interest in Avebury during the 17th century, and
recorded much of the site before its destruction. Arqhaeological investigation
followed in the 20th century, led primarily by Alexander Kieller, who oversaw a
project of reconstructing much of the monument.
Avebury is owned and run by the National Trust, a charitable organisation who keep it open to the public. It has been designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument, as well as a World Heritage Site, in the latter capacity being seen as a part of the wider prehistoric landscape of Wiltshire known as Stonehenge,Avebury and Associated Sites.
