Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Around a decade ago, archaeologists uncovered some interesting features close to Bulford near Stonehenge but weren't aware, at the time, of their significance. New research has now revealed that these features are the remains of a previously unknown solar-aligned monument on the Salisbury Plain.
Predating the sarsen stones at Stonehenge by 500 years, the Bulford site is one of the earliest known astronomically aligned monuments in the Stonehenge landscape. In this video, I discuss what we know about the discovery at Bulford, which also included some intriguing finds. What does this tell us about the ceremonial world of Neolithic Britain?
Special thanks to Wessex Archaeology for providing images, animations, and footage relating to the Bulford discovery.
#archaeology #summersolstice #stonehenge
✨ IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 Was This the First Stonehenge?
00:48 The Bulford Discovery
02:18 Following the Sun
04:42 A Landscape Filled with Monuments
06:46 Interview: Phil Harding & Matt Leivers
08:46 Salisbury Plain's Ceremonial World
✨ JOIN MY CHANNEL
youtube.com/channel/UC0Hs5t0U6Uf993Tba22YmKA/join
✨ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIALS
BlueSky: @MegalithHunter.bsky.social
✨ REFERENCES
Wessex Archaeology. (2026). Discovery led by Phil Harding reveals 5,000-year-old ‘prototype’ for Stonehenge solar alignment [Press release]. 18 June. Available at: wessexarch.co.uk/Prototype-stonehenge-solar-alignment
✨ PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS
Google Earth
Locations
Courtesy of Wessex Archaeology:
Pottery fragment and disc-shaped knife, credit: Tom Westhead
Illustrations, timeline and map, credit: Marijane Porter
Videos and photo of Phil Harding, credit: Wessex Archaeology
Photo of a sarsen stone at Stonehenge, credit: Wessex Archaeology
Animations of the solstitial alignments, credit: Dr. Fabio Silva
CC BY 4.0 DEED creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Figures from the paper by Marcus, J.H., (2020) referenced above.
CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/Stonehenge, credit: Diego Delso
CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Digital reconstruction of the West Amesbury Henge, credit: Henry Rothwell
Wayland Smithy Long Barrow, credit: Msemmett
Dorset Cursus route, credit: Jim Champion
CC BY 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Pits at Durrington Walls, Gaffney, V., et al., (2025).
CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Woodhenge, credit: Jeff Buck
Around a decade ago, archaeologists uncovered some interesting features close to Bulford near Stonehenge but weren't aware, at the time, of their significance. New research has now revealed that these features are the remains of a previously unknown solar-aligned monument on the Salisbury Plain.
Predating the sarsen stones at Stonehenge by 500 years, the Bulford site is one of the earliest known astronomically aligned monuments in the Stonehenge landscape. In this video, I discuss what we know about the discovery at Bulford, which also included some intriguing finds. What does this tell us about the ceremonial world of Neolithic Britain?
Special thanks to Wessex Archaeology for providing images, animations, and footage relating to the Bulford discovery.
#archaeology #summersolstice #stonehenge
✨ IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 Was This the First Stonehenge?
00:48 The Bulford Discovery
02:18 Following the Sun
04:42 A Landscape Filled with Monuments
06:46 Interview: Phil Harding & Matt Leivers
08:46 Salisbury Plain's Ceremonial World
✨ JOIN MY CHANNEL
youtube.com/channel/UC0Hs5t0U6Uf993Tba22YmKA/join
✨ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIALS
BlueSky: @MegalithHunter.bsky.social
✨ REFERENCES
Wessex Archaeology. (2026). Discovery led by Phil Harding reveals 5,000-year-old ‘prototype’ for Stonehenge solar alignment [Press release]. 18 June. Available at: wessexarch.co.uk/Prototype-stonehenge-solar-alignment
✨ PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS
Google Earth
Locations
Courtesy of Wessex Archaeology:
Pottery fragment and disc-shaped knife, credit: Tom Westhead
Illustrations, timeline and map, credit: Marijane Porter
Videos and photo of Phil Harding, credit: Wessex Archaeology
Photo of a sarsen stone at Stonehenge, credit: Wessex Archaeology
Animations of the solstitial alignments, credit: Dr. Fabio Silva
CC BY 4.0 DEED creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Figures from the paper by Marcus, J.H., (2020) referenced above.
CC BY-SA 4.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/Stonehenge, credit: Diego Delso
CC BY-SA 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Digital reconstruction of the West Amesbury Henge, credit: Henry Rothwell
Wayland Smithy Long Barrow, credit: Msemmett
Dorset Cursus route, credit: Jim Champion
CC BY 3.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Pits at Durrington Walls, Gaffney, V., et al., (2025).
CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Woodhenge, credit: Jeff Buck
