These two pits were spaced around 120 metres (394ft) apart and appear to form a straight line aligned with the rising sun at the summer solstice and the setting sun at the winter solstice.
Specialist skyscape analysis by Dr Fabio Silva has since confirmed the alignment using reconstructions of the ancient sky, landscape and horizon, strengthening the interpretation that the structure was deliberately positioned to mark the solstices.
Researchers now believe the arrangement may represent the earliest known solstice alignment in the Stonehenge landscape, predating the erection of Stonehenge’s massive sarsen stones by around five centuries, though broadly contemporary with its earliest earthworks.
At a press conference, experts including Dr Harding, Dr Silva and Dr Matt Leivers of Wessex Archaeology said the site suggests Neolithic communities may have gathered at Bulford to mark seasonal changes before more permanent monuments were constructed nearby.
A 5,000-year-old Neolithic structure discovered near Stonehenge may represent the earliest known solar alignment in the famous monument’s wider landscape, archaeologists believe.
The remains, found at Bulford in Wiltshire around 5km (3 miles) from Stonehenge, have been interpreted as a possible “prototype” for the site’s later solstice alignments, suggesting that the midsummer and midwinter sun may have been observed in the area at least 500 years earlier than previously thought, reports the history news site The Past.
The discovery was made during excavations carried out between 2015 and 2017 by Wessex Archaeology on behalf of the Ministry of Defence and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation as part of the Army Basing Programme.
The wider project uncovered features spanning from the Early Neolithic period through to the Second World War, but attention focused on a series of 48 pits found along a hilltop ridge at Bulford.
Led by archaeologist Dr Phil Harding, the team found that the pits contained animal bones, Grooved Ware pottery, worked stone, charcoal, a carved chalk ball and a disc-shaped flint knife, suggesting the site was used for feasting and possible ceremonial activity around 2950 BC.
Most of the pits were uniform in size, measuring around 1 metre (3.3ft) in diameter, but two were notably different, narrowing to a point and filled with chalk rubble believed to have supported large timber posts.
They added it is also possible that a similar arrangement once existed at Stonehenge itself during its earliest phase, although any evidence would likely have been destroyed by later construction.
Dr Silva said the discovery shows Stonehenge should be understood as part of a much longer tradition of sky observation in the landscape rather than a single moment of creation.
He said: “This discovery helps us understand Stonehenge not as a singular creation, but as part of a much longer conversation between people, the land, and the sky. The alignment shows that communities were already engaging with both the summer and winter solstices in the Stonehenge landscape, centuries before the sarsen stones were raised.”
Dr Harding described the find as “probably one of the greatest finds of my career”, adding that prehistoric communities were able to track the sun’s movements with remarkable accuracy.
He said: “The sun was incredibly important to these prehistoric communities, and they could plot and record its midsummer rising to a high degree of accuracy. What makes this discovery so important is just how early it is.”