I have always been fascinated by Silbury Hill which is the largest man-made mound in Europe. Mysterious Silbury Hill compares in height and volume to the roughly contemporary Egyptian pyramids. Probably completed in around 2400 BC, it apparently contains no burial. There are many theories as to why the hill was built but the hill still refuses to give up its secrets.
The photos are from my recent visit but the text below is an article I wrote about Silbury Hill in 2008:
The May edition of Heritage Today has a very interesting article on the latest discoveries regarding the mysterious Silbury Hill. The hill is near Marlborough just on the edge of the A4.
In 2000 a large hole opened up and archaeologists and engineers teamed up to find a solution. The hole was caused by a shaft that had been sunk by the Duke of Northumberland in 1776. Furthermore the soil was seeping into various tunnels that had been channeled into the hill over the years. The largest tunnel was created by Professor Richard Atkinson in 1968. The BBC sponsored him to carry out the dig and Magnus Magnusson presented a programme from within. The entrance can be seen in the following picture (from Heritage Today magazine). To repair the hill all the voids had to be filled from the middle outwards with bags of chalk followed by a chalk and water mixture. The door to the entrance has now been placed in the nearby Alexander Keiller Museum in Avebury.
There have been many theories as to the significance of the hill; burial chamber for an ancient king, a platform for druid sacrifices and astronomical observatory are among the suggestions. The stabilising of the structure enabled archaeologists to shed a bit more light on the hill. It is now certain that there was no burial beneath the mound. A piece of pottery at the site has also established that the Romans had a settlement there.
Due to radiocarbon dating using pieces of antler it has now been established that the hill was started around 2400BC and probably went on for several hundred years. It is composed of a series of layers secured by stakes, then gradually built on top of. The mound eventually got covered by different layers of local material; clay, chalk, topsoil, turf and even some sarsen stones. Whilst looking in the main tunnel the archaeologists realised that the hill had started off as several mounds which later joined into the single mound, initially it stood 5 metres high. The mound grew to 25 metres high, the top part consisting of chalk that had been quarried from an adjacent ditch. At this stage it appears that the mound was left for a while as there is a layer soil showing signs that grass had colonised it. After this rest period more chalk was piled on top until the hill eventually stood at 37 metres high. It is the largest prehistoric mound in the whole of Europe that has been hand made by humans.
I shall leave you with the final paragraph from the article.
Silbury Hill has been called the British equivalent of the pyramids, but why did Stone Age man build it? Nobody knows, exactly. Quite apart from any ritualistic significance Silbury may have had for its builders, just constructing it would have been its own reward. Having such a great shared purpose would have helped the community to cohere. Perhaps future generations will say something similar of the people who came to repair the monument in the early twenty-first century. why has Silbury been mended? Because our nation is strengthened through doing it.
More interesting facts about the mound can be found on the Silbury Hill page of the English Heritage website.
The last picture is a photograph taken of the cover of the May 2008 edition of Heritage Today, the magazine of English Heritage.
Fascinating, especially as these barbarians had no clue how easy it is to push a button somewhere in Germany to bring death to wedding parties elsewhere in Afghanistan.
The first photo immediately reminded me of Maeshowe? Ever been there? Or to Newgrange?
Both sites herewith recommended.
I do not understand your point about pushing buttons in Germany apart from the fact that the people who who built Silbury could not have been barbarians… They knew things that we have long since forgotten.
I have not heard of Maeshowe before but you are not the first person who has recommended (almost insisted) that I visit Newgrange
Uff! I ought to have put a smiley to make sure my first sentence was written tongue in cheek. Obviously. : )
I wasn’t quite sure if I was missing something. Now I know the only missing thing was the smiley
Fascinating. I had never heard of Silbury Hill. Where is it located though?
What I find amazing is that as we look at that time period unable to ascertain the whys and wherefores, so too people will look at our contributions and wonder why, our monuments being the mystery for future eras to come.
I wonder if it was some sort of strategic look-out point that could survey far and wide in event of approaching war parties? Or perhaps, some ancient riser where they carried out hangings? Hmmm…. the possibilities are endless!
It is part of the wider Avebury complex, as mentioned in the post it is on the edge of the A4 near Malborough.
It is perhaps an ancient viewing platform. In its day Avebury could be seen along with other nearby Neolithic features. Some of these have been linked as being aligned to the moon, sun, stars etc. It is well worth reading more on Silbury, Avebury and Stonehenge. There are some fascinating and thought provoking ideas about them all
I have seen this in a distance when we visited Avebury. That part of England is so interesting. It makes you wonder, people lived more with ‘feelings and energy’ in that time.
Great pictures.
They certainly seem to have know things that we have since forgotten. So much mystery surrounds the places.
I had read somewhere that the hill contained soil from different locations around the British Isles. Can’t remember when or where I read that but this little essay hints at the idea -
http://www.archaeologyuk.org/ba/ba116/feat4.shtml
A very interesting article, thank you
I am currently reading the book mentioned at the bottom of it. Perhaps it will tell me a bit more about the soils. I haven’t got to the part about the most recent excavations yet.
We’ve walked past this a couple of times and always ponder about how it was created and why.
It is fascinating isn’t it?
The purpose is obvious (according to my little friend Aileen).
No. She didn’t explain.
I suppose those are her landing strips dotted about the Wiltshire countryside…
Oh I remember this place too
There are so many wonderful things to see in Wiltshire.
Silbury Hill fascinates me
i do love a good mystery !!!!!!
You would have fun in the Silbury Hill, Avebury, Stonehenge area then
This is simply fascinating! I’ve really enjoyed all your posts about hills and henges. What were our ancestors up to??
I am glad you enjoyed my posts on the area. I am also left wondering what our ancestors were up to!!