Wiltshire discovery hints at Stonehenge's prehistoric precursor

Archaeologists in Wiltshire have uncovered a 5,000-year-old wooden structure at Bulford that may have been a prototype for Stonehenge. Two wooden poles stood 120 meters apart and align with the midsummer sunrise and midwinter sunset, suggesting early astronomical knowledge. Radiocarbon dating places the site about 5,000 years old, roughly 500 years before Stonehenge’s stones were erected. Artifacts such as pottery, bone, charcoal, flints, and a rare disc-shaped knife hint at communal solstice gatherings within a broader Neolithic landscape around Stonehenge.