News and Events

BU experts complete Stonehenge excavation

16 April 2008

Professor Geoff Wainwright and BU student at Stonehenge

BU archaeologists complete rare excavation at ancient monument.

BU’s historic excavation of Stonehenge is complete. Now it's time for the University’s archaeological experts and partners to study the many items found beneath the ancient monument.

They hope to use their findings to determine when and why the earliest stones – the smaller bluestones brought from Wales – might have been placed on the site.

At one stage, more than 80 bluestones formed the original circle at Stonehenge. Today, fewer than one third of these remain.

BU archaeology expert, Professor Tim Darvill and his eminent colleague Professor Geoff Wainwright, President of the Society of Antiquaries, led the two-week excavation.

Working with fellow scientists and students from BU, the team revealed evidence of more than 4,000 years of human activity within an area no larger than two dining room tables. Items recovered from the site include broken bottles from the 19th century, coins and animal bones from the Roman period, and prehistoric beaker pottery.

As the excavation reached its greatest depth of approximately one metre, the archaeological team uncovered the sockets which once held bluestones as part of the original circle at Stonehenge.

Professor Darvill: “Mediaeval legend tells us that the power of bluestone had the ability to make people well and that’s an idea we’re investigating.”

It is from the base of these sockets that Professor Darvill removed material that can be carbon dated to find out when the bluestones were originally placed on the site. He said: “We made incredibly good progress in excavating our trench. It wasn’t a very large excavation but it had an incredible amount of things going on in it and contained some very interesting and important features.”

Professor Darvill and his colleagues also found numerous pieces of bluestone throughout the excavation providing evidence that they were broken up and taken away over many years.

“The evidence is showing us that the bluestones have been broken up pretty systematically by the look of it over the years because people want bits of those stones to take away.

“We believe that through the ages, various people wanted bits of bluestone because of their healing power. Mediaeval legend tells us that the power had the ability to make people well and that’s an idea we’re investigating.”

The two-week excavation was filmed for broadcast later in the Autumn as part of the popular ‘Timewatch’ television series.

BU expert leads historic excavation