| Near the centre of the henge were two smaller stone circles with internal settings. |
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| The largest and finest henge monument in Britain set on the rolling chalk downlands of southern England near the headwaters of the River Kennet. |
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| Walk along the avenues of standing stones that lead to the henge, and visit the mysterious Silbury Hill. |
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| Some of these axes were even deposited in a marshy basin immediately north of the henge complex. |
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| Two double pit alignments were dug, one east of the northern henge, the other west of the southern. |
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| The earthworks of the Neolithic henge comprise a 2 m. high bank with a 2 m. deep ditch. |
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| The Avebury henge and Silbury Hill were the products of enthusiastic volunteers. |
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| The village of Avebury near Devizes in Wiltshire lies within the huge henge monument with its massive banks and stone circles. |
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| It runs for about 100 metres from the timber circle within the great henge to the river. |
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| Equally, it may be the remains of an earlier enclosure, perhaps even a Neolithic causewayed camp or henge. |
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| You can also see a henge, with wooden trunks staked in a perfect circle around a central trunk for use as an astronomical calendar. |
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| In the end only 10 percent of the henge was actually excavated. |
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| Excavations of the ditch have recovered antlers that were left behind and after their age was tested it was revealed that the first henge was built over 50 centuries ago. |
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| Its monuments comprise the henge and associated long barrows, stone circles, avenues, and a causewayed enclosure. |
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| Efforts to provide a direct lineage for the henge from earlier enclosures have not been conclusive. |
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| But henge orientation is highly variable and may have been more determined by local topography than by desire for symbolic orientation. |
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| There are cropmark indications that an outer ditch existed and that a roundhouse or henge was located inside the monument. |
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| To the south of the town are the ancient henge sites known as Mayburgh Henge and King Arthur's Round Table. |
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| Henges sometimes formed part of a ritual landscape or complex, with other Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments inside and outside the henge. |
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| A henge should not be confused with a stone circle within it, as henges and stone circles can exist together or separately. |
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| Stonehenge is not a true henge as its ditch runs outside its bank, although there is a small extant external bank as well. |
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| The word henge is a backformation from Stonehenge, the famous monument in Wiltshire. |
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| The Avebury monument is a henge, a type of monument consisting of a large circular bank with an internal ditch. |
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| Meanwhile, the population of Avebury village was rapidly increasing, leading to further housing being built inside the henge. |
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| Where menhirs appear in groups, often in a circular, oval, henge or horseshoe formation, they are sometimes called megalithic monuments. |
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| The Balfarg henge was constructed around 3,000BC and contains the remnants of a stone circle which has been partly reconstructed. |
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| The henge was excavated between 1977 and 1978 prior to the development of a new housing estate. |
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| It is thought this would have stood upright within the henge, as the patterns cover both sides. |
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| Integration is thought to have been peaceful, as many of the early henge sites were seemingly adopted by the newcomers. |
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| The exact age of the henge monument at Stanton Drew stone circles is unknown, but it is believed to be Neolithic. |
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| Later monuments added after the henge was built might include Bronze Age cairns as at Arbor Low. |
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| For example, Stonehenge features the same kinds of monuments, and in Dorset there is a henge on the edge of Dorchester and a causewayed enclosure at nearby Maiden Castle. |
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| As often happens in archaeological terminology, this is a holdover from antiquarian use, and Stonehenge is not truly a henge site as its bank is inside its ditch. |
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| Aubrey Burl suggests dates of 3000 BC for the central cove, 2900 BC for the inner stone circle, 2600 BC for the outer circle and henge, and around 2400 BC for the avenues. |
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| Some 1000 years after the henge was built, the site was radically altered. |
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| The history of the site before the construction of the henge is uncertain, because little datable evidence has emerged from modern archaeological excavations. |
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| Near Norththorpe, north of Hornsea crop marks indicate a site interpreted as a Neolithic henge monument, thought to have been later reused as a Bronze Age ringwork. |
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| In the Late Medieval and Early Modern periods, local people destroyed many of the standing stones around the henge, both for religious and practical reasons. |
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| Outside the tomb, a ring of kerbstones shows the original extent of the mound, and they also follow the line of the ditch of the earlier henge monument. |
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