Silbury Hill, Avebury: Largest Artificial Prehistoric Mound In Europe

Silbury Hill is a prehistoric artificial mound located near the town of Avebury in the English county of Wiltshire.

Probably built over a short period between about 2470 and 2350 BC, it is one of the most intriguing monuments in the prehistoric landscape of the Avebury World Heritage Site.

The purpose of Silbury Hill remains a subject of debate among archaeologists and historians, but it is commonly believed to have had ceremonial or religious significance.

In sheer volume of material, it rivals the Great Pyramids of Egypt.

The hill is approximately 40 meters (131 feet) high and covers about 5 acres of land. It is composed of chalk and soil, with no known internal chambers or structures.

According to English Heritage, it is estimated to have involved about 4 million man hours of work.

Half a million tonnes of material, mostly chalk, were used to create it.

Despite extensive archaeological investigations, no burials or artefacts directly associated with its construction or purpose have been found within Silbury Hill itself.

The monument we see today was not conceived and built in a single campaign, but enlarged over several generations.

Perhaps different people brought soil and chalk from their own neighbouring lands, bringing communities together.

Over time, the project became more ambitious, with huge quantities of chalk dug from the surrounding ditch to build the mound.

First, people stripped the topsoil and stones from the ground.

Then a small mound of gravel a little less than 1 metre high was built, with material perhaps brought from the nearby river Kennet.

At some later stage, a ring of stakes was set out to define a larger area, 16 metres in diameter, into which basketloads of mud and dark soils were tipped.

Smaller heaps were constructed nearby and some pits, probably relating to ceremonial activity, were dug into the central mound.

People continued to add soil and turf and even boulders, creating a mound 35 metres in diameter and about 5 metres high.

A massive enclosing ditch with an internal bank was then dug, 100 metres in diameter. It was backfilled and re-cut a number of times.

A series of chalk banks were added to the mound, increasing its size and back-filling the ditch.

A second enormous water-filled ditch and rectangular extension were dug beyond it, leaving space for the chalk mound to be further enlarged.

No one knows why Silbury Hill was built, but we do know that it was during a time of great change, when new forms of pottery, new burial rites and the first metal-working arrived in Britain.

It must have been a special place, where people gathered for events and episodes of building.

There are, however, various theories to why is was constructed.

Folklore

According to legend, Silbury is the last resting place of a King Sil, represented in a life-size gold statue and sitting on a golden horse.

A local legend noted in 1913 states that the Devil was carrying a bag of soil to drop on the citizens of Marlborough, but he was stopped by the priests of nearby Avebury.

In 1861, it was reported that hundreds of people from Kennet, Avebury, Overton and the neighbouring villages thronged Silbury Hill every Palm Sunday.

Other suggestions

John C. Barret asserts that any ritual at Silbury Hill would have involved physically raising a few individuals far above the level of everyone else, where they would have been visible for miles around and from several other monuments in the area.

This would possibly indicate an elite group, perhaps a priesthood, powerfully displaying their authority.

Michael Dames has put forward a composite theory of seasonal rituals, in an attempt to explain the purpose of Silbury Hill and its associated sites (West Kennet Long Barrow, the Avebury henge, The Sanctuary and Windmill Hill), from which the summit of Silbury Hill is visible.

This period saw intense building activity in the Avebury area, when hundreds of people came together to construct a variety of monuments.

As well as Silbury Hill, Avebury henge, together with its stone circles and avenues, was built at this time.

Two large oval enclosures at West Kennet were also built out of massive timber posts, which now only survive as buried remains.

These monuments, including Silbury Hill, now form the core of the Avebury World Heritage Site.

This intriguing mound has long been an archaeological enigma. No doubt spurred on by stories of rich burials, antiquarians and archaeologists have dug at least three separate tunnels into the centre.

In 1776 Hugh Percy, Duke of Northumberland, financially supported an excavation by Edward Drax, who directed a group of miners to dig a vertical shaft from the summit to the centre of the hill.

They failed to find the central burial they had expected.

Later, in 1849, John Merewether, the dean of Hereford, oversaw the excavation of a horizontal tunnel into hill. Again, no central burial was discovered but organic remains including decayed moss and turf were found.

Professor Richard Atkinson led a third major investigation between 1968 and 1970. Sponsored by the BBC, it was the first excavation to be televised as it progressed.

Atkinson excavated another tunnel on a similar line to Merewether’s and identified three phases of construction.

Not one of these tunnels was fully backfilled, leaving an unfortunate legacy.

In May 2000 the full consequence of this was made clear when a 14-metre deep crater opened on the summit.

Further survey showed that the tunnels inside were collapsing.

The crater was temporarily filled with polystyrene, but clearly something more permanent had to be done to stabilise the hill.

Despite its ancient origins, Silbury Hill continues to capture the imagination of people today and remains a popular destination for visitors interested in the mysteries of prehistoric Britain.

Someone who recently visited the site said: “Although you can't climb up the hill itself, there are lots of free and easily accessibly vantage points close by.

Well worth a visit if you've never been. Lots of free parking in the layby on the A4.”

Another person added: “Beautiful and awe inspiring prehistoric earthwork, dominating the landscape. Has an incredible profile from any direction, but probably best viewed from the west, as the backdrop is then all sky.”

Silbury Hill is on the A4 between West Kennet and Beckhampton, Wiltshire.

There are two small laybys on the south side of the A4 opposite the Hill, and a much larger parking area on the north side of the A4 just west of the Hill.

You can see Silbury Hill very clearly from the laybys.

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