Original subtitles

STONEHENGE,

A MARVEL OF PREHISTORIC ARCHITECTURE...

AN IMPOSING EDIFICE THAT HAS DOMINATED

THE ROLLING HILLS OF BRITAIN'S SALISBURY PLAIN

FOR MORE THAN 4,000 YEARS.

IT'S THE ARCHETYPAL PREHISTORIC MONUMENT.

STONEHENGE IS UP THERE

WITH KING TUT AND THE GREAT PYRAMIDS.

FOR CENTURIES,

ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE BEEN PIECING TOGETHER ITS HISTORY,

BUT THE REASON FOR ITS LOCATION ON A REMOTE CHALK PLATEAU

REMAINS AN ENIGMA.

WHAT MAKES THIS PLACE,

THIS SEEMINGLY OPEN, FEATURELESS LANDSCAPE,

SO SPECIAL?

WHY DID THIS ISOLATED SPOT BECOME THE FOCUS

FOR AN ENTIRE 80,000-SQUARE-MILE ISLAND

AND SPARK ONE OF THE BIGGEST BUILDING PROGRAMS

OF THE ANCIENT WORLD?

NOW, AFTER 15 YEARS OF INVESTIGATION,

A TEAM OF EXPERTS BELIEVES IT HAS FOUND THE ANSWER.

THE RELICS OF THE PAST HOLD SECRETS...

WRITTEN IN GOLD, STONE AND BLOOD.

WE CAN UNLOCK THEM.

THESE ARE THE SECRETS OF HISTORY’S GREATEST TREASURES.

STONEHENGE IS THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS SURVIVING MONUMENT

THE NEOLITHIC ERA.

MORE THAN 1.3 MILLION VISITORS ARE DRAWN TO IT EVERY YEAR,

EVERYONE FROM TOURISTS TO PRESIDENTS

CAPTIVATED BY ITS MYSTERY.

Barack Obama: HOW COOL IS THIS?

EVEN AFTER 4,500 YEARS,

THIS IMMENSE STRUCTURE REMAINS BREATHTAKING.

Francis Pryor: STONEHENGE IS STILL A MAGICAL PLACE

EVEN THOUGH WE DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND

THE EXACT IDEAS BEHIND IT.

IT STILL EXERTS THIS EXTRAORDINARY ATTRACTION.

YOU CAN SEE IT AS YOU APPROACH IT,

AND YOU GET A FEELING OF AWE...

AND YOU JUST WANT TO WALK TOWARDS THOSE STONES,

YOU WANT TO BE WITHIN THOSE STONES.

WHAT STANDS TODAY ON SALISBURY PLAIN,

A WINDSWEPT OUTPOST OF SOUTHWEST BRITAIN,

IS THE REMNANTS OF A GIANT CIRCLE OF STANDING STONES,

SOME AS HEAVY AS 30 TONS, DRAGGED SOME 25 MILES

AND WINCHED INTO PLACE 4,500 YEARS AGO.

WITHIN THE CIRCLE ARE SMALLER STONES,

THE OLDER BLUESTONES, A SERIES OF MORE THAN 50 MONOLITHS...

EACH WEIGHING OVER A TON,

CARRIED MORE THAN 150 MILES FROM WALES.

THROUGH HUNDREDS OF YEARS OF INVESTIGATION,

ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE MANAGED TO TRACE

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS COLOSSAL ENDEAVOR,

FROM A SIMPLE STONE CIRCLE MADE OF JUST THE BLUESTONES

TO THE COMPLEX STRUCTURE COMPLETED 400 YEARS LATER.

EACH ELEMENT OF THE MONUMENT SEEMS DELIBERATELY POSITIONED,

THE MIDWINTER SUNSET.

DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF STONEHENGE IS A BROAD, ANCIENT AVENUE--

ORIGINALLY CUT INTO THE CHALKY LANDSCAPE.

THIS NEOLITHIC ROAD IS BELIEVED TO HAVE SERVED A RITUAL PURPOSE,

A PILGRIMS' WALKWAY LEADING ANCIENT BRITONS

TOWARDS THE MONUMENT

ON THE EVENING OF THE SHORTEST DAY OF THE YEAR,

THE WINTER SOLSTICE.

Mike Parker Pearson: THIS MAY HAVE BEEN A HUGE PROCESSION--

GROUPS OF MAYBE HUNDREDS OR EVEN THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE

MOVING ALONG HERE

ON MIDWINTER'S DAY

TO SEE THAT EXTRAORDINARY MOMENT

OF THE SUN DYING FOR THE LAST TIME,

GOING BELOW THE HORIZON,

FRAMED BY THEIR FANTASTIC MONUMENT.

BUT WHAT HAS REALLY INTRIGUED ARCHAEOLOGISTS

IS THE MONUMENT'S BAFFLING LOCATION--

A LONELY FEW ACRES OF WINDY MOORLAND

IN A LANDSCAPE OF OVER 80,000 SQUARE MILES...

FOR CENTURIES PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ASKING

HOW DID THEY BUILD IT.

WHAT WE'RE MORE INTERESTED IN TODAY

IS THE FAR BIGGER, MORE DIFFICULT QUESTION--

AND THAT IS, WHY DID THEY BUILD IT?

WHAT MOTIVATED THEM TO TAKE THAT ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF EFFORT,

AND WHY DO IT HERE?

FOR ARCHAEOLOGIST MIKE PARKER PEARSON,

THAT VERY QUESTION HAS BECOME AN OBSESSION.

HE'S BEEN WORKING ON IT FOR WELL OVER A DECADE,

AND IN 2003 HE MADE A KEY DISCOVERY

THAT SET HIM ON THE PATH TO SOLVING THE MYSTERY.

BUT THIS REVELATION WASN'T AT STONEHENGE--

IT WAS TWO MILES AWAY

A HUGE CIRCULAR ENCLOSURE CALLED DURRINGTON WALLS.

Parker Pearson: DURRINGTON WALLS IS ENORMOUS.

BEHIND ME IS THE RAMPART,

STRETCHING ALL THE WAY ALONG THE HORIZON,

AND ROUND THERE--

IT'S IMMENSE-- IT'S 1,500 FEET ACROSS--

ONE OF THE LARGEST CONSTRUCTIONS IN NEOLITHIC BRITAIN.

IT WAS HERE THAT PARKER PEARSON

UNCOVERED EVIDENCE OF THE VERY PEOPLE

WHO PUT THE FAMOUS STANDING STONES OF STONEHENGE IN PLACE.

Parker Pearson: WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT HERE

IS THE FOUNDATIONS AND THE FLOOR

OF A NEOLITHIC HOUSE,

4,500 YEARS OLD.

PARKER PEARSON DIDN'T FIND JUST ONE BUILDING--

HE DISCOVERED A VAST, SPRAWLING PREHISTORIC SETTLEMENT,

BIGGER THAN ANYONE HAD SEEN BEFORE,

ALL JUST A STONE’S THROW FROM STONEHENGE.

Parker Pearson: THERE WERE NOT ONLY HOUSES DOWN THERE BY THE RIVER--

THERE WERE HOUSES OVER THERE, THERE WERE HOUSES BEHIND ME.

WHEREVER WE EXCAVATED, WE FOUND TRACES OF OCCUPATION.

WE REALIZED THAT THIS WASN'T JUST AN ORDINARY VILLAGE--

THIS WAS ACTUALLY THE LARGEST SETTLEMENT

OF THE NEOLITHIC IN WESTERN EUROPE.

JUST DOWN THE ROAD

FROM THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS STONE AGE MONUMENT

WAS THE WORLD’S LARGEST NEOLITHIC VILLAGE.

RADIOCARBON DATING REVEALED IT WAS NO COINCIDENCE.

THE VILLAGE WAS OCCUPIED AT A KEY TIME--AROUND 2500 BC--

EXACTLY THE SAME TIME

AS STONEHENGE WAS UNDER CONSTRUCTION.

THEY ALSO DISCOVERED ANOTHER LINK

BETWEEN DURRINGTON WALLS AND ITS NEIGHBOR, STONEHENGE.

THE SITE WAS LITTERED WITH DOZENS OF ANTLER PICKS--

THE PRIMITIVE BUT ESSENTIAL TOOLS

USED TO DIG OUT STONEHENGE’S CHALKY BEDROCK.

ALL THE EVIDENCE POINTED TO DURRINGTON WALLS

BEING THE CONSTRUCTION CAMP FOR STONEHENGE.

Parker Pearson: WE'VE GOT A COMMUNITY AT THIS SPOT,

PROBABLY NOT JUST HUNDREDS BUT THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE,

SO IT'S MOST LIKELY THAT THESE WERE THE PEOPLE

WHO BUILT STONEHENGE--

THIS WAS THE BUILDERS’ CAMP.

BUT THE CLUES LEFT BEHIND BY THOSE ANCIENT BUILDERS

SUGGESTED DURRINGTON WALLS' SIGNIFICANCE TO STONEHENGE

RAN MUCH DEEPER

THAN JUST HOUSING ITS CONSTRUCTION WORKERS.

LIFE AT DURRINGTON WALLS WAS KEY TO THE STONEHENGE STORY.

Parker Pearson: WE FOUND UNBELIEVABLE AMOUNTS

OF POTTERY SHERDS.

NORMALLY FOR BRITISH PREHISTORY, YOU’RE LUCKY TO FIND ONE OR TWO.

WE FOUND TENS OF THOUSANDS.

TO AN ARCHAEOLOGIST,

THE DISCOVERY OF NEOLITHIC POTTERY IS BIG NEWS;

EVEN A SINGLE SHARD OF BROKEN COOKWARE

COULD HOLD CLUES ABOUT THE LIFE OF ITS OWNER.

A TREASURE TROVE LIKE THIS

REPRESENTED AN UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITY.

NOW, THANKS TO CUTTING-EDGE ANALYSIS,

THOSE POTS ARE REVEALING A 4,500-YEAR-OLD SECRET

ABOUT THE STONEHENGE BUILDERS’ DIET.

Oliver Craig: POTTERY'S BEEN STUDIED FOR YEARS

BY ARCHAEOLOGISTS--

THE DISCIPLINE GOES BACK SEVERAL CENTURIES--

BUT MORE RECENTLY WHAT WE'VE FOUND

IS THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY APPLY CHEMISTRY

TO SOME OF THE CERAMICS

TO WORK OUT ACTUALLY WHAT THE POTS WERE USED FOR.

AFTER 4,500 YEARS,

THE TINIEST MOLECULES OF FAT AND OIL

REMAIN LOCKED ONTO

MINUTE TRACES OF THE STONEHENGE BUILDERS’ MEALS.

ONCE WE'VE GOT THOSE CHEMICALS OUT

AND WE'VE ANALYZED THEM,

WELL, THAT'S REALLY GIVING US INSIGHT

INTO THE CULINARY HISTORY OF OUR NEOLITHIC ANCESTORS.

NORMALLY DR. CRAIG WOULD EXPECT TO SEE

EVIDENCE OF CEREALS--

THE STANDARD DIET OF BRITONS AT THAT TIME.

BUT INSTEAD THE RESULTS REVEALED HUGE AMOUNTS OF MEAT--

A SPECTACULARLY RICH DIET FOR THE TIME.

THIS WASN'T A CASE OF BROWN-BAG LUNCHES

FOR A CONSTRUCTION CREW.

THIS WAS EVIDENCE OF STONE AGE BANQUETING ON AN EPIC SCALE.

ONE THING THAT STRUCK US IMMEDIATELY

WAS THAT THE VERY LARGE POTS WERE USED

FOR COOKING LARGE AMOUNTS OF PORK,

OBVIOUSLY WITH THE INTENTION OF FEEDING A LOT OF PEOPLE.

ALL THE MANY FRAGMENTS OF POTTERY

THAT WE'RE FINDING AT DURRINGTON WALLS,

LITTERED ACROSS THE SITE, THE THOUSANDS OF FRAGMENTS,

IS TELLING US THAT SOMETHING VERY SPECIAL IS HAPPENING THERE.

THIS IS ALL POINTING

THIS IS CLASSICAL EVIDENCE FOR FEASTING.

IN THE NEOLITHIC ERA, MEAT WAS A LUXURY,

AND FEASTS WERE RESERVED FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS.

BUT THE TEAM UNCOVERED AN ASTOUNDING 80,000 ANIMAL BONES--

OVER 90% OF WHICH CAME FROM PIGS,

SUGGESTING CELEBRATIONS ON AN EXTRAORDINARY SCALE.

THE BUILDING OF STONEHENGE WAS ACCOMPANIED

BY UNPARALLELED FEASTING AND CELEBRATION.

BUT THE BONES ALSO REVEALED SOMETHING SURPRISING

FOR THE NEOLITHIC ERA.

THE PIGS WEREN'T LOCAL--

THEY’D BEEN HERDED TO STONEHENGE FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.

COULD THESE EPIC CELEBRATIONS BE A CLUE

TO THIS ISOLATED PLAIN’S APPEAL?

COULD THEY EXPLAIN WHY STONEHENGE WAS BUILT HERE?

STONEHENGE IN ITS CURRENT FORM HAS BEEN DOMINATING

SALISBURY PLAIN IN SOUTHWEST BRITAIN

FOR 4,500 YEARS,

BUT THE REASON FOR ITS LOCATION IN THIS REMOTE CORNER OF BRITAIN

IS A MYSTERY.

NOW, ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE DISCOVERED THE STONES

ARE JUST ONE PART OF A WHOLE LANDSCAPE OF CELEBRATION,

AND JUST TWO MILES AWAY, AT THE BUILDERS' CAMP,

A VAST TREASURE TROVE OF ANIMAL BONES

IS OFFERING UP TANTALIZING EVIDENCE

OF STONEHENGE’S ORIGINS.

FORENSIC EXAMINATION OF OVER 900 PIGS' JAWS

FOUND AT DURRINGTON WALLS

REVEALED THAT MOST WERE

JUST NINE MONTHS OLD.

Lizzie Wright: SO LOOKING AT THIS JAW HERE,

WE CAN TELL THAT THIS IS A JUVENILE ANIMAL.

WE CAN SEE THAT IT HAS SOME JUVENILE TEETH

STILL IN THE JAW--

THIS TOOTH HERE, AND THIS TOOTH HERE--

AND THEY WILL EVENTUALLY BE PUSHED OUT OF THE JAW,

AND ADULT TEETH WILL COME THROUGH UNDERNEATH.

THE AGE OF DEATH IS CRUCIAL.

IF THE TEAM KNEW WHEN THEY WERE BORN,

THEY COULD WORK OUT WHAT TIME OF YEAR THE PIGS WERE KILLED.

THEY COULD WORK OUT THE TIMING OF THE LAVISH FEASTS

HAPPENING TWO MILES FROM STONEHENGE.

IN THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD PIGS WERE DOMESTICATED,

BUT THEY WERE KEPT FREE RANGE

WITH RELATIVELY LITTLE INTERFERENCE FROM HUMANS,

AND THIS MEANT THAT THEY HAD A NATURAL BIRTH CYCLE.

AND IF THE PIGS WERE BORN IN SPRING,

NINE MONTHS TAKES US TO A MIDWINTER TIME OF YEAR.

THE PIGS FEASTED ON AT DURRINGTON WALLS

HAD BEEN SLAUGHTERED AND EATEN AROUND THE WINTER SOLSTICE--

THE SAME SYMBOLIC TIME AS THE GREAT PROCESSION

AT NEARBY STONEHENGE ON THE SHORTEST DAY OF THE YEAR.

Parker Pearson: HAVING GIVEN BIRTH IN THE SPRING,

KILLING THOSE ANIMALS AT NINE MONTHS,

THAT'S A REALLY SIGNIFICANT PART

OF THE NEOLITHIC CALENDAR--

THE DEATH OF THE OLD YEAR, THE BEGINNING OF THE NEW.

THE MIDWINTER SOLSTICE IS CRUCIAL

BECAUSE IT TELLS YOU THERE'S HOPE--

THE DAYS ARE GOING TO GET LONGER,

THE CROPS WILL GROW.

DURRINGTON WALLS WAS MORE THAN SIMPLY LODGING

FOR A HUNGRY CONSTRUCTION CREW;

IT WAS A VILLAGE

HOSTING THE YEARLY CELEBRATIONS OF A HUGE COMMUNITY.

BUT THE BONES HELD ONE FINAL SECRET

ABOUT THE STRENGTH OF THE STONEHENGE LANDSCAPE'S PULL

FOR THE PEOPLE OF NEOLITHIC BRITAIN.

Richard Madgwick: THE ANIMAL BONES FROM DURRINGTON WALLS

ARE EXCEPTIONAL.

THERE ARE MORE PIGS AT THIS SITE

THAN PROBABLY ANY OTHER PREHISTORIC SITE

IN THE ENTIRETY OF BRITAIN.

THE SHEER NUMBERS OF PIGS IS EXTRAORDINARY,

BUT THE REAL INTEREST IS IN THEIR ORIGINS.

BECAUSE FOR THE FIRST TIME,

THE EXTENT OF THE STONEHENGE LANDSCAPE'S APPEAL

IS BEING REVEALED BY THESE PIGS’ REMAINS.

THESE ARE DOMESTIC FARM ANIMALS,

THESE AREN'T WILD, HUNTED ANIMALS,

AND THEREFORE, THEY MUST HAVE COME TO DURRINGTON WALLS

AND TO THE STONEHENGE LANDSCAPE WITH PEOPLE.

IF WE CAN WORK OUT WHERE THE ANIMALS COME FROM,

WE CAN WORK OUT WHERE THE PEOPLE COME FROM.

ANIMAL REMAINS CONTAIN A BALANCE OF CHEMICALS

SPECIFIC TO WHERE THOSE ANIMALS GREW UP.

SO, IF THE TEAM CAN PINPOINT

WHERE THE ANIMALS AT DURRINGTON WALLS WERE RAISED,

IT WILL REVEAL WHERE THEIR OWNERS WERE FROM.

IT WILL GIVE SCIENTISTS A MEASURE

OF JUST HOW FAR STONE AGE PEOPLE WERE PREPARED TO TRAVEL

TO TAKE PART IN THESE FESTIVITIES.

OUR RESULTS ARE REALLY ASTONISHING.

THE MASSIVE VARIATION THAT WE HAVE HERE

INDICATES THAT THESE ANIMALS HAVE COME

NOT JUST FROM ONE OR TWO LOCATIONS,

BUT FROM RIGHT ACROSS THE BRITISH ISLES,

AND SOME ARE AS FAR AWAY

AS NORTHEAST SCOTLAND.

THIS IS A MONUMENTAL DISTANCE

NOT ONLY FOR A PERSON TO MOVE IN THE LATE NEOLITHIC,

BUT ALSO TO BRING A PIG.

SOMEHOW THE STONEHENGE LANDSCAPE

HAD BECOME SO WELL KNOWN

THAT PEOPLE WOULD TRAVEL OVER 400 MILES ON FOOT

TO WORK ON THE MONUMENT,

HERDING THEIR LIVESTOCK ALL THE WAY

IN PREPARATION FOR THE CELEBRATIONS.

Parker Pearson: WHAT I THINK THIS IS TELLING US

ABOUT DURRINGTON WALLS,

IT'S NOT ONLY THE BIGGEST SETTLEMENT

IN THE WHOLE OF NEOLITHIC BRITAIN,

BUT IT’S ATTRACTING PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THAT ENTIRE ISLAND.

SO, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT EVERYBODY FELT

THEY HAD TO BE THERE AND BE PART OF.

THESE WERE PAN-BRITISH EVENTS

WHICH DREW PEOPLE IN

FROM THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE BRITISH ISLES

IN ORDER TO ENGAGE IN THESE BIG FEASTS.

THESE HUGE GATHERINGS WOULD HAVE CONNECTED

DIVERSE PEOPLES FROM ALL ACROSS THE 80,000 SQUARE MILES

OF NEOLITHIC BRITAIN.

IT'S TEMPTING TO MAKE A LINK

WITH THE GREAT FESTIVALS OF THE MODERN DAY,

BURNING MAN AND GLASTONBURY,

WHERE PEOPLE CONVERGE ON THESE AREAS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY,

WITH THEIR STRANGE ACCENTS, THEIR STRANGE CUSTOMS.

BUT FOR THE TIME THAT THEY'RE AT THESE FESTIVALS,

THEY’RE ONE COMMUNITY, WORKING AND PLAYING TOGETHER.

4,500 YEARS AGO, THE STONEHENGE LANDSCAPE

HAD BECOME THE PLACE TO VISIT FROM ACROSS BRITAIN

DURING THE MOST IMPORTANT TIME OF THE YEAR;

THOUSANDS CELEBRATING THE END OF THE DARK DAYS OF WINTER,

AND AT THE SAME TIME,

HELPING TO BUILD THE STONEHENGE THAT STANDS TODAY.

AND THE JOURNEYS THEY UNDERTOOK WERE EXTRAORDINARY.

Parker Pearson: IN TODAY'S WORLD WHERE YOU CAN TRAVEL

THOUSANDS OF MILES IN A MATTER OF HOURS,

IT SEEMS INCOMPREHENSIBLE THAT ANYBODY

WOULD WANT TO SPEND A MONTH WALKING TO A BIG PARTY.

BUT IT WASN'T ANY OLD PARTY--

THESE WERE IMMENSELY SPECIAL EVENTS.

THESE WERE THE MOMENT

THAT PEOPLE PROBABLY FELT THEY WERE LIVING FOR.

THIS IS FOR THEM THE EQUIVALENT OF GOING TO THE MOON.

FOR STONE AGE MAN,

THIS WINDSWEPT CORNER OF SALISBURY PLAIN

WAS BRITAIN'S MOST IMPORTANT SITE FOR PILGRIMAGE...

BUT THE MIDWINTER SUNSET COULD BE CELEBRATED ANYWHERE.

SO WHY BUILD A MONUMENT HERE?

TO ANSWER THAT PUZZLE

ARCHAEOLOGISTS MUST DELVE FURTHER BACK IN TIME...

BEFORE THE GIANT STONES WE KNOW TODAY WERE ERECTED.

THE KEY CLUE IS A HUGE CACHE OF THOUSANDS OF TINY BONE FRAGMENTS

UNEARTHED JUST A FEW YARDS FROM THE STONES.

EXCAVATIONS IN 1919 FOCUSED ON THE SO-CALLED AUBREY HOLES--

A SERIES OF 56 NEOLITHIC PITS SURROUNDING THE STONE MONUMENT.

CREMATED HUMAN REMAINS WERE DISCOVERED

IN EVERY HOLE THAT THE EXCAVATORS OPENED.

BUT WITHOUT TODAY'S MODERN TECHNIQUES,

THESE REMARKABLE REMAINS WERE INDECIPHERABLE,

SO THEY WERE REBURIED UNDER A LEAD PLAQUE

IN AUBREY HOLE NUMBER 7.

NEARLY A CENTURY LATER, MIKE PARKER PEARSON

WAS GIVEN PERMISSION TO EXHUME THOSE BONES.

Parker Pearson: OH, LOOK WHAT I'VE FOUND.

THERE WE GO, THE PLAQUE!

WOW.

NOW ARMED WITH INCREDIBLE ADVANCES

IN SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS,

HE HOPED THE REMAINS WOULD HOLD THE KEY

TO STONEHENGE’S VERY EXISTENCE.

Parker Pearson: YOU CAN IMAGINE MY HEART WAS IN MY MOUTH

AS WE GOT DOWN TO THAT LAYER, AND THEN DISASTER.

THE BONES BURIED BENEATH THE PLAQUE

TURNED OUT TO BE AN ARCHAEOLOGIST’S NIGHTMARE.

Parker Pearson: THEY’D ALL BEEN COMPLETELY SCRAMBLED.

THE WHOLE DEPOSIT WAS CLEARLY COMPLETELY MIXED UP.

PARKER PEARSON AND HIS TEAM

WERE FACED WITH PERHAPS

THE GREATEST ARCHAEOLOGICAL JIGSAW PUZZLE OF ALL TIME.

Parker Pearson: WE PROBABLY HAD ABOUT HALF A MILLION FRAGMENTS

OF HUMAN BONE,

MANY OF THEM BURNT AND TWISTED AND SHATTERED OUT OF SHAPE,

BUT THE INFORMATION WE KNEW WAS IN THERE.

THE FORMIDABLE TASK OF MAKING SENSE

OF THIS ANCIENT MESS

WOULD FALL TO OSTEOARCHAEOLOGIST CHRISTIE WILLIS.

Christie Willis: WHEN I SAW THE ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF HUMAN REMAINS

THAT CAME IN FROM STONEHENGE,

WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH MY MIND

WAS JUST HOW INCREDIBLY DIFFICULT

THIS TASK WAS GOING TO BE.

IT WOULD TAKE ALMOST A DECADE OF PAINSTAKING WORK

TO DECIPHER THE 500,000 FRAGMENTS,

BUT NOW, A PICTURE IS BEGINNING TO EMERGE.

THE EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT LONG BEFORE IT BECAME

A PLACE FOR THE LIVING TO CELEBRATE,

THE STONEHENGE LANDSCAPE WAS DEVOTED TO THE DEAD.

THE 4,500-YEAR HISTORY OF STONEHENGE IS BEING RESHAPED

AFTER THE DISCOVERY OF A VAST STONE AGE VILLAGE

JUST TWO MILES AWAY.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE FOUND THIS SETTLEMENT

HOSTED THE BUILDERS OF THE GREAT MONUMENT AT STONEHENGE,

A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO CAME FROM ALL OVER BRITAIN

TO ERECT THE STONES

AND CELEBRATE THE WINTER SOLSTICE

WITH EPIC FEASTS.

Parker Pearson: STONEHENGE WASN'T SIMPLY A LOCAL MONUMENT

FOR LOCAL PEOPLE;

THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT INVOLVED PEOPLE

FROM MILES AND MILES AWAY.

NOW SCIENTISTS MAY HOLD THE KEY TO THE MYSTERY

OF WHY A REMOTE PART OF BRITAIN

WAS CHOSEN FOR SUCH A MASSIVE PROJECT...

THANKS TO THE EXHUMATION

OF HALF A MILLION FRAGMENTS OF ANCIENT HUMAN BONE

JUST YARDS FROM THE STONES.

THE ANALYSIS OF THESE EXTRAORDINARY REMAINS

IS NOW FINALLY BEGINNING TO SHED LIGHT

ON THE ORIGINS OF STONEHENGE.

Parker Pearson: I THINK MOST PEOPLE DON'T EVEN REALIZE

THAT STONEHENGE WAS A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE WERE BURIED.

WHAT WE'VE DISCOVERED IS IT'S ACTUALLY THE BIGGEST CEMETERY

THAT WE HAVE ANYWHERE IN BRITAIN

THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE OF THE THIRD MILLENNIUM BC.

THE BURIAL GROUND'S SIZE

MAY BE UNPRECEDENTED IN STONE AGE ARCHAEOLOGY.

BUT ITS AGE LEFT ARCHAEOLOGISTS ASTONISHED.

THE EARLIEST BONES WERE BURIED AROUND 3000 BC--

THAT'S 500 YEARS BEFORE STONEHENGE AS WE KNOW IT TODAY

WAS EVEN ERECTED.

THESE RESULTS, NOT ONLY DID THEY REWRITE

WHAT WE KNEW ABOUT STONEHENGE,

BUT THEY REWROTE WHAT WE KNEW ABOUT NEOLITHIC BRITAIN

BECAUSE STONEHENGE IS NOW

ONE OF THE EARLIEST AND LARGEST CREMATION CEMETERIES

FROM NEOLITHIC BRITAIN.

COULD THESE BURIALS

BE THE VERY REASON STONEHENGE EXISTS?

WAS THIS VAST CEMETERY THE MOTIVATION

FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE MONUMENT?

TO FIND OUT, ARCHAEOLOGISTS NEED TO UNDERSTAND

THE NATURE OF THE BURIAL GROUND.

WHO WAS BURIED HERE, AND WHY?

NEOLITHIC BURIALS OFTEN SHOW THE SCARS OF STONE AGE EXISTENCE--

A LIFE SPENT UNDER THE CONSTANT THREAT OF VIOLENCE AND DISEASE.

Parker Pearson: PREHISTORIC BRITAIN,

AND PARTICULARLY THE NEOLITHIC,

COULD BE A FAIRLY DANGEROUS PLACE.

GOING ON THE EVIDENCE FROM EARLIER IN THE NEOLITHIC,

WHERE WE'VE GOT ARROWHEADS STUCK IN BONE,

WHERE WE'VE GOT SKULLS SMASHED IN...

YOU MIGHT EXPECT SOMETHING LIKE THAT

AMONGST THE CREMATED REMAINS.

BUT THERE WAS SOMETHING SPECIAL

ABOUT THESE BONES.

GIVEN THIS MANY CREMATED REMAINS,

I WOULD HAVE EXPECTED TO SEE AT LEAST ONE FORM OF EVIDENCE

THAT THERE WAS SOME KIND OF A VIOLENT CONFLICT;

EVIDENCE OF ARROWHEADS AND OF SPEARS

HAVING PASSED THROUGH THE BODY, HITTING THE BONES,

DEFLECTING OFF THE BONES.

THERE IS JUST NO EVIDENCE OF ANY KIND OF VIOLENCE ON THESE BONES.

THE BONES SHOWED NO SIGN OF TRAUMA

RELATED TO VIOLENCE,

AND NEITHER DID THE BURIALS SHOW EVIDENCE OF DISEASE,

LIKE A PLAGUE OR EPIDEMIC.

WE DON'T HAVE A LOT OF CHILDREN,

WE DON'T HAVE A LOT OF OLDER INDIVIDUALS,

AND THESE WOULD BE THE PEOPLE

THAT WOULD NORMALLY GO FIRST IN AN EPIDEMIC

BECAUSE THEY ARE THE WEAKEST MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY.

ON THE WHOLE, THESE WERE VERY PHYSICAL PEOPLE, USED TO LABOR.

THEY’RE ALSO INCREDIBLY HEALTHY.

THE STONEHENGE BURIALS WERE REMARKABLY CLEAR

OF THE ORDINARY DAMAGE FOUND ON STONE AGE SKELETONS...

AND THERE WAS SOMETHING ELSE THAT SET THESE BURIALS APART.

LOOKING AT THE EXAMPLES OF BONES WE HAVE HERE,

THE MAJORITY OF BONES ARE ACTUALLY QUITE BIG,

BUT WE ALSO HAVE INCREDIBLY SMALL BONES.

EVEN THE MOST MINUTE BONE WAS PICKED UP FOR BURIAL,

SO THIS TELLS US SOMETHING ABOUT HOW THEY HONORED THEIR DEAD.

EACH BURNT FRAGMENT OF BONE BURIED AT STONEHENGE

HAD BEEN METICULOUSLY COLLECTED

AND TREATED WITH THE GREATEST CARE.

IT SUGGESTED WHAT LINKED THE BURIALS

WAS THE STATUS AND RESPECT THESE PEOPLE COMMANDED IN LIFE.

NOW, NEW SCIENTIFIC TECHNIQUES ARE SHEDDING LIGHT

ON THE INCREDIBLE LENGTHS STONE AGE MAN WENT TO

TO HONOR THOSE PEOPLE.

FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST TIM THOMPSON

IS EXAMINING THE STONEHENGE REMAINS

TO TRY TO EXTRACT THE SECRETS OF STONE AGE CREMATION.

Tim Thompson: WHEN WE USE THIS METHOD ON CREMATED BONE,

WE CAN DETERMINE THE FINE MICROSTRUCTURE

OF THAT MATERIAL, AND BY DOING THAT,

THAT ALLOWS US TO DETERMINE HOW MUCH CHANGE HAS OCCURRED

DUE TO THE BURNING PROCESS,

AND THAT ALLOWS US TO GET A SENSE OF THE TEMPERATURE

AND CONDITIONS OF THE PYRE THAT THESE PEOPLE WERE PUT ON.

WHEN BONE IS BURNT,

THE MINERAL CRYSTALS WITHIN REARRANGE THEMSELVES.

THE HOTTER THE FIRE,

THE GREATER THE DISRUPTION TO THE BONE'S CRYSTAL STRUCTURE.

WHAT THE ANALYSIS REVEALS IS EXTRAORDINARY--

NEOLITHIC CREMATIONS WERE FEROCIOUSLY HOT.

THESE INDIVIDUALS HAVE BEEN BURNT

AT AN INCREDIBLY HIGH TEMPERATURE--

AT LEAST 700 DEGREES,

POSSIBLY AS MUCH AS 1,000 DEGREES CELSIUS.

THAT'S WHAT YOU'D EXPECT

IF AN INDIVIDUAL HAD DIED IN AN AVERAGE HOUSE FIRE.

THE NEOLITHIC PEOPLE WHO CARRIED OUT THIS PROCESS

WERE LIVING AT A TIME WHEN LIFE WAS SO BASIC

THEY WEREN’T EVEN USING METAL FOR THEIR TOOLS.

YET THEY WERE ABLE TO PRODUCE TEMPERATURES

OF 1,300 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT--

JUST AS HOT AS IN CREMATIONS TODAY.

HOW COULD A PRIMITIVE COMMUNITY,

EQUIPPED ONLY WITH STONE AGE TECHNOLOGY,

ACHIEVE SUCH SEARING TEMPERATURES?

Jackie McKinley: LITTLE ONE HERE.

OSTEOARCHAEOLOGIST AND CREMATION EXPERT JACKIE McKINLEY

WANTS TO FIGURE OUT HOW NEOLITHIC MOURNERS

REACHED THIS BLISTERING HEAT ON THEIR PYRES

USING ONLY THE RESOURCES AVAILABLE IN THE STONE AGE.

SHE'S CHOSEN A MIX OF TREES

THAT ARE KNOWN TO HAVE GROWN IN NEOLITHIC BRITAIN

AND BEGINS TO BUILD UP A STABLE FRAMEWORK.

IT'S NO GOOD JUST PILING IT ALL ON THERE

LIKE A BONFIRE--

IT HAS TO BE A STRUCTURE,

OTHERWISE IT WON'T FUNCTION AND DO THE JOB

THAT IT'S INTENDED TO DO.

ONCE IT'S GOING, I WOULDN'T ANTICIPATE

BEING ABLE TO GET WITHIN TWO METERS OF IT.

OH! READY MADE. THERE WE GO.

A THERMAL IMAGING CAMERA

AND A HIGH-TEMPERATURE PROBE

WILL CAPTURE THE PROGRESS OF THE INFERNO.

IN ORDER TO EFFECTIVELY TEST HER METHOD OF CREMATION,

JACKIE'S GOING TO BURN THE CARCASS OF A PIG.

IN TERMS OF SIZE AND GENERAL SORT OF STRUCTURE,

THE PIG IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE CLOSEST THING TO A HUMAN BEING.

ALRIGHT, GUYS.

WITHIN TEN MINUTES, THE BODY IS ABLAZE.

AS THE FIRE TAKES HOLD, TEMPERATURES ROCKET.

I'VE GOT TWO THERMOCOUPLES HERE,

SO I'M READING FROM...

OH, GOSH, THAT'S 926 DEGREES CENTIGRADE AT THE TOP THERE.

THAT IS A PRETTY EFFICIENT AMOUNT OF HEAT

THAT IS BEING PRODUCED THERE--

THAT IS EQUIVALENT TO WHAT YOU WOULD GET

IN A MODERN CREMATORIUM.

THE PYRE IS NOW BURNING

AT THE EQUIVALENT OF 1,700 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT.

THE TEAM HAS SUCCEEDED

IN ACHIEVING EXTRAORDINARY TEMPERATURES

USING ONLY NEOLITHIC MATERIALS.

BUT IT HASN’T BEEN AN EASY PROCESS.

CREMATION AS A MODE OF DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD

TAKES A LOT OF RESOURCES--

IT TAKES AT LEAST A HALF A TON OF WOOD.

IT IS NOT A CHEAP OPTION.

TO CREATE A FIRE SO POWERFUL

WOULD HAVE TAKEN A HUGE AMOUNT OF TIME AND EFFORT.

COULD THE STONEHENGE SITE HAVE BEEN RESERVED

FOR THE CREMATION AND BURIAL OF A SELECT FEW,

MEMBERS OF SOCIETY WHO WERE SOMEHOW SPECIAL

AND GIVEN THE NEOLITHIC EQUIVALENT OF A STATE FUNERAL?

IT SEEMS THE PERFECT THEORY TO EXPLAIN WHY THIS LOCATION

BECAME A MECCA FOR NEOLITHIC PILGRIMS

AND THE EVENTUAL SITE OF SUCH AN IMPRESSIVE MONUMENT.

BUT THERE’S ONE BIG PROBLEM.

THE CREMATED BONES MIGHT HAVE BEEN BURIED HERE,

BUT THERE'S NO EVIDENCE THAT THIS LANDSCAPE

EVER HOSTED CREMATIONS.

SO WHERE DID THESE REMAINS COME FROM?

ARCHAEOLOGISTS HAVE DISCOVERED

THAT PEOPLE WERE BURYING CREMATED REMAINS

AT THE SITE OF STONEHENGE

AT LEAST 500 YEARS BEFORE THE STONE CIRCLE WAS COMPLETED.

IT'S HOPED THESE BURIALS MIGHT EXPLAIN

WHY STONEHENGE WAS BUILT WHERE IT IS.

NOW, NEW ANALYSIS OF THESE 5,000-YEAR-OLD BONES

HAS REVEALED THEY WERE BURNT IN INCREDIBLE TEMPERATURES--

OVER 1,300 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT--

AND ANCIENT BONE EXPERT JACKIE McKINLEY

HAS RECREATED THAT SEARING HEAT IN A STONE AGE PYRE OF HER OWN.

IN THE MORNING, AFTER 12 HOURS OF BURNING,

JACKIE'S BACK TO INSPECT THE SMOLDERING REMAINS

OF A CREMATED CORPSE.

THE CORPSE IS STILL LAID IN ANATOMICAL ORDER,

SO YOU CAN STILL SEE THE SPINE IN THE MIDDLE

AND THEN THE LEGS AT THE FAR END THERE,

SO BASICALLY AS WE HAD IT LAID ON TOP OF THE PYRE.

SHE'S LOOKING FOR SIGNS THE BODY--

ON THIS OCCASION A PIG-- IS FULLY INCINERATED,

JUST LIKE THOSE FOUND BURIED AT STONEHENGE.

IF THERE'S ANY CHARRED FLESH ON THE BONE,

THE CREMATION HAS FAILED.

BUT THE CORPSE IS BARELY RECOGNIZABLE.

WHAT WE'VE GOT HERE IS A PIECE OF RIB,

WHICH IS BROKEN,

AND THAT'S BROKEN BECAUSE OF THE DEHYDRATION THAT'S TAKING PLACE,

MOST OF IT IS WHITE IN COLOR, WHICH IS WELL-OXIDIZED BONE,

SO BY AND LARGE IT'S BEEN

AN EFFICIENT CREMATION THAT WE’VE HAD.

CREMATIONS ON THIS SCALE BURN SO FIERCELY

THAT THEY LEAVE A SIGNATURE IN THE SOIL

LASTING THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

MODERN SCIENCE CAN DETECT THOSE SIGNATURES,

BUT THERE'S NO EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST

THAT THE STONEHENGE LANDSCAPE PLAYED HOST

TO LARGE NUMBERS OF CREMATIONS.

SO IF THE BODIES WEREN'T BURNT HERE,

WHERE WERE THEY CREMATED, AND WHY WERE THEY BROUGHT HERE?

THE RECOVERY OF CHEMICAL INFORMATION FROM BURNT BONE

USED TO BE IMPOSSIBLE.

BUT FORENSIC ARCHAEOLOGIST DR. CHRISTOPHE SNOECK

IS SPEARHEADING AN ATTEMPT TO EXTRACT CRUCIAL INFORMATION

THAT MAY BE TRAPPED IN THESE SCORCHED SKELETONS.

HE'S SEARCHING THE BONES FOR A STRONTIUM SIGNAL--

A CHEMICAL THAT ENTERS THE BODY THROUGH FOOD,

AND WHOSE VARIATIONS REFLECT THE GEOLOGY WHEREVER A PERSON LIVED.

IT WOULD MEAN HE COULD IDENTIFY

EXACTLY WHERE IN BRITAIN THE BONE WAS FORMED.

SNOECK'S PIONEERING WORK PROVES THAT, FAR FROM DESTROYING IT,

HIGH-TEMPERATURE BURNING MIGHT ACTUALLY PRESERVE

THIS PRECIOUS DATA WITHIN THE FRAGMENTS.

Christophe Snoeck: WHEN BONE IS BURIED IN THE SOIL,

A LOT OF CHEMICAL ELEMENTS FROM THE SOIL CAN GO IN THE BONE

AND OTHERS CAN COME OUT,

BUT WHEN CREMATED, THE STRUCTURE CHANGES,

AND ACTUALLY, ALL THE SIGNAL IS LOCKED INTO THE CREMATED BONE

FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS.

FOR THE FIRST TIME, SNOECK HAS SUCCEEDED

IN UNLOCKING A STRONTIUM SIGNAL FROM THE ANCIENT CREMATED BONE--

AND THE ANALYSIS HAS THROWN UP A SHOCK.

A THIRD OF THE PEOPLE BURIED AT STONEHENGE

WERE NOT FROM THE LOCAL AREA, OR ANYWHERE NEAR.

THEY HAD SPENT THEIR LIVES HUNDREDS OF MILES AWAY.

AND SOME HAD COME FROM A PART OF BRITAIN

WITH DEEP TIES TO STONEHENGE.

WE'VE ANALYZED 25 CREMATED INDIVIDUALS

FROM STONEHENGE,

AND WHAT WE'VE SEEN FROM THE RESULTS

IS ACTUALLY A LARGE PROPORTION

DOES NOT ORIGINATE FROM THE STONEHENGE AREA,

BUT SOMEWHERE ELSE IN BRITAIN--

AND THE CHEMICAL SIGNATURE

THAT WE HAVE MEASURED ON THESE INDIVIDUALS,

ACTUALLY, FOR SOME OF THEM, IT MATCHES WEST WALES.

THESE REMAINS BELONGED TO PEOPLE

WHO CAME FROM THE SAME PART OF BRITAIN

AS THE FIRST STONES TO ARRIVE

THE BLUESTONES.

MIKE PARKER PEARSON IS CONVINCED IT’S NO COINCIDENCE.

HE HAS BEEN EXAMINING AUBREY HOLE 7,

ONE OF THE PITS SITUATED AROUND THE EDGE OF THE CIRCLE,

WHERE THE CREMATED REMAINS WERE ORIGINALLY BURIED.

HE THINKS HE'S FOUND A CONNECTION

BETWEEN THE BONES AND THE BLUESTONES.

Parker Pearson: IN THE BOTTOM OF AUBREY HOLE 7

THE CHALK HAD BEEN CRUSHED TO POWDER.

IT HAD HAD A VERY HEAVY WEIGHT ON TOP OF IT,

AND THE DIMENSIONS OF THESE HOLES

ARE EXACTLY THE SAME AS THOSE TODAY

THAT HOLD THE BLUESTONES AT STONEHENGE.

PARKER PEARSON BELIEVES

THAT BEFORE THEY WERE MOVED TO THEIR CURRENT POSITION

IN THE CENTER,

THE WELSH BLUESTONES STOOD IN THE AUBREY HOLES,

WHERE THE CREMATED REMAINS WERE BURIED.

IF HE'S RIGHT, HE MAY HAVE CONFIRMED

THE ORIGINAL PURPOSE OF STONEHENGE.

Parker Pearson: THE BLUESTONES,

THEY WERE ALMOST LIKE TOMBSTONES,

MARKING THE PLACE WHERE HUMAN REMAINS WOULD BE PUT.

SO, THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY FUNDAMENTALLY ASSOCIATED

WITH THE DEAD.

THE EARLIEST CREMATED BONES DATE TO 3000 BC--

A CENTURY BEFORE THE BLUESTONES ARRIVED AT SALISBURY PLAIN.

FOR PARKER PEARSON,

IT MEANS WEST WALES IS ONLY PART OF THE STONEHENGE STORY.

Parker Pearson: STONEHENGE IS ACTING AS A BURIAL GROUND,

NOT SIMPLY FOR PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN ITS IMMEDIATE ENVIRONS,

BUT ACTUALLY WHO ARE IMPORTANT PEOPLE,

SOMETIMES AT A GREAT DISTANCE FROM STONEHENGE.

FOR ARCHAEOLOGISTS A NEW THEORY IS FORMING.

STONEHENGE WAS A SANCTUARY FOR THE SOULS

OF NEOLITHIC SOCIETY'S GREAT AND GOOD,

AND THE CREMATED REMAINS OF THOSE BURIED THERE

HAD BEEN ON A RITUAL JOURNEY.

THEY'D DIED ON HOME SOIL, WERE CREMATED,

AND THEN CARRIED CEREMONIALLY TO THEIR RESTING PLACE

AT THE NEOLITHIC CEMETERY ON SALISBURY PLAIN.

THE REASON FOR BUILDING STONEHENGE HERE,

ON LAND MADE SACRED

BY THE BURIAL OF SOCIETY'S MOST IMPORTANT FIGURES,

IS NOW BECOMING CLEAR.

BUT THE QUESTION REMAINS-- WHY WAS THIS SPOT CHOSEN?

WHY WOULD PEOPLE CARRY THEIR DEAD FROM WALES,

OR EVEN FURTHER, TO BURY THEM HERE?

WHAT WAS SO SPECIAL ABOUT THIS WINDY MOOR?

A NEW AND EXCITING THEORY IS EMERGING ABOUT THE ORIGINS

OF THE NEOLITHIC WORLD'S MOST ENDURING MONUMENT--

STONEHENGE.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS BELIEVE IT MAY HAVE STARTED OUT

AS A SACRED BURIAL SITE FOR THE REMAINS

OF CREMATED ANCESTORS FROM ACROSS BRITAIN.

EVENTUALLY, STONES EACH WEIGHING MORE THAN A TON

WERE CARRIED TO THE SITE TO MARK THE GRAVES.

500 YEARS LATER, THE PEOPLE OF STONE AGE BRITAIN

WERE CONGREGATING AT DURRINGTON WALLS,

TWO MILES AWAY,

USING THE SETTLEMENT AS A BASE

FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE STONEHENGE WE KNOW TODAY,

AND TO CELEBRATE MIDWINTER ON AN EPIC SCALE.

BUT WHY DID STONE AGE MAN

BELIEVE THIS SMALL SPOT OF BRITAIN WAS SO SPECIAL?

MIKE PARKER PEARSON BELIEVES THE ANSWER LIES

IN THE UNIQUE LANDSCAPE OF SALISBURY PLAIN.

LOOKING AT THE SITE FROM ABOVE,

A PAIR OF PARALLEL LINES ARE VISIBLE, FORMING AN AVENUE

RUNNING STRAIGHT TOWARDS THE STONE CIRCLE.

THIS NEOLITHIC ROAD WAS CONSTRUCTED

AT THE SAME TIME AS STONEHENGE,

AND IT LINES UP PERFECTLY WITH THE SUN

ON THE SHORTEST DAY OF THE YEAR.

Parker Pearson: IF YOU WERE WALKING ALONG THE AVENUE,

YOU WILL BE LOOKING DIRECTLY

AT WHERE THE MIDWINTER SUN SET.

A SIMILAR AVENUE EXISTS AT DURRINGTON WALLS--

THIS TIME ALIGNED TO THE MIDWINTER SUNRISE.

PARKER PEARSON BELIEVES THAT AT THE TIME OF THE FEASTING,

THE TWO SITES WERE LINKED BY THE RIVER AVON--

A CAMP FOR THE LIVING LEADING TO A MONUMENT TO THE ANCESTORS.

AND THESE TWO WORLDS WOULD BE UNITED

ON THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY OF THE YEAR.

Parker Pearson: THE RIVER WAS THE CONDUIT

BETWEEN THE WORLD OF THE LIVING AND THE WORLD OF THE DEAD.

DURRINGTON WALLS WAS A PLACE OF FEASTING,

AND WE KNOW THAT FEASTING TOOK PLACE IN THE WINTER MONTHS,

SO AROUND THE WINTER SOLSTICE,

THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE PERFECT MOMENT

TO HAVE SOME KIND OF PROCESSION.

WHAT THEY MIGHT HAVE DONE

WAS TO START THEIR PROCESSION AT SUNRISE

AS THE WINTER SUN ROSE

TO SHINE UP THE AVENUE AT DURRINGTON WALLS,

DOWN TO THE RIVER, AND THEN TO FOLLOW ITS COURSE

ALL THE WAY ALONG HERE TO PICK UP THE AVENUE

ALL THE WAY UP TO STONEHENGE.

AS THE WORSHIPPERS ENTERED

THE FINAL STRETCH OF THE AVENUE,

THEIR PATH WOULD TAKE THEM

THE VAST MONUMENT TO AN ANCIENT CEMETERY,

ITS STONES FRAMING THE BLAZING MIDWINTER SUN

AS IT SET ON THE YEAR’S SHORTEST DAY.

IT'S CLEAR THAT THE CELEBRATION WAS TIMED

TO COINCIDE WITH MIDWINTER'S DAY,

AND EACH ELEMENT CONSTRUCTED TO LINE UP WITH THE SUN’S PATH.

BUT PARKER PEARSON NOW BELIEVES THERE WAS SOMETHING

THAT MADE THIS LANDSCAPE SACRED

BEFORE A SINGLE STONE WAS ERECTED,

BEFORE ANY BODIES WERE BURIED.

AN EXCAVATION IN THE 1950s FOUND A SERIES OF DEEP GROOVES

RUNNING IN A STRAIGHT LINE WITHIN THE STONEHENGE AVENUE.

AND JUST LIKE THE AVENUE, THEY RAN IN A LINE

POINTING TOWARDS THE SETTING MIDWINTER SUN.

COULD THESE GROOVES BE AN EVEN EARLIER PHASE OF BUILDING?

Parker Pearson: THE FACT THAT THESE GULLIES

WERE RUNNING ON THE SOLSTICE AXIS

LED US TO ASSUME THAT THEY WERE MANMADE.

SO WE CAME AND EXCAVATED, AND TO OUR SURPRISE,

WE FOUND THAT OUR STRAIGHT LINES IN THE GROUND

WERE NOT MANMADE AT ALL-- THEY WERE NATURAL.

THEY WERE FORMED IN AN ANCIENT ICE AGE.

GEOLOGISTS CONFIRMED THAT THE GROOVES

WEREN'T PART OF THE ORIGINAL AVENUE BUILT 4,500 YEARS AGO--

THEY WERE MUCH OLDER.

THEIR ALIGNMENT TO THE MIDWINTER SUNSET WAS COINCIDENTAL--

A GEOLOGICAL ACCIDENT--

BUT TO THE PEOPLE OF THE STONE AGE,

THESE SCARS IN THE ROCK WOULD HAVE SEEMED LIKE A SIGN.

THESE GULLIES MAY BE THE ULTIMATE EXPLANATION

FOR STONEHENGE’S EXISTENCE.

I THINK WHEN PEOPLE FIRST SAW

THOSE NATURAL CRACKS ON THE SURFACE,

THEY'D HAVE BEEN IN NO DOUBT

THAT IT WAS INDEED A SUPERNATURAL PHENOMENON.

I'M IN ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT THAT THAT WAS THE REASON

WHY STONEHENGE WAS EVENTUALLY LOCATED WHERE IT WAS.

THE TRUE HISTORY OF STONEHENGE

IS NOW BEGINNING TO TAKE SHAPE--

FIRST THE CREMATED REMAINS OF REVERED ANCESTORS

WERE BROUGHT HERE,

TO A LANDSCAPE MADE SACRED

BY ITS NATURAL ALIGNMENT TO THE MIDWINTER SUNSET.

THEY WERE BURIED IN THE AUBREY HOLES,

JUST INSIDE A CIRCULAR MOUND,

AND THEIR RESTING PLACES MARKED WITH BLUESTONES.

BY 2500 BC, PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY

WERE CONVERGING ON DURRINGTON WALLS

TO HELP ERECT THE GREAT STONES

AND BUILD THE MONUMENT THAT STILL STANDS 4,500 YEARS LATER.

STONEHENGE HAD BECOME BRITAIN'S MOST PROMINENT SANCTUARY

OF THE DEAD.

IT WAS THE PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL HEART OF AN ISLAND

UNITED BY A RITUAL FASCINATION WITH THE MIDWINTER SUN.

PEOPLE SHARED A COMMON WORLDVIEW,

A COMMON EXPLANATION FOR THE RISING OF THE SUN,

THE SETTING OF THE SUN,

THE DESTINATION OF THE SOULS OF THE DEAD,

AND THE MEANING OF GOOD AND EVIL.

THE PURPOSE WAS TO DRAW PEOPLE

FROM DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

IT WAS ALL ABOUT UNITING COMMUNITIES.

STONEHENGE WAS CONSTRUCTED AND WAS USED

BY PEOPLE RIGHT ACROSS BRITAIN.

Parker Pearson: WE SAY IN THE ROMAN TIMES

ALL ROADS LED TO ROME.

I THINK WE CAN SAY IN NEOLITHIC TIME,

ALL TRACKWAYS LED TO STONEHENGE.