What is Durrington Walls?
Q: What is Durrington Walls?
A: Durrington Walls is the site of a large Neolithic settlement and later henge enclosure in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site. It is located 2 miles north-east of Stonehenge in the parish of Durrington, just north of Amesbury.
Q: How many homes were found at the settlement?
A: Excavations in 2013 revealed that there were 1,000 homes at the settlement, which would have supported a population of 4,000 people at one time.
Q: When was the village carbon dated to?
A: The village was carbon dated to about 2600 B.C.
Q: What technology has been used to reveal evidence of nearly 100 stones without excavation?
A: Remote sensing and geophysical imaging technology has been used to reveal evidence of nearly 100 stones without needing excavation.
Q: What remains visible today from Durrington Walls?
A: Today what visibly remains from Durrington Walls is the 'walls' or ridge surrounding a central basin which originally had a ditch 5.5m deep and 7m wide at its bottom and 18m wide at its top with a bank 30m wide in some areas. There are two entrances through this bank and ditch – one on either side – as well as several timber circles and smaller enclosures within it not all of which have been excavated yet.
Q: What lies underneath Durrington Walls? A: About three feet underneath Durrington Walls there are remains of about 90 standing stones which were found in 2015 using special archaeological research tools such as ground-penetrating radar. Scientists do not know if this feature is from an earlier time than Stonehenge or not yet.
Q: How big is the henge monument compared to other henges in Britain? A: At 500m in diameter, the henge monument at Durrington Walls is thought to be complementary to Stonehenge and also happens to be largest henge monument in Britain
