The hosepipe used to water the turf at Stonehenge in hot spells did not reach one part of the circle and brown patches started to appear in the grass. Serendipity is a great aid to archaeological discovery and in this case it was a short hosepipe that led to the breakthrough. This remains unresolved but a chance discovery in 2013 added significantly to the debate. One of the great controversies of Stonehenge is whether the sarsen circle was ever complete. Parchmarks reveal holes of missing stones Parchmarks at Stonehenge caused by holes for missing stones The ‘henges’ range in size from a few metres across to the enormous Durrington Walls – three kilometres north-east of Stonehenge, it is nearly 500m across. Though the purpose of these sites is clearly religious, the exact ceremonies that were practised there are unknown. Archaeologists refer to these enclosures as ‘henges’ (named after Stonehenge itself). Many of them incorporate circles of upright posts. Using the latest geophysical techniques, they have discovered that there may have been as many as a dozen small circular or oval enclosures surrounded by ditches and external earthen banks. In the surrounding landscape, researchers from universities and Historic England have revealed that the ‘North Barrow’ was not alone.

Geophysical survey reveals many ‘henges’ Geophysicists in action at Stonehenge It pre-dates the great earthwork enclosure of around 3,000BC, which runs over the top of it, and is older than the stone settings by at least 500 years. But Historic England’s archaeologists, closely observing the undulations of the ground surface, have revealed that this slight feature – a circular bank enclosing an area about 20m across – is possibly the oldest element of Stonehenge. Archaeologists, too, have been inclined to ignore it, regarding it as a relatively insignificant feature. All visitors to Stonehenge walk over the fragmentary remains of this earthwork, most probably without noticing it, as they enter the site. One of the most significant findings concerns the so-called ‘North Barrow’. ‘North Barrow’ possibly oldest element of Stonehenge The Stonehenge enclosures earthworks which overlie the ‘North Barrow’ Here are seven surprising new discoveries: 1. All this has allowed us to develop a new appreciation of the Stonehenge landscape, not only in its Neolithic and Bronze Age heyday but from early prehistory to the present day. At the same time several universities have been carrying out independent research, involving international co-operation.

This research has involved a combination of non-intrusive techniques – analytical survey of upstanding monuments and buildings, aerial photography, lidar and geophysical survey, and, laser scanning. One of the most significant strands of this has been Historic England’s survey of the stones, the surrounding earthworks and the hidden archaeology. Stonehenge and its surrounding landscape have seen an unprecedented amount of research in the last decade.

New findings at stonehenge