A Brief Introduction

Click to see illustrationSilbury Hill is probably the world's largest man-made prehistoric mound. It is one of the most intriguing sites in the prehistoric landscape of the World Heritage Site, especially as we do not know its purpose or meaning.

At present, it is known only that Silbury was built in the late Neolithic around 2,400 BC. It stands at 30 metres high and 160 metres wide, and its construction is estimated to have involved roughly 4 million man-hours of work. 500,000 tonnes of material were used; mostly chalk, quarried and cleared from the surrounding terraces and ditches.

Click to see illustration The enduring presence of Silbury Hill in the landscape has inspired myths and legends as people have sought to explain its purpose. In one such legend, Silbury is the burial mound of a mythical King Zel and his horse. The mound is also associated with pagan beliefs and earth mysteries.

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

Silbury Hill was not conceived as one monument, but was gradually built up over time to form the monument visible today.  It must have been a special place in prehistory, where people gathered for events and episodes of building.

A recent geophysical survey has shown that this monument was later at the centre of a Roman settlement, straddling the nearby A4. In the medieval period, the top of Silbury was probably flattened and a building, possibly defensive, was constructed on the summit.

The full story of its astonishing archaeology is still unravelling thanks to the recent consolidation works on the hill.

This cross-section shows the many different phases of late Neolithic activity, revealed by the recent archaeological work. There might be as many as 12 phases, shown here in different colours (the dark grey area is unknown).