Silbury Hill

Living in a place that constantly reinvents itself, making something like a 100-year-old house remarkable, I always love stories that show a place with real history. This one from the BBC, “Roman clues found at ancient hill”, is a good example.

The “hill” is a Neolithic mound in Wiltshire, England, constructed some 5000 years ago, around which grew a Roman settlement 2000 years ago — the Roman presence is the newest discovery. Roads that are the same routes for thousands of years.

The settlement was on the road from London to Bath, which is the modern-day A4, where it crossed the Winterbourne river.

There was some damage at the site a few years ago due to heavy rain, and they’ve brought in experts to help stabilize everything. The article refers to “the collapse of an 18th century shaft” that puts things in more perspective.

The Silbury Hill page on english-heritage.org.uk has more info,

The largest man-made mound in Europe, huge and mysterious Silbury Hill is comparable in height and volume to the roughly contemporary Egyptian pyramids. Probably completed by about 2350 BC and part of the Avebury ‘sacred landscape’, it apparently contains no burial or shrine, and was clearly important in itself: but its purpose and significance remain enigmatic.