Hidden History: Lost Civilizations, Secret Knowledge, and Ancient Mysteries

partial collapse of the summit of the mound in 2000. Antiquarian Dean Merewether supervised the excavation of a tunnel from the side of the hill to its core in 1849, but this shed little light on the function of Silbury Hill. Professor Richard Atkinson's BBC-sponsored excavations of the enigmatic earthwork, which took place from 1968 to 1970, have been the most comprehensive investigations of the site to date. One of Atkinson's three trenches followed Merewether's tunnel, but there were no sensational finds. In fact, precious few artifacts at all, no burials, and no clues to the function of the structure were found. However, from his work at the site, Atkinson was able to arrive at his theory about how the mound had been constructed. Atkinson's excavations also revealed considerable environmental evidence, including the presence of flying ants in the turf of the building, which has been used to suggest that construction of the earthwork was begun in the month of August, interpreted by some as coinciding with the Celtic Festival of Lughnasadh, or Lammas. Even though Silbury was constructed 2,000 years before, there is evidence of Celtic culture in Britain.
Close-up of the mysterious Silbury Hill.
Photo by the author.
Although most archaeologists are at a loss to explain the function of Silbury Hill, there has been no shortage of theories put forward in the 300 years of investigations at the site. The belief of the 18th and 19th century investigators was that the earthwork represented the burial mound of an ancient British king. In fact, local folklore suggests that the hill is the resting place of an unknown King Sil (or Zel), or that it contains a life-size statue of Sil sitting on top of a golden horse. Another legend tells that the Devil was about to empty a huge apron full of soil on the nearby town of Marlborough, but was forced to drop it at Silbury by the magic of the priests of nearby Avebury. Though folklore often contains a grain of truth, no human remains have ever been discovered in excavations at the hill, although it has to be admitted that not all of the structure has been investigated. Other theories about the earthwork include that the flattened top of Silbury functioned as a platform
for druid sacrifices, or that the structure was a Temple to Mercury, a giant sundial, an astronomical observatory, a symbolic representation of the Mother Goddess, a power source for passing alien spaceships, or a center for meetings and legal proceedings. In fact, fairs did once take place on the summit of the Silbury Hill, but that was in the 18th century.
One feature of the massive earthwork which seems to point to a ritual function is a possible spiral path climbing up the structure. A new theory (evidence for which was revealed by a 3-dimensional seismic survey undertaken in 2001) goes against Richard Atkinson's hypothesis of construction in flat layers for the mound, suggesting rather that Atkinson's steps may actually be a spiralling ledge. This spiral may have served the dual purpose of an access route to the summit during construction and a pathway to the top for ritual processions. This idea would also link with the profusion of the spiral motif in Neolithic art, as seen for example at the temple/tomb at Newgrange in Ireland. That the mound had some kind of religious significance is given credence by its setting within the complex of ritual, funerary, and ceremonial monuments in the area around Avebury; which itself lies only 20 miles north of the roughly contemporary monument at Stonehenge.
The huge ditch surrounding Silbury, probably once intentionally filled with water, may be further evidence of a ritual function. In the early summer of 2001, a huge straight-edged 33 foot wide mark in the vegetation was identified, extending towards the ditch of the Silbury mound. The vegetation or crop mark indicates a deep man-made ditch under the soil, possibly-as some archaeologists believe-built to channel water from local springs into the moat at Silbury Hill. Ditches around prehistoric sites, such as henges and hillforts, may not have always been dug for practical purposes, but could also have had a less tangible function, such as a barrier to separate the religious from the mundane, or to protect the site from malign influences. The site of the Silbury monument is also interesting. When originally built, Silbury Hill would probably have been a brilliant white structure surrounded by a shimmering moat. However, rather than placing such an awe-inspiring structure on a hill where it could be seen for miles around, its builders placed Silbury in a valley, so it barely protrudes above the horizon, and is hardly visible from most of the surrounding monuments. Perhaps this indicates that the ground on which the structure was erected was as important as the building itself, though its lowland setting does emphasise its huge size.
Intriguingly, Silbury Hill seems to have retained its importance as a sacred site long after it was built. Excavations at the hill have revealed a large amount of Roman finds, including a ritual platform cutting into the mound, more than 100 Roman coins in the surrounding ditch, and many Roman shafts and wells. On the adjacent Waden Hill, a Romano-British settlement has been discovered, which suggests (along with the finds on Silbury Hill itself) that Silbury was still a sacred site in the Roman period. There are fascinating parallels here with Newgrange, which also retained ritual significance into the Roman period. The religious attraction of Silbury seems to have continued into the medieval period, as is suggested by finds of pottery, iron nails, an iron spearhead, and a coin of King Ethelred II (dating to A.D. 1010) at the site. The iron nails were found inside small holes that had been dug for wooden posts, at first thought to indicate a defensive structure-perhaps a fort on the hill. However, these post holes were located on the inside of the terraces, which would mean that they served as revetment rather