0:00:09 > 0:00:11The megaliths of Stonehenge
0:00:11 > 0:00:14are Britain's most investigated ancient monument.
0:00:18 > 0:00:23Yet, despite centuries of scrutiny,
0:00:23 > 0:00:26excavations and theories...
0:00:29 > 0:00:30..the big questions remain.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35What were its origins?
0:00:35 > 0:00:38How did it evolve over thousands of years?
0:00:40 > 0:00:45And which forces of nature and humanity inspired its creators?
0:00:50 > 0:00:52Now, a group of experts are taking a hi tech approach
0:00:52 > 0:00:54to unlocking Stonehenge's secrets.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03A site like Stonehenge can only be understood
0:01:03 > 0:01:06by looking at the monuments around it
0:01:06 > 0:01:10and how that landscape's evolved.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13For the first time, we're not just seeing little islands of activity,
0:01:13 > 0:01:15but we get to see the big picture.
0:01:17 > 0:01:22The new data, supported by wider archaeological evidence,
0:01:22 > 0:01:27has thrown fresh light on 10,000 years of human progress.
0:01:27 > 0:01:28It's quite an achievement
0:01:28 > 0:01:30when you think that the people excavating this
0:01:30 > 0:01:32were using stone and bone tools.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37Its ancient people were meticulous planners...
0:01:37 > 0:01:41This is really quite a big feature. It's clearly man-made.
0:01:41 > 0:01:42..profound believers...
0:01:42 > 0:01:45They had very peculiar rituals.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50De-fleshment, cutting off of heads.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52..and fearless warriors.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54When things come to a boiling point,
0:01:54 > 0:01:58the violence that does break out can be very brutal.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00Just kill everything in front of you.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07In just five years, 21st century archaeology has achieved
0:02:07 > 0:02:10what conventional excavation would have taken a lifetime to complete.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16Revealing a picture of Stonehenge...
0:02:19 > 0:02:21..and its people
0:02:21 > 0:02:23as never before.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51Recent times have seen intense levels of activity around
0:02:51 > 0:02:54the world's most famous prehistoric site.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04To solve the mysteries of the monument,
0:03:04 > 0:03:07the scientists have been using a novel strategy.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11Not just focusing on the iconic stones,
0:03:11 > 0:03:15they also investigated the wider landscape in which they sit.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21The thing with Stonehenge is if you visit it,
0:03:21 > 0:03:25you don't always get the sense of the enormity of the landscape.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29It's only when you get above or you get away from it
0:03:29 > 0:03:33that you can really get a sense of how everything fits together
0:03:33 > 0:03:36and really that's at the heart of the whole project.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38We're trying to look at the wider picture.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44To understand Stonehenge, we have to look at the entire landscape,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47both spatially, but also through time.
0:03:49 > 0:03:54The most ambitious of these new studies
0:03:54 > 0:03:57is the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project.
0:04:01 > 0:04:04Led by experts from Birmingham University
0:04:04 > 0:04:08and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute in Austria.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14As people walk over the Stonehenge landscape,
0:04:14 > 0:04:15they're aware of Stonehenge.
0:04:15 > 0:04:17They may be aware of some of the larger monuments
0:04:17 > 0:04:19but they don't appreciate
0:04:19 > 0:04:22that thousands of years of human occupancy in this landscape
0:04:22 > 0:04:26produces features that we simply do not know about.
0:04:28 > 0:04:33The project is using remote-sensing technology to try and map that
0:04:33 > 0:04:36to discover it and display it for the first time.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41With state-of-the-art remote-sensing equipment,
0:04:41 > 0:04:43the team have mapped every structure,
0:04:43 > 0:04:45both visible and invisible,
0:04:45 > 0:04:49across 10 square kilometres of the sacred site.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54We can do a virtual dig of this landscape
0:04:54 > 0:04:56and see what is hidden beneath the surface.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01With machines like this, we can come up with a picture
0:05:01 > 0:05:05which has a resolution of tenths of centimetres...
0:05:05 > 0:05:07This is something absolutely new.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18With all the scanned data collated,
0:05:18 > 0:05:22the team have produced a multi-layered digital map,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25that showed how the landscape developed over thousands of years.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29In order to understand Stonehenge,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32we have to look at the periods up to that construction.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35So, going back 1,000 years or more beforehand.
0:05:35 > 0:05:36And only by doing that
0:05:36 > 0:05:38and understanding how the landscape evolves
0:05:38 > 0:05:41do we get a sense of why Stonehenge is where it is.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46The Hidden Landscapes Project's unprecedented big picture
0:05:46 > 0:05:49has revealed a remarkable world of hidden monuments.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53It was really quite exciting
0:05:53 > 0:05:56when we looked at the data for the first time.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59The team who was looking at it said,
0:05:59 > 0:06:02"That looks like a henge,"
0:06:02 > 0:06:03and that is important.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07As they analysed their data even further,
0:06:07 > 0:06:09they found new information
0:06:09 > 0:06:12about how the other monuments interconnect with Stonehenge.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17The architecture of Stonehenge doesn't exist in isolation.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20There's a form of connectivity in the landscape here
0:06:20 > 0:06:21that we'd not realised before.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25The discoveries made by the Hidden Landscapes Project
0:06:25 > 0:06:28are backed by new finds from other research projects.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34Together they are telling the full story of Stonehenge.
0:06:53 > 0:06:56The first signs of human activity in the Stonehenge area
0:06:56 > 0:07:01date back 10,000 years to a period known as the Mesolithic.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05Around that time,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08three large totem-like poles were erected,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11250m from where Stonehenge now stands.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17Their meaning and purpose has baffled experts
0:07:17 > 0:07:19since their discovery in 1966.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29Recently, at a site only 2km to the south east,
0:07:29 > 0:07:32archaeologists have unearthed the first traces
0:07:32 > 0:07:34of people living in the same period.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42It's a find that may finally answer
0:07:42 > 0:07:44why Stonehenge is located where it is.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51Here's a section through one of the most interesting trenches
0:07:51 > 0:07:53dug in modern history.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57And in fact has all of modern history in it.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59We've got a soil profile here,
0:07:59 > 0:08:01which captures the very modern.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03This chalk layer is from the 1960s,
0:08:03 > 0:08:06dumped from the road that goes to Stonehenge.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10Underneath that, we have a cobbled platform surface,
0:08:10 > 0:08:11which is post medieval.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13We've got some soil build up here.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17But it's this lower bit that's really fascinating and interesting.
0:08:17 > 0:08:23It's sealed by a cobbled surface almost certainly put in by man
0:08:23 > 0:08:26sometime in pre-history and that's brilliant
0:08:26 > 0:08:32because it's capped 14cm of intact Mesolithic archaeology.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35Full of Mesolithic flint work and bone
0:08:35 > 0:08:39and, as you can see, there's a nice, small piece here.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42Ah, yeah, that's a very nice piece.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44I think it's a little blade.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49The big question is, what is so special about this place
0:08:49 > 0:08:52that people are settling here, living here for a long time?
0:09:02 > 0:09:06The rich array of artefacts excavated from this site
0:09:06 > 0:09:09are striking clues as to what compelled these ancient people
0:09:09 > 0:09:10to camp here.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17This is just a sample of the amazing finds that we've got from this site.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19We've got quite domestic-looking tools.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22This type of thing would probably have been used
0:09:22 > 0:09:24to pierce holes in animal skin.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26We've also found much bigger tools.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30This is an absolutely brilliant tranchet axe.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33These things are the Porsche of the Mesolithic.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36Really top-quality flint used for making boats
0:09:36 > 0:09:38and chopping down trees.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42It's not just about stone and flint tools, though.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44We've got about 700 animal bones
0:09:44 > 0:09:46and they're really big.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48These are from aurochs.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55These are three times the size of a normal cow.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01We have at least six aurochs in our assemblage.
0:10:01 > 0:10:02They must have been local.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04They're so big it would have taken a big effort
0:10:04 > 0:10:06to transport them a long way.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11So, these animals are probably around Amesbury and Stonehenge.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22Perhaps the people living all around where we are now
0:10:22 > 0:10:25are seeing these animals move across the landscape
0:10:25 > 0:10:27and getting opportunities to hunt.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38The existence of a large clearing
0:10:38 > 0:10:40in otherwise dense forest
0:10:40 > 0:10:44made this a natural and bountiful hunting ground.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50One of the reasons why it was an open plain...
0:10:50 > 0:10:54perhaps it was because aurochs are such veracious eaters.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56They're like nature's vacuum cleaners.
0:10:56 > 0:11:01Any woodland or bush growth wouldn't have stood much of a chance
0:11:01 > 0:11:04if you had a large herd of animals moving through a place like this.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11As we move down in this landscape, we begin to be part of a funnel.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21It would be a brilliant place for hunter-gatherers to hide
0:11:21 > 0:11:25and observe the movement of these huge animals.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40Topographical scans have revealed
0:11:40 > 0:11:42the contours of this ancient landscape.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45Features that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers could exploit.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50Where this side valley is steep,
0:11:50 > 0:11:53it's very likely that the animals would mass together
0:11:53 > 0:11:54and then panic and then bolt.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03A clever, intelligent hunter-gatherer
0:12:03 > 0:12:07would almost certainly have had a strategy to position themselves
0:12:07 > 0:12:09at points where they knew these animals would come
0:12:09 > 0:12:11through the landscape.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15At that point, that is exactly the best place to take one down.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27So, we started to consider that in this bowl-like landscape
0:12:27 > 0:12:31where you have this arrangement of small hillocks and side valleys,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34you may well have got a brilliant place to hunt.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48For David Jacques, the site held qualities that made it
0:12:48 > 0:12:51more than just a rich hunting ground.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12We're in a really extraordinary place here.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14I mean, this is almost like a time capsule.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22There's very little landscape change extraordinarily from the Mesolithic.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26So, it's a special place.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40The unexpected discovery of a rare natural phenomenon
0:13:40 > 0:13:45may also explain the beginnings of Stonehenge's mystical reputation.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48Well, something that's really interesting about this site
0:13:48 > 0:13:51is that it appears that it's not all about the practical.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58We've noticed a really strange phenomenon with the flint.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01We've got a chemical reaction going on here.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03The flint is turning brown
0:14:03 > 0:14:07because there are traces of iron in the spring water.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10Now, that's typical in a lot of places
0:14:10 > 0:14:13on the edges of fresh water ponds and lakes and rivers.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16But there is something peculiar happening here.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19When a stone like this is pulled out of the water
0:14:19 > 0:14:23and it's kept out of the water for about two to three hours,
0:14:23 > 0:14:26something extraordinary happens.
0:14:26 > 0:14:33It turns into a really bright, almost sort of violent magenta pink.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38The remarkable change is triggered
0:14:38 > 0:14:41by rare algae in the spring water.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54But Mesolithic hunter-gatherers had no rational explanation
0:14:54 > 0:14:56for this vivid change in the flint.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03It would have been the most extraordinary, magical thing
0:15:03 > 0:15:06in the Mesolithic to see a transformation like this.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10They're living at a time where the colour palette
0:15:10 > 0:15:13is dominated by green and brown and black and white.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Something as flamboyant as this
0:15:17 > 0:15:21would have given this particular area a real local signature.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26Something that would have meant 'this place' to people.
0:15:26 > 0:15:30This is the place where memories and traditions start.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33Stonehenge isn't just a new build.
0:15:33 > 0:15:34It's in response to something.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44The magical, pink flint and an abundant supply of meat
0:15:44 > 0:15:47may have inspired the hunter-gatherers
0:15:47 > 0:15:50to mark out the area with the totem pole-like monuments.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56An act that Jacques believes may have been the start
0:15:56 > 0:15:58of this landscape's mythical status.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04There would be memories attached to that, stories attached to that.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08Almost certainly the people involved are getting mythologized.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13Does that mean down the line these ideas are getting monumentalised
0:16:13 > 0:16:15and later take shape in structures
0:16:15 > 0:16:18like the one we can see behind us at Stonehenge?
0:16:27 > 0:16:30The evidence from the Mesolithic encampment
0:16:30 > 0:16:33combined with the mysterious posts
0:16:33 > 0:16:37establishes a compelling starting point for the Stonehenge story.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42Then, around 8,200 years ago,
0:16:42 > 0:16:44climate change had a dramatic impact
0:16:44 > 0:16:47on the destiny of the Stonehenge landscape.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53As the Last Ice Age thawed,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56rising melt waters engulfed the territory known as Dogger Land.
0:16:59 > 0:17:00And Britain became an island.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05Cut off from continental influence,
0:17:05 > 0:17:08life in Mesolithic Britain changed little.
0:17:11 > 0:17:12For the next 2,000 years,
0:17:12 > 0:17:16no new monuments appeared in the Stonehenge area.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21A clue to the resumption of monument building
0:17:21 > 0:17:26was found in a field 2km to the east of Stonehenge.
0:17:27 > 0:17:31These enigmatic lines are the faint traces
0:17:31 > 0:17:34of an ancient building.
0:17:34 > 0:17:38Surveyed by the Hidden Landscapes Project's high resolution scanners,
0:17:38 > 0:17:40their true significance was revealed.
0:17:50 > 0:17:55We try now set out the points of the monument
0:17:55 > 0:17:59that we actually detected in our magnetic data.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02- OK. That's that one.- Yep.
0:18:03 > 0:18:08Professor Wolfgang Neubauer and Eamon Baldwin staked out the find.
0:18:12 > 0:18:15- So, that's the east side of the facade.- Yeah, let's see.
0:18:15 > 0:18:23One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine...
0:18:23 > 0:18:26The structure was far more advanced than anything
0:18:26 > 0:18:28that had previously been built in the region.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39Based on similar discoveries in continental Europe,
0:18:39 > 0:18:43Professor Neubauer identified it as a communal burial tomb,
0:18:43 > 0:18:45known as a long barrow.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49It's 33 metres. That's the normal length of a continental long barrow.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55These are really huge buildings
0:18:55 > 0:18:59and that we actually get this in this landscape, it's just amazing.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08The data showed the monument's original layout
0:19:08 > 0:19:12consisted of wooden pillars and timber walls.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18The presence of long barrows marks a major shift
0:19:18 > 0:19:20in the cultural life of this ancient world.
0:19:26 > 0:19:31Around 9,000 years ago, mainland Europe underwent a social
0:19:31 > 0:19:33and technological revolution -
0:19:33 > 0:19:34the Neolithic era.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39Characterised by farming and permanent settlements,
0:19:39 > 0:19:43the new culture and its ideas slowly expanded west,
0:19:43 > 0:19:48before they finally crossed into Britain about 4000 BCE.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57Along with the development of agriculture,
0:19:57 > 0:19:59the Neolithic age heralded the emergence
0:19:59 > 0:20:02of long barrow burial tombs.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06Like the one exposed by the Hidden Landscapes Project.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22Well, now we've pegged out the whole thing.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24This monument starts to make sense.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29You see this full court with a palisade wall.
0:20:29 > 0:20:34And this was the place where they prepared the dead for burial.
0:20:49 > 0:20:54Bones from excavated long barrows tell of the new funeral practices
0:20:54 > 0:20:57the Neolithic arrivals brought with them.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04They had very peculiar rituals for burials.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08They had de-fleshment.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14They had cutting off of heads.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18Heads were actually treated completely different
0:21:18 > 0:21:20than the other parts of the body.
0:21:25 > 0:21:30There was preparing of the bones to be put into this large tomb,
0:21:30 > 0:21:33which was a tomb for the whole community.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41The remains of up to 50 people - men, women and children -
0:21:41 > 0:21:43were laid to rest in these mass graves
0:21:43 > 0:21:45before they were finally sealed.
0:21:48 > 0:21:54In the end, the whole building was covered with a huge amount of earth
0:21:54 > 0:21:59dug out from big pits to build this long barrow
0:21:59 > 0:22:01as a house for the dead people.
0:22:21 > 0:22:26With other nearby long barrows added to the map,
0:22:26 > 0:22:29this is how the area looked 6,000 years ago.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35The arrival of the Neolithic culture from Europe
0:22:35 > 0:22:38reaffirmed the landscape's sacred status.
0:22:40 > 0:22:43Stonehenge is a unique landscape.
0:22:43 > 0:22:48It encapsulates how early societies related to the landscape.
0:22:50 > 0:22:54Their belief systems pervaded everyday life.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57How ritual and religion was so important to them.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01We see it in Stonehenge in a rather extreme manner,
0:23:01 > 0:23:05but nonetheless, it demonstrates to us
0:23:05 > 0:23:09just how important the position earlier communities had
0:23:09 > 0:23:11with the landscape around them.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20As well as the long barrows, another typical Neolithic structure,
0:23:20 > 0:23:22known as a causewayed enclosure,
0:23:22 > 0:23:27appeared for the first time in the Stonehenge area 5,600 years ago.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32Four and a half kilometres to the north west,
0:23:32 > 0:23:36faint scars on the grassland hint at its original shape.
0:23:36 > 0:23:37This is Robin Hood's Ball.
0:23:37 > 0:23:40You can see it beautifully from this side.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44This is one of the earlier Neolithic monuments built in this landscape.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55It consists of rings of circular ditches with gaps in them.
0:24:00 > 0:24:05These gaps are the causeways, hence the name causewayed enclosure.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08Structures like Robin Hood's Ball brought with them
0:24:08 > 0:24:11the Neolithic concept of dividing up the land.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15These monuments represent the first types of enclosure
0:24:15 > 0:24:16we're finding in prehistory.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19It's the first time people are actually enclosing
0:24:19 > 0:24:21a particular space for a particular purpose.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26In the evolution of Stonehenge, causewayed camps
0:24:26 > 0:24:29and their demarcation of territory heralded a period of conflict
0:24:29 > 0:24:31between competing groups.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36On some of these sites, when they've been excavated,
0:24:36 > 0:24:39they start to give an indication of warfare,
0:24:39 > 0:24:40people killing each other,
0:24:40 > 0:24:43potentially some sort of tension in society.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47Evidence suggested that with the onset of conflict,
0:24:47 > 0:24:49all major developments in the Stonehenge landscape
0:24:49 > 0:24:51stopped for 300 years.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56In total, over 70 structures
0:24:56 > 0:24:57similar to Robin Hood's Ball
0:24:57 > 0:24:59were built across Britain.
0:25:00 > 0:25:03Their distribution has led some to suggest
0:25:03 > 0:25:06they form a border between different groups across the country.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11At one of these sites, Crickley Hill,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13past excavations have discovered
0:25:13 > 0:25:16what may be Britain's first major battle.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32Crickley Hill gives us a completely new picture of the scale
0:25:32 > 0:25:34of violence in prehistoric Britain.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39It's really the first time that we see evidence for warfare
0:25:39 > 0:25:42between separate communities or even groups of communities
0:25:42 > 0:25:46on a completely different scale to what went on previously.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48There's a sense that this was a planned event.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51Possibly the preparations went on for months beforehand
0:25:51 > 0:25:54and this was a very committed action.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59The defenders included men, women and children.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05The attackers, however, were probably mostly adult male.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07THEY SHOUT
0:26:09 > 0:26:11Studies of tribal warfare give some idea
0:26:11 > 0:26:14why the neighbouring clans fought each other.
0:26:16 > 0:26:19There may be a series of perceived injustices that build up,
0:26:19 > 0:26:21over generations sometimes.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23And when things come to a boiling point,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25the violence that does break out
0:26:25 > 0:26:27can take the form of trying
0:26:27 > 0:26:30to actually exterminate a neighbouring community.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32You would then be able to take over their resources,
0:26:32 > 0:26:35to take over their land, their cattle, perhaps even their women.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41400 flint arrowheads found at Crickley Hill
0:26:41 > 0:26:43revealed how the conflict played out.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58From the distribution of arrowheads,
0:26:58 > 0:27:00it does look like the attackers
0:27:00 > 0:27:01successfully overwhelmed the defence.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05Once you are inside, you're in much closer proximity to people
0:27:05 > 0:27:08and fighting at that point would have become hand-to-hand.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15Crickley Hill is just one of a number of violent clashes
0:27:15 > 0:27:17in southern Britain.
0:27:19 > 0:27:20It was a period of instability
0:27:20 > 0:27:23that seems to have brought monument building in these areas
0:27:23 > 0:27:24to a standstill.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30Excavated skulls from the period
0:27:30 > 0:27:33provide an insight into the savagery of the fighting.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42We have these individual examples of people that had died violently.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48The original point of impact on this individual was from the side,
0:27:48 > 0:27:51perhaps even slightly behind, coming in from this direction.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53This was a very sharp, strong blow.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59This is a rounded fracture arc.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02There's no question that an injury of this severity
0:28:02 > 0:28:05penetrating the cranium, driving the bone fragments into the brain
0:28:05 > 0:28:07would be instantly lethal.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13Research shows no-one was spared from the bloodshed.
0:28:18 > 0:28:19This is an adult female skull.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25In Neolithic societies, it seems possible to think
0:28:25 > 0:28:28that women were not always just innocent bystanders.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31They may have actually been involved in the conflict
0:28:31 > 0:28:33and indeed fighting themselves.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35You don't know who is armed.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38There are no uniforms to know who's a combatant
0:28:38 > 0:28:39and who's a non-combatant.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43In this case, we have adhering bone that's slightly depressed
0:28:43 > 0:28:46and that indicates to me that there was a degree of elasticity
0:28:46 > 0:28:50in the bone that is typical of the bone being still fresh.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52In other words, that was a lethal injury.
0:28:59 > 0:29:015,500 years ago...
0:29:03 > 0:29:06..causewayed camps like Crickley Hill and Robin Hood's Ball
0:29:06 > 0:29:07were abandoned.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14Their decline signalled the end of large-scale hostilities
0:29:14 > 0:29:15in ancient Britain.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23In the relative peace that followed,
0:29:23 > 0:29:25monument construction in the Stonehenge landscape
0:29:25 > 0:29:27began once more...
0:29:30 > 0:29:33..with the digging of huge oval ditches,
0:29:33 > 0:29:36the largest of which is the Greater Cursus.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50The largest monument in this landscape
0:29:50 > 0:29:52is undoubtedly the Greater Cursus.
0:29:55 > 0:29:59Interpreting the Cursus has been very, very difficult.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02It's only when you start finding more detail about the architecture
0:30:02 > 0:30:04that you start to get a better understanding
0:30:04 > 0:30:08of what is essentially a very, very big, long, bank and ditch.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14Over two and half kilometres long,
0:30:14 > 0:30:18the Cursus represented a new scale of ambition for ancient engineering.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24It required a huge area to be cleared
0:30:24 > 0:30:28before 20,000 tonnes of chalk were excavated to form its immense ditch.
0:30:32 > 0:30:33To meet these new ambitions,
0:30:33 > 0:30:37the builders needed tools on a previously unheard of scale,
0:30:37 > 0:30:39in particular, flint axes.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44There's certainly an increase in the amount of effort
0:30:44 > 0:30:48people are willing to put into constructing monuments.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55270km away, in Norfolk,
0:30:55 > 0:30:58evidence of a prehistoric mining operation
0:30:58 > 0:31:02shows the extraordinary efforts the Neolithic people made
0:31:02 > 0:31:04to meet the demand for high-grade, flint tools.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09Well, here we are, at Grime's Graves in Norfolk, and we're standing
0:31:09 > 0:31:12in the middle of an extremely pockmarked, cratered landscape.
0:31:12 > 0:31:16There are around about 450 of these distinctive hollows.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20Each one of these represents a Neolithic flint mine.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26The quality of flint found in the area
0:31:26 > 0:31:28made it a highly-prized commodity
0:31:28 > 0:31:32and linked it directly to Stonehenge.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34When you go to Stonehenge, a number of the barrows
0:31:34 > 0:31:38and monuments around there have the Grime's Graves flint in with them.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40And we're finding complete artefacts
0:31:40 > 0:31:43finished to a very high quality and then they're being buried
0:31:43 > 0:31:47in significant places, possibly as a ritual offering to the gods.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52It's estimated around 18,000 tonnes of flint
0:31:52 > 0:31:54were removed from Grime's Graves.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00Enough to make millions of axes.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09You can get a real sense of the mining endeavour
0:32:09 > 0:32:12when you look across this whole field.
0:32:12 > 0:32:14But to get an idea of the engineering achievement,
0:32:14 > 0:32:17you need to go down into one of the shafts.
0:32:19 > 0:32:24Now, this particular one has been excavated out in the 19th century,
0:32:24 > 0:32:26so we've got an opportunity to go down there
0:32:26 > 0:32:28and to experience the same kind of environment
0:32:28 > 0:32:30that the Neolithic miners had.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57So here we are at the bottom of one of the shafts.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01It's a lot darker than it would have been in the Neolithic
0:33:01 > 0:33:04because at the moment there is a modern, concrete cover
0:33:04 > 0:33:06just to protect the archaeology.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08Originally, that would have been open to the sky,
0:33:08 > 0:33:09so the sun would have been coming in
0:33:09 > 0:33:11and the walls all around us, the white chalk,
0:33:11 > 0:33:14would have been reflecting that light, bouncing off the walls
0:33:14 > 0:33:17and then extending out into all the excavation spaces beyond.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22Each one of the 450 shafts that you can see on the surface
0:33:22 > 0:33:23would have been like this.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27This particular one descending 12.5 meters down
0:33:27 > 0:33:29through the solid chalk.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33Quite an achievement when you think that the people excavating this
0:33:33 > 0:33:36were using stone and bone tools.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39This would have taken months to excavate out down.
0:33:44 > 0:33:46Once the miners reached the floorstone flint...
0:33:48 > 0:33:51..they dug horizontal galleries
0:33:51 > 0:33:52following the rich seams.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59The galleries are extremely restricted in size.
0:34:01 > 0:34:04So I think we are probably seeing some of the younger,
0:34:04 > 0:34:05slighter elements of society,
0:34:05 > 0:34:08who had engaged in the actual extraction process.
0:34:16 > 0:34:20This is one of the larger gallery spaces down here in the mines.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23A lot of them are far more restricted than this.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29Because the preservation is so incredible,
0:34:29 > 0:34:33we've still got a whole series of their antler picks.
0:34:33 > 0:34:38The tools that they were using down here to chip away at the chalk.
0:34:38 > 0:34:42Now, using the end sometimes to batter away blocks.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48And also to lever the flint up.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55The high-grade flint found at these depths
0:34:55 > 0:34:57motivated the prehistoric miners.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07This is some of the floorstone flint they're looking for
0:35:07 > 0:35:09and you can see it's jet black colour.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13It fractures beautifully and it's still razor sharp.
0:35:17 > 0:35:18Russell also believes
0:35:18 > 0:35:21the mines served an important ritualistic role.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32Moving towards adulthood, you need a rite of passage.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35You need to be doing something that's actually quite extreme.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38And coming down here into the mine, crawling into the galleries,
0:35:38 > 0:35:41into the unknown, into the mysterious, digging out the flint
0:35:41 > 0:35:44and bringing it back up onto the surface
0:35:44 > 0:35:46could move you from childhood to adult
0:35:46 > 0:35:48especially if there is an audience up there waiting for you
0:35:48 > 0:35:50to emerge with your flint in hand.
0:35:54 > 0:35:58Excavated human bones from another Neolithic flint mine
0:35:58 > 0:36:00highlighted the dangers miners faced.
0:36:02 > 0:36:04When they looked at the skeletons
0:36:04 > 0:36:06that were found down in the lower levels of the mine,
0:36:06 > 0:36:08one was actually covered by rubble,
0:36:08 > 0:36:11almost like the material just behind me here.
0:36:11 > 0:36:13The body was lying stretched out in the gallery
0:36:13 > 0:36:15as if going towards the flint.
0:36:18 > 0:36:19When they looked at the bones,
0:36:19 > 0:36:22they realised that it was the skeleton of a young woman.
0:36:29 > 0:36:33I think it was easily plausible that this young woman was a miner
0:36:33 > 0:36:35and that she did come to an unfortunate, untimely end...
0:36:39 > 0:36:42..down in the galleries when the roof collapsed on her.
0:36:44 > 0:36:47Her colleagues, perhaps feeling that she'd been claimed by the earth,
0:36:47 > 0:36:49didn't go back and recover her.
0:37:07 > 0:37:11The astonishing size of the mining complex at Grime's Graves,
0:37:11 > 0:37:16reveals a people capable of planning and executing large-scale projects.
0:37:23 > 0:37:27Attributes that were harnessed in the Stonehenge landscape
0:37:27 > 0:37:29to create the vast Greater Cursus monument.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39But while the function of the mines is proven,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42the role of the Cursus remains a mystery.
0:37:44 > 0:37:46We still don't know why such a huge amount of effort
0:37:46 > 0:37:50was put into constructing such a big monument as the Cursus.
0:37:53 > 0:37:55At the heart of the Stonehenge question -
0:37:55 > 0:37:58you know, what is Stonehenge? - is the Cursus
0:37:58 > 0:38:01and if we can't understand how that fits together,
0:38:01 > 0:38:02we can't understand the landscape.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14To solve the puzzle of the Cursus,
0:38:14 > 0:38:18the Hidden Landscapes Project focused their survey
0:38:18 > 0:38:20on every centimetre of the enormous monument.
0:38:28 > 0:38:30After weeks of analysis,
0:38:30 > 0:38:33the team detected a series of previously unknown breaks
0:38:33 > 0:38:35in the perimeter.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38When we surveyed the Cursus, there were a number of features
0:38:38 > 0:38:40which were quite surprising for us.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44The first was that there were a number of small entrances
0:38:44 > 0:38:46into the enclosure itself.
0:38:46 > 0:38:50It wasn't a single cohesive unit. There were gaps through it.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58So it wasn't simply enclosed. There were ways of going in and out of it.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03The discovery of entrance and exit points
0:39:03 > 0:39:06supported the theory that the Cursus was a processional route.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11But the gaps were only the first clues the survey team uncovered.
0:39:15 > 0:39:19The data also revealed two previously unknown pits
0:39:19 > 0:39:21inside the Cursus.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28I'm standing at the centre of the pit in the west end of the Cursus.
0:39:28 > 0:39:30This is really quite a big feature.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32It's about 5 meters across and
0:39:32 > 0:39:351 to 1.5 meters deep, at least.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38It has a pair at the other end of the Cursus.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41These are clearly man-made, they're not natural features -
0:39:41 > 0:39:46their depth, the way they're cut, their position within the Cursus.
0:39:46 > 0:39:50These are clearly significant archaeological structures.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56When the positions of the pits were computer-modelled
0:39:56 > 0:39:59against the movement of the sun,
0:39:59 > 0:40:02their true importance became clear.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07The calculations showed that on midsummer's day
0:40:07 > 0:40:10the eastern pit's alignment with the sunrise
0:40:10 > 0:40:14and the western pit's alignment with sunset
0:40:14 > 0:40:18intersect at the location of where Stonehenge would be built
0:40:18 > 0:40:19some 400 years later.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26Accurate solar alignment on this scale provided proof
0:40:26 > 0:40:30of a daylong ceremony held to celebrate the passage of the sun
0:40:30 > 0:40:31at the summer solstice.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37The linkage of these pits with the Cursus,
0:40:37 > 0:40:40which is sometimes regarded as a processional route
0:40:40 > 0:40:42to mark the passage of the sun,
0:40:42 > 0:40:47actually links the Cursus itself with the position of Stonehenge
0:40:47 > 0:40:48because that's the point
0:40:48 > 0:40:51which we presume observations were taking place.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53So, at the point that the Cursus was built,
0:40:53 > 0:40:56Stonehenge is acquiring significance as well.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05The revelations about the Cursus
0:41:05 > 0:41:09suggested that the site of Stonehenge had a ritual significance
0:41:09 > 0:41:12at least four centuries earlier than originally thought.
0:41:18 > 0:41:22It's possible that the pits predate Stonehenge
0:41:22 > 0:41:24and they relate to the phase of activity
0:41:24 > 0:41:27before Stonehenge was built associated with the Cursus.
0:41:28 > 0:41:33This creates a very new and exciting aspect to the Stonehenge landscape,
0:41:33 > 0:41:36which we've not recognised previously.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45The precision and scale of the Greater Cursus design
0:41:45 > 0:41:48indicates a technically advanced and knowledgeable people.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57But the sophistication of Neolithic culture
0:41:57 > 0:42:00wasn't only expressed in its monument building.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08I've got three skulls on the table here,
0:42:08 > 0:42:12all of which come from graves in the vicinity of Stonehenge.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15But the other thing they have in common,
0:42:15 > 0:42:17as well as where they come from,
0:42:17 > 0:42:20is that they have all had surgery to the skull.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27The idea of having surgical intervention so far back in time
0:42:27 > 0:42:30sounds incredibly sophisticated and, in many ways, it is.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35The reason for undertaking surgery of this type
0:42:35 > 0:42:40was if somebody had a blunt weapon trauma to the skull,
0:42:40 > 0:42:43they can see there's been some kind of damage to the skull,
0:42:43 > 0:42:45bits of bone sticking into the brain
0:42:45 > 0:42:47and they've got to be excised
0:42:47 > 0:42:50otherwise it's going to kill that individual.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56The technique, known as trepanning,
0:42:56 > 0:42:59followed similar methods to those used by modern surgery.
0:43:01 > 0:43:05But without the luxury of scalpels and anaesthetics.
0:43:08 > 0:43:12Probably, the worst bit was actually having the skin flap cut...
0:43:13 > 0:43:15..to expose the skull itself.
0:43:17 > 0:43:21As in modern surgery, you would cut a flap of the scalp
0:43:21 > 0:43:23and you would fold it back.
0:43:24 > 0:43:26The forensic analysis revealed
0:43:26 > 0:43:29an unexpectedly advanced grasp of human anatomy.
0:43:31 > 0:43:34So, as you are cutting through the outer plate,
0:43:34 > 0:43:37you can feel it because it's hard.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40Slightly less hard when you get to the middle part,
0:43:40 > 0:43:42then you know when you're at the inner plate,
0:43:42 > 0:43:44so you know where you have got to be careful
0:43:44 > 0:43:47because you do not want to start to hit the brain.
0:43:52 > 0:43:54So, you've got control over this.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58You would be cutting in from a wider outside circumference.
0:43:58 > 0:44:02And you would cut carefully and would bevel in as you cut round,
0:44:02 > 0:44:04and then you would change direction
0:44:04 > 0:44:07and you would cut from the other side.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13And when you get to where you want to be,
0:44:13 > 0:44:15you cut out and lift out very carefully
0:44:15 > 0:44:17the bits of bone you don't want in there.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24Despite the crude nature of the surgical instruments,
0:44:24 > 0:44:27signs of healing around the holes
0:44:27 > 0:44:29showed how adept these early surgeons were
0:44:29 > 0:44:32at performing delicate operations.
0:44:33 > 0:44:36They knew how to do it. They know it worked.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44And they were very successful at this because they nearly all heal.
0:44:49 > 0:44:51Evidence of surgery,
0:44:51 > 0:44:54industrial-scale flint mining
0:44:54 > 0:44:58and a new understanding of the Cursus has revealed a people
0:44:58 > 0:45:02capable of complex reasoning and planning,
0:45:02 > 0:45:04who expressed their ceremonial beliefs
0:45:04 > 0:45:07in precise, solar-aligned monuments.
0:45:12 > 0:45:15This spiritual ambition and mastery of nature
0:45:15 > 0:45:18would be fundamental to the creation of Stonehenge.
0:45:20 > 0:45:22This is clearly the best view
0:45:22 > 0:45:24you can ever have of Stonehenge - from above.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30You can see the other parts of the monument,
0:45:30 > 0:45:33things like the ditch, which runs round it,
0:45:33 > 0:45:37which is from about 3000 BC.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39It's kind of the beginning of what becomes Stonehenge.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44Radiocarbon dating indicates
0:45:44 > 0:45:47that around 400 years after the ditch was dug,
0:45:47 > 0:45:49the stone circle was raised.
0:45:56 > 0:45:58But while experts have a good idea of the order
0:45:58 > 0:46:03in which Stonehenge was built,
0:46:03 > 0:46:06the monument's seclusion has never been fully explained.
0:46:16 > 0:46:17The usual sense has been
0:46:17 > 0:46:20that Stonehenge sits in splendid isolation
0:46:20 > 0:46:22within this broader landscape.
0:46:22 > 0:46:26It's given rise to the idea that a sacred landscape developed
0:46:26 > 0:46:28around Stonehenge during the Neolithic
0:46:28 > 0:46:32within which very few other activities took place.
0:46:32 > 0:46:33The work we've been doing
0:46:33 > 0:46:36approaches this landscape in a radically different way.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39The intention is to see it as a seamless survey.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41Not just what is on top of the surface,
0:46:41 > 0:46:43but what is below the surface.
0:46:46 > 0:46:50In doing this, we're able to put Stonehenge in its landscape context
0:46:50 > 0:46:52in a much richer, much more detailed way.
0:46:54 > 0:46:57The challenge of discovering lost monuments
0:46:57 > 0:47:00in the vacant space around the stone circle
0:47:00 > 0:47:03was one of the Hidden Landscapes Project's core objectives.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07Sector after sector was scanned,
0:47:07 > 0:47:09but nothing was detected.
0:47:14 > 0:47:16Finally, less than 1km to the north west...
0:47:19 > 0:47:23..the archaeologists picked up signals of something unexpected.
0:47:26 > 0:47:31I am standing on a small mound about 900m away from Stonehenge,
0:47:31 > 0:47:33it is called Amesbury 50.
0:47:35 > 0:47:38It's been known for quite a long time.
0:47:38 > 0:47:41It's one of several hundred mounds
0:47:41 > 0:47:43in the immediate vicinity of Stonehenge.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49But the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project has been able
0:47:49 > 0:47:53to use new technologies in a way that gives us new insights
0:47:53 > 0:47:56into this mound and the structures that lie beneath it.
0:47:58 > 0:48:00The high-resolution equipment detected far more detail
0:48:00 > 0:48:02hidden beneath the mound.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06It was really quite exciting
0:48:06 > 0:48:08when we looked at the data for the first time.
0:48:08 > 0:48:12First of all, you just saw the ditches around the mound,
0:48:12 > 0:48:15but it was only after a minute that we started to realise
0:48:15 > 0:48:20that inside the ditches, there were a whole series of large pits
0:48:20 > 0:48:24or post holes and they were completely unexpected.
0:48:28 > 0:48:32The moment we saw them, the team who was looking at it said,
0:48:32 > 0:48:35"That looks like a henge,"
0:48:35 > 0:48:37and that is important.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44Henge monuments like the one located by the survey
0:48:44 > 0:48:46consist of a ditch and bank.
0:48:51 > 0:48:56What made the discovery of this henge so exciting was its location.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05We were particularly interested in this site
0:49:05 > 0:49:09because it's actually a very short distance from Stonehenge.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14At the time that we were doing this work, there was a presumption
0:49:14 > 0:49:19that the area around Stonehenge was reserved for Stonehenge itself
0:49:19 > 0:49:22and that there may well have been little activity around it.
0:49:23 > 0:49:27For the first time, there was proof that other monuments existed
0:49:27 > 0:49:31within the immediate sacred area of Stonehenge.
0:49:31 > 0:49:33The scanning continued
0:49:33 > 0:49:35and more structures began to appear.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41As we started expanding the survey, your eye becomes more tuned
0:49:41 > 0:49:44into the slightly weird things.
0:49:44 > 0:49:47You start exploring the monuments you can see
0:49:47 > 0:49:49trying to find something a bit unusual.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52And quite frequently, you find it.
0:49:52 > 0:49:55As even more data flowed into the Hidden Landscapes Project,
0:49:55 > 0:50:00the number of identified monuments increased dramatically.
0:50:00 > 0:50:01As we began to survey
0:50:01 > 0:50:04much larger areas of the landscape around Stonehenge,
0:50:04 > 0:50:08we began to see a number of other similar late Neolithic monuments,
0:50:08 > 0:50:10which where hitherto unknown.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16This monument, Amesbury 41, just to the north-east of Stonehenge,
0:50:16 > 0:50:20long thought to have been a simple early Bronze age burial monument,
0:50:20 > 0:50:23we can now see is something completely different.
0:50:23 > 0:50:27It is an elongated enclosure with slightly angular sides,
0:50:27 > 0:50:29with an entrance pointing due west.
0:50:29 > 0:50:33In the same frame, we can see another small monument.
0:50:33 > 0:50:37A little mini shrine, a small hengiform monument
0:50:37 > 0:50:39very close to Stonehenge.
0:50:39 > 0:50:40To the north-east,
0:50:40 > 0:50:43these horseshoe-shaped arrangements of pits,
0:50:43 > 0:50:46within which we must assume people gathered together
0:50:46 > 0:50:48to undertake rituals and ceremonies.
0:50:51 > 0:50:52In a separate study,
0:50:52 > 0:50:57archaeologists from English Heritage re-examined old survey data
0:50:57 > 0:51:01taken just 200 metres from the stone circle.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04They, too, saw what appeared to be another henge monument.
0:51:06 > 0:51:11All together, we found about 20 new late Neolithic ceremonial monuments
0:51:11 > 0:51:14within the wider landscape around Stonehenge.
0:51:17 > 0:51:21The discovery of so many shrines in areas once thought deserted
0:51:21 > 0:51:25showed beyond all doubt that Stonehenge was not alone
0:51:25 > 0:51:26and never had been.
0:51:28 > 0:51:33Rather than seeing Stonehenge as standing uniquely in the plain,
0:51:33 > 0:51:37we now start to see that there are a series of similar monuments.
0:51:37 > 0:51:41They may have acted as shrines, the equivalent of a modern rural chapel
0:51:41 > 0:51:46where families, groups would come to visit at certain times.
0:51:48 > 0:51:50It begins to give us an insight
0:51:50 > 0:51:54into how the wider landscape was used at the time
0:51:54 > 0:51:58that Stonehenge was developing into the monument you see today.
0:52:01 > 0:52:03Like many of the ceremonial shrines
0:52:03 > 0:52:06located by the Hidden Landscapes Project...
0:52:08 > 0:52:12..Stonehenge also began its life as a ditch and bank.
0:52:15 > 0:52:19To be transformed into the iconic monument we know today
0:52:19 > 0:52:22required the addition of giant standing stones.
0:52:29 > 0:52:33The tradition of building stone monuments in pre-historic Europe
0:52:33 > 0:52:35dates back about 7,000 years.
0:52:39 > 0:52:41In the centuries that followed,
0:52:41 > 0:52:43megaliths appeared across the continent,
0:52:43 > 0:52:46following the spread of Neolithic culture.
0:52:48 > 0:52:52One of the most impressive displays of ancient standing stones
0:52:52 > 0:52:55can be seen near the French town of Carnac...
0:52:58 > 0:53:00..where 10,000 menhirs,
0:53:00 > 0:53:03most of which predate Stonehenge by many centuries,
0:53:03 > 0:53:05stretch over 6km.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12- FRENCH TRANSLATION:- The average weight of stones here
0:53:12 > 0:53:15is between two and four tonnes.
0:53:15 > 0:53:19Bigger blocks like this one can reach 20 tonnes.
0:53:25 > 0:53:28Archaeologist Serge Cassen has investigated
0:53:28 > 0:53:31the significance of megaliths to prehistoric peoples.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37- FRENCH TRANSLATION:- You can commemorate an ancestor's tomb
0:53:37 > 0:53:39with a standing stone.
0:53:39 > 0:53:42You can also use them to show a person's change of status
0:53:42 > 0:53:46and that person's ability to mobilise a large labour force
0:53:46 > 0:53:47to raise the stones.
0:53:49 > 0:53:53And the stones could be used to safeguard a person's future.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57For example, the stone is used to offer protection
0:53:57 > 0:53:59over a field of crops.
0:54:01 > 0:54:05These three functions of standing stones can co-exist
0:54:05 > 0:54:09on an enormous site like Carnac.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12And it's this symbolic use of standing stones
0:54:12 > 0:54:16that characterises the Neolithic age - 5,000 to 6,000 years ago.
0:54:22 > 0:54:25When the Neolithic age reached Britain,
0:54:25 > 0:54:29over 1,000 stone monuments were built
0:54:29 > 0:54:31from the Orkneys to Cornwall.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37In the Stonehenge region,
0:54:37 > 0:54:41one of the earliest examples of the ceremonial use of stone
0:54:41 > 0:54:44is the West Kennet burial chamber.
0:54:58 > 0:55:01We see a whole host of changes accompanying the shift
0:55:01 > 0:55:04from hunter-gatherers in the Mesolithic
0:55:04 > 0:55:07to farmers in the Neolithic.
0:55:07 > 0:55:09And that involved communal building projects
0:55:09 > 0:55:11like Stonehenge, ultimately.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13But before that, projects like West Kennet.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17The stones had to be brought from some distance,
0:55:17 > 0:55:19they're very large stones.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21And so, these were important communal burial places
0:55:21 > 0:55:23that brought the community together.
0:55:35 > 0:55:37The monumental nature of these stones
0:55:37 > 0:55:41symbolized a new level of collective endeavour and cultural ambition.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47An ambition that would develop
0:55:47 > 0:55:51into the ultimate expression of prehistoric building prowess -
0:55:51 > 0:55:52Stonehenge.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04The discoveries of the Hidden Landscapes Project
0:56:04 > 0:56:08in conjunction with other archaeological evidence
0:56:08 > 0:56:12have allowed the first 6,000 years of the Stonehenge story
0:56:12 > 0:56:15to be told with more accuracy than ever before.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20They've charted the area's evolution from its origins
0:56:20 > 0:56:22as a mystical hunting ground...
0:56:26 > 0:56:29..into a sacred site of unprecedented scale.
0:56:33 > 0:56:36Revealed is a fast-developing civilisation
0:56:36 > 0:56:40driven to exploit the region's natural and spiritual wealth
0:56:40 > 0:56:42with increasing sophistication.
0:56:46 > 0:56:50Now, the next chapter of the Stonehenge story can be told -
0:56:50 > 0:56:54the ideas, ambition and technological prowess
0:56:54 > 0:56:57that created Stonehenge itself.
0:56:57 > 0:57:00A monument unique in the ancient world.
0:57:06 > 0:57:12Next time, 21st century archaeology would unlock the intricate puzzle
0:57:12 > 0:57:14of the stone circle's construction...
0:57:14 > 0:57:17You couldn't build something like Stonehenge without a plan.
0:57:19 > 0:57:22..lay bare its bloody rituals...
0:57:22 > 0:57:25To be buried in that ditch at Stonehenge
0:57:25 > 0:57:27suggests we have a sacrificial victim.
0:57:30 > 0:57:32..show where its people lived...
0:57:33 > 0:57:36When I first saw it, it was of course,
0:57:36 > 0:57:37"Wow! Now, we have a settlement."
0:57:37 > 0:57:40What we have been looking for all the time.
0:57:40 > 0:57:42..display the extraordinary craftsmanship
0:57:42 > 0:57:43of Stonehenge's golden age.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48And reveal the stunning truth of how the monument appeared
0:57:48 > 0:57:50at its zenith.