Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Avebury Henge is an enormous henge or stone circle in Avebury, Wiltshire and one of the finest Neolithic monuments in Europe. It is about 20 miles to the north of Stonehenge. Avebury Henge (1993) Most of the surviving structure consists of earthworks: A massive ditch and bank 421 meters in diameter encloses an area of 11.5 hectares (28.5 acres). Within this there is a great outer ring of standing stones some weighing in excess of 80 tons and, within this, two other separate stone circles. Many of the original stones were removed in the 19th century by people who considered them to be "pagan": the former locations of those stones are now marked by concrete pylons. The small village of Avebury, complete with public house, is enclosed within the monument. Two local roads intersect within the monument, and visitors can walk on the earthworks. There is an avenue of paired stones leading to the circle. The whole area is a World Heritage site and includes The Sanctuary, Windmill Hill, Silbury Hill and the West Kennet Longbarrow. External Links Further information and over 100 images of the stones at the Modern Antiquarian site. Some buried megaliths have recently been found near the circle. Reports at: The Independent, Ananova, BBC News 100-Ton Stone Astounds Academics (BBC News report) This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.