Silbury Hill

Nearest Town: Marlborough
Nearest Village: Beckhampton
OS Map Ref: SU 100685

Silbury Hill, part of the complex of Neolithic monuments around Avebury  in Wiltshire (which includes the West Kennet long barrow), is the tallest prehistoric man-made mound in Europe and one of the world's largest. On a base covering over 2 hectares (5 acres), it rises 39.6m (130ft) high. It is a display of immense technical skill and prolonged control over labour and resources. Archaeologists calculate that Silbury Hill was built about 4600 years ago and that it took 18 million man-hours to dump and shape 248,000 cubic metres (8.75 million cu ft) of earth on top of a natural hill.