Bronze Age Monuments

Paleolithic Monuments (2.5M – 8,000 BCE)

  • Lascaux (15,000 BCE)
    • Lascaux is a cave complex which holds Prehistoric Cave Art located near the village of Montignac in the Dordogne Department of southwestern France.
    • The rock paintings are considered to have been made 17,000 years ago.
  • Gobekli Tepe (c.9,500 BCE)
    • It means ‘Potbelly Hill’ in Turkish and is a Monument of Standing T shaped stones.

Neolithic Monuments (8,000-3,000 BCE)

  • Almendres Cromlech (6,000 BCE)
    • Known as ‘Portugal’s Stonehenge’, this is a Megalithic Monument consisting of a circular complex of Standing Stones.
  • Zorats Karer (5,500 BCE)
    • Zorats Karer, also known as Carahunge or the Armenian Stonehenge, is a group of 200 stone monoliths, which date back to c. 5,500 BCE.
    • It is located near the village of Ishkhanasar in southern Armenia. 80 of the monoliths appear to have man made holes that may have had an astronomical use.
  • Goseck Circle (c.4,800 BCE)
    • The Goseck Circle is a Neolithic Circle in Goseck, Germany, constructed around 4,800 BCE, which acted as an Astronomical Observatory.
    • The Site slightly predates another Astronomical Observatory at Nabta Playa in Egypt, built around the same time.
  • Nabta Playa (c.4,800 BCE)
  • Maiden Castle (c. 4,000-450 BCE)
    • A Neolithic Causewayed Enclosure was the first structure on the Site, dating from c. 4,000 BCE.
    • Around c. 3,350 BCE, a long 1,790 feet (500m) Bank Barrow with parallel ditches was built inside the Enclosure.
    • The Hill Fort was built in c.600 BCE, and by 450 BCE it had been expanded to become the largest Hill Fort in Europe,  surrounded by a triple Ditch defensive system.
  • Kit's Coty House
    • Chambered Long Barrow (c.4,000 BCE)
  • Coldrum Stones
    • Chambered Long Barrow (c.4,000 BCE)
  • Whitehawk Camp (3,700-2,700 BCE)
    • Whitehawk Camp is a Scheduled Monument which holds the remains of a Neolithic Causewayed Enclosure and is located on Whitehawk Hill next to Brighton Racecourse in Brighton.
  • Ggantija Temples (3,600-2,500 BCE)
    • Ggantija is a Megalthic Temple site on Gozo.
  • Mnajdra (c.3,600 BCE)
    • Mnajdra is a megalithic temple site on Malta.
  • Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni (3,500-2,500 BCE)
    • The Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni, Paola, Malta, is an underground Bronze Age Temple Complex with Trilithons.
    • It was used as a Necropolis that contained 7,000 skeletons built on three levels.
  • Carnac (c.3,300 BCE)
    • The village of Carnac in Brittany, France, holds long rows of Standing Stones. Some date back to 4,500 BCE.

Bronze Age Monuments (3,200-500 BCE)

  • Newgrange (c.3,200 BCE)
    • Newgrange is a neolithic passage tomb located near Drogheda in Ireland.
  • Orkney Monuments (c.3,200 BCE)
    • The Orkney Monuments are located in the Orkney Islands of Scotland.
  • Castlerigg Stone Circle (c.3,200 BCE)
    • A Stone Circle consisting of 40 stones located east of Keswick in the Lake District National Park.
  • Necropolis of Pranu Muttedu (c.3,200 BCE)
    • This is a large concentration of 50 or 60 Dolmens which exist along with tombs, at Goni in Gerrei, Sardinia.
    • The Dolmens have astronomical alignments.
  • Thornborough Henges (c.3,200-2,500 BCE)
    • Named the ‘Stonehenge of the North’, this is a triple Henge Monument located at Thornborough which consists of a cursus, henges and burial grounds.
  • Devil's Arrows (3,200-2,500 BCE)
  • Kilmartin Glen (c. 3-2,000 BCE)
    • Located in the village of Kilmartin, between Oban and Lochgilphead in Argyll, Scotland.
    • 800 monuments of which over 150 are prehistoric monuments consisting of burial cairns, cists, standing stones, stone circles and a henge.
    • It is considered the most important collection of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in mainland Scotland.
  • Bornholm (c.3,000 BCE)
    • Bornholm is a Danish Island in the Baltic Sea, located to the east of Denmark’s other islands, south of the Swedish coast and north of the Polish Coast.
    • Two groups of Bronze Age Standing Stones are located on the island, and a large Find of Medieval gold foil figures was discovered here.
  • Waulud's Bank, Luton (c.3,000 BCE)
    • Waulud’s Bank is a possible Neolithic Henge dating from c.3,000 BCE.
  • The Rollright Stones (c.3,000-1,000 BCE)
    • The Rollright Stones are a Bronze Age Monument located at Great Rollright (23 miles (37km) north of Oxford in the County of Oxfordshire.
  • Bryn Celli Ddu, Anglesey (c.3,000 BCE)
    • Bryn Celli Ddu is a restored Neolithic Passage Grave located 1/2 mile (1km) from the Menai Strait which was originally surrounded by a Henge with Standing Stones (now lost). Inside the Grave is a Pillar whose function is unknown.
  • The Ridgeway (c.3,000 BCE)
    • The Ridgeway is a 5,000 year old Bronze Age chalk road that connects Bronze Age hillforts positioned along the Berkshire Downs.
    • It is one of four pathways that combine to make the Greater Ridgeway that runs from Lyme Regis in Dorset to Hunstanton on the Wash in the North Sea.
  • Callanish Standing Stones (c. 2,900 BCE)
    • Callanish is located on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
  • Grime's Graves (c. 2,600 BCE)
    • Neolithic Flint Mine in Weeting, Norfolk, consisting of 433 shafts in the chalk to extract seams of Flint.
  • Great Pyramid (c.2,600 BCE)
    • The Great Pyramid is located in Egypt and was the tallest monument in the Ancient World until 1311 CE.
  • Avebury (c.2,600 BCE)
    • Avebury is located north of Stonehenge in Britain.
  • Stonehenge (c.2,600 BCE)
  • Woodhenge (c.2,500 BCE)
    • Woodhenge is a henge monument located 2 miles northeast of Stonehenge and dating from between 2,500-2,000 BCE.
    • Woodhenge consists of six concentric oval rings made from 168 timber postholes.
  • Silbury Hill (c.2,450 BCE)
    • Silbury Hill is a Unesco World Heritage Site and the highest man made Monument in Europe at a height of 131 ft (40m).
    • It is located beside the River Kennet, near the Avebury Standing Stones, in Wiltshire.
  • Seahenge (2,049 CE)
    • Seahenge, also known as Holme I, was a ring of 55 oak timbers standing 10 feet (3m) high and surrounding an upturned tree root located in the shifting sands at Holme-by-the-sea in Norfolk.
    • Seahenge was carbon dated to 2049 BCE, making it over 4,000 years old.
  • Machrie Moor Stone Circles (c. 2,000 BCE)
    • These are six stone circles located on the Isla of Arran, in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, along with five other Monuments all positioned on Machrie Moor.
  • Cashtal yn Ard (c.2,000 BCE)
    • This is a Bronze Age Chambered Tomb located in Cornaa, Maughold, on the Isle of Man.

Iron Age Monuments (800 BCE – 100 CE)

  • Old Sarum (c.500 BCE)
    • Old Sarum is a double walled Iron Age Fortress built around 500 BCE although the site has been occupied since 3,000 BCE.
    • It is located next to the River Avon, 2 miles (3km) north of Salisbury in Wiltshire.
  • Cissbury Ring (c.400 BCE)
    • This is the second largest Iron Age Hillfort in Europe dating to c. 400 BCE, which holds a Neolithic Flint Mine.
  • Butser Ancient Farm (400 BCE-400 CE)
    • Butser Ancient Farm is an archeological open air museum located on Butser Hill near Petersfield in Hampshire.
    • On display are reconstructions of buildings dating from 400 BCE to 400 CE: two Neolithic buildings, one Bronze Age building, six Iron Age Roundhouses, a Roman villa and two Anglo-Saxon buildings.
  • British Camp (c.2nd century BCE)
    • British Camp is a 2nd century BCE Iron Age Hill Fort, positioned at the summit of the Herefordshire Beacon in the Malvern Hills in the County of Worcestershire.
    • The Hill Fort is surrounded by a Ditch with an Inner and Outer Wall.
  • Brochs (100 BCE-100 CE)
  • Traprain Law (c.40 CE)
    • Traprain Law is a Hill Fort or Oppidum located at Haddington, 20 miles east of Edinburgh in Scotland.
    • It was the capital of the Votadini and consisted of hundreds of roundhouses.
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