Aubrey Holes - Stonehenge

Ring of 56 chalk pits forming the earliest phase of Stonehenge (c. 3000 BC), first noted by antiquarian John Aubrey in 1666 and formally identified by Robert Newall during Colonel Hawley's 1920s excavations. Each pit averages 0.76 m deep and 1.06 m in diameter. A 2008 excavation by Mike Parker Pearson suggested the holes originally held Welsh bluestones, based on their identical width and shape to bluestones found elsewhere at the monument. Human cremation burials were found within and around most holes, indicating a funerary function.