Archaeologists discover 5,000-year-old artefacts at site near Stonehenge

Amesbury is close to Stonehenge and a site called Blick Mead.

Previous excavation efforts there have revealed evidence of people and animals in the area long before the famous stones arrived.

The site is located close to the middle of the town, which experts believe would have been an island in a large river thousands of years ago.

The finds tent has been filled with flints used by people thousands of years ago.

Items from the medieval period were also discovered, such as roof tiles.

Professor David Jacques from the University of Buckingham has led many excavations, including this one, in the area.

Prof Jaques explained that the activity at the site has found items from before Stonehenge and even in later periods.

He said: "We've benefited from having a geophysical survey of this island, and it's picked up on some hotspots for us to excavate.

"It's part of the Mesolithic Avon Valley project that a number of universities are involved in."

Helen Zheng, one of the volunteers, had never worked on a dig before.

She said: "They put a trowel in our hands and we just went on.

"They've taught us everything, from how to square up a test pit to how to identify layers and when to start digging and when to stop digging."

Julie Sauter, who travelled from America, said: "It just makes me think of all the people who came before us.

"We just need to acknowledge their humanity."

Around 80 volunteers were involved in the excavations and hundreds of members of the community helped out with the programme.

Stonehenge, located nearby, welcomes over 1.3 million people annually, with annual visitors rising by 36 per cent in 2023.

A new visitor centre opened in 2013, aiming to provide a better visual experience of the stones.

In August, new evidence was discovered about Stonehenge's origins, with a cow's tooth from a jawbone supporting the theory that the animal was used to move the huge stones.

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