Avebury, Neolithic henge and stone circles in Wiltshire, England

Avebury is a stone ring in Wiltshire that consists of a deep ditch, a tall outer bank, and several hundred large stones arranged in multiple circles. The monument covers about thirty-five acres and surrounds fields, paths, and parts of the village that shares its name.

The monument was built roughly between 2850 and 2200 BCE, when people began digging the ditch and hauling the stones from the nearby Marlborough Downs. After the Bronze Age ended, the structure fell into disuse, and during medieval times villagers toppled or buried many of the stones.

Avebury takes its name from the village it surrounds, and about 480 people still live in 235 homes there and in the nearby hamlets of Beckhampton and West Kennett. The monument is a place of religious importance to contemporary pagans, and the National Trust manages it. A local legend tells of an Avebury barber killed in the 14th century while trying to destroy the stones; when a fallen megalith was lifted in the 20th century, a skeleton was found beneath it with barber's and medical tools, though without signs of a violent death.

The site can be entered at any time because public paths run through it and no admission fee is charged. A museum at the edge of the village displays finds from the area and explains the excavation work of recent decades.

Some stones carry small pits created by people who tried to break up the large blocks using hammers and fire. These marks show how difficult it was to damage or remove the hard rock.