The rolling landscape of Dorset, England, hides a little studied archaeological enigma. Unlike the imposing Monoliths of Stonehenge or the vast ceremonial landscapes of Avebury, flagstones is a quiet and hidden place. But new research suggests that it can be even older than we thought, and could remodel our understanding of the first ceremonial circles of Great Britain.
Artistic representation of how the stones of the flag would have been. Credit: Jennie Anderson
Flagstones was first discovered in 1891, completely by accident. The workers were digging under the novelist’s lawn Thomas Hardy When they met a large rock meter under the ground. It was a Sarsen StoneA sandstone rock commonly used in prehistoric monuments such as Stonehenge and is naturally found in southern England. Hardy called him “the Druid stone” and had erected her on the edge of the grass where she is still. He even wrote a poem about it.
It passed almost a century before the site underwent a formal archaeological investigation. A large section was established to give way to a derivation road, triggering mandatory archaeological excavations in 1987. These revealed a circular ring of unevenly spaced wells, built at the end of the 4th millennium before Christ.
“Flagstones is an unusual monument; A perfectly circular abandoned enclosure, with burials and cremations associated with him, ”says Dr. Susan Greaney, a specialist in Neolithic Monuments and the Bronze Age at the University of Exeter.
Sarsen Stone, also known as “La Piedra Druida”, discovered by workers under the grass of Thomas Hardy’s house in Dorchester in 1891. Image through Wiki Commons.
Archaeologists have long fought to classify the site. Share characteristics with road rec and, the first neolithic land movements used for meetings and rituals, as well as henges, subsequent circular enclosures often associated with stone circles. Its association with inhumations and cremations suggests a period of transition in funeral customs, capturing a rare moment in which communities were experiencing with new ways of honoring their dead.
“In some aspects, it seems monuments that arrived before, that we call shoes, and in others, it looks a bit like things that come later that we call henges. But we didn’t know where he sat between this type of monuments, and the revised chronology places him in an earlier period of what we expected. ”
But the exact age of the flag stones remained a mystery, so far.
Is greater than Stonehenge
Yesterday of excavation of flag stones. Image credits: DORSET Museum
Until recently, it was believed that Flagstones was built at the end of the fourth or beginning of the third millennium before Christ. However, fresh radiocarbon dating has pushed its construction to around 3300 a. C., what one of the first large circular enclosures known in Great Britain can do. There is even evidence of previous activity that dates back to 3650 a. C.
Stonehenge, whose first phase was built around 2900 a. C., share surprising similarities with flag stones. Both have circular earth movements, with internal and external banks, and evidence of human burials. The idea that Stonehenge’s design may have originated in the flag stones is speculative, but has no basis.
The chronology of the flag stones is essential to understand the changing sequence of ceremonial and funeral monuments in Britain, ”said Dr. Greaney. “The ‘sister’ monument to the flag stones is Stonehenge, whose first phase is almost identical, but dates from around 2900 a. C. Could Stonehenge have been a copy of the flag stones? Or do these findings suggest that our current Stonehenge dating will need review?
Archaeologists discovered at least four burials in the flag stones: a cremated adult under a large Sarsen stone, three young children, one buried under a sandstone slab and three additional cremations placed inside a smaller circular trench inside the enclosure. There could be many more, but it is difficult to know now. Much of the flags stones remain largely hidden under modern development.
If the flag stones are prior to Stonehenge, it suggests that a cultural movement may have originated in Dorset before extending through the region. The site may also have influenced other significant monuments, including Londygái Huge A in Gwynedd, Wales and even locations in Ireland, as evidenced by the practices and artifacts of shared burial.
Neolithic communities in Great Britain and beyond were much more interconnected than was thought.
Newspaper reference: Susan Greaney et al, the beginning of the circle? Revised chronologies for flagstones and Alington Avenue, Dorchester, Dorset, Antique (2025). DOI: 10.15184/AQY.2025.28
