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Atkinson, who excavated the mound in
the late 1960s, hypothesized three
separate phases. In the first of
Atkinson's phases (Silbury I), dated to
around 2700 B.C., the earthwork consisted of a low gravel-built mound covered in alternating layers of chalk
rubble and turf, around 18 feet high
and about 115 feet across. Atkinson
believed that Silbury II was begun
about 200 years later, and consisted of
a much larger mound constructed over
the top of Silbury I. In this phase, the
earthwork had a diameter at its base
of about 246 feet, with a height of 66
feet. Silbury III was the hill's final
form, basically the earthwork we see
today. Atkinson thought that the structure of Silbury III had been built up in
tiers of chalk, only the upper two of
which are now visible on the monument. Each of these horizontal steps
was inclined inwards at an angle of 60
degrees, to provide the monument
with stability; the tiers were then
filled in with soil, probably from the
ditch at the base of the mound. Despite
Atkinson's three-phase theory, the latest evidence from surveys of parts of
Silbury has revealed the possibility of
    there being only one construction
phase at the site. Only a complete survey of the whole monument will decide
this issue.
    There have been three main excavations undertaken at Silbury Hill in
an attempt to fathom its mystery. The
first of these was carried out by the
Duke of Northumberland in 1776, who
hired a team of Cornish miners to dig
down from the top of the mound. However, they found nothing of note, and
as the workers did not fill in the shaft
properly after investigations were finished, their excavation led ultimately
to the partial collapse of the summit
of the mound in 2000. Antiquarian
Dean Merewether supervised the excavation of a tunnel from the side of
the hill to its core in 1849, but this shed
little light on the function of Silbury
Hill. Professor Richard Atkinson's
BBC-sponsored excavations of the
enigmatic earthwork, which took place
from 1968 to 1970, have been the most
comprehensive investigations of the
site to date. One of Atkinson's three
trenches followed Merewether's tunnel, but there were no sensational
finds. In fact, precious few artifacts at
all, no burials, and no clues to the function of the structure were found. However, from his work at the site,
Atkinson was able to arrive at his
theory about how the mound had been
constructed. Atkinson's excavations
also revealed considerable environmental evidence, including the presence of flying ants in the turf of
the building, which has been used
to suggest that construction of the
earthwork was begun in the month of
August, interpreted by some as coinciding with the Celtic Festival of
Lughnasadh, or Lammas. Even though Silbury was constructed 2,000 years
before, there is evidence of Celtic
culture in Britain.

    Close-up of the mysterious Silbury Hill.
    Photo by the author.
    Although most archaeologists are
at a loss to explain the function of
Silbury Hill, there has been no shortage of theories put forward in the 300
years of investigations at the site. The
belief of the 18th and 19th century investigators was that the earthwork
represented the burial mound of an
ancient British king. In fact, local folklore suggests that the hill is the resting place of an unknown King Sil (or
Zel), or that it contains a life-size
statue of Sil sitting on top of a golden
horse. Another legend tells that the
Devil was about to empty a huge apron
full of soil on the nearby town of
Marlborough, but was forced to drop
it at Silbury by the magic of the priests
of nearby Avebury. Though folklore
often contains a grain of truth, no human remains have ever been discovered in excavations at the hill,
although it has to be admitted that not
all of the structure has been investigated. Other theories about the
earthwork include that the flattened
top of Silbury functioned as a platform
    for druid