Square-henge found at Avebury

THERE’S plenty of evidence our ancestors liked to arrange stones in circles. But a new-found set of standing stones has shown Ancient Britons appreciated the significance of squares too.

Archaeologists excavating at Avebury, home to Europe’s largest stone circle, have discovered a previously unknown set of stones arranged in a square.

The ‘highly unusual’ arrangement is thought to be around 5,000 years old – and could date back further than the Wiltshire site’s famous circles, which were built from about 2,850 to 2,200 BC.

One theory is the stones mark the outline of an ancient house of significance.

Avebury Henge is comprised of a large outer circle which is 1,080ft (330m) across and two inner circles. The square was unearthed between the southern inner circle and the outer circle. It is about 98ft (30m) across, and encloses a huge upright stone dubbed the Obelisk.

A corner of it was discovered 80 years ago but the Second World War cut short further investigations until now.