This story from todays Daily Telegraph:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/10/nhill10.xml"Evidence of a
Roman sacred site has been discovered at the foot of a man-made
hill created thousands of years before the
Romans arrived in
Britain, it was announced yesterday.
English Heritage called the uncovering of the settlement a "startling discovery", and all the more so because it lies next to 5,000-year-old
Silbury hill, which at 130ft is Europe's largest man-made prehistoric monument. The original purpose and use of the Neolithic
hill, which took an estimated 20 million
man hours to make,
still mystifies archaeologists.
Yesterday's disclosure indicates that a
Roman community was equally taken with the Wiltshire
hill and established a sacred settlement in its shadow, some 3,000 years after it was created.
The discovery of a settlement the size of 24 football pitches is "quite unexpected" said Dr Amanda Chadburn, an English Heritage archaeologist and team leader. "Although there were hints - the odd
Roman coin kicking around - that the
Romans were doing something around there we did not know what. This is an important
Roman settlement." The site straddled the
Roman road from
London to Bath where it crossed the Winterbourne River.
But it was more than just a way station for weary travellers. The
Romans were as intrigued by Silbury as people are today, and there is even a tantalising hint of a temple. "There are a lot of legends about it being built by the devil and you wonder what the
Romans thought about it," said Dr Chadburn."
I have a piece on
Silbury Hill on my web-site if anyone's interested:
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/historia/sites/silbury/silbury.htm