West Kennet Long Barrow

It is probable that the site on which West Kennet Long Barrow was built had been used for older human activity. This is evidenced by sherds of a plain bowl that excavators found in soil beneath the monument during the 1950s. The architectural style of the Long Barrow, coupled with the style of the primary interments of human remains, led archaeologists who excavated in the 1950s to believe that it was Early Neolithic in date. A nearby monument, the Windmill Hill causewayed enclosure, revealed three radiocarbon dates which demonstrated that it was Early Neolithic, leading archaeologists to consider an Early Neolithic date for the Long Barrow. The presence of a kink in the flanking ditches,…

Across Western Europe, the Early Neolithic marked the first period in which humans built monumental structures in the landscape. These structures included chambered long barrows, rectangular or oval earthen tumuli with a chamber built into one end. Some chambers were made of timber, and others using large stones, now known as "megaliths". Long barrows often served as tombs, housing the dead within their chamber. Bodies were rarely buried alone in the Early Neolithic, instead being interred in collective burials with other members of their community. These chambered tombs were built all along the Western European seaboard during the Early Neolithic, from south-eastern Spain up to southern…

West Kennet Long Barrow now serves as a tourist attraction. In 1997, the cultural historian Richard Hayman noted that it was "a tomb no more, it has become a sanitised cultural commodity." Many modern Pagans view West Kennet Long Barrow as a "temple" and use it for their rituals. Some see it as a place of the ancestors where they can engage in "vision quests" and other neo-shamanic practices. Others have seen it as a womb of the Great Goddess, and as a sort of living entity. The winter solstice has been a particularly popular occasion for Pagans to visit. Modern Pagan visitors have often left items, including tea lights, incense, flowers, fruit, and coins, in the long barrow, often…