Largest ever reconstruction of pre-historic building unveiled in UK

English Heritage has unveiled the largest ever reconstruction of a Pre-Historic building – a 22ft hall on Salisbury Plain near Stonehenge.

Built using flint axes, coppiced hazel and chalk daub, the 4,500-year-old replica is based on archaeological evidence found nearby.

The Kusuma Neolithic Hall has been built by a team of 100 volunteers over nine months using historically-authentic methods and locally-sourced materials.

It is based on the remains of a large prehistoric structure, discovered two miles north-east of the stone circle near the prehistoric settlement Durrington Walls.

Excavations there have found many thousands of animal bones and a vast quantity of Grooved Ware pottery – which provide strong evidence for vast winter feasts.

This suggests the original hall may have been a space for large gatherings and celebrations, rituals or even burial practices.

The £1million project, funded by the Kusuma Trust, is in the final stages of construction and will be open to the public this summer – before being turned into a living-history learning space for schools from September.

Working under the guidance of experimental archaeologist Luke Winter, volunteers used historically accurate tools and materials – including thatch, coppiced timber and chalk daub – to recreate the techniques used by Neolithic builders.

Matt Thompson, Conservation, Curatorial and Learning Director for English Heritage, said: “The Kusuma Neolithic Hall is such an exciting project for the charity, and we are hugely grateful to the Kusuma Trust for the generous donation that made it possible. With its burning hearth, Neolithic crafts and cookery, the hall is a model for living history – instantaneously transporting you back 4,500 years.

“Not only is the hall a wonderful addition to the Stonehenge experience for both visitors and learners but, by using historically accurate techniques and materials in its construction, we have also been able to develop a much keener understanding of the everyday lives of the Neolithic people who came to Stonehenge.”

Groups of up to 30 students will be transported back in time as they gather around the hearth, handle replica tools, try out cooking and crafts, and discover what everyday life was like 4,500 years ago.

Matt Thompson added: “As a charity, one of our main purposes is to provide everyone with memorable learning experiences and the Kusuma Neolithic Hall will transform our ability to do that.

“This summer, visitors to Stonehenge will also have the chance to experience the hall and speak to some of our wonderful volunteers who built it, before it is opened up to educational groups for the new school year.”

In addition to the Kusuma Neolithic Hall, English Heritage’s brand-new Stonehenge learning centre due to open in the autumn will include an exciting new STEM in Heritage programme for school visits.

English Heritage welcomes more than 200,000 school visits each year, offering free self-led trips to Stonehenge and more than 400 other historic sites across the country, as well as expert-led immersive Discovery Visit workshops linked to the national curriculum.

For more information on the charity’s programme of school trips, to download teaching resources or to book, visit english-heritage.org.uk/learn/school-visits