The region has numerous remains from the Mesolithic, Neolithic, and Bronze Age, such as Stonehenge and Avebury.

Unlike similar structures such as Avebury, there are no obvious stones inside the circle, but since the interior of the circle has never been excavated by archaeologists, the possibility remains that wooden structures, for example, may be present.

William Stukeley FRS, FRCP, FSA ( 7 November 1687 – 3 March 1765 ) was an English antiquarian who pioneered the archaeological investigation of the prehistoric monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury, work for which he has been remembered as " probably ... the most important of the early forerunners of the discipline of archaeology ".

It has been designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument, as well as a World Heritage Site, in the latter capacity being seen as a part of the wider prehistoric landscape of Wiltshire known as Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites.

Excavation at Avebury has been limited.

The museum has Bronze Age collections and includes finds from the World Heritage Site of Stonehenge and Avebury, including West Kennet Long Barrow, Marden Henge and Bush Barrow.

The road has been re-numbered A4361 from its junction with the A4 immediately south of Avebury northwards, becoming the A361 again at the junction with the A419 which passes north-east of Swindon.

Cope has lectured nationally on the subject of prehistory, and also at the British Museum on the subjects of Avebury and Odin.

The final phase of stone circle construction took place in the early to middle Bronze Age ( c. 2200 – 1500 BC ) and saw the construction of numerous small circles which, it has been suggested, were built by individual family groups rather than the large numbers that monuments like Avebury would have required.

Michael Dames has proposed a composite theory of seasonal rituals in an attempt to explain Windmill Hill and its associated sites: ( West Kennet Long Barrow, the Avebury henge, The Sanctuary, and Silbury Hill ).

The name Formica rufibarbis was first given to this ant by Lord Avebury in Britain in his important work Ants, Bees and Wasps in 1881, although the species had been noted ( misidentified as F. cunicularia ) by Frederick Smith in 1851.

Meanwhile, the Reverend Thomas Twining had also published a book about the monument, Avebury in Wiltshire, the Remains of a Roman Work, which had been published in 1723.

Whereas Stukeley claimed that Avebury and related prehistoric monuments were the creations of the druids, Twining thought that they had been constructed by the later Romans.

By the beginning of the Victorian period in 1837, the majority of Neolithic standing stones at Avebury had gone, having been either buried by pious locals in the 14th century or smashed up for building materials in the 17th and 18th.

The timbers may have supported a roof of turf or thatch and been a high status dwelling serving the ritual site at Avebury, although this can only be conjectural.

Two stones are visible, known as ' Adam ' and ' Eve ' although the latter is more likely to have been a stone that formed part of the Beckhampton Avenue that connected with Avebury.

The largest stone circle is the Great Circle, 113 m in diameter and the second largest stone circle in Britain ( after Avebury ); it is considered to be one of the largest and most impressive Neolithic monuments to have been built.

These mystic rings probably had the same origin ( whatever that may have been ) as that of the more famous circle at Avebury in Wiltshire, with which they should be compared.

Many stones of Avebury Henge had been buried, presumably as a result of attempts to de-paganise the site or to clear land for agriculture.

Others were more likely to have been processional ways, such as the one leading to the gigantic temple at Avebury in Wiltshire.

The site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986 in a co-listing with Avebury Henge monument.

Even so, the monument appears to have eclipsed the site at Avebury in importance towards the end of this phase.

The antiquarians John Aubrey and William Stukeley however took an interest in Avebury during the 17th century, and recorded much of the site before its destruction.

In an attempt to prevent further construction on the site, the wealthy politician and archaeologist Sir John Lubbock, who later came to be known as Lord Avebury, purchased much of the available land in the monument, and encouraged other buyers to build their houses outside rather than within the henge, in an attempt to preserve it.

In January 1900 he was promoted to the peerage as Baron Avebury, his title commemorating the largest Stone Age site in Britain, which he had helped to preserve.

* Lord Avebury profile at the site of the Liberal Democrats

The story of the barber surgeon is one that most visitors to the prehistoric site of Avebury Henge will have heard.

Alexander Keiller ( 1889 – 1955 ) was an archaeologist and businessman who worked on the site at Avebury in Wiltshire.

He also befriended the archaeologist and practicing Pagan Alexander Keiller, known for his excavations at Avebury, who would encourage Gardner to join in with the excavations at Hembury Hill in Devon, also attended by Aileen Fox and Mary Leakey.

The complex including Maeshowe, the Ring of Brodgar, the Standing Stones of Stenness, Skara Brae, as well as other tombs and standing stones represents a concentration of Neolithic sites that is rivalled in Britain only by the complexes associated with Stonehenge and Avebury.

The high dry ground made travel easy and provided a measure of protection by giving traders a commanding view, warning against potential attacks. The Ridgeway ( Uffington Castle ringfort in distance on left ) The Bronze Age saw the development of Uffington White Horse and the stone circle at Avebury.

The Ridgeway passes near many Neolithic, Iron Age, and Bronze Age sites including Avebury Circle, a stone circle similar to Stonehenge ; Barbury Castle, Liddington Castle, Uffington Castle, Segsbury Castle, Pulpit Hill and Ivinghoe Beacon Hill, all Iron Age and Bronze Age hill forts ; Wayland's Smithy, a Neolithic chieftain burial tomb ; the Uffington White Horse, an ancient chalk horse carved into the hillside near Uffington Castle ; and Grim's Ditch, a section of earthwork near Mongewell created by Iron Age peoples as a possible demarcation line.

Opposition claims of electoral fraud were upheld by a team of international observers headed by Britain's Lord Avebury.

Much of Avebury village is encircled by the prehistoric monument complex also known as Avebury.

Avebury was the setting for the popular 1977 cult TV show " Children Of The Stones " which depicts Avebury as a town controlled by the stones.

A local legend noted in 1913 states that the Devil was carrying a bag of soil to drop on the citizens of Marlborough, but he was stopped by the priests of nearby Avebury.

Hoare described it as " a city of high note in the remotest periods by the several barrows near it, and its proximity to the two largest stone circles in England, namely, Stonehenge and Avebury.

In these early stages it passes close by many prehistoric sites including for Avebury Henge and Silbury Hill.

Avebury is owned and run by the National Trust, a charitable organisation who keep it open to the public.

The Alexander Keiller Museum features the prehistoric artifacts collected by archaeologist and businessman Alexander Keiller, which include many artefacts found at Avebury.

Kingsgate Castle in Kent was rebuilt by Lord Avebury.

Lubbock was the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of London ( 1837 – 42 ), a position later held by his eldest son, Sir John Lubbock, 4th Bt, who was later created Baron Avebury in 1900.

The road from Wendover to Princes Risborough, which makes a very clearly defined detour around the hill on which Ellesborough Church stands, follows the route of the Icknield Way, an ancient trackway used by man in the neolithic age ( 3000 to 1800 BC ) which ran from Norfolk to Avebury in Wiltshire.

Lord Avebury is a Co-Chair of the CHT ( Chittagong Hill Tracts ) Commission, which monitors the implementation of the CHT Peace Accord by the Bangladesh Government.