Britain's oldest town revealed: Amesbury - near to Stonehenge - is found to date back more than TEN MILLENNIA

Thatcham, Buckinghamshire was previously said to be UK's oldest town



But researchers have now bestowed the title on Amesbury in Wiltshire

The location lies 40 miles west of Thatcham and is home to Stonehenge

Carbon dating shows the parish has been continually occupied for every millennia since 8,820BC

The honour has now been confirmed by the Guinness Book of Records

A landmark discovery has shed new light on the origins of life in Britain - with archaeologists confident they finally know the identity of the country's oldest town.

It had long been thought Thatcham in Buckinghamshire was the oldest continuous settlement in the UK, but researchers have now bestowed the title on Amesbury in Wiltshire.



The location lies 40 miles west of Thatcham, is home to Stonehenge and now holds the claim of being the birthplace of history in Britain - an honour confirmed by the Guinness Book of Records.

Carbon dating from an archaeological dig has found the parish of Amesbury in Wiltshire has been continually occupied for every millennia since 8,820BC - making it the oldest settlement in the UK. These pieces of flint were found at the site on Vespasian's Camp, Blick Mead - a mile-and-a-half from Stonehenge

Experts from the University of Buckingham claim the new findings dismiss previous theories that the Wiltshire town was conceived by European immigrants.

WHAT IS VESPASIAN'S CAMP?

The site was named ‘Vespasian’s Camp’ by the Elizabethan antiquarian William Camden, despite having no connection with the Roman commander, and later emperor. It lies about about a mile east of Stonehenge, where a promontory rises out of Salisbury Plain to around 310ft (95m) above sea level. Since 2010, archaeologists have found a large amount of Mesolithic material. Previously only scattered handfuls of Mesolithic material were known from Salisbury Plain. Unlike most regular hillforts of the time, Vespasian's Camp has an unusual shape, resembling an arrowhead from above.

Excavations have also revealed that what was once thought of as water feature was in fact an ancient spring which might have been part of a seasonal lake. It is thought that the spring area was used for huge feasts where ancient cow ancestors named aurochs were eaten, as well as a centre for tool making.

Instead, relics uncovered during a painstaking search point to British natives being behind the settlement.



It is thought the settlement dates back more than 10 millennia to 8,820BC.

David Jacques, research fellow in archaeology at the university who led the dig, said: 'The site blows the lid off the Neolithic Revolution - deemed the first agricultural revolution in Middle Eastern history - in a number of ways.



'It provides evidence for people staying put, clearing land, building and presumably worshipping monuments.

'The area was clearly a hub point for people to come to from many miles away, and in many ways was a forerunner for what later went on at Stonehenge itself. The first monuments at Stonehenge were built by these people.

'For years people have been asking 'why is Stonehenge where it is?' Now, at last, we have found the answers.'

Historic: The dig in Amesbury, which took place in October and was funded by the University of Buckingham, also unearthed the largest haul of worked flints from the Mesolithic period

The site of Vespasian's Camp, pictured, dates the activities of the people who were responsible for building the first monuments at Stonehenge, and show their communities continuing to work and live in the area for a further 3,000 years, close to the dawn of the Neolithic, when Stonehenge was first built

Experts from the University of Buckingham claim the new findings dismiss previous theories that Amesbury, marked at A, was conceived by European immigrants. 'In effect, Blick Mead (near the settlement) was the very first Stonehenge Visitor Centre, up and running in the 8th millennium BC,' one archaeologist said

The origins of Amesbury were discovered as a result of carbon dating of bones that belonged to aurochs - animals twice the size of bulls, wild boar and red deer - following the dig at Vespasian's Camp, Blick Mead - a mile-and-a-half from Stonehenge.

The settlement was confirmed using carbon dating on bones that belonged to aurochs - animals once twice the size of bulls, illustration pictured

It dates the activities of the people who were responsible for building the first monuments at Stonehenge - made from massive pine posts.

It also shows their communities continuing to work and live in the area for a further 3,000 years, close to the dawn of the Neolithic when Stonehenge was first built.

Archaeologists said the results provide the missing link between the erection of the posts at around 8,820BC and 6,590BC, and of Stonehenge in 3,000BC.



The findings provide evidence that suggests Stonehenge should be viewed as a response to long-term use of the area by indigenous hunters and home-makers - rather than being seen as a neolithic new build in an empty landscape.

Further findings appear to shed light on the persistent use of domestic farming techniques at Blick Mead, now believed to be used by settled communities rather than nomadic peoples.

The dig, which took place in October and was funded by the University of Buckingham, also unearthed the largest haul of worked flints from the Mesolithic period.

During a six-week dig, 31,000 flints were discovered in a 16sqm area and more than 2,000 were found in a single square metre - the largest concentration of such finds in Europe.

Bill Dunn, spokesman for the Amesbury Museum and Heritage Centre, said: 'We are naturally delighted at the confirmation of Amesbury's longevity as the oldest continuous inhabited place in England.

'We have always known Amesbury as somewhere special and this confirms it.

'All the visitors to the museum are amazed at what they find, and we hope even more people will now visit.'

