The largest man- made mound in Europe stands 39 metres high by the River Kennet in Wiltshire. Although it is an impressive statement in the landscape it can not be viewed from any aspect at distances greater than 500 metres or so as it sits on low ground by the river.
This enigmatic monument has been the subject of much debate and speculation. No burials nor cavities have been found despite several tunnels and shafts sunk into and through the heart of the construction. No ancillary settings or earthworks with clear associations have been identified in the surrounding territory. See: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/silbury-hill/
At the winter solstice 2005 a chain of high quality images were secured of the sun rolling down Carleton Bank from a camera position behind a small stone set in the apron bank of a Bronze Age tumulus. With images of this clarity we may ascertain with confidence the declination of the hill line of Carleton Bank and, with the formula- 0.72 arc minutes per century for Rate of Change of Obliquity- proceed to estimate at what time in the past the sun's upper limb first flashed down the entire slope of Carleton Bank. This might then be the actual date of construction of this solstitial alignment and the apron banked tumulus.
