Qualla: Silbury Hill https://qualla.com/silbury-hill en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:21 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/s/silbury-hill-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Silbury Hill https://qualla.com/silbury-hill Silbury Hill: Introduction https://qualla.com/silbury-hill/ Photo credit Immanuel Giel, CC BY-SA 4.0. Nobody knows why Silbury Hill exists. It is the largest prehistoric man-made mound in Europe, standing 39.3 metres above the Wiltshire countryside, and its volume is comparable to the smaller Egyptian pyramids. Archaeologists estimate it took 18 million man-hours to build -- the equivalent of 500 people working for 15 years. They have tunnelled into it, sunk shafts through it, scanned it with seismic instruments, and analysed its construction down to the season it was begun (August, based on the remains of winged ants found in its base layer). And after all of that, the hill keeps its secret. There is no burial chamber, no treasure, no obvious explanation.

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Image: Immanuel Giel | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/s/silbury-hill-wp/gcns-silbury-hill-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Silbury Hill: Engineering Without a Blueprint https://qualla.com/silbury-hill/ Photo credit Swindonian, CC BY-SA 4.0. Silbury Hill was constructed in several stages during the late Neolithic period. The base is circular, 167 metres in diameter, and the summit is flat-topped at 30 metres across. A smaller initial mound was built first, consisting of a gravel core with a kerb of stakes and sarsen ...

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Image: Swindonian | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/s/silbury-hill-wp/gcns-silbury-hill-engineering-without-a-blueprint.mp3 0:06 2 full Silbury Hill: Centuries of Curiosity https://qualla.com/silbury-hill/ Photo credit Jwslubbock, CC BY-SA 4.0. Silbury Hill has drawn investigators since antiquity. The Roman road from London to Bath swerves around it, proof that the hill predates the road and was too significant to bulldoze. The seventeenth-century antiquarian John Aubrey illustrated it. William Stukeley recorded a skele...

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Image: Jwslubbock | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/s/silbury-hill-wp/gcns-silbury-hill-centuries-of-curiosity.mp3 0:06 3 full Silbury Hill: Collapse and Conservation https://qualla.com/silbury-hill/ Photo credit Amanda Slater from Coventry, West Midlands, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0. In May 2002, heavy rain caused the 1776 shaft to collapse, opening a hole in the summit. English Heritage undertook seismic surveys and discovered that the previous excavations had left the hill honeycombed with unstable voids. A major stabilisation programme began in 2007: contr...

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Image: Amanda Slater from Coventry, West Midlands, UK | CC BY-SA 2.0

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/s/silbury-hill-wp/gcns-silbury-hill-collapse-and-conservation.mp3 0:06 4 full Silbury Hill: Legends and Silence https://qualla.com/silbury-hill/ Photo credit Troxx, CC BY 2.5. In the absence of explanation, stories have filled the void. Local legend holds that Silbury is the resting place of a King Sil, sitting on a golden horse in a golden suit of armour. Another tale, recorded in 1913, says the Devil was carrying a bag of soil to dump on the citizens...

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Image: Troxx | CC BY 2.5

]]> Sat, 14 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/c/n/s/silbury-hill-wp/gcns-silbury-hill-legends-and-silence.mp3 0:06 5 full