What's going on a Silbury Hill

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Q.� So what is Silbury Hill

A.� A wonder of England. Silbury Hill, part of the complex of Neolithic monuments around Avebury in Wiltshire, is the tallest prehistoric man-made mound in Europe and one of the world's largest. It's 130ft high and its base covers more than five acres. It is calculated to have taken 18 million man-hours to build and shape 8.75 million cubic feet of earth on top of a natural hill - a display of immense technical skill.

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Q.� How old

A.� Archaeologists say that Silbury Hill was built about 4,600 years ago and that it took 18 million man-hours to construct. The base of the monument is perfectly round and 550ft in diameter. The summit is flat-topped and 100ft wide.

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Q.� And built in many phases

A.� Archaeologists say there were two. Soon after work was started, it was redesigned and the mound enlarged. It is constructed in steps, each step filled with packed chalk, and then smoothed off.

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Q.� How do we know that

A.� Through archaeological excavations. There have been three: the first when a team of Cornish miners led by the Duke of Northumberland sunk a shaft from top to bottom in 1776 (the tunnel that collapsed last year); in 1849 when a tunnel was dug from the edge into the centre, and a third in 1968-70 when Professor Richard Atkinson had another tunnel cut into the base.

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Q.� And what did they find Treasure Bones

A.� Nothing much. At its core the diggers found clay, flints, turf, moss, topsoil, gravel, freshwater shells, mistletoe, oak, hazel, sarsen stones, ox bones and antlers. The 1776 tunnel collapsed and made a crater at the top - earning it the name Silbury Doughnut.

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Q.� So why was it built

A.� No-one knows for sure. English Heritage's acting regional director Chris Smith said of the new work: 'The survey will provide a unique internal view of one of our oldest and least-understood monuments, something no-one has ever been able to attempt before. What we learn will help us secure the long-term future of the mound that our ancestors spent so much time and energy building. Silbury Hill is the biggest and best of its kind in Europe. It is incomparably important.'

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Q.� But there must be a theory

A.� Legends, certainly. According to local tales, this is the last resting place of King Sil, sitting on a fabled golden horse. Another legend says the mound holds a life-size solid gold statue of King Sil.

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Q.� And there was some tale about the Devil

A.� Yes. The Devil had a huge shovel of earth he intended to dump upon Marlborough. On his way he met a cobbler carrying a bag of old shoes he was taking to repair. The Devil asked him if it was a long way to Marlborough. The old shoe-maker replied: 'It is a long way indeed, for I have worn out all of these shoes trying to walk there.' Hearing this, the Devil gave up and dropped his shovel full of earth by the roadside.

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Q.� Anything more sensible

A.� It might be a monument to a winter goddess - or it might, according to one antiquarian, be a giant sundial.

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By Steve Cunningham