Britain is dotted with numerous archaeological sites called Long Barrows (burial mounds with elongated, roughly rectangular structures that may contain bodies). Over 260 have been recorded and of that number, 148 are located in Wiltshire alone. About a mile and a half south of Avebury, situated on an outcropping of chalk, lies perhaps the most impressive of these long barrows, West Kennet. Long barrows began to appear during the Neolithic period and were becoming a common occurrence by 3700 BC. The first burials at West Kennet took place around 3600 BC (roughly 400 years before the early stages of Stonehenge). The site itself is comprised of a mound of chalk piled over large sarsen stones (a kind of hard sandstone common to the area). The mound is oriented from East to West and is situated so the rising sun, at equinox, shines directly into the entrance of the tomb. Apparently, the equinox had tremendous religious significance to the people that erected this monument.
Over time, the site was covered with earth resulting in a mound over 100 feet long and 40-50 feet wide. The entrance to the site and the surrounding area has yielded evidence of numerous fires which suggests that rituals may have been performed outside the actual tomb from time to time. The inside of the tomb is a classic example of a gallery type burial monument found all over the region. The interior is roughly 8.5 feet high and consists of five stone lined burial chambers and a central corridor connecting two chambers an both sides and a larger chamber at the end. The entire length of the underground system is over 300 feet in length. Obviously, everyone who belonged to this Neolithic society was not buried here (there wouldn't be enough room). It is not quite clear what qualifications an individual had to have to be buried here, but a pattern of sex and age (revealed during excavation) suggests that the burials may have been carried out along symbolic lines.
The large chamber at the Western end was used mainly for older males. The Northwest and southwest chambers held both male and female remains while the remaining chambers held mainly children and elderly individuals of both sex. At first the bodies were laid directly on the floor of the chambers but as time went on many bones were moved to the backs of the chambers and stacked in heaps to make room for new arrivals. Also, many bones (mainly skulls and thigh bones) were periodically removed from the tomb; possibly for ritual purposes. The last burials were made at West Kennet around 2200 BC, after which the tomb was sealed with chalk rubble and the the area surrounding the entrance was blocked with a number of large sarsen boulders. It is unclear why the tomb was sealed. Upon excavation in 1955-56, the site revealed a minimum of 46 individuals of all ages and both sexes along with many pottery sherds, flint objects, and a multitude of beads and other artifacts. Archaeologists were discouraged to find that the tomb had been plundered but much of the site had remained intact.
by: Damian Woelfel
Sources:
http://ripley.wo.sbc.edu/faculty/witcombe/EMKennet.html
http://www.strum.co.uk/wessex/ave5.htm
http://utenti.micronet.it/dmeozzi/England/Inglese/westkennet.html
http://www.Stonehenge.co.uk/west-kennet/west-ken.htm