The arrangement, believed to be about 4,500 years old, was revealed by the Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project on the first day of the British Science Festival at the University of Bradford.

It is composed of about 30 intact stones and 60 fragments of possible stones buried three feet beneath the Durrington Walls "super-henge" and though to be a Neolithic ritual site. The stones, some of which stand up to 14 feet high, appear as if they were once lined up to form a C-shaped "arena" surrounding a valley and springs leading to the River Avon.

None have been excavated, and they were found using "non-invasive geophysical prospection and remote sensing technologies," a press release from the project said.

The archaeologists believe this new discovery could predate Stonehenge and presents the possibility that monumental architecture was happening in the area earlier than previously thought.