Luke is a placement student with the Avebury Papers for the 2025 Spring term. This is the second of three blog posts for the project. Read Luke’s placement introduction post here, and read his reflections on a focus group that tested his virtual Avebury here.
By Luke Ashworth
Over the last 25 years, there has been an emergence of digital projects surrounding the Avebury Henge and its landscape. Given Avebury’s well documented history, being erected in stages over the Neolithic period, periods of destruction in the middle ages, excavated in the 19th century, and reimagined by visitors today, digital projects have plenty of material to draw from.
This report reviews 5 digital Avebury projects. It looks at why they were created, what purpose they serve and what kind of Avebury they create, before assessing their effectiveness, engagement and relative accuracy. Accuracy is a broad term but in this project it represents how faithful a project is to its source material including the archaeological record and not just how photorealistic a project is.
The projects analysed here date from the early 2000s up to the present day, and have been selected based on the criteria that they are 1) digital and 2) have been preserved on the internet. These projects all serve the purpose of being a ‘visualisation’ of Avebury. Other digital projects related to Avebury exist, however not all of them fit the criteria, or do not have substantial enough documentation to warrant discussion.
1999/2000s
One of the earliest examples of a Digital Avebury Visualisation was developed as part of a larger project on ‘Negotiating Avebury project’, by Mark Gillings, Josh Pollard, David Wheatley, Glyn Goodrick and Rick Peterson. The team created a model of the Southern entrance at Avebury Henge. This was created using a Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) which is a method of depicting 3D models using text-based code and vector graphics which was becoming increasingly popular for archaeologists in the late 90s/early 2000s. VRML was also useful for its ability to be stored and distributed over the internet. Stone 4 as depicted by this project was intended to be viewable via the Museum of Antiquities website made possible through its VRML format allowing for greater dissemination and proof of concept for a digital scale model. Some critical reflection on the project by Earl an Wheatley (2002) is accessible via the University of Southampton repository, which includes screenshots of the models [https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/28768/].
For its time, this project is rather impressive, and certainly intuitive, as the technology was not as powerful as it is today but still managed to capture the general physicality of the stones in an abstract and rudimentary manner, preserving it in digital space. This means that there is no sense of time or landscape, as presented in future projects, which adds to the abstract feeling of the project. Even so, Wheatley (p.5, 2002) [https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/28768/] who contributed to this project admits that graphical representations at the time were “simplified and abstract in the extreme” suggesting its potential lack of substance when it comes to representing the site in terms of how faithful of a representation it proves to be. This is due to technological constraints at the time it was made but it does not detract from the pioneering effort created by these researchers in the history of Digital Avebury.
Moving past the visuals, a challenge with assessing this project today is that the model was not stored in a stable repository: the Museum of Antiquities webpage that originally housed this visualisation no longer exists. (This problem affects many digital archaeology projects, Chris Stokel-Walker (2024) has found that over 25% of websites posted between 2013 and 2023 have been erased off of the internet. Although this is a very early visualisation of the henge, what was created could be seen as a prototype for future projects of this type with better technology and a more expanded scope. This project was therefore an important milestone in Avebury’s digital history and should be presented as an innovator of a Digital Avebury.
2010s
3D reconstructions became popular in archaeology in the 2010s using a variety of engines such as Blender, Unity and Second Life. This phenomenon is similarly reflected at Avebury through two projects with varying levels of effectiveness, engagement and accuracy.
For example, between 2016 and 2020, Professor Liz Falconer (University of Bournemouth) explored two ways of reconstructing Avebury as a virtual landscape, using OpenSimulator/Kitely, and the Fieldscapes platform using Unity.
OpenSim, similar to Second Life, is an online multiplayer virtual world that allows users to interact with one another in their user-generated worlds. Second Life has been used for other archaeological projects such as Dr Colleen Morgan’s reconstruction of Catalhoyuk in 2009, which identified the ease of distribution and interactiveness for both digital archaeologists and its user base.
Falconer’s Avebury virtual reconstruction, is an impressive virtual monument built using both Opensimulator’s terrain builder and Unity3D based upon LIDAR data for the Avebury area which combine to create an immersive landscape intended to give users a ‘sense of place’ within the site presented how it would have been within the Neolithic Period. Falconer’s project is impressive in terms of scale and immersiveness and has been documented in both a research paper and YouTube videos demonstrating the breadth of the project in reconstructing Avebury Henge. Falconer uploaded 8 video development logs detailing each step in the project showing both the process of creation and giving tours within Second Life which create an archive of the creation process allowing transparency and potentially replicability for anyone wanting to pursue similar projects in the future.
Another way in which Falconer explored accessibility and transparency through their endeavour is through the medium of Open Simulator/Kitely in the earlier iteration of the project. Aaron Griffiths, who collaborated with Falconer, commented in his blog whilst working on the project that “visitors are welcome to visit Avebury during its construction”. This ease of dissemination via online play is one of the great benefits of the medium allowing anyone from around the world to access the site and even speak to other like-minded individuals through the chat, providing a level of engagement unparalleled by other game engines. The embedded accessibility of such platforms potentially allows this version of Avebury to reach a wide audience, whilst the engagement and customisation features further allow users to access this sense of ‘place’ that Falconer discusses.
However, in her reflections on virtual archaeology, Falconer does note that whilst their selected technology has some excellent features, there are still ‘issues of authenticity’ due to a lack of ‘specific support for those working in 3D visualisation.’ Falconer flagged that there is no way to communicate to the audience that this is one theory of what Avebury would have looked like, and that whilst the model is based on archaeological evidence, there can be no assurance of authenticity throughout the project. Despite this, Falconer managed to create a truly immersive experience that engaged with a wide audience and cemented itself as one of the most key visualisations of Avebury whilst raising important questions that future makers of ‘Virtual Avebury’ should consider.
Falconer’s project is the largest digital representation of the site done to date in terms of both actual size and technology used, and therefore its soundscape deserves to be discussed separately. Researchers paired the henge visuals with a soundscape to assist with creating an immersive atmosphere akin to the Neolithic site. This soundscape was created using SATSYMPH for Unity3D which is a spatialised, interactive sound package that here was used to present a series of natural sounds. There is certainly precedent for this technology to be used at this scale as SATSYMPH has been used as a reconstructive worldbuilding tool on several other heritage projects being highly regarded in the industry and here it certainly boosts the effectiveness of their artificial atmosphere making the site feel more realistic. This paired with the visuals created and discussed previously work together to create a truly immersive and multisensory experience depicting an effective and accurate Digital Avebury that could only be improved upon by the even further advances in reconstruction developed in the 8 years since this project was developed.
Another aspect of reconstruction that was developed in the 1980s and refined in the 2010s was Structure From Motion or photogrammetry. This is the process of taking a large number of images of an object that can be compiled into a viewable 3D model. It is now a quick, effective and accessible manner of creating a photorealistic model for archaeological purposes. Thomas Melrose (https://megalithicmaps.com/) used this technique in late 2019 to create a series of simple but effective photogrammetric 3D models for a monetary purpose. (figure 3.)
These are included on a website with detail of the history of the site as well as digital surface models created for dissemination purposes. The information that Melrose includes with the materials suggest he is interested in educational use of the models. In fact, the usage rights for the models state that they are free to use for non-commercial and research purposes suggesting that they have been created as an asset to the community which is both generous and extremely helpful. These models are a fantastic tool as they are freely downloadable using Sketchfab for projects that adhere to the usage rights. This gives great value to these models as they are incredibly photorealistic and can be used for multiple purposes in the digital space such as non commercial VR, AR or gaming projects. However, Melrose has not modelled every stone in the landscape: providing more 3D models would enhance this project for the betterment of the reconstruction community as a whole.
Furthermore, these models, along with the digital surface models, present another issue common with historical reconstruction, that being the lack of surroundings. Whilst individual stones are fantastically detailed, the lack of context allowed by the landscape of Avebury leads them to feel disconnected from the rest of the site. Hopefully, projects which incorporate Melrose’s assets may attempt to solve the problem of the ‘void’ and allow immersive landscapes to be part of visualisations too. Melrose’s project could assist in laying a foundation for reconstruction in the future and will prove as a vital asset for the future of Digital Avebury.
2020s:
In the last 5 years, there has been a shift away from ‘historically accurate’ reconstructions within the digital archaeology community and towards more creative projects that use the vastness of modern technology to create something unique drawing upon the source material of Avebury.
For example, a project that delivers a unique and quality visualisation on an individual level is Louise Bedford’s dissertation project from 2024-2025. “No Stone Left Unturned” is a ‘cosy game’ based on Denis Grant King’s maps of Avebury, in a pixel art style akin to that of Stardew Valley. Using Unity’s 2D engine, Bedford has used maps and literature from Denis Grant King’s material, and photographs and artworks from across the archive, to recreate the Avebury of the 1930s. The game is a top down adventure that allows the player – as Denis Grant King – to explore the site looking for artefacts and learning the history of the site along the way through text panels, archive items, and speech of Non Playable Characters. Interactions with NPCs including Alexander Keiller and Doris Chalmers, who teach and guide the player throughout the experience, creates further immersion.
Cosy games such as Animal Crossing or Stardew Valley are an increasingly popular genre of game focusing on relaxation and non-violence which will assist in drawing an audience. Furthermore, archaeological activities such as brushing finds or discovering treasure align well with the mechanics and visuals of a ‘cosy game’, and could promote self-fulfillment through completion. Bedford’s game is an experience at Avebury unlike any other presented thus far, allowing it to assert itself in the history of the development of a digital Avebury.
The development of this game has been recorded on their Youtube channel ‘@louisearchaeology’. These videos demonstrate the effort it takes as a solo developer to create a project of ambitious scale in a short time and even with these constraints they have managed to create a unique and thoroughly interesting visualisation of the site. Projects like these demonstrate the imagination of those reviewing these materials and allows us to ponder how many more depictions of the site can come from these materials and how far the source can take one’s project.
At the time of writing, another project is creating further digital Aveburys. In 2023, Bournemouth University, the University of Southampton and the National Trust began work on the ‘LoGa Culture’ project. The project team are recreating Silbury Hill and the Avebury stone circles in Mixed Reality to tell the untold stories of the site. The team are exploring ‘Locative Game’ technology which is a form of mixed reality allowing people to use their phones to interact with monuments and artefacts at the site. If realised fully, this could allow users to interact with Avebury as never before, providing a unique and truly interactive experience as a tool for learning and exploring culture. The experience will be tested at Avebury this summer.
Dr Hargood from Bournemouth University explains in an interview: “Locative games could take many forms. They might be choice based interactive stories, intelligent and playful tour guides, adventure games where the player seeks to solve puzzles, simulations of life past, or even locative treasure hunts like Pokemon Go!” (LogaCulture, 2023). AR has been implemented at sites before, such as the Bari Excursion Game from 2008 which allowed children visiting the Roman Site at Bari to learn and explore using early AR as a medium for learning about Roman culture and visualising past structures. It remains to be seen how effective the LoGa Culture project will be in terms of audience engagement, effectiveness as a tool to engage with heritage, and accuracy: but as research continues to be published, it is certainly a unique representation of a digital Avebury that requires and encourages direct engagement with the landscape.
The future of Visualising Avebury
It is clear that over the past 25 years, people have made incredible and varied contributions to the idea of a digital Avebury. The projects have had different aims and varied levels of effectiveness, engagement, accuracy and accessibility. Avebury is inherently a physical site to be visited and interacted with in person as it has been done since the Neolithic Period. But over this relatively short period of Avebury’s history, these individuals and teams have helped to make Avebury a site intertwined with the digital age, keeping it relevant and ever changing in an increasingly difficult period for heritage as a whole.
The key takeaway from this research is that Digital Avebury has a storied history and that its rich heritage is clearly something that interests digital archaeologists but it can be pushed further. Many of the digital Aveburys examined above recreate the site as it would have been in the Neolithic, which is enticing because visualising something that we have never physically seen before is compelling from both the perspective of the creator and the audience. With new technologies (and perhaps using the new data and assets produced by the Avebury Papers Project!), future Digital Aveburys could explore beyond its Neolithic origins into its medieval, early modern, and modern life.
The tools and assets that digital archaeologists can use are always improving and increasing. The challenge is to discover how we can best use emerging technologies to creatively explore Avebury, and make depictions of the site that change how we perceive and interact with the stones and their stories.
Some further reading
Earl, Graeme and Wheatley, David (2002) Virtual reconstruction and the interpretative process: a case-study from Avebury. In, Wheatley, David, Earl, Graeme and Poppy, Sarah (eds.) Contemporary Themes in Archaeological Computing. Oxford, UK. Oxbow Books, pp. 5-15. Free access: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/28768/
Falconer, L. Experiencing sense of place in virtual and physical Avebury. Pers Ubiquit Comput 21, 977–988 (2017). Free access: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-017-1064-7
Falconer, L., et al. (2020). Virtual Avebury: exploring sense of place in a virtual archaeology simulation. Virtual Archaeology Review, 11(23), 50–62. Free access: https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2020.12924
Gillings, M., & Pollard, J. (1999). Non-Portable Stone Artifacts and Contexts of Meaning: The Tale of Grey Wether (www.museums.ncl.ac.uk/Avebury/stone4.htm). World Archaeology, 31(2), 179–193. Paywall access: http://www.jstor.org/stable/125056
Griffiths, A. (2016). Virtual Avebury: Exploring Ancient Landscapes Through Virtual Reconstructions. [online] Available at: https://fxualeducation.wordpress.com/2016/08/10/virtual-avebury01/.
LoGa Culture project website https://logaculture.eu
LoGa Culture interview with Bournemouth University (2023). Free access: https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/news/2023-04-25/new-project-revolutionise-how-we-experience-avebury-stone-circle-logaculture-project