Luke is a placement student with the Avebury Papers for the 2025 Spring term. This is the third of three blog posts for the project. Read Luke’s placement introduction post here, and read his review of digital Aveburys here.
By Luke Ashworth and Fran Allfrey
As part of Luke’s placement, while reviewing other ‘Virtual Aveburys’, Luke also made their own 3D reconstruction of Avebury Henge and its surrounding landscape.
Luke wanted to create Avebury as it was during the time of William Stukeley, as their research had shown that this time period was under-represented in existing digital work: other projects tended to look back to the neolithic.
Luke’s overall aim was to produce an experience that might provide access to Avebury for those who cannot be there physically, and an enjoyable experience that might replicate some of the senses of ‘being there’.
The reconstruction was modelled in Blender, and rendered in Unity. Photo realism was something Luke was keen to explore, so they used the models of the stones produced by Thomas Melrose at megalithicmaps.com. Luke also used LIDAR data from Mark Walters at https://sketchfab.com/markwalters to create the landscape.
Recreating the entire landscape was beyond the time that Luke had available, so the demo includes around 40 stones placed where they would have been relative to the LIDAR available. The entire model spans around a kilometre of the site.
A group of Avebury Papers volunteers very kindly tested out the demo and attended a focus group. Below are some of the key themes and ideas which emerged from that discussion. A huge thank you to them for sharing their thoughts!
First impressions 1: Orientation in time and space
Luke started the focus group by asking for first impressions. The first theme, which we came back to throughout the discussion, was “where are we” in time and space.
Users enjoyed doing things that you “can’t do in real life”, such as zooming around the banks, or above stones, or seeing a more ‘complete’ circle. Bruce’s first thought was “when are we”, and the group discussed the intrigue of being able to experience Avebury in a different time, or multiple times. Paul raised an idea that Mark Gillings has explored in recent talks, about the ‘sightlines’ of Avebury, and how without the houses or other modern features, Avebury would look and therefore feel very different.
Users wanted more guidance from the start about the “where” and “when” they found themselves in. Suggestions included a game-like minimap, a compass, or a “time dial” that you could turn to move chronologically. However, Cathy commented that sometimes today “I get lost in the circles”, and other volunteers echoed the experience, so perhaps reproducing disorientation could be said to be generating a sense of realism!
Questions of realism
Several users’ first step was to go and look for stones and places they knew, perhaps numbered stones or specific areas such as the ‘entrance stones’ or Cove. Perhaps this is a specific urge for people who know Avebury well. Users said they had the urge to look close up for details of stones, and Kathy noted that “I was flying around merrily… I was above them, but part of the experience is to be among them”. Volunteers agreed that getting very close to or touching the stones is a vital part of being at Avebury. This led to a discussion of the sense of scale offered by a virtual experience. Mike R pointed out that the landscape seemed more hilly in the game than in real life, while Cathy noted the very human scale of the stones may be lost in a virtual world.
Several volunteers enjoyed seeing a version of the stones without a road and the buildings, while other volunteers thought the village was important. And, as noted above, users enjoyed being able to move around in ways that are impossible in real life. So, there are interesting questions here about which aspects of the site are most required to produce a ‘realistic’ effect.
Questions of scale and the realism of the map relate to the resources that game makers have available to them. The LIDAR data, for instance, might not map as accurately as we’d hope, or, the models of stones only represent the stones in one particular light.
The question of how much ‘landscape’ users would like to see was also debated. Ros noted that the Ridgeway and distinctive barrows topped with trees are so important to Avebury’s “atmosphere”. As Bruce commented, an extended Avebury landscape could stretch to Stonehenge! But then, Mike R, paraphrasing an idea from Mark Gillings, noted that maybe the point of Avebury is to not see outside the henge. So, although Luke wanted to ‘avoid the void’ of the world beyond the henge, perhaps, if thoughtfully done, the surrounding landscape need not be too detailed.
A multi-sensory Avebury
A key idea that the focus group explored for some time was how Avebury is a difficult place to replicate virtually on account of its ever-changing nature. The very specific experiences of moving away from and closer to the stones, and how they change so rapidly depending on proximity, weather and light conditions, would be a challenge to model.
Luke chose a sunny day, with a summery soundtrack of chirping birds to accompany the 3D reconstruction. Cathy mentioned the importance of the soundtrack: “it made me feel more like I was outside” rather than looking at a screen, and also noted that this combined with the waving grass created more sense of reality.
The focus group raised lots of interesting points about the way the flora and fauna of Avebury changes your experience through the year. Bruce commented that “you get a very different feeling” with the roaring wind in winter. Kathy noted that you’d see much more diverse vegetation visiting Avebury at any time of year, and more turbulent skies or clouds. The sheep, whose bleating (and droppings!) are a frequent feature of the site today, were also a popular suggestion from Cathy!
The place of information
Several volunteers suggested that they wanted more information from the start. Several volunteers had the idea of when you approach a stone, perhaps you get some information (maybe as text or a voiceover) about its size, age, or any associated archaeological artefacts.
Perhaps there are ways that a virtual Avebury could bring in facts or documents from the archive to add to the experience. Kathy noted that to make the experience ‘more than a map’, you could include photographs from different eras that can be explored.
What’s in a name?
Several volunteers talked about how you name a virtual Avebury would change people’s expectations, and possibly affect the audience. Can a game provide information? Would someone seeking facts think about playing a game? Is a game better for teaching children, or can adults be interested? Could a 3D Avebury be used by a school or group to prepare for a visit? It’s interesting that no matter how broad game makers might define ‘game’, for our focus group there was a difference between ‘game’ and ‘virtual guide’, although they also said ‘but perhaps it can be both!’.
If the reconstruction was to be understood as a ‘game’, the volunteers thought more ‘gamification’ would be expected. Kathy suggested a play on “circles in circles” and different layers to explore; Ros noted the opportunity to explore the ‘mystical’ side of Avebury; and Mike R asked what role ‘druids’ might have in a game. There are important questions here about whose stories exist in the Avebury archive already, and whose stories are not represented (and, of course, who gets to tell them).
Accessibility
Accessibility to Avebury for people who otherwise would not have it was a discussion point that came up several times. Paul noted that some visitors today cannot get to where he considers the ‘best view’ from up on the bank. Ros also noted that some neurodivergent people might also feel more confident visiting Avebury after experiencing it virtually. As Cathy pointed out, a prior experience is also a useful teaching approach for lots of people, and can serve as an ‘appetizer’ to inspire people to visit who otherwise would not.
Final Thoughts
Reflecting on the placement, Luke would like to close with the following:
“Overall, creating this 3D reconstruction of Avebury Henge was an incredibly fascinating and enjoyable experience that if given the time I would love to continue working on, incorporating the feedback presented by the volunteers to make a truly impactful and immersive Virtual Avebury. One of the main takeaways that I got from the experience was that this kind of reconstruction does have precedence in a modern heritage setting and if refined could apply to other archaeological projects. In the focus group, a few volunteers posed other sites that they would like to see reconstructed and I think using this project as a framework could allow me to continue to create projects such as this to give more people more access to heritage. This project has made it apparent to me that Avebury is a truly special site with fascinating heritage with an incredible community and even as someone who has yet to go there, the site has left an indelible mark on me that I will take forward with me in everything that I do“.
