AVEBURY, village of Wiltshire, England, on the upper Kennet, among the Marlborough Downs, six miles W. of Marl borough. Population (19 21) 525. The name is famous as that of a stone circle, perhaps the largest in the world, upon which the village, which, as Avreberie or Abury, dates at least from the time of Domesday, has encroached. The circle encloses an area of over 28 ac., and has an average diameter of 400 yards. It is surrounded by a deep ditch and an outside rampart of earth. The ditch, which has a marked "berm," is over 4oft. wide at the top; its depth varies, but measures in places Soft., with a distance of 55.5ft. from floor of ditch to top of rampart. Within the larger circle were two smaller ones, probably consisting of double concentric rings of stones. The centres are marked in the one case by an "obelisk," in the other by three stones called "the cove." The monument was probably approached by avenues similar to that of Stonehenge. The stones are all native Sarsens, unhewn ; and there appear to be no "foreign stones" such as are found at Stonehenge. They vary in size from 5 to 20 ft. in height above ground, and from 3 to 12 ft. in breadth. Scientific excavations, carried out in 1908 and subsequently, have suggested a Late Neolithic date for Avebury ; but it cannot be proved not to have been constructed, at least in part, in the days when the use of metal was known in Britain. The fragments of pottery suggest a date contemporary with the Long Barrows. There are many barrows on the neighbouring downs, besides traces of a double oval of monoliths on Hackpen Hill, and the huge mound of Silbury Hill. Windmill Hill, with earth ramparts, nearby is proving of great interest, having probable cultural links with earthworks of the age of transition from stone to metal at Michelsberg and elsewhere in central Europe.