Huts offer a glimpse into prehistoric life

English Heritage volunteers construct one of three Neolithic houses near Salisbury, Wiltshire.

Volunteers are working with English Heritage to create the three Neolithic houses, which will give visitors “an authentic glimpse of the lifestyle and technology” of the people who built Stonehenge.

The houses have been selected from ten discovered in 2006 and 2007 at Durrington Walls, a monument three kilometres north east of Stonehenge and thought to be the largest Neolithic settlement in north west Europe.

Radiocarbon tests show these buildings date from around 2,500 BC, around the same time as the stones were being put up at Stonehenge.

When completed the houses will be the focal point of the outdoor gallery at the new visitor centre, which is scheduled to open in January 2014.

Susan Greaney of English Heritage said: “The reconstructed houses will be an immediate and sensory link to the distant past.

“They will bring visitors as close as they can to appreciate what life was like for the extraordinary individuals who built Stonehenge.

“We have lots of evidence to inform this reconstruction, but there is also a lot of educated guess work.”

Construction is expected to finish in May and will use 12 tonnes of chalk, 600 bundles of water reed and ten oak logs.