Scientists announce, that today, on the 31 of January, in southwest England evidence of a large settlement full of houses dating back to 2,600 BC has been discovered..near the ancient stone monument of Stonehenge..

Inhabitants of the houses, forming the largest Neolithic village ever found in Britain, are suspected in building the stone circle at Stonehenge..that was thought to be a temple, burial ground or an astronomy site, between 3,000 and 1,6000 BC.

"We found the remains of eight houses," announced Mike Parker Pearson, a professor of archaeology at Sheffield University.

"We think we are looking at the village of the builders of Stonehenge," he added.

They also uncovered the outlines of box beds and wooden dressers or cupboards and 4,600 year-old debris, including burned stones and animal bones strewn on the clay floors.

The houses measured about 16 feet square and were located in a small valley north of Stonehenge that leads down to the River Avon. They are on either side of an avenue that leads from the river to a wooden version of Stonehenge.

"This is a place of enormous importance that has been remembered over a long period of time," said Julian Thomas of Manchester University who also worked on the project.