During the neolithic period, the first monuments began to appear in the landscape.  Stonehenge in Wiltshire is world famous, but few people know that similar monuments were built in the Peterborough area.  They were usually circular areas enclosed by ditches and earth banks, and used settings of timber posts rather than large stones. Henges have been discovered at Maxey, and very recently at Whittlesey.  Cursus monuments, long rectangular enclosures formed by two parallel banks and ditches, which may extend many kilometres across the landscape, have been revealed at Maxey and at Barnack.

 

The area also has an exceptionally high concentration of 'causewayed enclosures' or 'causewayed camps', large oval enclosures defined by segments of ditches and banks. The methodical archaeological excavation of one causewayed enclosure between Etton and Maxey produced fascinating insights into neolithic life and religion in the area.  Deposits of stone tools, pottery, animal remains, quern-stones, and even human bones had been placed in the ground as offerings.

 

The Bronze Age timber alignment and platform at Flag Fen may also have served a ritual purpose.  Watery places were often ascribed mystical properties by later prehistoric peoples; valuable items such as weaponry and jewellery were offered to the gods through these conduits to the spiritual world. The significance and use of many of the early monuments is not fully understood, but they do show that prehistoric communities in the area became increasingly settled, and that for thousands of years parts of the landscape were reserved for spiritual purposes.