Near the site of Stonehenge, the discovery dates back 1,000 years before the famous stones – contradicting previous beliefs that the area was previously uninhabited.
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The discovery by the University of Buckingham included animal bones, flint tools, and charcoal samples according to Science Alert.
The charcoal has been dated to 4,000 BC – Stonehenge is believed to have been constructed between 3,000 and 1,500 BC.
The discovery was made at Blick Mead – around one and a half miles away from Stonehenge.
David Jaques said: ‘British pre-history may have to be rewritten. This is the latest-dated Mesolithic encampment ever found in the UK.
‘Blick Mead site connects the early hunter gatherer groups returning to Britain after the Ice Age to the Stonehenge area all the way through to the Neolithic in the late 5th Millennium BC.’
The find would suggest that people were settled in the UK when it was still connected to Europe.
One issue that has been raised is the prospect of building a huge tunnel near Stonehenge that could destroy any evidence.
Mike Heyworth, Director of the Council for British Archaeology told the Guardian that it ‘would have major implications for the archaeology.’
Mr Jacques added: ‘Our only chance to find out about the earliest chapter of Britain’s history could be wrecked if the tunnel goes ahead.’
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