The settlement was at that time next to a river, which was on a large flood plain that would have been home to a large number of auruchs, a type of cattle that is now extinct. Among the finds at the dig have been aurochs skulls and bones, situated in a particular way, suggesting that they were placed there with a certain amount of reverence, if not part of a ceremony. Radar scans of underground layers of soil revealed a 30-foot-long structure that had the remains of cattle prints in it, another sign of the role that such animals played in the society of the people who settled there. Similar findings have been announced at Stonehenge itself.

The people living in Britain at this time would have mostly likely been hunter-gatherers who followed their food sources. Prof. David Jacques of the University of Buckingham said that the fact that these people left behind so many elements of sustained living suggests that they used the area as a permanent camp, a kind of early settlement, with the river as the focal point. Adding to this assertion was the discovery of a ceremonial platform.

As well, hildenbrandia, a rare algae that turns the springwater and the nearby stones red, grows in the area; that would have given the stones a mystical appeal, archaeologists said. The dig has been ongoing since 2005.