Three years later, in 1969, Silbury remains fundamentally the same as it was: a small town in the west of England with a broad High Street, a major independent school, five banks, eleven public houses, and a police station led by Inspector Fatima Dieng. But, as we first discovered in Silbury 1966, this small town stubbornly refuses to live up to its sleepy reputation. Aspects of the completion and sale of houses on a new affluent estate raise suspicions among Fatima and her friends. But do they actually warrant official police attention? There is a spate of vandalism in the town, raising the ire of some prominent citizens, as well as highlighting problems faced by young people, and deeper social issues. In the course of what was supposed to be a pleasant outing to Sarum racecourse, Fatima and her friends are witness to two suspicious deaths, with significant repercussions back in Silbury. As Fatima’s daughter enters her final year at Silbury Grammar School, the Headmistress is rushed to Forest Hospital with a mystery illness, a suspicious package is discovered in the school’s staffroom, and two of its leading teachers are the subject of homophobic abuse. And towards the end of the year, Fatima is the subject of multiple attacks, both physically and through the press, and she almost loses her life. Is there a common thread behind this strange series of events?

It’s 1966. We are in Silbury, a small town in the west of England with a broad High Street, a major independent school, five banks, eleven public houses, and a police station led by Inspector Fatima Dieng. It ought to be a sleepy place, and mostly it is. Yet somehow almost every month some new and significant problem arises that Fatima has to deal with. In April there is a flood of counterfeit currency in the town. In May the daughter of a prominent politician is found dead at Silbury College. During the summer the Longbarrow Tea Rooms are burnt almost to the ground. In October a prominent scientist at a nearby hush-hush government research facility goes missing. In November the Mistress of the Silbury Hunt is shot dead. And in December Fatima herself is the victim of a robbery, whilst she is away on an outing with her two best friends. In resolving these various crimes, though not always bringing them to full resolution, Fatima shows resourcefulness, humanity and humour. Together with her fellow police officers, and aided by close friends, she tackles not only crime but also ingrained greed, privilege and racism in a society that is undergoing fundamental changes. And she makes a powerful enemy, who uses every opportunity to undermine her.

Written by two experts with unrivalled information and knowledge of Silbury Hill, and combining scholarly research and readable narrative, this book sets out the archaeological story of Silbury: from an early recognition of its importance to antiquarian and archaeological investigations of the hill. The book describes each event, setting it within its own historical and political context; the story of the monument is juxtaposed with the enigmatic and eccentric characters of the time. The collapse on the summit in 2000, leading to the opening of the hill's famous tunnel in 2007 to much media fanfare, is covered. For the first time the results of the recent work are set out in detail, describing early activity on the site, the origins of the monument and the construction techniques used. Numerous new and vivid reconstruction drawings present a unique interpretation of this iconic prehistoric monument. The book also describes how the monument was seen and used by later communities, from the Roman small town that grew up around the hill - the inhabitants quite literally living in its shadow - to medieval buildings on the summit. The final chapter discusses what Silbury means to people today: its power and spirituality for locals, visitors, New Agers and Druids alike.

Adam Thorpe is a novelist and poet, whose books include the ground-breaking Ulverton.

Silbury, the biggest mystery in prehistoric Britain, here solved and enhanced