North West

A million people visit Stonehenge every year.

For centuries experts have pondered on why this huge circle of stones was built 5,000 years ago to align perfectly on the summer and winter solstice.

Was it an ancient place of worship or part of a huge astronomical calendar?

Or perhaps, as some experts believe, the stones served some form of ritual function?

The Cursus

Strange, ancient avenues criss-cross the land surrounding the stones but what do they mean?

The most famous of the avenues is the Cursus.

At first it was thought to be racetrack for Roman chariots.

But it's now known to be much older, and may be a significant part of the Stonehenge story.

That's why a team of students, from the University of Manchester's archaeology department, have spent the last two summers digging in a search for clues.

Professor Julian Thomas is in charge of the Manchester excavations - he's trying to discover the origins of the Cursus.

The Cursus is an extraordinary feature of the landscape - it stretches for two miles, but the reasons why it was built and what it was built for have been lost in the passages of time.

Now the team from Manchester say that everyday they dig, they are getting closer to unravelling its secrets.

They began excavations in 2007.

Their first task was to locate the sites using global positioning satellite technology.

Digging up the past

Three sites are being examined by Julian and his students near Stonehenge.

At present they're concentrating on an old burial barrow at the end of the Cursus.

Julian is hoping to find material which will allow the team to date when it was built and find out how it links to the Cursus.

Cursus - an aerial view.

The archaeological team is based two miles away from Stonehenge.

The dig lasts for a month so everyone lives in tents.

For the technical wizards work goes on late into the night.

The finds made during the dig are taken back to base camp for cleaning and cataloguing.

It's a long and laborious task but a vital one for the team.

The days in the field are long and hard, but for students like Lewis Colau from Fallowfield in Manchester, they're an essential part of their degree course.

For Lewis digging at Stonehenge is liking playing football in front of a packed out Wembley.

It's an archaeologist's dream come true.

Close to solving the mystery?

As the 2008 dig drew to a close, there was a remarkable find - a fragment of an antler pick used to build the barrow.

For the team the next few months will be spent evaluating discoveries like this one.

Unlocking the past - a Manchester team.

They are tantalisingly close to finding the clues to solve the mystery of this remarkable place.

The prize is to finally find the answer to Stonehenge's secrets and to discover the truth behind the mystery of the stones which has eluded the best archaeological brains.