Neolithic Britons may have eaten mince pie-style pastries during winter festivities, according to English Heritage.

It is believed the builders of Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, were eating pork, beef and dairy, but until now whether or not they consumed sweeter foods was unclear.

New evidence found as part of excavations at Durrington Walls, the settlement inhabited by the builders of the monument 4,000 years ago, suggests they fuelled themselves with sweet treats containing foraged fruit and nuts.

These included gathered and cooked hazelnuts, sloes, crab apples and other fruit, with remnants of charred plant remains suggesting recipes may have been followed to help preserve and make foods palatable.

There is no direct evidence for pastry being used, but people at the time knew how to grow cereal crops and could have made pastry from wheat, hazelnut or acorn flour.

English Heritage have suggested that Neolithic “mince pies” could have been baked using a flat stone or ceramic pot heated in the embers of a fire.

Inspired by the discovery, English Heritage volunteers will be baking festive pies around the hearth in the Neolithic Houses at Stonehenge every Monday in December.

Salisbury Journal: English Heritage volunteers bake mince pies inspired by the discovery that Stonehenge builders had a sweet tooth. Image PA/ English Heritage English Heritage volunteers bake mince pies inspired by the discovery that Stonehenge builders had a sweet tooth. Image PA/ English Heritage

The charity’s senior properties historian Susan Greaney said: “We know that midwinter and feasting were really important to the builders of Stonehenge and thanks to the Stonehenge Riverside Project, we’re lucky to have evidence which tells us that they had access to nutritious fruit and nuts, and that they may even have made and cooked recipes.

“Adding meat fats to hazelnuts and fruit would have made a great energy bar, full of calories.

“Such foods might have been eaten for celebration as well as sustenance, with the sharing of food helping the community to bond, encouraging people to travel from far and wide to help build Stonehenge.

“We’ll never know for certain what recipes they favoured, but it’s fun to imagine travellers being greeted with a tray of mince pies.”

Get more Salisbury news. 

You can also like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date, as well as signing up for one of our newsletters.

If you want online news with fewer ads, unlimited access and reader rewards - plus a chance to support our local journalism - find out more about registering or a digital subscription.

Email newsdesk@salisburyjournal.co.uk with your comments, pictures, letters and news stories.