Ref. 18916-4ARCHAEOLOGISTS at Avebury have unearthed a missing arc of megaliths buried for hundreds of years.

The fate of the stones has been a puzzle for the last three centuries.

But National Trust archaeologists started a survey and have revealed that they have found at least 15 massive stones buried close to where they would have stood in the circle.

"This is a truly exciting find and completes the circle of Avebury," said Martin Papworth, the Trust's archaeologist for Wessex.

"These stones were erected more than 4,500 years ago and the world of archaeology suspected that most of them had been demolished and lost forever."

The circle, which is 14 times larger than its more famous neighbour Stonehenge, is a World Heritage Site and attracts more than 300,000 visitors a year.

The buried megaliths are around 20ft long a similar size to the surviving standing stones but there are no plans to dig them up.

A spokesman for the Trust said that apart from the prohibitive cost of excavating them, the earth had protected the stones extremely well for hundreds of years.

However, it is looking at using ground probing radar to build 3D images of the stones and recreate them as computer images.

A map of the area created in the 1720s showed many of the stones had gone. Locals suspected that some were buried, but no one knew their fate.

Mr Papworth said: "We know that many of the Avebury stones still standing up to 300 years ago were broken up for building stone in the 17th and 18th centuries."

David Williams, cellarman at the Red Lion said it would be nice to dig them up and see an almost complete circle.

"I think plenty of local people would be willing to volunteer," he added.

Last month, archaeologists carried out the geophysical scan as part of the Trust's continuing programme of surveying its properties

Around 70 years ago, millionaire and keen archaeologist Alexander Keiller excavated and reinstalled many stones in the western part of the circle some upside down but his work was ended by the war.

Tina Clarke