Akeld : Neolithic Period (c. 5000 BC – 2000 BC)

Work undertaken in the Milfield basin suggests that this area was at least semi-permanently settled by the end of the Neolithic (ibid.), though only one Neolithic site is known from within the boundaries of Akeld township. A cropmark believed to be a henge monument is known from aerial photographs at NT 958307, near to Akeld Lodge.

Henges are circular monuments with one or two entrances marked out by an earth bank and inner ditch, and they are usually Later Neolithic in date (c. 1950 – c. 1590 BC), though they continued to be used into the Bronze Age. The purpose of these monuments remains unclear, though they are often seen as focal points for ceremonies or religious rites. They are unlikely to have existed in isolation; rather, they seem to have been part of a complex ritual landscape. At least ten other henges or henge-type monuments are known from the Milfield basin, and they may have been liked by some form of processional route or pathway (Waddington 1999, 159).