Professors Tim Darvill and Geoff Wainwright, experts on Stonehenge, are the driving force behind the first archaeological dig inside the stone circle since 1964. They'll be getting their hands dirty as they attempt to uncover evidence to support their revolutionary theory - that Stonehenge was a Neolithic Lourdes.

Professor Timothy Darvill

Timothy Darvill is Professor of Archaeology in the School of Conservation Sciences at Bournemouth University. After completing a PhD at Southampton University on the Neolithic of Wales and the west of England, he worked for the Western Archaeological Trust and the Council for British Archaeology before establishing a private practice offering consultancy services in the field of archaeological resource management.

He was appointed to the Chair of Archaeology in the newly-established archaeology group at Bournemouth University in October 1991. He has served as Chairman of the Institute of Field Archaeologists and was a Member of the Council of the National Trust. He has excavated at archaeological sites in England, Wales, Russia, Greece and the Isle of Man, and his current research interests focus on archaeological resource management and the Neolithic of northwest Europe.

Professor Darvill is a Vice-President of the Society of Antiquaries of London and chairman of Cotswold Archaeology. He is author of over a dozen books, including Stonehenge: The Biography of a Landscape, which presents a number of new theories explaining the origin and use of Stonehenge.

Professor Geoff Wainwright

Geoff Wainwright is the President of the Society of Antiquaries. Born in Pembrokeshire he studied in Cardiff and London and was a Professor of Archaeology in India before becoming Chief Archaeologist at English Heritage. As such he has been at the centre of debates and discoveries for the past four decades. He has undertaken many excavations in England and Wales including sites around Stonehenge such as Durrington Walls and Woodhenge.

On leaving English Heritage in 1999 he set up a field project in north Pembrokeshire - in partnership with Tim Darvill of the University of Bournemouth - to investigate why the bluestones were brought from Preseli to Wiltshire to build the first stone monument at Stonehenge.

He is the author of over 100 books and articles and has held a number of honorary positions including President of the Prehistoric Society, President of the Cambrian Archaeological Association, Visiting Professor at the University of Southampton, a Fellow of the Universities of Cardiff and Lampeter and is an honorary member of the Institute of Field Archaeology. The British Academy have awarded him the Grahame Clark medal for contributions to the study of British Prehistory.

Professor Wainwright is currently President of the Society of Antiquaries which celebrates its tercentenary this year, is a director of Bluestone and Chairman of Wessex Archaeology.