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This is truly miscellaneous, stones that no longer exist. But just to the east of Bitton Barrow, in between two fields called Mickle Mead and Holm Mead there are several stones following a line just above the River Avon.
So to record them for posterity the grid refs for Oldmap Uk are 367552,168907.
Well they maybe stones from a stone circle given their site near the river (and the fact that Stanton Drew is not too far away), this part of the world has a lot of Roman history as well, situated under North Stoke, in the hills above with its large 'spout' of water by its church and of course the church in Bitton also supposedly a 'heathen' temple..
The present site of the stones (which must have been moved in the 19th C probably for the road) is I believe a sewage plant!
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Conservation plan to protect Hill of Tara in the future
A conservation plan has been commissioned for the State-owned lands on the Hill of Tara by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan.
The minister, in collaboration with the Office of Public Works (OPW) and the Heritage Council, has commissioned the Discovery Programme to undertake the plan which, he said, "will illustrate the unique cultural and historical significance of Tara and identify appropriate policies to ensure its preservation and presentation".
The area to be examined includes the immediate environs of the Hill which contribute to the experience and enjoyment of the monument.
While the conservation plan will also consider access and visitor amenity issues, Mr Deenihan stressed that Tara was "essentially an outdoor experience and that should not change".
The minister emphasised that the emerging conservation plan would "place a key emphasis on consultation with stakeholders, and the local community in particular". Ultimately, it is intended that the conservation plan for the Tara complex will act as an overarching framework for management and interpretation.
Navan area town and county councillors received a delegation from the Department of Heritage and the Heritage Council to brief them on the commissioning of the plan at their January meeting.
Ian Doyle of the Heritage Council, Brian Lacey of the Discovery Programme and Tom Condit of the Department's National Monuments Service, provided an initial information briefing about the planned preparation of the plan.
Mr Lacey said the structure of a conservation plan is quite specific. It is recognised internationally as an ideal formula for protecting heritage and managing change in important historic places.
Since 2005, when the Cunnane Strattan Reynolds Report on the conservation of the Hill was submitted, there have been much more developments, including the completion of the M3 and the excavations associated with the motorway building, numerous publications relating to Tara, as well as remote sensing surveys, Mr Lacey told the meeting.
In the summer of 2010, the Discovery Programme and its partners at NUI Galway doubled the amount of geophysical surveys on the hilltop, revealing in the process what is almost certainly the previously unknown whereabouts of the medieval manor of Tara.
While broadly welcoming the report, councillors expressed concerns about possible restrictions on the Hill, as well as 'Americanising' the monument.
However, in response to Cllr Shane Cassells' concerns that the 'rawness' of Tara which attracted people would be lost, Ian Doyle said there was no intention of creating the 'Disneyfication' of Tara, but the manage and help understand its character.
Cllr Joe Reilly said he hoped that the consultation process was not going to be similar to the recent one concerning Tara. "There is a sad history of consultation and failure to reach agreement 18 months ago," he said.
Cllr Jim Holloway said it was an "exciting" project but that he hoped the "mystique" of Tara would be maintained. Cllr Tommy Reilly and Cllr Jenny McHugh asked that visitor facilities and car parking be looked at, with Cllr Reilly criticising the fact that the OPW centre is closed for the greater part of the year.
Mr Doyle said the purpose of the plan was to look at four points - access, value, protection and enjoyment. The Department officials requested that a representative of the council be appointed to the steering committee to oversee the project, and councillors agreed to consider this.
Archaeological works to investigate the significant degradation of the covering of the Mound of the Hostages have been completed. These excavations have resulted in the removal of a portion of the earthen mound over the passage tomb. Design options for conservation works to the passage tomb and the restoration of the mound are now being considered and will begin as soon as possible.
The Mound of the Hostages, Duma na nGiall, is one of the most prominent monuments among the concentration of prehistoric sites on the Hill of Tara. The covering of the mound is showing signs of significant degradation which, according to Minister Deenihan, "has begun to increase as a result of the very inclement weather over the last few years".
He said that a non-invasive geophysical survey had already been completed which was followed by investigative archaeological excavations overseen by his Department and the Office of Public Works.
"The excavation results will feed into a detailed conservation and management plan for the mound," added the minister.
The Tara-Skryne Preservation Group (TSPG) has welcomed Minister Deenihan's announcement of a conservation plan. Carmel Diviney of the group, which was formed during the M3 motorway controversy, said it is a most welcome announcement to all concerned about the long-ranging state of disrepair on the Hill.
http://www.meathchronicle.ie/news/roundup/articles/2012/02/01/4008743-conservation-plan-to-protect-hill-of-tara-in-the-future/
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Archaeologists and pagans alike glory in the Brodgar complex
Interesting article written in the Guardian by Liz Williams, though I found the original link on Heritage Daily;
Archaeologists are notoriously nervous of attributing ritual significance to anything (the old joke used to be that if you found an artefact and couldn't identify it, it had to have ritual significance), yet they still like to do so whenever possible. I used to work on a site in the mid-1980s – a hill fort in Gloucestershire – where items of potential religious note occasionally turned up (a horse skull buried at the entrance, for example) and this was always cause for some excitement, and also some gnashing of teeth at the prospect of other people who weren't archaeologists getting excited about it ("And now I suppose we'll have druids turning up").
The Brodgar complex has, however, got everyone excited. It ticks all the boxes that make archaeologists, other academics, lay historians and pagans jump up and down. Its age is significant: it's around 800 years older than Stonehenge (although lately, having had to do some research into ancient Britain, I've been exercised by just how widely dates for sites vary, so perhaps some caution is called for). Pottery found at Stonehenge apparently originated in Orkney, or was modelled on pottery that did.
The site at the Ness of Brodgar – a narrow strip of land between the existing Stone Age sites of Maeshowe and the Ring of Brodgar – is massive: the size of five football pitches and circled by a 10ft wall. Only a small percentage of it has been investigated; it is being called a "temple complex", and researchers seem to think that it is a passage complex – for instance, one in which bones are carried through and successively stripped (there is a firepit across one of the doors, and various entrances, plus alcoves like those in a passage grave, which are being regarded as evidence for this theory – but it's a bit tenuous at present). Obviously, at this relatively early stage, it's difficult for either professional archaeologists or their followers to formulate too many firm theories.
When it comes to the pagan community, I don't think that its sounder members will be leaping to too many conclusions too soon; as discussed in a previous column, some of us would prefer to rely on the actual evidence rather than rushing off at a tangent. I cannot help wondering whether the relatively muted response across the pagan scene to the Brodgar findings has to do with the fact that the central artefact discovered so far –" the "Brodgar Boy" – is apparently male rather than female. I am cynical enough to wonder whether, if it had been a northern Venus, there would be much more in the way of rash speculation about ancient matriarchies. Will we see the pagan community flocking to Orkney at the solstices? I doubt it. Orkney is a long way off and rather difficult to get to, whereas Stonehenge and Avebury are with a reasonably easy drive if you happen to live in the south of the country. In the days when the site was at its peak, most traffic would have been coastal, and remained so for hundreds of years to come. (And to be fair, many modern pagans aren't actually too keen on trampling over ancient sites, sacred or otherwise, due to awareness of their relative fragility).
With regard to the "boy" himself, and other ancient representations of the human form, we simply don't know why people made them. Maybe they are gods, goddesses, spirits. Maybe they're toys, or lampoons of particular individuals, or just someone doing some carving in an idle moment. It's hardly a startling theory that, throughout history, people have made stuff for fun: I've always been very amused by Aztec pots made in the shape of comical animals, looking for all the world like the early precursor to Disney and somewhat at variance with the sombre bloodiness of other aspects of that culture.
As soon as the Bronze Age arrived, Brodgar was completely abandoned. There was apparently a mass slaughter of cattle, which would have fed as many as 20,000 people on the site; this is being taken by some experts as evidence of a complete and sudden cultural replacement. But whether it has ritual significance or not, the sheer size, age and numbers involved with the Orkney site make it of immense importance to the history of ancient Britain.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2012/jan/31/archaeologists-pagans-brodgar-complex
http://www.heritagedaily.com/2012/01/archaeologists-and-pagans-alike-glory-in-the-brodgar-complex/
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Icknield Way - Track or Fiction
Sue Carter questioning the prehistoric beginnings of this old track way, as she says we will never know one way or the other....
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Star Carr archaeologists given more than £1m in funding
Archaeologists excavating what they claim is Britain's oldest house have secured more than £1m in funding.
The circular structure at Star Carr near Scarborough was found in 2008 and dates from 8,500BC.
Archaeologists from the Universities of Manchester and York say the site is deteriorating due to environmental changes.
The European Research Council has given them £1.23m to finish the work before information from the site is lost.
Time running out
Nicky Milner, an archaeologist from the University of York, said the site was deteriorating rapidly.
"The water table has fallen and the peat is shrinking and it is severely damaging the archaeology," she said.
"The water keeps the oxygen and bacteria out and because they are now going into these deposits that is causing a lot of problems.
The area was settled by hunter gatherers about 11,000 years ago
"We haven't got much time left to excavate and we want to do some specialist analysis before all this important information vanishes forever."
The site was first discovered in the 1940s and has since been the subject of extensive research.
The latest excavation led to the discovery of what would have been a 3.5 metre diameter house occupied by hunter gatherers about 11,000 years ago.
The remains were dated by radio carbon and the type of tools used helped identify the house as being from 8,500BC.
Large settlement
The discovery suggested that people from this era were more attached to settlements than had been previously thought.
Items such as the paddle of a boat, arrow tips, masks made from red deer skulls, and antler head-dresses which could have been used in rituals, have all been uncovered.
Dr Milner said: "What we have here is a massive site, we have structures and we have a timber platform on the edge of what would have been a lake. This suggests that people were living here for quite a long period, for generations, in a large group.
"We have to do more excavation to understand more."
Star Carr would have been settled at the end of the last Ice Age and the team believes it may also offer insights into how people reacted to climate change.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-16721738
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Stargazing at ancient Beaghmore stone circles
THE ancient megalithic site of Beaghmore near Cookstown is to become a unique observatory with a day of free BBC Stargazing.
http://www.midulstermail.co.uk/lifestyle/entertainment/stargazing_at_ancient_beaghmore_stone_circles_1_3401321
Astronomers from Armagh Observatory and archaeologists from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) will be hosting the Stargazing Live Universe Awareness (UNAWE) activities at the fascinating Beaghmore Stone Circles regarded as the best Dark-Sky site in Northern Ireland.
The event which will also run at An Creagan is to be held on Wednesday 18th January 2012.
This is an international astronomy outreach programme funded by the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme. You don't need any experience or equipment to give astronomy a go!
Also involved are Cookstown and Omagh District Councils and the aim of the project is to inspire young people to develop an interest in science and technology.
Claire Foley, Senior Inspector of Built Heritage at the NIEA, said "It is great to be part of this joint approach to our shared heritage."
Mark Bailey, Director of the Observatory, said: "Astronomy captures the imagination of children, young and old, as well as others young at heart. A view of the stars and of our Milky Way on a clear night from a Dark-Sky site such as Beaghmore can be an awe-inspiring, sometimes life-changing experience."
In the morning, schoolchildren will undertake a series of astronomy and science-based activities at An Creagán, including those that illustrate the lives of the people that built the stone circles at Beaghmore, in those early times. There will also be activities to illustrate the scale of our Solar System, and a fascinating shadow theatre provided by EU-UNAWE presenters from the world-famous Arcetri Observatory in Florence, Italy.
Later, children, their parents and everyone else are invited to a free Stargazing LIVE event at Beaghmore. This will take place from approximately 3.30pm to 5.00pm - weather permitting.
Participants can travel from An Creagán by free bus or make their own way to the Beaghmore Stone Circles to watch the Sun going down.
Living History enactors will greet them and demonstrate Bronze Age weapons and artefacts technology, including food and agriculture, highlighting possible reasons for the need to use astronomy and the science behind the circles' original purpose. There will also be opportunities to view the stones at sunset and observe the bright planets Venus and Jupiter, both visible as evening "stars" after sunset, and other stars.
Don't worry if the weather's bad, as there will be an alternative Living History programme, a slide show illustrating the night sky from this special Dark-Sky site, and the EU-UNAWE presentation "Virginia and Galileo Galilei: A Sky Full of Discoveries".
The last part of the event, from 8.00pm to 9.30pm, comprises two public lectures, the first by Claire Foley (NIEA) entitled "Stone Circles and the Bronze Age Perception of the Skies", and the second by Mark Bailey (Armagh Observatory) entitled "Comets and Cometary Concepts in History: Identifying the Celestial Connection". Following these illustrated talks will be observing from the grounds of An Creagán if clear.
Those wishing to attend these events should obtain FREE tickets by contacting Mrs Aileen McKee at the Armagh Observatory, College Hill, Armagh; Tel: 028-3752-2928; e-mail: ambn@arm.ac.uk.
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'New' ancient monuments come to light at Knowth
Excavations unearth new features from Neolithic period
New and exciting archaeological finds have been made at the Knowth tumulus over the last few months, according to archaeologists working on the site.
The passage tomb cemetery at Brú na Binne has produced some extraordinary discoveries over the decades ever since Professor George Eogan made his first tentative exploration in and around the site.
A number of previously unknown large-scale monuments in the field lying immediately to the south-east of the large mound have recently come to light.
A programme of detailed non-invasive topographical, electrical resistance and magnetometer surveys conducted by Joe Fenwick of the archaeology department of NUI Galway, in collaboration with Professor George Eogan, has revealed a complexity of sub-surface wall-footings, earth-filled ditches and post-pits. This research confirms that the archaeological footprint of Knowth extends over a far greater area than previously thought.
The nature, date and function of these 'hidden' monuments has yet to be fully assessed but it is likely these features represent a succession of overlapping periods of human occupation, building and rebuilding over the course of several thousand years - from the early Neolithic up to the present day.
Two features are particularly apparent in the magnetometer image, a large double-ringed oval measuring 65m across its minor axis and a sub-rectangular ditched enclosure with internal features measuring over 70m in maximum dimension.
These may represent the remains of a double-ditched enclosure of prehistoric or early medieval date, possibly a henge-like enclosure or ringfort, and a medieval or post-medieval walled enclosure, respectively.
In the absence of dating evidence and with few, if any, definitive archaeological parallels, only very tentative interpretations of these features can be provided at this early stage of investigation, the archaeologists said.
During OPW repair works to a 19th century wall, which forms a boundary along the west side of the public road, a number of significant stones that had been built into its fabric were identified. One, though undecorated, is likely to have served as kerbstone marking the base to one of Knowth's satellite tombs.
Another is an architectural fragment, possibly part of a chapel or other prominent structure at Knowth, which once formed part a grange established in the high medieval period by the Cistercian monks of Mellifont.
Perhaps the most remarkable discovery, however, is a stone which bears a finely carved spiral in the megalithic tradition on one of its surfaces - undoubtedly a structural stone from one of the nearby small passage tombs.
http://www.meathchronicle.ie/news/roundup/articles/2011/12/02/4007977-new-ancient-monuments-come-to-light-at-knowth/
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Secret history of Stonehenge revealed
Another piece of the jigsaw being slotted into the prehistory of Stonehenge. David Keys in The Independent writes.........
Ancient site may have been place of worship 500 years before the first stone was erected
Extraordinary new discoveries are shedding new light on why Britain's most famous ancient site, Stonehenge, was built – and when.
Current research is now suggesting that Stonehenge may already have been an important sacred site at least 500 years before the first Stone circle was erected – and that the sanctity of its location may have determined the layout of key aspects of the surrounding sacred landscape.
What's more, the new investigation – being carried out by archaeologists from the universities' of Birmingham, Bradford and Vienna – massively increases the evidence linking Stonehenge to pre-historic solar religious beliefs. It increases the likelihood that the site was originally and primarily associated with sun worship
The investigations have also enabled archaeologists to putatively reconstruct the detailed route of a possible religious procession or other ritual event which they suspect may have taken place annually to the north of Stonehenge.
That putative pre-historic religious 'procession' (or, more specifically, the evidence suggesting its route) has implications for understanding Stonehenge's prehistoric religious function – and suggests that the significance of the site Stonehenge now occupies emerged earlier than has previously been appreciated.
The crucial new archaeological evidence was discovered during on-going survey work around Stonehenge in which archaeologists have been 'x-raying' the ground, using ground-penetrating radar and other geophysical investigative techniques. As the archaeological team from Birmingham and Vienna were using these high-tech systems to map the interior of a major prehistoric enclosure (the so-called 'Cursus') near Stonehenge, they discovered two great pits, one towards the enclosure's eastern end, the other nearer its western end.
When they modelled the relationship between these newly-discovered Cursus pits and Stonehenge on their computer system, they realised that, viewed from the so-called 'Heel Stone' at Stonehenge, the pits were aligned with sunrise and sunset on the longest day of the year – the summer solstice (midsummer's day). The chances of those two alignments being purely coincidental are extremely low.
The archaeologists then began to speculate as to what sort of ritual or ceremonial activity might have been carried out at and between the two pits. In many areas of the world, ancient religious and other ceremonies sometimes involved ceremonially processing round the perimeters of monuments. The archaeologists therefore thought it possible that the prehistoric celebrants at the Cursus might have perambulated between the two pits by processing around the perimeter of the Cursus.
Initially this was pure speculation – but then it was realized that there was, potentially a way of trying to test the idea. On midsummer's day there are in fact three key alignments – not just sunrise and sunset, but also midday (the highest point the sun reaches in its annual cycle). For at noon the key alignment should be due south.
One way to test the 'procession' theory (or at least its route) was for the archaeologists to demonstrate that the midway point on that route had indeed a special relationship with Stonehenge (just as the two pits – the start and end point of the route – had). The 'eureka moment' came when the computer calculations revealed that the midway point (the noon point) on the route aligned directly with the centre of Stonehenge, which was precisely due south.
This realization that the sun hovering over the site of Stonehenge at its highest point in the year appears to have been of great importance to prehistoric people, is itself of potential significance. For it suggests that the site's association with the veneration of the sun was perhaps even greater than previously realized.
But the discovery of the Cursus pits, the discovery of the solar alignments and of the putative 'processional' route, reveals something else as well – something that could potentially turn the accepted chronology of the Stonehenge landscape on its head.
For decades, modern archaeology has held that Stonehenge was a relative latecomer to the area – and that the other large monument in that landscape – the Cursus – pre-dated it by up to 500 years.
However, the implication of the new evidence is that, in a sense, the story may have been the other way round, i.e. that the site of Stonehenge was sacred before the Cursus was built, says Birmingham archaeologist, Dr. Henry Chapman, who has been modelling the alignments on the computerized reconstructions of the Stonehenge landscape
The argument for this is simple, yet persuasive. Because the 'due south' noon alignment of the 'procession' route's mid-point could not occur if the Cursus itself had different dimensions, the design of that monument has to have been conceived specifically to attain that mid-point alignment with the centre of Stonehenge.
What's more, if that is so, the Stonehenge Heel Stone location had to have been of ritual significance before the Cursus pits were dug (because their alignments are as perceived specifically from the Heel Stone).
Those two facts, when taken together, therefore imply that the site, later occupied by the stones of Stonehenge, was already sacred before construction work began on the Cursus. Unless the midday alignment is a pure coincidence (which is unlikely), it would imply that the Stonehenge site's sacred status is at least 500 years older than previously thought – a fact which raises an intriguing possibility.
For 45 years ago, archaeologists found an 8000 BC Mesolithic ('Middle' Stone Age) ritual site in what is now Stonehenge's car park. The five thousand year gap between that Mesolithic sacred site and Stonehenge itself meant that most archaeologists thought that 'sacred' continuity between the two was inherently unlikely. But, with the new discoveries, the time gap has potentially narrowed. Indeed, it's not known for how long the site of Stonehenge was sacred prior to the construction of the Cursus. So, very long term traditions of geographical sanctity in relation to Britain's and the world's best known ancient monument, may now need to be considered.
The University of Birmingham Stonehenge area survey - the largest of its type ever carried out anywhere in the world – will take a further two years to complete, says Professor Vince Gaffney, the director the project.
Virtually every square meter in a five square mile area surrounding the world most famous pre-historic monument will be examined geophysically to a depth of up to two metres, he says.
It's anticipated that dozens, potentially hundreds of previously unknown sites will be discovered as a result of the operation.
The ongoing discoveries in Stonehenge's sacred prehistoric landscape – being made by Birmingham's archaeologists and colleagues from the University of Vienna's Ludwig Boltzmann Institute – are expected to transform scholars' understanding of the famous monument's origins, history and meaning.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/history/secret-history-of-stonehenge-revealed-6268237.html
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Explore Mystery of Stone Circle
WOULD-BE archaeologists and star-gazers are invited to meet the experts to explore ancient history and the night sky from a prehistoric stone circle on Sunday, December 4.
The Peak District National Park Authority is offering 60 free places for people to find out more about the mystical Nine Ladies stone circle, on Stanton Moor, both on the ground and in the night sky.
Three two-hour sessions will take place on Sunday December 4, at noon, 2pm, and 4pm, starting at the Village Hall in Stanton in Peak, near Bakewell.
The events will include a short talk on the history of the stone circle, what to look out for in the night sky in December, a planetarium session, and a 15-minute walk to the stone circle.
The 4pm session will include a look at the night sky through telescopes, weather permitting.
Booking is essential as each session is limited to only 20 people.
A waiting list will be used to prioritise bookings for future events.
Dogs are not allowed.
To book or for more information email daniel.brown02@ntu.ac.uk or telephone 0115 848 3518. Participants must bring along their own torch for the 4pm session.
http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/explore_mystery_of_stone_circle_1_3986781
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Bronze Age burial site excavated on Dartmoor
An early Bronze Age burial cist containing cremated bones and material dating back 4,000 years has been excavated on Dartmoor.
Archaeologists uncovered items from the site on Whitehorse Hill including a woven bag or basket and amber beads.
Cists are stone-built chests which are used for the burial of ashes.
Dartmoor National Park Authority (DNPA) said the discovery could be one of the most important archaeological finds in 100 years.
Archaeologists uncovered cremated human bone and a burnt textile woven bag or basket with stitching on it.
The receptacle contained shale disc beads, amber spherical beads and a circular textile band.
All the items were taken to the Wiltshire Conservation Service laboratory for micro-excavation, which DNPA said revealed a "wealth of information that does not normally survive".
The peat and pollen surrounding the cist are due to be analysed and carbon-dated to provide evidence of vegetation and climate at the time of the burial, and the items will be analysed to reveal how they were made and what materials were used.
Jane Marchand, senior archaeologist at DNPA, said: "This is a most unusual and fascinating glimpse into what an early Bronze Age grave goods assemblage on Dartmoor might have looked like when it was buried, including the personal possessions of people living on the moor around 4,000 years ago."
It is the first excavation of a Dartmoor cist for nearly 100 years, although it is known that about 200 exist on the moor.
The cist is to be rebuilt once analysis is concluded.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-15727960
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Historic hill fort project to begin
Work will be starting soon on a project to safeguard the archaeology of Dumpdon Castle hill fort, near Honiton.
The National Trust, working closely with the Luppitt Commoners, which has common rights over the castle and supported by a Higher Level Stewardship grant from Natural England, is starting a three year project to remove encroaching scrub, restore the beech grove on the top, and to carry out a geophysical survey to find out more about the history of the fort, and ensure that the archaeology is protected for future generations.
National Trust head ranger Pete Blyth said: "This is a fantastic opportunity to both improve the hill fort for today's users but also to ensure that the historical landscape and wildlife are there for our children to enjoy. We are very grateful to Natural England for their generous support of this project and to English Heritage and The Forestry commission who have given us all the necessary permissions and advice.
"We are doing all the scrub clearance work in winter months so as to prevent it having an impact on nesting birds, and minimise disruption for visitors and the bracken control is timed to avoid interfering with the famous display of bluebells on the west slope. The hillfort will remain open for public access throughout the work though access to small areas of the ramparts maybe restricted for safety reasons while work is actually being done on the ground."
Regular updates will be provided at blog site
http://nteastdevon.wordpress.com/ourwork/dumpdon
http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/story-13844601-detail/story.html
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Squinancywort (asperula Cynanchica)
"Every time a botanist journeyed from London to Bath, he was tempted to get down from his horse and climb Silbury, as Thomas Johnson had done in 1634, for in 1570 the Flemish botanist De l'Obel had written having been up the mound..this 'acclivem cretaceam et arridam montem arte militari aggestum'(this steep chalky hill dry hill raised by military art) as he called it.... On Silbury he found a plant blossoming in July and August which seems to have been Asperula Cynanchica, which he called Anglica Saxifraga, the first record for Gt.Britain.
Squinancy is the quinsy,sore throat and this waxy--flowered little perennial of the downs made an astringent gargle"
Taken from The Englishman's Flora by Geoffrey Grigson.
Note; Squinancywort is similer to sweet woodruff which you can find in woods, but I doubt Silbury still has Squinancy on its slope.
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Stanton Drew – new Great Circle entrance found
New evidence of archaeological features in and around the three prehistoric stone circles at Stanton Drew has been revealed.
The results of a geophysical survey carried out by Bath and Camerton Archaeological Society (BACAS) in collaboration with Bath & North East Somerset Council's Archaeological Officer in summer 2010 have just been published.
.The 2010 survey was led by John Oswin and John Richards of BACAS and shows evidence of below-ground archaeological features, including a second entrance into the henge monument first identified by English Heritage in 1997. The second entrance is south-west facing and forms a narrow causeway, defined by two large terminal ends of the circular ditch. Further work at the South-West Circle suggests that it sits on a deliberately levelled platform.
Stone circles like Stanton Drew's are known to date broadly to the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age (about 3000-2000 BC). In 2009 the BACAS team produced computer plots showing what appears to be the outline of an earlier Neolithic burial mound or 'long barrow' immediately to the north of the Cove – a group of three large stones in the beer garden of the Druid's Arms. The completion of a resistance survey at the Cove has now reinforced its interpretation as a long barrow, which would date to nearly 1000 years before the stone circles. The length, width and orientation are consistent with this type of monument, including indications of flanking ditches.
"The geophysical survey work at Stanton Drew continues to throw new light on these nationally important monuments" said Bath & North East Somerset Council's Archaeological Officer, Richard Sermon. "It tells us that what we see above ground today is only part of a complex that would have rivalled those at Avebury and Stonehenge."
You can find the survey results at:
www.bathnes.gov.uk/environmentandplanning/Archaeology/Pages/default.aspx
www.bacas.org.uk/geophysics/StantonDrewLowResandCover.pdf
http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/Stanton-Drew-8211-new-Great-Circle-entrance/story-13556812-detail/story.html
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Volunteers help preserve The Wrekin's history
Work to save 5,000 years of history on top of The Wrekin has been hailed a success by volunteers.
Restoration teams have spent the last few days working to protect the remains of a Bronze Age barrow and an Iron Age fort, 1,335ft above the Shropshire plain.
Pete Lambert, from Shropshire Wildlife Trust, said The Wrekin held a special place in the history of the area which needed to be preserved for future generations.
He said: "We have been working for three days to repair the effects of millions of feet tramping up to the summit.
"We have been repairing a Bronze Age barrow exposed by erosion which could have been built as a burial chamber 5,000 years ago.
"We are covering it with matting and then sowing it with grass seed to protect it from further damage.
"It was starting to become very exposed so we needed to seal in that bit of archaeology."
The Wrekin was once home to the Celtic Cornovii tribe which built the fort and called it their capital. It sprawled the summit of the hill and covered about 20 acres.
Mr Lambert added: "Hell Gate, the earthwork entrance created by the Cornovii, has also suffered extensive erosion and is being restored.
"The Wrekin is also regaining a little height this week. The triangulation point had dropped about one-and-a-half feet over the last few years as its stone base had worn away. We have had more than 10 volunteers working very hard to build it up again, a fantastic landmark seen from hilltops around and beyond the county," he said.
Read more: http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2011/10/05/volunteers-help-preserve-the-wrekins-history/#ixzz1Zz7ZfVgE
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Rock spiral found in Dingle could date back to Bronze Age
A rock bearing what is believed to be a rare piece of art dating back to the Bronze Age has been discovered on an outcrop alongside a medieval pilgrim route in west Kerry. The discovery two weeks ago of "a perfect spiral" on a rock off the main Cosán na Naomh on the Dingle peninsula, is being assessed by county archaeologist Michael Connolly.
Measuring 19.5cm, it was found by local man Colm Bambury between Cill Mhicéadair and Baile an Lochaigh near the foot of Mount Brandon. The area is dotted with standing stones, Ogham and beehive huts and other monuments from early Christianity.
The drawing is believed to be thousands of years old and follow-up investigations by Mr Connolly found indications of Bronze Age enclosures in the immediate vicinity.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0927/1224304800865.html
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Project of the removal of a burnt mound at risk and reconstruction of the same mound at the Heritage Centre.
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Iron age hill fort excavation reveals 'possible suburbia'
The most intensive investigation ever undertaken of Britain's largest iron age hill fort is expected to reveal new details of how Britons lived 2,000 years ago – and maybe even that they were almost as suburban as we are.
Stretching across 80 hilltop hectares, behind three miles of ramparts, the fort, at Ham Hill in Somerset, and the outline of its history have been known for many years.
The Durotriges tribe, which lived on the hill, was subdued in AD45 by soldiers of the 2nd Legion under the command of the future emperor Vespasian, but what the Romans found there: a street system lined with houses on their own plots of land, is what archaeologists from Cambridge and Cardiff universities hope to uncover more fully in excavations over the next three summers.
"There was a main road going through and regular enclosures with round houses in them – it looks rather like suburbia," said Christopher Evans, director of the Cambridge Archaeological Unit. "We are not going to find Conan Doyle's Lost World up on the plateau."
As the ramparts were much too extensive for the occupants of the hill to defend on their own, attention is turning to whether the people who lived there were actually developing a community or collective identity for themselves. Although there have been bronze age finds from an earlier era, it is still not known when the hill was occupied and the ramparts built.
Niall Sharples from Cardiff university's school of history, archaeology and religion said: "It is a bit of an enigma. Ham Hill is so big that no archaeologist has ever really been able to get a handle on it. As a result there has never been a thorough campaign of excavations and nobody knows how the settlement was organised inside.
"People think of these places as defensive structures, but it is inconceivable that such a place could have been defended. Thousands of people would have been required: militarily it would have been a nightmare. Clearly it was a special place for people in the iron age: but when did it become special, why and how long did it stay that way?"
The initial dig this summer has uncovered human remains, including one full skeleton and the bones of a dog, as well as artefacts from domestic life including tools and pottery. The inhabitants had paddocks for animals and grain storage pits.
The excavation, which is focusing on a one hectare area, will take place under the eyes of walkers and visitors to a country park which now covers the hill, just west of Yeovil.
There is an open day with tours this Saturday between 11 am and 4pm, and information boards at the site and eventually iPod talks will allow people to follow the progress of the dig.
The excavation is being funded by a local quarrying company which wants to open up part of the hill so that it can continue to provide the distinctive local hamstone which has been used for building in the area since Roman times.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/sep/01/iron-age-hill-fort-excavation
Note; The excavation is because of renewed quarrying.......
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Ancient site set for excavation
Not sure where this site is, except that it is near Lanyon.....
A glimpse into Cornish life 3,500 years ago is on offer next weekend as an archaeological investigation is carried out at one of the county's most important heritage sites.
The work at the Bronze Age site near Lanyon, north of Penzance, will be undertaken by Cornwall Archaeological Society and Historic Environment Projects, for Cornwall Council.
The site is a roundhouse settlement and field system, which is approximately 3500 years old, with at least 12 roundhouses.
Previous excavation of two of the roundhouses in the 1980s led to the recovery of Middle Bronze Age and Iron Age artefacts and this has recently been confirmed by radiocarbon dating Since the 1980s the site has been covered by dense vegetation, most notably bracken, and the project will provide an important chance to examine the effects of bracken roots on
archaeological sites.
An open day will be held on Saturday 10 September for members of the public to visit the excavations.
The work is being organised through Historic Environment's Scheduled Monument Management project, and funded jointly by English Heritage, Cornwall Archaeological Society, Cornwall Heritage Trust
http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/9228597.Ancient_site_set_for_excavation/
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Tomb found at Stonehenge quarry site
Interesting find in the controversy as to whether the bluestones were glacially transported or came by human endeavour to Stonehenge.....
The remains of the original builders of Stonehenge could have been unearthed by an excavation at a site in Wales.
The Carn Menyn site in the Preseli Hills is where the initial bluestones used to construct the first stone phase of the henge were quarried in 2300BC.
Organic material from a tomb there will be radiocarbon dated.
Archaeologists believe this could prove a more conclusive link between the site and Stonehenge.
The remains of a ceremonial monument were found with a bank and ditch that appear to have a pair of standing stones embedded.
The bluestones at the earliest phase of Stonehenge - also set in pairs - give a direct architectural link from the iconic site to this newly discovered henge-like monument in Wales.
The tomb, which is a passage cairn - a style typical of Neolithic burial monument - was placed over this henge.
The link between the Welsh site and Stonehenge was first suggested by the geologist Herbert Thomas in 1923.
This was confirmed in 2008 when permission was granted to excavate inside the stone circle for the first time in about 50 years.
The bluestones had been transported from the hills over 150 miles to the plain in Wiltshire to create Stonehenge, the best known of all Britain's prehistoric monuments.
Two of the leading experts on Stonehenge, Prof Geoff Wainwright and Prof Timothy Darvill, have been leading the project.
They are now excavating at the site of a robbed out Neolithic tomb, built right next to the original quarry.
They knew that the tomb had been disturbed previously, so rather than excavate inside, they placed their small trench along its outer edge.
Prof Darvill said: "It's a little piece of keyhole surgery into an important monument, but it has actually lived up to our expectations perfectly."
There are many springs in the area, which may be have been associated with ritual healing in prehistoric times, and also the reason why these particular stones were quarried for another monument so far away.
Prof Wainwright said: "The important thing is that we have a ceremonial monument here that is earlier than the passage grave.
"We have obviously got a very important person who may have been responsible for the impetus for these stones to be transported.
"It can be compared directly with the first Stonehenge, so for the first time we have a direct link between Carn Menyn - where the bluestones came from - and Stonehenge, in the form of this ceremonial monument."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14733535
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Prehistory: Volunteers are needed on moor
CONSERVATION charity BTCV will be running volunteering days on the last Friday of each month, including one in North Cornwall this week.
The work to be done will include clearance around hut circles, redefining old field systems, controlling bracken and gorse and making the sites more accessible.
All the work is done by hand, with an archaeologist on site to explain about each of the sites and to record the work done.
This Friday BTCV will be running its second volunteer task day on Bodmin Moor, at Carburrow Tor near Warleggan (grid reference SX 1524 7051). It consists of prehistoric hut circles and terraced fields and a medieval settlement, as well as a Bronze Age barrow. The work involves managing bracken and gorse to ensure archaeological features are not being damaged and are visible to visitors.
The overall aim is to form a group of volunteers to continue vegetation management on sites throughout the moor, supported by BTCV, Cornwall Council and English Heritage.
Ann Preston-Jones, of English Heritage, said: "The remains at Carburrow Tor are absolutely fantastic, with remarkably well-preserved prehistoric hut circles and terraced fields, a medieval settlement with its trackways and fields and, on top of the tor, the Bronze Age barrow after which the tor is named.
"A large area of the hillside is protected by law as a Scheduled Monument. Sadly, much of the site is hidden by gorse and bracken: but now, thanks to the work of BTCV, the stone walls of the hut circles and other remains are revealed for the first time in many years. I'm really looking forward to seeing the results."
Tom David of BTCV said: "This is a fantastic opportunity to become actively involved in managing very important historical sites.
"BTCV offer volunteers the opportunity to get involved with these sorts of projects in a safe and enjoyable environment. Volunteers will be able to visits sites they might not have been to before and be able to see the difference they have made at the end of the day.
"The task at Carburrow is going to consist of clearing vegetation from around old hut circles so that they are more clearly visible."
If you are interested in this project and would like to become involved in this or other conservation projects that BTCV run contact them on 01209 610100 or cornwall@btcv.org.uk.
http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/story-13192081-detail/story.html
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Prehistoric burial chamber on Dartmoor excavated
It is believed the burial chamber was built about 5,000 years ago
The burial chamber, known as a cist, is on Whitehorse Hill, near Chagford.
It was discovered 10 years ago when one its stones fell out of the peat which had been concealing it.
Dartmoor National Parks Authority (DNPA) said it was over 100 years since a burial chamber on Dartmoor had been excavated.
It said the chamber was unusual because it was not near any other known archaeological sites.
Archaeologists hope to analyse buried pollen, insects and charcoal in the peat to establish details of the surrounding landscape when the chamber was created.
They are also looking for artefacts deposited as part of the burial ritual, including pottery, beads and stone tools.
It is believed the burial took place about 5,000 years ago.
DNPA said the prehistoric cists found on Dartmoor were chest-like structures, usually sunk into the ground, with two long granite side slabs and two end slabs set between the sides and covered with a large slab.
There are nearly 200 surviving cists on the moor.
The results of the excavation at Whitehorse Hill will be published later in the year.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-14468394
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Carving found in Gower cave could be oldest rock art
An archaeologist believes a wall carving in a south Wales cave could be Britain's oldest example of rock art.
The faint scratchings of a speared reindeer are believed to have been carved by a hunter-gatherer in the Ice Age more than 14,000 years ago.
The archaeologist who found the carving on the Gower peninsula, Dr George Nash, called it "very, very exciting."
Experts are working to verify the discovery, although its exact location is being kept secret for now.
Dr Nash, a part-time academic for Bristol University, made the discovery while at the caves in September 2010.
He told BBC Wales: "It was a strange moment of being in the right place at the right time with the right kit.
"For 20-odd years I have been taking students to this cave and talking about what was going on there.
"They went back to their cars and the bus and I decided to have a little snoop around in the cave as I've never had the chance to do it before.
"Within a couple of minutes I was scrubbing at the back of a very strange and awkward recess and there a very faint image bounced in front of me - I couldn't believe my eyes."
He said that although the characteristics of the reindeer drawing match many found in northern Europe around 4,000-5,000 years later, the discovery of flint tools in the cave in the 1950s could hold the key to the carving's true date.
"In the 1950s, Cambridge University undertook an excavation there and found 300-400 pieces of flint and dated it to between 12,000-14,000 BC.
"This drawing was done with the right hand and the niche is very, very tight and the engraving has been done by somebody using a piece of flint who has drawn a classic reindeer design.
"My colleagues in England have been doing some work in Nottinghamshire at Creswell Crags and got very nice dates for a red deer and one or two other images of around 12,000-14,000 BC.
"I think this [newly found carving] may be roughly the same period or may be even earlier."
Glacial geology
The limestone cliffs along the Gower coast are known for their archaeological importance.
The Red Lady of Paviland, actually the remains of a young male, is the earliest formal human burial to have been found in western Europe. It is thought to be roughly around 29,000 years old.
It was discovered at Goat's Hole Cave at Paviland on Gower in 1823 by William Buckland, then a geology professor at Oxford University.
Dr Nash added: "We know from the glacial geology of the area this was an open area just before the ice limit came down from the glaciers 15,000-20,000 years ago and it stops just about 2km short of the cave site.
"We know hunter fisher gatherers were roaming around this landscape, albeit seasonally, and they were burying their dead 30,000 years ago and making their mark through artistic endeavour between 30,000 and 40,000 years ago."
The find is now being officially dated and verified by experts at the National Museum of Wales and Cadw.
Its location will be revealed to the public in the future.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-14272126
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Deep underground: exploring Jersey's hidden past
Jersey is probably best known for its sun-kissed beaches, new potatoes, the doe-eyed, fawn-coated cattle which produce those creamy dairy products, and the hit 1980s TV series Bergerac.
Most of Jersey's holiday attractions are therefore firmly out-of-doors, and it claims in its advertising to be the UK's warmest spot. But I discovered a much darker, hidden side to the famous holiday island just 14 miles off the Normandy coast on a recent visit.
Underground Jersey offers a far more enigmatic glimpse into the island's turbulent ancient and not-so-ancient history, but one which repays exploration.
And the one site which encapsulates Jersey's amazing continuity of history extending over an astonishing 6,000 years is the enigmatic Neolithic passage grave of La Hougue Bie, near Grouville in the south east of the island.
Jersey certainly didn't rank among the nation's hotspots on the day I visited La Hougue Bie (pronounced La Hoog Bee).
Stinging showers of icy rain were lashing down as I crept, bent double, into the claustrophobic space of the four feet high and three feet wide stone-lined passageway. The cramped corridor led 30 feet into the echoing darkness of the huge, grass-covered mound.
As my eyes became accustomed to the dark, I could make out the smoothly carved granite of the columns which lined the tunnel and, looking back, light streamed in, illuminating the pebbled floor.
It was only in 1996 that reconstruction archaeologists saw for the first time in five millennia that at the spring equinox, the sun's rays extended the length of the passage and onto the back wall of the inner sanctum in the heart of the mound.
Reaching the 6½-foot-high oval central chamber, I could at last stand upright and look around what had been the holy of holies – the centre of the unknowable ritual activities which took place here.
It was a moving, slightly spooky, experience and I'm sure that the chill which ran down my spine was not caused solely by the weather.
Outside again, I climbed the winding, spiral pathway to the top of the mound, where the simple apsed chapel of Notre Dame de Clarte was built in the 12th century – probably in an attempt to reclaim the ancient pagan site for Christianity.
A small sepulchre was built into the mound by the mystic Dean Richard Mabon in the 16th century, designed to replicate the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and he apparently regularly performed 'miracles' there.
Then in 1792, Phillipe d'Auvergne built a mock medieval castle known as The Prince's Tower over the chapel, and it became a major tourist attraction and pleasure ground for visitors in the 19th century, complete with hotel, summer house and screaming peacocks. But the Tower fell into disrepair and was finally demolished in 1924.
However, the long story of La Hougue Bie doesn't end there. Following the German occupation of the island in 1940, soldiers of the 319 Infantry Division built their eastern command bunker into the western side of the mound. Over the next two years around 70 trenches were dug in Phillipe d'Auvergne's pleasure grounds, no doubt causing even more archaeological damage........
http://tinyurl.com/5vskyaa
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Ancient Leicestershire hillfort to reveal ancient secrets
An ancient Leicestershire hillfort will reveal some of its historic secrets over the next month, as archaeologists from the University of Leicester welcome the public to visit the second season of major excavation of the site.
Situated on the Jurassic scarp with commanding views of the surrounding countryside, Burrough Hill near Melton Mowbray is one of the most striking and frequently visited prehistoric monuments in central Britain.
Despite the site's importance, relatively little is known about its ancient past. Last year a team from the University of Leicester began a five-year survey and excavation of the site, with support from landowners the Ernest Cook Trust (a national educational charity), English Heritage and Leicestershire County Council.
Trenches dug within the fort last summer revealed part of its stone defences, along with a cobbled road, a massive timber gateway and a 'guard' chamber built into the entrance rampart. This room remarkably still had surviving Iron Age floors, complete with its hearths an incredibly rare find (www.le.ac.uk/departments/archaeology).
The most surprising discovery so far is evidence of a further large Iron Age settlement just outside the hillfort that was discovered by geophysical survey, suggesting that the hillfort community may have been even larger than thought.
This year the team is revisiting the massive eastern entrance to expose the remainder of the chamber and reveal clues as to what it was used for. Another area will target several roundhouses in the settlement outside in order to find out when and why so many people lived here.
The excavations will take place between 13th June and 15th July and will aim to add to results from a successful first season of excavation in 2010.
A public open day on Sunday June 26th (11am to 4pm) will include guided tours of the excavations and a display of archaeological finds, as well as a chance to meet an 'Iron Age warrior' and learn about life in a roundhouse. Many of these activities are funded by the Southeast Leicestershire Treasure Project which has made another wonderful Leicestershire Iron Age find, the Hallaton Treasure, available to the public. A guided walk around the hill fort will also be held at the end of the dig on Monday 18th July as part of the national Festival of Archaeology.
The University of Leicester is also organising a summer school for local pupils. Funding from Aimhigher in the East Midlands will enable 16 year 11 pupils from backgrounds under-represented in higher education to benefit from a residential experience, including working on the dig at Burrough Hill and skills development work with the Department of Archaeology.
Funding from the Ernest Cook Trust (www.ernestcooktrust.org.uk) has enabled the University to employ an outreach worker and create resource packs for schools, making the most of the site's education potential.
Byron Rhodes, Leicestershire County Council's Cabinet Member for Country Parks said:
"Burrough Hill Country Park is one of the most striking and historic features in the landscape of eastern Leicestershire. The well-preserved Iron Age hill fort dramatically crowns a steep-sided promontory of land with superb views. A prominent landmark and ready-made arena, the hill has long been a place for public recreation.
"I am delighted that the County Council is working in partnership with the University to delve deep into the parks history and I'm looking forward to seeing what further discoveries are made. The open day will provide the opportunity to showcase some of the amazing finds for the very first time and I would urge people to come along."
Dr Patrick Clay, Co-director of University of Leicester Archaeological Services added:
'This is a great opportunity to examine the development of this remarkable monument. Our understanding of Iron Age sites has increased enormously in the last 20 years but this has mainly been through examining lowland farmsteads and a few larger settlements. This work will help our understanding of the role of 'hillforts' and their relationship with the smaller surrounding settlements'.
http://www.24dash.com/news/education/2011-06-21-Ancient-Leicestershire-hillfort-to-reveal-ancient-secrets
University of Leicester webpage on excavations taking place at Burrough Hill.
http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/archaeology/research/projects/burrough-hill-iron-age-hillfort
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Archaeology dating technique uncovers 'property boom' of 3700 BC
Maev Kennedy in the Guardian.............
A new scientific dating technique has revealed there was a building spree more than 5,500 years ago, when many of the most spectacular monuments in the English landscape, such as Maiden Castle in Dorset and Windmill Hill in Wiltshire, were built, used and abandoned in a single lifetime.
The fashion for the monuments, hilltops enclosed by rings of ditches, known to archaeologists as causewayed enclosures, instead of being the ritual work of generations as had been believed, began on the continent centuries earlier but spread from Kent to Cornwall within 50 years in about 3700 BC.
Alex Bayliss, an archaeologist and dating expert at English Heritage, said: "The dates were not what we expected when we began this project but prehistorians are just going to have to get their heads around it, a lot of what we have been taught in the past is complete bollocks."
Bayliss worked on the new dating system with Professor Alasdair Whittle of Cardiff University and other experts, combining hundreds of thousands of scraps of dating evidence, obtained from the last century of excavations, on Cardiff's computers. They matched notoriously imprecise carbon-14 dates from organic remains – which can have a margin of error of centuries – with all the other evidence from archaeological finds, narrowing the dates for sites from centuries to decades.
"The old techniques gave us such imprecise results that it's like taking the Napoleonic wars, the first world war, the second world war and the computer revolution and insisting that they're all contemporary.
"Now we can narrow that down dramatically. You take a granny with a good long life living near Windmill Hill in Avebury, she could have seen her family start the enclosure as a child, see it fall out of fashion and them turn to building barrows, and then return to do more work on the enclosure, all in her lifetime."
Although some sites were used for generations, the evidence suggests others were built with enormous effort, and then used only once or on a handful of occasions.
"Their construction may have been sparked by a critical mass of population, power and goods to trade around 3700 BC. It's the Swinging Sixties, everything changes – new wealth, new goods."
Bayliss added: "We began by looking at the evidence from the causeway enclosures but then to get the story into which they fit, we ran every other carbon date taken for the period. What we found is that the spread of agriculture was far more rapid than we had believed.
"It took two centuries for agriculture to reach Cheltenham from London – and then just 50 years to get from Cheltenham to Aberdeen."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jun/06/archaeology-dating-property-boom-3700bc
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Great animation of four important sites.
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How satellites are mapping our ancient past
Satellites using infra-red imaging are disclosing hidden archaeological treasures such as entire ancient Egyptian cities
Archaeologist Sarah Parcak says she has discovered thousands of ancient sites in Egypt, from pyramids to a detailed street plan of the city of Tanis, an A-to-Z of the region's northern capital – all thanks to images from satellites orbiting 400 miles above the Earth. The infra-red pictures are capable of tracing structures buried deep in the sand. "It just shows us," she adds, "how easy it is to underestimate both the size and scale of past human settlements."
Parcak had studied at Cambridge and taught in Swansea before returning to the US, where she is now at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Her special interest is analysing satellite images for unseen archaeological remains, and she's on to a winner. In theory there's not much you can see from a satellite that you can't from an aeroplane – and with today's technologies, there is a very great deal you can find from both. But in practice, the satellites, with publicly available image libraries, score in reduced cost and in reaching inaccessible areas, such as Egyptian deserts, Easter Island . . . and Wales.
Wales? In 2009 a stone-walled ancient fish trap was spotted on Google Earth in the Teifi estuary. The ancient landscape of Britain is laid out before us as never before. One of the first archaeological satellite studies showed prehistoric earthworks near Stonehenge; these had already been mapped, but we make real discoveries as we tour the globe.
In the near east and in Siberia, 3D images are helping to understand remote landscapes and archaeological sites. The roads on which the statues were moved across Easter Island have now been mapped. And in Peru vast ancient "geoglyphs" have been seen, land art in the form of animal shapes created when people moved earth and stones about. The last is a warning. Last year Amelia Carolina Sparavigna, a physicist in Turin, claimed to see birds and snakes outlined in the sinuous walls and field boundaries of ancient landscapes around Late Titicaca. These designs would never have been visible from the ground, and even from above require much faith as you pick along one wall and ignore many others to end up with a very wobbly looking fauna (mysteriously including a hedgehog).
Satellites are powerful tools. At the end of the day, though, you still need to get down on your knees before you can be really sure what you are seeing.
Mike Pitts is editor of British Archaeology.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/may/25/satellites-uncover-ancient-past
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Magic circles: Walking from Avebury to Stonehenge
Lovely article in the Guardian today by Hugh Thomson about 'The Great Stones Way' walk
A new walking path links Britain's two greatest prehistoric sites, Avebury and Stonehenge, and is as epic as the Inca Trail.
The Great Stones Way is one of those ideas so obvious it seems amazing that no one has thought of it before: a 38-mile walking trail to link England's two greatest prehistoric sites, Avebury and Stonehenge, crossing a landscape covered with Neolithic monuments.
But like any project involving the English countryside, it's not as straightforward as it might seem. The steering group has had to secure permission from landowners and the MoD, who use much of Salisbury Plain for training. They hope to have the whole trail open within a year, but for now are trialling a 14-mile southern stretch, having secured agreement from the MoD and parish councils. The "Plain & Avon" section leads from the iron age hill fort of Casterley Camp on Salisbury Plain down the Avon valley to Stonehenge. Walkers are being encouraged to test the route, and detailed directions can be found on the Friends of the Ridgeway website.
It's an area all but the boldest have avoided: negotiating the MoD areas needed careful planning. Few walkers come here and not a single garage or shop along the Avon valley sells local maps. The Great Stones Way should change that.
What makes the prospect of the Great Stones Way so exciting is the sense that for more than a millennium, between around 3000 and 2000BC, the area it crosses was the scene of frenzied Neolithic building activity, with henges, burial barrows and processional avenues criss-crossing the route.
At Casterley Camp, high on Salisbury Plain, it takes me a while to realise what is strange about the landscape, as wild and empty as anywhere in southern England, and with a large burial mound directly ahead. Then it hits me: this is perfect high grazing country, but there's not a single sheep. Maybe they have read the MoD notice which points out that "'projectile' means any shot or shell or other missile or any portion thereof", and that over much of what you can see you're liable to be hit by one. You can also be arrested without a warrant. But the trail cleverly and legally threads its way past the firing ranges towards a delightful and ancient droving road that plunges down between cow parsley to an old farm.
Read the full article here ..
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/may/14/stonehenge-avebury-great-stones-way-walking-trail
http://www.ridgewayfriends.org.uk/
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Solving the myriad mysteries of archipelago's sunken landscape
Why are there ten times as many ancient entrance graves on the Isles of Scilly as there are in the whole of the Cornish mainland and what treasures are still to be found in the waters around the archipelago?
These and a host of other puzzles will be under discussion as part of a six-year research programme looking into every aspect of Scillonian history.
Led by Charlie Johns, the senior archaeologist for historic environment projects at Cornwall Council, the aim is to create an academic assessment of the islands and create a strategy to ensure historic sites and artefacts are properly protected.
Mr Johns, who has been studying the history of the Isles of Scilly for more than 20 years, is holding a public information day at the Isles of Scilly Museum in Hugh Town today, when local people are invited to find out more about the project.
"This is a very important development because it will identify gaps in our knowledge about the Islands' historic environment and guide the direction of future research," he said. "We hope to involve interested local people in this process so that there is a sense of community ownership of the research framework."
Work has already begun on the preparation of a Research Framework for the Historic Environment of the Isles of Scilly (SHERF), which was commissioned by English Heritage.
Mr Johns explained that although there is a research framework for the wider South West region, Cornwall Council and the Council of the Isles of Scilly felt that because the islands were a separate entity they needed special treatment.
"There are three stages of the project, the first being to gather what is already known and to identify the gaps. This is where the knowledge and assistance of local people will be invaluable. We are also receiving voluntary contributions from around 30 academics from all over the country."
All aspects of Scilly's past will be studied, from its buildings to marine archaeology, the Civil War to family history, seafaring and farming.
He added that the programme is considered important because although much of the islands' history is documented, a great deal is not. Victorian amateurs taking holidays there simply dug up graves and extracted their contents with little regard for proper identification or preservation.Consequently many important finds are scattered or lost. Isles of Scilly Museum, the Royal Cornwall Museum at Truro and Penlee House in Penzance have good collections, but the location of many more items is not known.
It is hoped to complete a draft plan in time for a seminar in Exeter during the autumn, which will lead to the creation of a research strategy likely to last for five years.
http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/comment/Solving-myriad-mysteries-archipelago-s-sunken-landscape/article-3541757-detail/article.html
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New website for the campaign group;
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The secrets of Paviland Cave
To learn more about the 34,000-year-old remains of the Red Lady, our writer spent the night in the cave where his, yes, his bones were discovered in 1823.
It was probably more interesting 34,000 years ago. Then, from Paviland cave you would have seen mammoths, rhinos, oryx, vast herds of deer, even the odd sabre-toothed tiger, all roaming across the plain below. Now it's just water – the Bristol Channel swashing against the jagged rock beneath the cave, Lundy Island in the distance, the coast of south-west England beyond that.
Paviland is only accessible for a couple of hours a day – unless you fancy a tricky climb – so I've decided to stay here for 24 hours, sleeping in the cave, sunbathing on the rocks, and wishing I'd brought some board games to play with my companions, local survival expert Andrew Price and photographer Gareth Phillips.
Cave life can be a little on the dull side.
Paviland cave, on the Gower peninsula in South Wales, is a crucial site for tracing the origins of human life in Britain. It was in here, in 1823, that William Buckland, the first professor of geology at Oxford University, excavated the remains of a body that had been smeared with red ochre (naturally occurring iron oxide) and buried with a selection of periwinkle shells and ivory rods. Buckland initially thought the body was that of a customs officer, killed by smugglers. Then he decided it was a Roman prostitute – he wrongly believed the iron-age fort on the hilltop above the cave was Roman. This misidentification gave the headless skeleton its name – "the Red Lady of Paviland" – and it is still called the Red Lady, even though we now know two things Buckland didn't: the remains are those of a young man, probably in his late 20s, and they were buried 34,000 years ago. The Red Lady is the oldest anatomically modern human skeleton found in Britain, and Paviland is the site of the oldest ceremonial burial in western Europe.
To get in touch with this epic slice of pre-history I have chosen to sleep in the very spot where the Red Lady was discovered. I'm not sure what I expect to get out of this – a metaphysical connection with one of the first modern humans to come to these islands perhaps; the spiritual uplift pagans who visit this cave get when they come to pay homage to a figure they regard as a shaman. But in reality all I get is bitten on the hand by a spider. If Price had told me before the tide came in that there were spiders and bats in the cave, I probably wouldn't have stayed.
Price has known the cave (called Goat's Hole by locals) since he was a boy and is fascinated by the Red Lady. He likes to think spiritual significance was attached to the cave – larger than the others hereabouts, with an evocative, teardrop-shaped mouth – as a burial chamber. "I don't think the aesthetics would have been lost on people then," he muses. "And, even if you just look at it in practical terms, sitting up here gives you a great view of your hunting grounds." Then, with global temperatures colder and sea levels lower, the estuary was miles back from the cave, and the plain teemed with the animals on which the small hunter-gatherer groups depended. They tracked herds of deer across hundreds of miles, and Paviland is likely to have been a stopping-off point on their annual round.
Excavators who came after Buckland found thousands of flints on the floor of the cave, suggesting it was in regular use, even though a few thousand years after the Red Lady was buried temperatures fell further, the ice advanced and Britain was abandoned by early man, leaving the cave's occupant to lie alone for thousands of years.
As I struggle to get to sleep on the rocky, uneven floor of the cave, I try to dwell on his fate and conjure up the millennia, but all I can register is my tiredness and the constant boom of the sea as it penetrates the hollows in the cliffs.
Price believes the Red Lady was an important man. "Judging by the items that were found, I think he would have played a significant role. The ivory rods clearly had some ritualistic or artistic use. They weren't hunting tools or anything like that, and that leads me to believe that his role in their society was of either religious significance or as a leader of some sort. I lean towards the idea that he might have been a mystic of some kind, or someone with a spiritual connection."
What might be called the Welsh romantic view of the Red Lady is given academic backing by a monograph called Paviland Cave and the Red Lady: A Definitive Report, edited by archaeologist Stephen Aldhouse-Green and published in 2000. Aldhouse-Green argues that Paviland had been a "locus consecratus" – a sacred place – for more than 5,000 years. Unfortunately for the definitive report, the skeleton had been wrongly dated to 26,000 years ago, and the case for the symbolic importance of the cave and the possible shamanistic status of its occupant is now thought distinctly sketchy.
Marianne Sommer, in her book Bones and Ochre: The Curious Afterlife of the Red Lady of Paviland, makes the point that Welsh academics may have been seduced into making the Red Lady part of an indigenous cultural narrative. The fact that the Definitive Report opens with a poem called The Wind celebrating the "swift antiquarian/Who teaches me the antiquity of longing" and has a foreword by the then Welsh first minister Rhodri Morgan emphasises the significance accorded to the Red Lady in Wales and helps to explain why the remains have become, as Sommer is not afraid to pun, "bones of contention".
A few days after my stay in the cave, I go to meet the Red Lady – or at least his bones, in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. They are too fragile to be put on display, but in the office of museum director, Jim Kennedy, I am allowed to touch them, wearing gloves and terrified of dropping them. The bones, stained red, are laid out in boxes, but you have no sense of the body, which is reckoned to have been 6ft tall, narrow-hipped and gracile – more African than European in body type and typical of a man who had to cover huge distances on foot. The skeleton is missing the skull, the long bones of the right side and vertabrae, all of which were presumed lost, either because of human disturbance or the effects of the sea – the cave suffers occasional inundations.
Kennedy is not a romantic. He dismisses the notion that the Red Lady was a shaman and that the cave was a site for pilgrimage, seeing the burial as "a single event [of] a young man, for all we know a mammoth hunter, who got killed and was buried by his companions". The rest, he reckons, should be silence, though it won't be. "If people want to believe this is an important cultural site, they'll believe it," he says.
Kennedy's views may be coloured by the battle he has fought against Welsh pagans and other campaigners who argue that the bones should be at a museum in Wales. Cyt ap Nydden, a druid based in Swansea (though he was originally an engineer from Birmingham called Chris Warwick) and a leading figure in the lobby group Dead to Rights, tells me that the ideal solution would be for them to be returned to the cave, where they could be exhibited under glass. He calls the removal of the bones "grave-robbing", and says it would never have been permitted at the site of a Christian burial. Ap Nydden has also spent a night at Paviland, which he says was "warm and comforting" and exhibited none of the signs of spiritual disturbance he had expected.
He was clearly not bitten by a spider or bothered by bats.
At Oxford I also talk to Tom Higham, deputy director of the university's radiocarbon accelerator unit, which redated the Red Lady to 34,000 years ago. "We found that instead of sitting where he had been before, in a cold period, it was actually in a much warmer interstadial [a relatively warm period within the ice age]. We think that's why people were there. The pattern is emerging of people not really coming to the British isles unless it was warmer. You can imagine it being a peninsula [Britain was joined to the continent at that point] into which people didn't go unless conditions were right."
I ask Higham what we can deduce about the Red Lady. "This person probably had some kind of an accident. He's a healthy person, not very old, doesn't show any major signs of illness or disease. My guess is there was a hunting party, they were hunting in the environs of the site, there was an accident and the person was buried there." The cave, in Higham's view, was not a pagan cathedral but a convenient spot to leave a companion who had met an untimely end, and he says there is no evidence of subsequent pilgrimages, other perhaps than by doting druids and misguided journalists. His prosaic conclusion is unlikely to play well in the more poetic corners of Wales.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/apr/25/paviland-cave-red-lady
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Drogheda Port Company revisits €300m expansion at Bremore
Development never quite goes away, its often sneaked in under the door. There is an active FB page ....Save Bremore Heritage Group. NO PORT HERE! following the continuing saga..
Drogheda Port Company has re-submitted a major plan to extend the port's boundary and develop a €300 million deepwater facility at Bremore in north Dublin.
The semi-state company made an earlier bid to develop the Bremore project, but critically it failed to obtain the approval of the former transport minister Noel Dempsey in 2009.
Any approval given to Drogheda's plan might be seen to disadvantage Dublin Port, amid questions over whether the capital's port should be expanded to meet future needs.
Drogheda Port Company is developing Bremore in a joint venture with Castlemarket Holdings, part of the Treasury Holdings Group.
The project would require a Ministerial Order from the next transport minister to sanction the widening of its boundary.
Drogheda Port Company carried out a public consultation in September 2009 on a proposed alteration of its harbour limits to include the area around Bremore.
No planning application has been made in relation to the project, but the joint venture partners are engaged in preplanning preparations.
Both Drogheda Port Company and Dublin Port Company are included on the list of semi-state bodies, including Bord Gáis and the ESB, whose assets and liabilities were the subject of a review by economist Colm McCarthy, with the potential for some of those agencies to be sold.
The previous bid to develop Drogheda Port boundary was complicated by legal concerns that were expressed by the Attorney General, Paul Gallagher.
Gallagher warned the government that it would be ''legally problematic'' to extend Drogheda Port's boundaries into north Dublin to permit it to develop the Bremore Port plan, given constraints that existed at the time on the powers which the minister possessed to make such a decision.
"However, the Attorney General's concerns have been surpassed by the enactment of the Harbours (Amendment) Act 2009,which extended ministerial powers to alter a company's harbour limits."
Well I never, the word complicit comes to mind!!
http://www.thepost.ie/news/drogheda-port-company-revisits-e300m-expansion-at-bremore-54964.html
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Old Sarum opening hours cut to save cash
OLD Sarum will be closed to the public on weekdays for five months every winter under English Heritage cost-cutting plans.
The news comes as another blow to Salisbury's tourism industry, which already faces the closure of the city's youth hostel and cuts to the tourist information service.
Five jobs are affected, and consultation is taking place with staff.
The monument will remain open during February half-term, but will otherwise close from Monday to Friday between November 1 and March 31. The car park will also shut.
All but two English Heritage properties where entry fees are charged face similar closures. Stonehenge has escaped, because it is profitable all year round.
PCS union branch chairman Mike Hodgson said indiscriminate government funding cuts are to blame, rather than English Heritage management.
The organisation's income is being slashed by £40milllion, or 32 per cent, over four years, with the brunt of the cut - £20million – falling in the first year.
The 62 sites affected lose a total of £7million every winter.
But Mr Hodgson said staff cuts will only save £928,000 nationally. Closed sites will have to be maintained and kept secure. They will also have to be opened up for pre-booked educational visits.
"For the sake of another £1million the government could keep the sites open," he said.
"Most staff are only on £12,500 to £13,000 a year and they will lose five months' pay.
"Our strategy is to put pressure on the government via local authorities to give English Heritage more money."
MP John Glen is to raise the issue with English Heritage's local project director.
He said: "The security of those employed at Old Sarum and the accessibility of the site should be sacrosanct. There are wider implications for Salisbury."
Wiltshire Council's Cabinet member for tourism, John Brady, is an English Heritage member. He believes some members will cancel their subscriptions because they are being devalued.
He described the closure as disappointing but said research shows that most people who go to Old Sarum are local and the impact on tourism will be marginal.
"People will still be able to walk round the rings," he added, "and at least there will still be weekends, and Stonehenge won't be affected."
An English Heritage spokesman said: "Only four per cent of all our visitors come during the winter weekdays.
"Most of our 260 free properties, such as Woodhenge, will remain open throughout the winter.
"In light of the reduction in our grant, we believe that this option is the best one."
http://www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/journalnewsindex/8955135.Old_Sarum_opening_hours_cut_to_save_cash/
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"I think the strangest custom must be that of St Elvis Church where there are the remains of St Teilo's Well and Church with a pilgrims graveyard. It is said that the sick were brought here and given the holy water then laid to rest in the shade of a cromlech. If they slept all would be well but if they were visited by Caladruis (a ravenish bird of ill omen) their chances were not good. It seems rather like the stories of old people being bedded down in cold hospital corridors in the hope they would develop pneumonia – did that actually happen?"
Taken from; Burials; http://www.cenquest.co.uk/Home.htm
Left to die at a cromlech? bit like the Inuit's old people who were taken out into the snow to die.
St.Elvis never ceases to amaze......
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Debate over controversial turbine plan
A contentious plan to erect a wind turbine near a historic stone circle in Aberdeenshire will be considered by councillors today.
The proposed development at Newbigging Farm, Chapel of Garioch, near Inverurie, lies just north of the Easter Aquhorthies monument.
The stone circle is thought to be one of the earliest built in Aberdeenshire, and is classed as a scheduled monument, which is a protected site of national importance.
Historic Scotland has objected to the application to build the 150ft wind turbine, which it believes would have a "significant impact" on the setting of the circle.
In a letter to Aberdeenshire Council's planning department, Historic Scotland's inspector of ancient monuments Martin Brann states that the monument is "characteristic of the Neolithic and early Bronze Age in Grampian".
He states that the proposed wind turbine would be about 2,000ft from the stone circle.
"In this location, the turbine will be prominent in key views to and from the monument and we consider that it will have a significant adverse impact on the setting of the scheduled monument."
The monument consists of 11 stones up to 8ft high with a total diameter of just under 65ft. One large 12ft stone lies horizontally, or recumbent, flanked by two of the upright stones.
Stone circles are believed to have arrived in the Aberdeenshire landscape in about 2000BC, but this particular circle also has a dry stone wall, which is thought to be a more recent addition, in either the 1700s or 1800s.
The applicant, Alan Bruce, of Newbigging Farm, was previously granted permission for a smaller turbine to the north of the property.
The British Airports Authority (BAA) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) were consulted by council officials, but did not object to the plan.
However, representatives of Nats, the National Air Traffic Service, initially objected before withdrawing after a detailed technical and operational assessment was conducted.
Council planners have recommended members of the area committee refuse planning permission on the basis that the turbine would "detract from the quality and character of the landscape."
Read more: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/2179091?UserKey=#ixzz1GhC06bbb
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Tomb of the Eagles gives up its dark and bloody secret at last
NEOLITHIC men, women and children buried in Orkney's internationally-famous Tomb of the Eagles suffered serious violence and possibly died of it, according to new research.
Archaeologists studied all 85 skulls from in and around the 5,000-year-old tomb and found that 16 of them have "clear evidence" of trauma.
The skulls - both male and female, children and adults - showed injuries caused by one or more blows to the head inflicted by a weapon.
Some of these severe head wounds healed, leaving people with painful head injuries.
But Orkney-based archaeologist David Lawrence, who led the investigation and revealed his preliminary findings yesterday, said it was very likely that many died of their injuries.
The findings go against the long-held belief that the people who lived in Scotland in the New Stone Age were peaceful farmers and the human race did not turn murderous and become warlike until later in pre-history.
Mr Lawrence undertook the research in a collaborative project between the University of Bradford and Orkney Museum, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
He said: "By checking if the wounds were healed or not, we can see if someone suffered from severe head trauma just around the time of their death. To say with absolute certainty if they actually died from it is very hard, but some attacks were so severe that the whole skull split in two.
"Other wounds are very subtle and are most easily observed inside the skull, where splinters have been bent inwards.
"Some were caused by a blunt force, like a stone or a mace. Other cases were caused by pointed objects, like a bone-headed arrow and there were also traumas caused by edged objects, like an axe.
"Some wounds did heal. There is a skull of a woman that has three healed wounds which were caused by blows from a blunt object. She also had a dislocated jaw which was badly healed. She must have suffered terribly"
The study's main finding - that Scotland's early settlers were not the friendly farmers that historians had thought them - is in line with recent results from studies and finds in Europe.
"For a long time it was thought Neolithic people were friendly farmers, but in recent years it has been proven that this was not necessarily the case," said Mr Lawrence. "My study shows this again, but this time on an apparently remote island."
Mr Lawrence is convinced that the people in the Tomb of the Eagles were not ritually killed.
He said: "There was a great variety in the places where people were hit and the instruments used. There is no simple pattern. This variety makes it very unlikely that they were killed in some kind of ritual.
"Some wounds are too directed to be an accident. Some went straight through the skull. Many were very likely caused by a mace, or even just stones, but certainly caused with intent. I think it is very likely that some of the head injuries were suffered during fights face to face. I can't say if they were fighting each other or different tribes.
"It is hard to tell who these particular people were, and why they were buried in this tomb. There is still a lot of carbon dating to do, but most of the bones seem to date from the fourth millennium BC."
Background: Farmer's grim discovery: 16,000 human bones and eagle talons
Isbister Chambered Cairn - better known as the Tomb of the Eagles - sits on the south-eastern tip of South Ronaldsay.
Alongside 16,000 human bones, 70 talons from the white-tailed sea eagle were found within it. It is believed the magnificent birds, once common in Orkney, might have been a totem of the people who built the tomb.
The tomb is 3.5m high and consists of a rectangular main chamber, divided into stalls and side cells. It was discovered in 1958 by farmer Ronnie Simison, while looking for stone to make corner posts for fencing.
After digging for ten minutes he found a dark hole and, using a cigarette lighter, he revealed a chamber containing skulls.
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Tomb-of-the-Eagles-gives.6730778.jp?articlepage=2
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Sun Discs;
http://northstoke.blogspot.com/2008/02/lansdown-barrows-and-golden-disc.html
A few days ago someone who is writing a book on Lansdown race course asked me about the Bronze Age 'sun disc' that was found in one of the barrows. It was in fact gold over bronze (most of the gold having disappeared) and was in such a terrible state and in so many fragments that its reconstruction is a matter of drawing the complex pattern on paper, which both Rhiannon and Mike Aston have done.
Having delved through what little information there is, I was struck by the fact that the term 'sun disc' might be a misnomer for some of these artefacts. These Irish sun discs are buttonlike almost....
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26880/26880-h/26880-h.htm#Page_62
There is a similar small gold disc found at Jug's Grave also,
http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/7660/jugs_grave.html
a few miles from the Lansdown, here we are in Wessex kingdom land of course, where gold is occasionally found in the B/A barrows. So was the 6 inch Lansdown a bigger version of a sun disc, and are the smaller ones more like ornamentation for horses or people, And not to forget the Trundholm Sun-Chariot a gold/bronze depiction of a mare pulling the sun, the disc has a certain similarity to the Lansdown one...
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Solvogn.jpg
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Slane Bypass may risk Boyne status, says expert
CONSTRUCTION OF the proposed Slane bypass in Co Meath could have implications for the world heritage status of Brú na Bóinne, the site that is home to the megalithic tombs of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth, a planning hearing was told yesterday.
An international expert on heritage sites said construction of the bypass was likely to result in Unesco "monitoring" the impact on the world heritage site.
Dr Douglas Comer told the An Bord Pleanála hearing that "failure to maintain the outstanding universal value of a world heritage site can threaten its status as such".
Meath County Council is seeking permission from the board to build the road and the oral hearing is expected to continue until early next month.
Dr Comer, an archaeologist and international expert on culture sites, said there could be "a very large adverse impact" on the site because of the proposed route of the road. He was asked by the council to prepare a heritage impact assessment of the road plan. He said "one might reasonably expect that the bypass will be seen as a further, incremental intrusion on the landscape".
Dr Comer's report said that if assurances are given that the bypass will not stimulate new construction in the vicinity of the heritage site and if it is only visible from the top of Knowth, then it would represent a minor change with a moderate/large adverse effect.
However, without such assurances and if the road can be seen from several locations in the Brú na Bóinne site, then it would have a "large/very large adverse impact", he concluded.
The 3.5km dual carriageway would bypass Slane to the east of the village at a cost of €46 million and divert traffic from the village and Slane bridge where 22 people have died in traffic accidents in recent years.
Archaeologist Finola O'Carroll, who assessed the scheme for the council, said the new road would be visible from Knowth and Newgrange but the long-term impact of this was "in the visual and landscape assessment deemed respectively to be 'medium and neutral' and 'low and neutral'."
She said that the design of the bridge and the road seeks to minimise the visual disturbance in accordance with the principles of cultural heritage management.
Landscape architect Declan O'Leary said that to reduce the impact of the 200m long bridge, it is designed to sit within the existing topography. It will be 21m above the valley floor and made from a steel/concrete composite. Its crossing is set at a level to reduce the cutting into the valley sides, "limiting the impact on the Boyne valley", he added.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0222/1224290514228.html
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The heat was on at Marden Henge
A building whose foundations were unearthed during an excavation at Marden Henge near Devizes last summer could have been a Neolithic sauna.
Archaeologist Jim Leary told his audience at Devizes town hall on Saturday that the chalk foundations contained a sunken hearth that would have given out intense heat.
"It brings to mind the sweat lodges found in North America," he said. "It could have been used as part of a purification ceremony."
Also found was a midden or rubbish heap with dozens of pig bones, some still attached, likely to be the remains of a huge feast that took place 5,000 years ago.
Mr Leary was supposed to give his talk at the museum, but such was the interest in his subject that it was transferred to the town hall. All 150 tickets were sold and people queued for returns.
Mr Leary said Marden Henge is the biggest henge in England but because it did not have a stone circle associated with it, tended to be overlooked. Before Professor Geoffrey Wainwright examined its northern sector in 1969, it had not been investigated since the early 19th century.
A huge mound, like a smaller version of Silbury Hill, named Hatfield Barrow, once existed there, but it collapsed after a shaft was dug through its centre and was levelled shortly afterwards.
The English Heritage team investigated that area as well as two sites further south, and it was at the area known as the Southern Circle that they made their most exciting discoveries.
It was in the bank of this henge within a henge that they found the chalk floor. Mr Leary described the dig as a work in progress. He said: "We are at a very early stage and there is a lot more to be found. But our fate is in the hands of the government cuts.
"Clearly there is more work to be done, at least another season, but we need funding to do any further investigation."
http://www.thisiswiltshire.co.uk/news/headlines/8845131.The_heat_was_on_at_Marden_Henge/?ref=rss
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Likes, so many things; history, prehistory, Wales, wild flowers, landscape, Saxon poetry, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, John Ruskin, William Morris
Pembrokeshire has been a place I return to for my spirits to be replenished since way back in time. It's where I find prehistory, not so Avebury anymore, a place of dissent.
Favourite site; has to be Stoney Littleton, the little river with its water plants gently streaming away, the barrow itself is a place to sit and dream in the summertime.
Partner; Littlestone who lives in the megaless desert of Essex, and who always corrects other people's writing.....
"Well-wrought this wall; Wierds broke it.
The stronghold burst....
Snapped rooftrees, towers fallen,
The work of the Giants, the stonesmiths"...
An Anglo-Saxon poem called 'The Ruin' written about Roman Bath/Aqua Sulis.. Like the great stone circles and cromlechs whose history we know so little of, an Anglo-Saxon poet once stood in the ruins of a devastated crumbling town and mused on its past history.....
http://northstoke.blogspot.com/
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