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Re: Britain's Ancient Capital: Secrets Of Orkney
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drewbhoy wrote:
Sanctuary wrote:
drewbhoy wrote:
CARL wrote:
I enjoyed episode 2 although not as much as the first episode. It had a bit of a 'filler' feel to it although I thought the boat making experiment was very interesting. Hopefully the 3rd episode will finish on a high! Still the best programme on TV at the moment! :)


Yup loads of filler. The boat making and sailing was very good as was the whales and the Tomb Of Eagles. One bone found at the Ness is a leap of faith to compare it with the Tomb Of Eagles but maybe episode 3 will have more to say on the matter.


Yes the boat making and sailing was good but hardly suitable for transporting cattle and goods as was suggested. You would surely require a much more substantial and larger craft for that and more manpower!
Another claim I thought seriously open to question was the large animal bones directly under the floor paving which was possibly for 'ritual offerings' (the good old standby). I think there is a good possibility that those large bones were used to stabilise those paving slabs as the slabs rested on them and not buried in any way under the soil itself. Makes sense to me and a really practical way of disposing of them rather than seeing them as ritual objects.

Just saying...


Hi Roy, more likely, if the bones were being discarded, they'd be flung into a consumption dyke rather than to level slabs. Plenty of flat stone up there for that type of job.


Hi Drew, hope you are well.
My main reasoning there (it was just a thought) was because the bones were all large (as far as I could see) and level with the ground surface so that the slabs actually rested on them so they must have had a purpose. Support seemed the obvious one. I've laid enough slabs in my time to know that sand is not a good material to lay them on unless it is very gritty/granular) as the corners tilt in when stood on and wash out easily if the joints are not filled with a suitable joint filler i.e. sand/cement mix. It can however harden in time if not disturbed as it compacts but it needs to be supported in the meantime by a material that will compact with it. Today slabs are generally laid on a gritty sand/cement mix or straight onto concrete that is of a semi-dry nature.
It just seems odd to me that the bones were not buried beneath the actual ground level rather than being flattened by the slabs if they were there for possible ritual purposes as suggested.

That's all I was saying which I thought was an interesting point :-)


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Posted by Sanctuary
14th January 2017ce
20:26

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