The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

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Trellyffant (Dolmen / Quoit / Cromlech)

Trellyffaint: Proof unearthed of Neolithic dairy farming in Pembrokeshire


Dairy farming could have been happening in Wales as early as 3,100BC, according to new research.

Shards of decorated pottery taken from the Trellyffaint Neolithic monument near Newport, Pembrokeshire, were found to contain dairy fat residue.

The residue could only originate from milk-based substances such as butter, cheese, or more probably yoghurt.

George Nash, of the Welsh Rock Art Organisation, said it was the earliest proof of dairy farming in Wales.

More: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-58174481

Spain (Country)

Neanderthal markings in Spain suggest cave art, study says


Red markings on a stalagmite dome in a cave system in southern Spain were created by Neanderthals more than 60,000 years ago, a new study says.

The staining was applied by a process of splattering and blowing about 20,000 years before modern humans arrived in Europe, the research suggests.

An earlier study attributing the markings to the extinct cousins of modern humans was questioned.

Some experts argued the staining in the Cueva de Ardales occurred naturally.

But a new study published in the journal PNAS supports the view that the red ochre pigments discovered in three caves in the Iberian Peninsula are a form of Neanderthal cave art.

It states that the deposits stand out from other natural materials sampled in the caves because of their unusual colours and textures.

More: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58070141

Shropshire

Bronze-age monolith discovered in Whixall 'of regional or national importance'


A BRONZE Age piece of artwork, suspected to be the oldest in Shropshire, has been discovered in Whixall.

The artwork, which has been carved onto a large Permio-Triassic new red sandstone block, shows markings that may connect it with burial chambers or sacred sites.

The discovery was made by James and Jasmine Dowley, of Whixall, while excavating a driveway.

The monolith is in a fine but weathered condition, and is thought to be potentially of regional and national importance.

Peter Reavill from the Portable Antiquities Scheme and local archaeologist Dr George Nash helped appraise the monolith, which is now up for auction later this year.

More: https://www.whitchurchherald.co.uk/news/19452043.bronze-age-monolith-discovered-whixall-of-regional-national-importance/

Loughcrew Complex

Security to patrol historic Meath site each evening


The Office of Public Works has said a security company will carry out a patrol of Loughcrew in Co Meath every evening, in light of recent vandalism at the historic site.

Earlier this week, it emerged that graffiti had been scratched into a stone at the Neolithic burial monument and an investigation was launched.

The OPW and the National Monuments Service said it is latest in a series of acts of vandalism at the national monument site.

More: https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/0429/1212935-lough-crew-vandal/

County Louth

Citizen archaeologist discovers ancient ‘logboat’ in the Boyne Valley


Anthony Murphy, who discovered the famous ‘Dronehenge’ near Newgrange, made the discovery using a drone

A citizen archaeologist who discovered the world famous ‘Dronehenge’ near Newgrange, county Meath during the heatwave of 2018, appears to have found another potentially significant discovery in the Boyne Valley using a drone - a logboat that could date to Neolithic times.

Anthony Murphy said, “I went looking for a dolphin. I didn’t find him but I did find a logboat.”

Made by hollowing out a tree trunk, such logboats or dugout boats have, according to Dr Stephen Davis, UCD School of Archaeology, “an immensely long history of use in Ireland, with examples known from the Neolithic right the way up to Medieval times.”

“Closer investigation will be able to show more - for example tool marks would be able to tell whether it was made with metal or stone tools, and radiocarbon dating give an approximate age,” he added.

In the heatwave of 2018, a previously unknown henge was found near the Newgrange monument by Mr Murphy and Ken Williams.

More: https://www.independent.ie/news/citizen-archaeologist-discovers-ancient-logboatin-the-boyne-valley-40366402.html

County Kerry

Ancient 'untouched' tomb discovered on Dingle Peninsula


By Seán Mac an tSíthigh
Iriseoir Fise

An ancient tomb, described by archaeologists as "untouched" and "highly unusual" has been discovered on the Dingle Peninsula in Co Kerry.

The tomb was uncovered in recent days during land improvement works being carried out by a farmer.

The National Monument Service has requested that the location of the structure should not be disclosed in order to prevent the possibility of disturbance.

The tomb was uncovered by a digger during land reclamation work when a large stone slab was upturned, revealing a slab-lined chamber beneath.

On closer inspection an adjoining sub-chamber was found at what appears to be the front of the tomb.

The tomb contained an unusual smooth oval-shaped stone and what is believed to be human bone.

More:
https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/0416/1210287-tombs-kerry-dingle-peninsula/

North Yorkshire

Dig reveals 6,000-year-old salt hub in North Yorkshire


Archaeologist says neolithic discovery may be among oldest salt-processing sites in western Europe

Neolithic people were manufacturing salt in Britain almost 6,000 years ago, before the building of Stonehenge and more than two millennia earlier than was first thought, a new archaeological discovery suggests.

Excavations at a site at Street House farm in North Yorkshire have revealed evidence of the earliest salt production site ever found in the UK and one of the first of its kind in western Europe, dating to around 3,800BC.

The finds, uncovered at a coastal hilltop site near Loftus, include a trench containing three hearths, broken shards of neolithic pottery, some still containing salt deposits, shaped stone artefacts and a storage pit – all key evidence of salt processing.

More: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/mar/31/dig-reveals-6000-year-old-salt-hub-in-north-yorkshire?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Eire

From ringfort to ring road: The destruction of Ireland’s fairy forts


Some of these ancient mounds date back to 3000 BC, but many are buried under motorways

Manchán Magan

As our faith in fairies has receded in recent years, the fate of Ireland’s 32,000 remaining fairy forts has become increasingly perilous. Many of these circular earth mounds are over 1,000 years old, the remains of stone or wooden forts which housed an extended family in early medieval times. Others are remnants of underground passage tombs dating back to around 3000 BC.

In 2010 the environmentalist and author Tony Lowes first wrote about farmers destroying the forts on their land in the name of modernity and progress. A man on the Dingle Peninsula levelled a large part of the 3,000-year-old Dún Mór fort while the government was in negotiations with him to purchase it, and a farmer near Mallow in Cork destroyed the half of an extensive ringfort that lay on his own land, then tore down the other half when his neighbour was at a family funeral. There was also the story of a Cork dairy farmer who demolished two ringforts on his land, and whose family had previously destroyed three others.

The title of Lowes’ article in Village magazine was The Men Who Eat Ringforts, in recognition of the fact that these farmers (and developers and engineers) are invariably male. The title has been adopted for a volume of book art, Men Who Eat Ringforts, published by the conceptual artists Sean Lynch and Michele Horrigan of Askeaton Contemporary Arts. It’s a large-format book designed by Daly+Lyon, with thought-provoking essays by Sinéad Mercier and Michael Holly exploring the determined desecration of our ancient past.

More:
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/from-ringfort-to-ring-road-the-destruction-of-ireland-s-fairy-forts-1.4496069?mode=amp

Knockmany (Passage Grave)

Bikers ‘dig up ground' at prehistoric burial site near Augher


A prominent prehistoric burial site near Augher was ransacked by “40 bikers” last weekend, a Clogher Valley councillor has said.

Speaking at a meeting of Mid Ulster District Council’s environment committee, Councillor Sharon McAleer told “how up to 100 bikers” arrived at Knockmany Forest on Sunday.

The SDLP representative claimed 40 bikers were seen going over Queen Anya’s burial site at the summit of Knockmany Hill and branded this act “not acceptable”.

“I have just been made aware of an issue that happened at Knockmany on Sunday [March 7] where up to 100 bikers had come to the car park and taken up all the parking spaces,” said Cllr McAleer.

“Unfortunately at Queen Anya’s burial site 40 bikers were counted going over the burial site which is just not acceptable.

“They have dug up all the ground and then proceeded to go down through the forest and destroy the wildlife, nature and fauna along the way.

“Lots of people in the community are annoyed about this as the place is packed with walkers.”

More:
https://www.irishnews.com/news/council/2021/03/11/news/prominent-prehistoric-burial-site-near-augher-ransacked-by-40-bikers--2251848/

Spain (Country)

Bronze age burial site in Spain suggests women were among rulers


Researchers in Murcia find exquisite objects at women’s graves later used as sites for elite warrior burials

A burial site found in Spain – described by archaeologists as one of the most lavish bronze age graves discovered to date in Europe – has sparked speculation that women may have been among the rulers of a highly stratified society that flourished on the Iberian peninsula until 1550BC.

Since 2013, a team of more than a dozen researchers have been investigating the site of La Almoloya in the southern Spanish region of Murcia.

Home to the El Argar, a society that was among the first to utilise bronze, build complex urban centres and develop into a state organisation, the site is part of a vast territory that at its peak stretched across 35,000 sq km.

Research published on Thursday in the journal Antiquity has documented one of the site’s most tantalising finds: a man and a woman buried in a large ceramic jar, both of whom died close together in the mid-17th century BC.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/11/bronze-age-burial-site-in-spain-suggests-women-were-among-rulers

News

Prehistoric Rock Artists Were Stoned, Archaeologists Finally Prove


Altered states of consciousness have been posited for the artists of antiquity and finally archaeologists have found the smoking datura in California – but stress it neither proves nor disproves shamanic ritual


Were artists centuries ago stoned to the gills when painting or engraving on cave walls? The possible use of intoxicants in the artistic process during prehistory has been fiercely debated in archaeological and anthropological circles, as is the meaning of the depictions. It has never been proved one way or the other.

There could be different motives behind – and meanings ascribed to – art created in southeast Asia 60,000 years ago, the glorious animal images of paleo-Western Europe and fairly recent cave drawings in the Americas. Some may whisper of secretive shamanistic practices and maybe others were made by bored teenagers with ocher to spare. We cannot say all were driven by the same urges, but now, for the first time, researchers have proven the consumption of an intoxicant in a place where rock art was created: Pinwheel Cave, California, which had been used during the late prehistoric period and through the colonial period.

The archaeologists couldn’t prove directly that the early Californians were buzzing when decorating the cave. But they could demonstrate that quids (wads of masticated plant matter like quids of chewing tobacco) rammed into crevices in the cave ceiling contained the hallucinogenic agent datura, among other things.

More: https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/.premium-prehistoric-rock-artists-were-stoned-archaeologists-finally-prove-1.9324280?fbclid=IwAR1qx1pUS8duqnL3j5TSdSeCMOrqBgvqDA7IVtWeYzEfNNwHYOXT0KKrDiI

Jersey

Engraved stones found on Jersey 'an art form of 15,000 years ago'


Discovery of marked plaquettes at Les Varines points to earliest evidence of human art in British Isles

They are small, flat and covered in what appear to be chaotic scratches, but 10 engraved stone fragments unearthed on Jersey, researchers say, could be the earliest evidence of human art in the British Isles.

The stones were found at Les Varines, on the island, between 2014 and 2018, and are believed to have been made by a group of hunters about 15,000 years ago.

While at first glance the engravings appear to be a haphazard array of marks, experts say a careful analysis has revealed the cuts were made in deliberate ways and in a clear order with straight lines made first and deeper, curved, lines made last.

More: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/aug/19/engraved-stones-found-on-jersey-an-art-form-of-15000-years-ago?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Cerne Abbas Giant (Hill Figure)

Cerne Abbas Giant: Snails show chalk hill figure 'not prehistoric'


Snails have shown an ancient naked figure sculpted into a chalk hillside is unlikely to be prehistoric as hoped, archaeologists have said.

Tests of soil samples extracted from Dorset's Cerne Abbas Giant to determine its exact age have been delayed by the coronavirus epidemic.

They are not due until later in the year.

However, land snail shells found in the samples suggest it may date to medieval times, separate tests have found.

More: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-dorset-53313064

Newgrange (Passage Grave)

Genetics study shines light on early periods of Ireland's human history


A survey of ancient Irish genomes has found evidence that the parents of an adult male buried in the heart of the Newgrange passage tomb were first-degree relatives.

The research of the male's genome suggests that he was among a ruling social elite which is similar to the inbred Inca god-kings and Egyptian pharaohs.

The study, which was led by archaeologists and geneticists from Trinity College Dublin, focused on the earliest periods of Ireland’s human history.

The team conducted a painstaking genetic analysis of the ancient bones of 44 individuals recovered from all the major Irish burial traditions court tombs, portal tombs, passage tombs and other natural sites.

Famous for the annual winter solstice, little is known about who was buried in the heart of the Newgrange passage tomb which was built over 5,000 years ago.

More: https://www.rte.ie/news/2020/0617/1148049-genomes-study/

Boyne Valley Complex

Underwater study reveals possible quay at Brú na Bóinne


Conference hears many more discoveries could be made at archaelogical site

An underwater archaeological reconnaissance of the bed of the River Boyne near the Brú na Bóinne complex in Co Meath has revealed features that may represent log boats or man-made quays, a research conference was told on Saturday.

The sonar study, carried out by Annalisa Christie of University College Dublin and Dr Kieran Westley of University of Ulster, surveyed 10km of the river from Oldbridge to a weir 1.8km east of Slane Bridge.

Christie told the conference, titled The Pleasant Boyne and organised by the UCD school of archaeology as part of its world heritage programme, that it was likely that for the first visitors to this landscape, the river provided the easiest way to travel, offering an accessible route through a largely wooded landscape. As such, it represented a major communications artery, not just for local visitors but also connecting communities in the area to those from farther afield, such as Wales or even Orkney.

More: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/underwater-study-reveals-possible-quay-at-br%C3%BA-na-b%C3%B3inne-1.4189765

France (Country)

Oldest ever piece of string was made by Neanderthals 50,000 years ago


By Michael Le Page

A piece of 50,000-year-old string found in a cave in France is the oldest ever discovered. It suggests that Neanderthals knew how to twist fibres together to make cords – and, if so, they might have been able to craft ropes, clothes, bags and nets.

“None can be done without that initial step,” says Bruce Hardy at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. “Twisted fibres are a foundational technology.”

His team has been excavating the Abri du Maras caves in south-east France where Neanderthals lived for long periods. Three metres below today’s surface, in a layer that is between 52,000 and 41,000 years old, it found a stone flake, a sharp piece of rock used as an early stone tool.

Examining the flake under a microscope revealed that a tiny piece of string (pictured top right), just 6 millimetres long and 0.5 millimetres wide, was stuck to its underside. It was made by twisting a bundle of fibres in an anticlockwise direction, known as an S-twist. Three bundles were twisted together in a clockwise direction – a Z-twist – to make a 3-ply cord.

“It is exactly what you would see if you picked up a piece of string today,” says Hardy. The string wasn’t necessarily used to attach the stone tool to a handle. It could have been part of a bag or net, the team speculates.

Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2240117-oldest-ever-piece-of-string-was-made-by-neanderthals-50000-years-ago/#ixzz6JAE2zndN

Stonehenge and its Environs

Stonehenge A303 tunnel given go ahead by chancellor


Plans to dig a two-mile (3.2km) road tunnel near Stonehenge have been given the go ahead by the chancellor.

The A303, which often suffers from severe congestion, currently passes within a few hundred metres of the ancient monument.

The plan is to build a dual carriageway alternative out of sight of the World Heritage site but it is opposed by some archaeologists and environmentalists.

Rishi Sunak told the commons: "This government's going to get it done."

More: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-51838402

Chauvet Cave (Cave / Rock Shelter)

Meet Our Ancestors


Chauvet Cave: a 36,000-year-old art gallery, normally closed to the public, opens to everyone through immersive tech

More: https://artsandculture.google.com/project/chauvet-cave

Shropshire

British Museum acquires 3,000-year-old Shropshire sun pendant


Gold bulla is described as one of the most important bronze age finds of the last century

The British Museum has acquired a shimmering 3,000-year-old gold sun pendant heralded as one of the most important bronze age finds of the last century.

The astonishingly well-preserved pendant, or bulla, was discovered by a metal detector enthusiast in Shropshire in 2018.

Neil Wilkin, the museum’s bronze age curator, recalled dropping everything when he first saw it. “I was absolutely flabbergasted, I couldn’t believe my eyes,” he said. “To me it is the most important object from this period, the first age of metal, that has come up in about 100 years.”

The pendant has been purchased for £250,000 using money from the Art Fund and the American Friends of the British Museum.

More: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/mar/04/british-museum-acquires-3000-year-old-shropshire-sun-pendant

News

Neanderthal 'skeleton' is first found in a decade


By Paul Rincon Science editor, BBC News website

Researchers have described the first "articulated" remains of a Neanderthal to be discovered in a decade.

An articulated skeleton is one where the bones are still arranged in their original positions.

The new specimen was uncovered at Shanidar Cave in Iraq and consists of the upper torso and crushed skull of a middle-aged to older adult.

Excavations at Shanidar in the 1950s and 60s unearthed partial remains of 10 Neanderthal men, women and children.

During these earlier excavations, archaeologists found that some of the burials were clustered together, with clumps of pollen surrounding one of the skeletons.

The researcher who led those original investigations, Ralph Solecki from Columbia University in New York, claimed it was evidence that Neanderthals had buried their dead with flowers.

This "flower burial" captured the imagination of the public and kicked off a decades-long controversy. The floral interpretation suggested our evolutionary relatives were capable of cultural sophistication, challenging the view - prevalent at the time - that Neanderthals were unintelligent and animalistic.

More: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51532781
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