Latest Fieldnotes

The collection of stones can be found just a short step away form the main circle, if you’re setting off to walk across the moor on a small track in the direction on Tal y fan, in just a minute you will go through these stones.

I have a special place in my heart for scutchamer.. I join the ridgeway at east ilsley where it crosses the A34, so this is the first antiquity I reach. Only another 45 or so miles to Avebury!!
It’s definitely a mysterious place, the first time I did the ridgeway there was a gigantic bonfire burning there. Shame about the rubbish though and as for those trees.. too many knobs at scutchamer I reckon!!

December 07. Very windy, stormy day, as I went up the side of the Dinas I was nearly blown over! I thought the top would be an anticlimax to all the effort, but it wasn’t. It’s an excellent example. The unfortunate thing is the front of the hill fort has eroded into the sea, about a third is missing. The defensive bank is still very visible and the original entrance is clear. There are great views across the mountains too.
NOTE: the front of the hill is badly eroded and still falling into the sea, so be careful.

A place I’ve visited loads throughout my life – back in the 70’s when there were trees growing in the middle, and the stones really were difficult to count – up to current times.

In the early 1990’s one of the large stones was taken from the site – on the left side as you face the stones when entering – you can see the scratched and grazed mark on the remaining stone where it used to rest. I know this as it happened during a time when I visited the site regularly. One week it was there, the next it was gone, along with a large portion of the circular fence (which was eventually replaced) and heavy JCB type track marks running from the stones to the exit on the Aylesford side of the field.

I wrote letters of concern to Kent County Council, English Heritage, Maidstone Borough Council – but got no reply.

In the late 90’s, I happened to be driving past the stones and noticed a large sarsen stone with a house name freshly carved into it had been erected in a driveway on the opposite side of the road a little way down towards Aylesford – strange that. Of course this couldnt be the same stone now ... could it?

Small lane, very quiet, very small painted green metal railing around it, a tad to close to it though. It does have a great shape to it, almost childlike, toadstool like. In a beautiful area with views across
to the Carneddau.

Visited it in 2005, went across the muddy field too find it hunched in the corner, a strange sorry spectacle, with its huge concrete/brick crutch helping it to basically stay up. Be amazed at its resilience to time and man’s indignity to it. Be astounded at the fact this structure has survived all this. It is for this reason it is always worth a visit.

Seems to be getting a lot of attention from the general P now. Every time I go I follow groups of families on “outings” I think a lot are disappointed as the chamber is locked, but the key can obtained from the wayside stores.
Nice new informative signs there now.
I suppose it’s good to see people showing an interest.

Castle Bloody is a substantial souterrain mound prominently situated on the highest topographic point of southeastern Shapinsay on the island’s sole remaining heather moorland. (Fraser, 1983) The structure has been described as a Pictish fort or earthen house, and likely predates the Burroughston Broch located somewhat further to the north along Shapinsay’s east coast. Earlier records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) classify this site as a chambered cairn, although more detailed analysis place the structure in the category of a souterrain.(RCAHMS, 1981) The interior geometry is comprised by a principal subterranean cell with multiple other cells or recesses branching from that central structure. There are two passages leading to the principal cell. Other nearby prehistoric monuments are the Mor Stein standing stone (about 1.3 kilometres northwest) and several cairns (about 0.8 kilometres north-northwest). The findings herein are based upon review of extant literature and my field visit in July, 2007.

EXPLORATION HISTORY. Since the site has only been examined in an elementary manner, the overall structure remains mysterious and has yielded an incomplete understanding of its architecture and function. Earliest noting of the site was in the 1880 Name Book and on the 1900 six inch Ordinance Survey map at HY 5358 1644 (OS, 1900). Sometime prior to 1928, M. Work of Newfield Cottage removed some of the massive upper slabs, which subsequently was determined to be roofing for the principal chamber. (RCAHMS, 1946)

ARCHITECTURE. The overall geometry is that of a turf covered stony mound approximately 13 metres in diameter. The mound height has been variously reported in the literature at 1.2 to 1.8 metres, which outcome is not surprising given the unexcavated nature of the monument and its position on undulating terrain. The mound classification can be likened to Ham, Caithness (ND27SW 1) and Midgarth (HY32SE 6). The principal chamber is offset somewhat east of the mound midpoint, with a north/south axis. The chamber’s a roof is capped with of large flattish stones; thie approximate chamber dimensions are 1.5 by 0.9 metres. This main chamber has drystone sides with corbelling in evidence. There are apparently other cells or recesses on each side of the principal chamber.

The main entrance to the principal chamber is a slightly curved lintelled passage approaching from the southeast direction. A second and much lower passage, now blocked by debris, leads from the north end of the chamber, and thence turning northeast after the entrant reaches a short distance. (RCAHMS, 1987). The smaller north end passage is traceable for about one metre and appears to lead to a depression or cavity, filled with loose-packed rubble with voids, which may be another chamber.

ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS.. As in the case of Burroughston to the north the siting of Castle bloody served as a defensive lookout for sea marauders coming from other islands or nations. The structure is set back approximately 150 feet from the shoreline, sufficient to provide the Pictish inhabitants a buffer zone from the sea which pound the surrounding lands with salt spray driven by fierce Orcadian storm winds. Besides this buffer from surf and ocean noise, the situation of Castle Bloody is much more sheltered from high wave action than the cliff areas at the island’s north; for example, a site selected near the Geo of Ork would have similar cliff defences of the Castle bloody site, but would be subjected to much higher wave action, making fishing and seal hunting unpromising.

Significantly, Castle Bloody is near fertile lands that are even today producing grain crops, as they no doubt did for the Picts inclined to farming at the ancient settlement, even though the immediate locale is moorland. A further food resource at hand for the ancient picts was the abundant birdlife at the immediate coastline situated near Langavi Geo a scant 150 from the doorstep of Castle Bloody. A further factor favoring the selection of Castle Bloody by the Picts is the rich seafood resource on the western shores of Shapinsay. (Hogan, 2007). There are two brackish lochs, Lairo Water and Vasa Loch, respectively 40 minutes and 1.3 hours walk respectively from Castle Bloody; furthermore there is a biologically productive estuary, the Ouse, adjacent to Lairo Water.

REFERENCES.
* David Fraser (1983) ‘’Land and Society in Neolithic Orkney’’, B.A.R.
* RCAHMS (1981 ) Ordinance Survey visit (JLD) 18 May, 1981 (Confirmed by A S Henshall).
* Ordinance Survey of the United Kingdom {1900} 6"map, Orkney, 2nd ed.
* RCAHMS (1946) Original Name Books of the Ordnance Survey: Book No.18, 145, visited 1928
* RCAHMS (1987) ‘’The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Twelfth report with an inventory of the ancient monuments of Orkney and Shetland’’,
3v, Edinburgh, 277, No.786,
* C.Michael Hogan (2007) ‘’Burroughston Broch’’, The Megalithic Portal, ed. Andy Burnham

The last of todays barrow bagging and even though the weather reports says it’ll rain it didn’t and the sun was out. In the woods I think called Coed Cwm are these three barrows. Only one is really obvious and nearly three metres high, the other two, one was lost amongst closely planted trees and the other was either of two mounds I spotted one right next to the path the other a bit further back. When your fighting through the trees with brambles and bracken and the ground is wet and mulchy it’s really hard to remember it’s actually the 21st century and the barrows occupant has been dead for almost four thousand years

Directly east of Gop cairn, these two barrows have good views of mountains and the sea. One is about a metre high and the other slightly bigger at nearly two metres, about twenty metres apart. Pretty close to the road and next to a footpath.

Easily spotted next to the road against the hedge and houses of Bertengam. About one metre high.

Just twenty yards from the uppermost barrow, and completly covered in mud and horse doodoo, great views over to the mountains. About three metres high, I wonder where mounds one and three are?

The largest of the three barrows and presumably its prime position on the very top of the hill makes it the oldest and most important.
Fantastic views all round I can see the Wirral and over my shoulder is Snowdonia. Must be forty metres across and nearly four metres high.

Again, this barrow is right next to the road and part of a trio with the other two on the top of the hill. Forty metres across and nearly two metres high.

Slightly north of Groesfford round barrow and also by the road . A footpath is right next to it. thirty to thirty five metres across and almost one metre high.

About thirty metres across and one metre high, found next to the lane opposite a farm house and a few hundred yards from Offa’s dyke.

We headed up from the road at the south-eastern end of Brusselstown. 100 metres into the field are the remains of the outer ramparts of the huge Spinnan’s Hill/Brusselstown complex. The Arch. Inventory of Co. Wicklow shows a line about 5 kilometres in circumference surrounding the two peaks and their respective hillforts. This line of rubble, at this point, is very low, less than a metre in height but with some larger stones standing proud of the remains. It’s hard to make out from here how much of the rest of the outer ramparts remain, and even from above it remains difficult to do so.

We headed up and entered the fort. What looks like chevaux de frise is in fact the old fortification of the hillfort. The landowners have built their field boundaries from this, and at this section in the south-east the wall is inside the ramparts. At the western end the field boundaries twist snakelike over the ramparts and are both inside and outside the old fortifications.

The interior of the fort has 3 large natural outcrop pinnacles. All 3 of these look to have been quarried and all 3 also seem to have been superb lookout points. There are many places showing the remains of structures, but none that we could find make any sort of layout sense.

It was very windy here today and we arrived about 2 hours before the expected rain. We could make out Lugnaquilla and had a commanding view of the whole of the Glen of Imaal. Keadeen to the east looks worshipful, towering above the hillfort and dominating the atmosphere. Spinnan’s Hill, Brusselstown’s twin hillfort, is now covered by forestry, but may be worth a look sometime soon.

There’s just a thin strip of trees surrounding the circle now. The cleared area to the north is well re-planted and the young pines are about a foot high. I looked down on Boleycarrigeen from Brusselstown hillfort today and wondered why they haven’t cleared the trees from around the circle. They’re of the same vintage as those already cleared. Some of the trees east of the circle in mulchy ground have fallen during the recent storms.
The very dead bracken around the stones took us about 5 minutes to flatten. The bank around the circle is easy to see at this time. The quietness here always brings peace to the soul an we had our lunch just outside the circle. Boleycarrigeen remains, huddled snugly in its small copse, waiting to be revealed by the tree-fellers. Let’s hope they’re very careful if and when they do decide to clear here.

“New” marked rock discovered yesterday , 300 metres from main outcrop .

Lato was a powerful Dorian city that in eastern Crete founded in the Bronze Age. Built on a rugged hill overlooking the Gulf of Mirabello, Lato’s solid drystone ruins reveal temple, shrines, agora, winding walled streets, deep central cistern and acropolis. As the Bronze Age ended, a greater security emerged that allowed the population to expand into a Greek city-state and sprawl down the hillsides and into the nearby harbor. The analysis herein is based upon my on site research of June, 2005 augmented with literature review.

HISTORY The mainland Dorians colonized eastern Crete in the early first millennium BC, typically seeking inaccessible hilltop sites of refuge and defense. (Pendlebury, 1963) Lato, along with a number of other late Bronze Age sites on eastern Crete, was one of the first non-Minoan cities of the island, and likely evolved closely with the nearby city of Kastellos. (Hayden, 2005) Other Archaic Period development in eastern crete occurred on hilltops for communal safety including Dreros, Prinias, Polyrrhenia, Eleutherna and Hyrtakina. Although Lato may have been founded as early as the 8th century BC, it reached its zenith in the early Iron Age circa 600 BC, when it attained a substantial population and impressive art and architectural achievement. As the Iron Age proceeded, security evolved allowing the spread of its population to lower less protected elevations including the proximate companion harbor settlement of Lato pros Kamara. (Willetts, 2004) Lato minted its own coinage during its flourishing. (Greek, 2007)

By the early third century BC, Lato came into a turbulent period in which Philip V of Macedon became a patron of Crete, but instituted a war with Rome. Shifting regional alliances typically found Lato siding with nearby Istron, since both coastal locations were harried by pirates based in Rhodes, who at times was an ally. During some of this era Knossos was variously ally and enemy, with some Linear B writings found at Knossos bearing the name of Lato. Although Knossos had been a dominant force on Crete at its apex, (Hogan, 2007) it is not clear whether such ruling influence extended into Late Bronze Age with respect to eastern Crete, since the context of those inscriptions is not deciphered. Olous to the east was a sometimes ally, but had continuing boundary disputes with Lato settled in the early third century BC. Eventually Lato was abandoned in favor of its coastal harbor city, Lato pros Kamara, which Rome conquered at about 67 BC, a date inferred by the conquest of Cydonia, Knossos and Hieraptyna.

ARCHITECTURE AND ART The main gate and walled ascending tortuous entrance street is reminiscent of the defensive entrance to Dunnottar Castle in Scotland. Attackers who managed to reach this access to the hilltop fort would surely regret their entrapment in such a  narrow space. Above one finds ruins of a stepped theatre, acropolis, agora, temple, deep central cistern and shrines. The agora is tightly set in the saddle area, allowing less expansive movement than customary for this land use. The temple at Lato consists of a pronaos, projecting at one side, and a cella. The double sided acropolis rises steeply on all sides, since it is perched on a knoll-type formation. Examination of the stonework reveals a construction most likely to have been originally drystone, with later use of mortar to repair and strengthen the structures. .

One of the important finds at Lato dating to 630/600 BC is a series of terracotta plaques with Syrian/Phoenician influence. (Richardson, 1991) One of the most striking of these artworks is a well preserved sphinx, similar to designs found on pithoi fragments retrieved at Gouves Pediada. The Lato sphinx evinces Daedalic (Orientalizing Period) features with characteristic inverted triangular faces. Many granodiorite wares have been recovered from Lato, which is hardly surprising since the site is a major source of that igneous rock.

ENVIRONMENT Lato sits in the saddle of an arid twin peaked boulder strewn hilltop. An expansive view of the Gulf of Mirabello across to the island of Pseiros greets the visitor who ascends to the top of the saddle. This outlook aided in the defense of the city, since the Lato people could watch the port of Lato pros Kamara, as well as the entire Gulf of Mirabello for invaders. The rocky slopes of Lato supplied abundant building materials for this ancient stone city. The ecosystem is a sparse Mediterranean scrub with little immediate arable land, underscoring the value early settlers placed on community security above agriculture and water supply. At Lato like most of the other Dorian Archaic Period hillforts, there are deep ravines that would have provided some water supply in periods of heavy rain.

REFERENCES
* John Devitt Stringfellow Pendlebury (1963) ‘’The Archaeology of Crete’’, Biblo & Tannen Publishers ISBN 0819601217
* Barbara J. Hayden, Archaiologikon Mouseion He-rakleiou (2005) ‘’Reports on the Vrokastro Area, Eastern Crete’’, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology ISBN 1931707596
* R. F. Willetts (2004) ‘’The Civilization of Ancient Crete’’, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc,
280 pages ISBN 1842127462
* Greek Ministry of Culture (2007) ‘’Lato’‘
* C.Michael Hogan (2007)
‘’Knossos fieldnotes’’, The Modern Antiquarian
* C. E. Vaphopoulou-Richardson (1991) ‘’Ancient Greek Terracottas’’, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England ISBN 1854440098

Two “new” panels today and one from last week .

We started our jaunt from the place where the Wicklow Way crosses the Tibradden to Glencullen road. It’s about a 200 metre ascent along a 2 kilometre walk. The first part is quite steep but gets gentler as you move away from the forestry and head east-north-east along the ridge.

This passage grave has been calling me for quite some time. I’ve eyeballed it from all over the city since reading about it here and elsewhere and thought – I have to head up there. The mound is still quite intact but is being eroded at a rapid pace what with all the hill-walkers and day-trippers. There’s no trace of a kerb and the supposed passage could just be an indentation left by continuous erosion.

The views from here are some of the best I’ve seen. The bay looks better here than from any place I’ve visited, its jaws gulping their way out into the Irish sea. Almost directly north Lambay is visible and it’s said that you can see the Cooleys and the Mournes on a clear day, though not today, 6/1/08.

Looking at the map the stone at first appears quite close to the road, no further than my house to my mums just a 10 minute stroll, however, Pen y Gadair Fawr stands between the carpark and the menhir and its 800metres high. The carpark is at 450m so only another 350 to go. A river must be crossed as well, but a handy bridge is nearby although it then forces you into Mynydd ddu forest criss crossed with good drivable paths, I took the direct route up a barely navigable sometime path through the deep and dark forest, in the end i’d had enough of the forest and came out on the north not far from the summit of Pen y Gadair Fawr. After passing the peak on its southern side I headed down the other side of the mountain 350m below I could just make out the stone by the trees, it seemed really far away and it was then I thought of giving up, but it was downhill all the way so I carried on.
Upon reaching the stone it all becomes worth it, 7-8 feet tall, aligned totally east-west, and is sited in a place of extreme beauty. The stone is thinner on one edge making it a very huggable shape and if you look at it too long it can look like a large woman with her hand on one hip, another hug was in order, one thing lead to another and it was suddenly time to go.
This stone is just about the furthest trek Iv’e ever endured for any single site, and I can’t really recomend it had the stone been a tiddler or the view been crap I would have sobbed the whole way back, as it was the trek just built it up for me and the arrival at the journeys purpose was almost euphoric. Viva la Brecon Beacons

A multi-faceted, multi-period site, this is easy to find at the side of the road at Shirke Crossroads. According to the Arch. Inventory of Co. Laois there are a henge, a standing stone within the henge, a norman motte and bailey within the henge, a mound that could be a barrow, 4 fulachtaí fiadh, a possible megalithic structure and several urn burials.
The standing stone within the henge is a conglomerate, rising to above 2 metres. The henge itself is very impressive, with an outside ditch and massive banks, 96 metres E–W and 90 metres N–S in diameter.
There were many thrown down stones on the western side of the monument, any of which could be the remains of the ‘cromleach’ that Ledwich described in 1803.
The whole of the site is terribly overgrown and could do with a clean-up. Walking north to the church I was struck with the views from this prominence – the Slieve Bloom mountains dominate the northern horizon.

I visited Long Meg for the winter solstice sunset on the 22.12.07 and noticed that someone had attacked Long Meg with a sharp object causing a series of peck marks and in the process chipping of a small amount of stone.
A great way to spoil a lovely day.