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Garden makeover programmes are being blamed for an increase in the theft of ancient artefacts from Dartmoor.

Electronic tags are being used to help protect valuable stone crosses and troughs in the area.

Officials from the Dartmoor National Park Authority say the popularity of TV garden series could be triggering more thefts.

New security measures follow a recent attempt to remove a granite cross.

Jane Marchand, an archaeologist with the park authority, said: “Unfortunately we have lost a number of artefacts and there has been a recent attempt to remove a cross from the moor.

“It is hard to say who is to blame, but I think it’s an interest in garden ornaments from TV gardening shows.

“If you look through auction sales they very often have granite objects for sale.”

The new measures will mean any stolen artefacts can be traced using an electronic scanner.

A microchip, about the size of a grain of rice, is inserted into the granite so it is invisible.

Ms Marchand said: “I think it’s very sad that we have to do this.

“I can’t understand how anyone could think of removing these things.

“But there is some strange irony that we are using the latest technology to help protect these very ancient artefacts.”

From an article on BBC News web site by Jonathan Amos :

The oldest pieces of jewellery made by modern humans have emerged in Africa.

Shell beads found in Blombos Cave on the southern tip of the continent are 75,000 years old, scientists say.

The pea-sized items all have similar holes which would have allowed them to be strung together into a necklace or bracelet, the researchers believe.

More ...

news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=411962004

Critics slam Executive plan to strip ancient monuments (by Vic Rodrick).

Hundreds of Scotland’s ancient monuments are to be stripped of their protected status in a controversial move by the Executive. Almost 800 archaeological sites considered until now to be of national importance will be dropped from Historic Scotland’s official schedule. The change follows a decision by the Executive to restrict protection to monuments which meet new criteria of “cultural significance” and “spiritual value”.

Critics have attacked the move, accusing the Executive of “betraying Scotland’s heritage” and clearing the way for developers to build on protected sites. Scotland has a host of significant archaeological treasures, including locations dating from prehistoric times. The change of classification will put the future of many of Scotland’s 7,700 ancient forts, carved crosses, standing stones, cairns, war memorials and prehistoric settlements under threat.

Jamie McGrigor MSP, the Conservative culture spokesman said: “These reminders of Scotland’s past are vital for our tourism industry and it’s very important that they are preserved for future generations. We have an extraordinary heritage which is a treasure trove we ignore at our peril.” Roseanna Cunningham MSP, the SNP culture spokeswoman, said: “I find it hard to believe that something considered 20 years ago to be a historic monument of national importance should no longer be considered worthy of protection.”

Robin Harper, the leader of the Scottish Green Party said: “This is an appalling betrayal of a significant proportion of Scotland’s heritage. It’s a gift to the developers who want to build on sites which, on reflection, would be better saved for the nation. Scheduling is a vital tool to protect lesser-known archaeological sites, some of which might be a few stones sticking out of the ground, but all of which are of national importance.”

Officials at Historic Scotland were unable to say which monuments and archaeological sites would be affected by the changes, claiming decisions would be made on a case-by-case basis.

An Executive consultation report revealed that the revised criteria would be applied to every monument currently scheduled, as well as all new finds. It said: “Over time this will sift out monuments that can no longer be justified as being of national importance. It could be argued that some monuments at present on the schedule are not of sufficient importance to merit the very strong presumption against development that scheduled status now provides.”

Future preservation of the de-scheduled monuments will be left to council planning departments and landowners will have to depend on agriculture and forestry grant schemes for any preservation work.

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3618613.stm

Cultural differences which divide the Scots and the English date back 10,000 years before Britain was an island, a professor has suggested. Stephen Oppenheimer, of Oxford University, says genetic evidence shows Celts descended from ancient people living by the Atlantic coast. The English are more closely related to Germanic people, he added.

The professor was due to speak about his theory at the Edinburgh Science Festival on Sunday. In the past, the split was attributed to migration, invasion and replacement, in particular by the Anglo-Saxons, Celts and Vikings. However, while conceding foreign invasions hundreds of years ago would have influenced the cultures in different areas, he does not believe the split originated then.

Professor Oppenheimer said: “The first line between the English and the Celts was put down at a much earlier period, say 10,000 years ago. The English are the odd-ones-out because they are the ones more linked to continental Europe. The Scots, the Irish, the Welsh and the Cornish are all very similar in their genetic pattern to the Basque.”

This would mean Celts’ roots lie in south west France, Brittany and Spain. The theory is expanded in the professor’s book The Real Eve: Modern Man’s Journey Out of Africa, tracing the origins of humankind to Africa 80,000 years ago. The talk called Out of Eden takes place at the Apex International Hotel in Grassmarket on Sunday.

thescotsman.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=401842004

From the Scotsman – 9/4/04

Ancient grave adds years to feline history

JIM MCBETH

MAN’S second best friend has been around 5,000 years longer than thought, according to scientists who have unearthed evidence of the world’s first pet cat. The animal, buried in a 9,500-year-old grave alongside a human skeleton presumed to be that of its owner, was identified as Felis silvestris, the African wildcat. Historians believed Egyptians first made pets of cats 4,000 years ago. Scientists, however, have suspected that tamed cats existed before the Egyptian era, but there was no evidence.

But now the discovery at Shillourokambos, in Cyprus, a Neolithic village inhabited from 8300BC, provides that evidence of association between cat and human. Archaeologists found artefacts in the grave that indicated that the person had social standing. The cat was buried next to it, in its own grave. Jean-Denis Vigne, the research leader, from the Museum of Natural History in Paris, said: “This strengthens the idea of a special burial and indicates a strong relationship.”

The experts believe that if the cat had not been intentionally buried, its bones would have disarticulated. “Not only is it intentionally buried; it was protected,” said Mr Vigne. It looks as if the animal – aged about eight months – was the person’s pet and had been killed to join its owner in the “afterlife”. Both cat and human had been placed in the ground symmetrically, with their heads pointing to the west.

“I am not completely convinced that the common orientation of the skeletons makes sense,” said Mr Vigne. “However, if it did, I think that this strong proximity between both of them in death should be interpreted as additional evidence of a strong relationship in life.” And he added: “It is an exceptional discovery.”

The discovery excited cat experts. Jo Rothery, the editor of Cat World magazine, said: “It’s fascinating. Hand-reared wild species often make tame pets. This wildcat would never have been as tame as today’s domestic cat, but it could have been manageable as a pet. People say cats are independent animals, but at the same time they relate very closely to people.”

Cats have become the most popular pet in Britain, taking the top spot from dogs two years ago. Roger Breton, an expert on felines, added: “Domestication of cats was not easily accomplished, as they have no built-in co-operative instincts, but the mechanics of it were simple. People gave up nomadic lifestyles for agrarian communities. Stored crops attracted vermin, which attracted wildcats, which were encouraged to stay. First they were approached, then petted and eventually held.”

Experts from the National Museum are rushing to the Borders after a rare piece of treasure was unearthed near Yetholm.

Local historians are already describing the find as one of the most important ever in the south of Scotland.

And if their early calculations are right – the object may be a 3,000 year-old mirror.
Historical author and broadcaster Alistair Moffat was given a sneak preview of the object this week. He said: “I was absolutely astonished when I saw it. This has to be the find of a lifetime.

Full story here:
borderstoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=968&ArticleID=768320

by Maev Kennedy, arts and heritage correspondent, The Guardian, Thursday April 8, 2004

Radical rethink beckons as pilot project looks to impose single register on old and new buildings, public and private sites

An attempt was launched yesterday to devise a single sensible list which can protect a redundant 19th-century steelworks in Sheffield, the imposing Victorian tombs and leaning marble crosses of Arnos Vale cemetery in Bristol, medieval water meadows in Hampshire, London Underground stations on the Piccadilly Line, ancient flint axe works in Cumbria – and the 32-storey Centre Point tower in London.
“We don’t need to test it on simple cases, we need to test it on the most complex cases we can find,” English Heritage chief executive Simon Thurley said.

The 15 pilot projects, for the most radical reform since scheduled ancient monument and listed building protection was introduced over a century ago, include sites in private, public and mixed ownership.

The pilot projects involve reaching management agreements on what makes the sites special and valuable, and how those features should be preserved and enhanced.

The current listing system is frequently adversarial, pitting owners against the heritage quango, and operates mainly as crisis management. Buildings or sites are listed because of their historic importance or interest, but there is generally no further engagement with owners unless drastic alteration is proposed or – for example Greenside, an important Modern Movement house demolished last winter without permission – actually carried out.

One pilot site is the Holkham estate in Norfolk, which includes listed gardens and parkland, and working farms around the Grade I-listed Holkham Hall, and is owned by an English Heritage commissioner, Lord Leicester – Mr Thurley wryly predicted if the system does not work well, they will certainly hear about it.

The government has already said it wants a single register to replace the current plethora of schemes covering everything from Stonehenge to shipwrecks, Capability Brown landscapes to modest Georgian terraced houses.

The head of listing at English Heritage, Peter Beacham, said a listing system designed to protect a 200-year-old thatched cottage did not work well for 20th-century buildings, which are often the most commercially sensitive.

The 1960s Centre Point, designed by Richard Seifert and now Grade II listed, was once a radical cause celebre, when its owner, Harry Hyams, demanded huge rents, did not get them, and then left it empty for almost 20 years. The management plan would allow routine changes to the office interiors, but maintain the uniform look from the exterior, and special consent would be needed for major alterations.

Another tricky case is the University of East Anglia in Norwich, designed by Denis Lasdun, architect of the National Theatre. Although the buildings, many now Grade II*-listed, set in beautifully landscaped grounds, were much admired externally, students have always complained that they froze in winter and baked in summer. The university now argues that it needs to develop the campus to maintain its international competitiveness.

In striking contrast, Langdale neolithic landscapes in Cumbria are mainly open parkland run by the National Trust, where the chief threat is thousands of fell walkers. The site includes such extensive remains of worked flint that dozens of sites – none with any specific designation, or any defence against passing anorak pockets – are now seen as Neolithic flint axe “factories”.

The pilot sites are: Arnos Vale cemetery, Bristol; Centre Point, London; Cornish road and rail bridges; Darnall works, Sheffield; Foulness island, MoD Shoeburyness, Essex; the Godolphin estate, Cornwall; Holkham estate, Norfolk; Kenilworth Castle, Abbey and Mere, Warwickshire; Langdale neolithic landscapes, Cumbria; Piccadilly line, London Underground; RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire; University of East Anglia, Norwich; water meadows, Eastleigh, Hampshire; the Weld estate, Dorset; York city walls.

More on this from a Cumbrian perspective on BBCi here

Astronomy study reveals ancient places of healing

Mysterious T-shaped monuments scattered around the Mediterranean island of Menorca were most probably places of healing, says an archaeoastronomer who has studied the orientation of the Bronze Age monuments.

Each “taula” – named after the Catalan word for table – is formed by two massive stone blocks arranged in the shape of an upright “T”. The taulas face an opening in a surrounding ring of stones, and all but one of the 30 structures on Menorca face roughly south.

The taulas are usually made from limestone and range between two and five metres (Image: Michael Hoskin)
“It has long been known that these taulas were sanctuaries,” says University of Cambridge archaeoastronomer Michael Hoskin, citing the large number of bones from sacrificial animals that litter the sites.

But the sites were also home to a few intriguing bronze statues, including a bull, an Egyptian figurine with an inscription in hieroglyphics reading, “I am Imhotep the god of medicine” and horse hooves. The latter is particularly curious as there is no known horse god in ancient Mediterranean cultures.

Hoskin was invited to study the sites’ orientation to understand the significance of both the bronze statues and why no taulas are found on the nearby island of Mallorca. The taulas’ southern orientation – facing the sea or looking down from a hillside – gave him an important clue.

“What was near the southern horizon that was of interest?” Hoskin wondered. Today the answer is not much. But over time, gravitational tugs from the Sun, Moon, and planets make the Earth wobble on its axis like a spinning top.

For this reason, the night sky would have looked slightly different in 1000 BC, when the taulas were constructed. At that time, the entrance to the taulas framed the seasonal rise of a constellation known as Centaurus by the ancient Greeks. Today, it is split into the constellation of the Southern Cross, followed by the bright stars Beta and Alpha Centauri.

In Greek mythology, the Centaur – who had a man’s head and a horse’s body – taught medicine to Asclepius, the god of medicine.

Myths circulated around the Mediterranean and Near East even before the taulas were made and the different cultures engaged in a lot of trade, “so it is entirely possible – but not proven, of course – that the Menorcans had a similar view of Centaurus [as the ancient Greeks],” Hoskin told New Scientist.

The association with healing could explain the bronze hooves – which could be the remains of a statue of the Centaur, the Egyptian medicine god figurine – possibly left by an Egyptian sailor – and even the absence of taulas on neighboring Mallorca.

“Menorca is flat and you can see the Southern Cross, etc., from almost any location,” Hoskin explains. Settlements on mountainous Mallorca, on the other hand, were located in valleys “from which the Cross was invisible because it was screened by the surrounding hills”.

Steve McCluskey, a historian of astronomy at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia, US, says Hoskin’s astronomical and archaeological evidence “combine to provide strong indications of a healing cult at this site”.

McCluskey also said Hoskin has “fundamentally transformed” archaeoastronomy by showing that the builders of these monuments were little concerned with the “highly precise orientations that had formerly been the touchstone of archaeoastronomical investigations”. Pointing their constructions in roughly the right direction appears to have sufficed.

newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994849

The sun and stars may have served as critical references for a startlingly diverse range of ancient builders who constructed chambers to hold the dead and other religious shrines.

The orientation of thousands of Neolithic tombs erected across Europe and Africa around 10,000 B.C. were apparently built to face the rising sun, securing the sun’s importance in various human cultures across three countries, two continents and the Mediterranean islands, according to one astronomy historian

space.com/scienceastronomy/ancient_tombs_040405.html

Plans for a massive film studio and housing development at Aberuthven in Perthshire, Scotland, have placed under threat an area rich in ancient sites. Qullico 100 has submitted plans for the huge complex which will not only impact on local archaeology, but will also dwarf the existing village.

The proposed studio site is bound to the north by the River Earn, and to the south by the village of Aberuthven. In this relatively small area is to be found an extensive complex of prehistoric ceremonial and funerary monuments, suggesting this site was an important ritual centre over thousands of years.

The most visible remains of this complex is a 2 metre high standing stone, known alternately as Haugh of Aberuthven or Belhie, dated to 3000 BCE and standing on the edge of a 22 metre wide enclosure defined by a 2 metre wide ditch, identified as a probable henge. A few metres to the north-east is a penannular ring-ditch of 8 metres diameter, which has been been identified as a possible “mini-henge”.

Both these sites have been scheduled by Historic Scotland, and as such will have a protective “buffer zone” around them during any development work. However, while these sites won’t be destroyed, their aspect and ambience will be dramatically altered – currently at the centre of a field, the plans will see them hemmed in on all sides by 2 car parks, a golf clubhouse and a hotel.

Also scheduled is the Drumtogle enclosure at the north-east end of the village, which under the proposed plans will end up sandwiched between two busy roads. Amongst the other sites under threat are the remains of a four-poster stone circle, a Class I henge, an enclosed cremation cemetery, a barrow, a probable palisaded homestead, several ring-ditches, pits and enclosures, not to mention numerous crop-marks – linear and scattered – whose significance has yet to be established.

Because many of these sites are sub-surface archaeology or only visible as crop-marks, the potential impact on them from the excavation and construction processes is total destruction.

Following the first application by Qullico 100 in February 2003, local residents set up ACT (Aberuthven Community Threatened). Bill Fyfe of ACT said “The village at present consists of 130 houses and has a population of 300 people. The proposed development is to add 606 houses which would result in approximately 1500 more residents. We felt the need to pool our resources to fight the development and our chosen way of life.”

The local authority, Perth & Kinross Council, have so far received over 450 letters of objection to the development. Anyone concerned by the proposed plans and their impact on the local environment should write, expressing those concerns, to:

Mr Ian Sleith
Planning and Development Director
Perth & Kinross Council
35 Kinnoull Street
Perth
PH1 5GD
Scotland

Letters will be accepted up until the planning meeting in June or July.

Source: Stone Pages – Archaeo News

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3581355.stm

Archaeologists are excited by a discovery which they say proves that early Scottish settlers travelled through the Cairngorms 7,000 years ago. More than 80 pieces of worked flint and quartz dating from the Mesolithic period have been found at a site in Glen Dee near Braemar. The finds were made by chance during conservation work on footpaths.

Experts say it proves people moved through the landscape in seasonal cycles gathering and hunting for food. Most of the knowledge of the period so far has come from sites on the coast. These groups of people may have been very familiar with what even today are considered to be extremely challenging Highland landscapes

Dr Shannon Fraser, archaeologist for the National Trust for Scotland in the North East, said: “We suspected that major route ways through the Cairngorms, such as the Lairig Ghru, may have been used by our earliest Scottish settlers as they moved through the landscape in seasonal cycles, fishing, hunting and collecting other foods and useful materials. But without any physical evidence for the presence of these people, we just couldn’t prove it. What is so exciting is that these tiny fragments of worked stone, some only a few millimetres long, suggest that these groups of people may have been very familiar with what even today are considered to be extremely challenging Highland landscapes.”

Further study funded by Aberdeenshire Council has demonstrated that both tool-making activities and the use of the tools themselves were happening at the site. The finds include both broken tools and the waste flakes produced when working pieces of flint.

Caroline Wickham-Jones, a consultant archaeologist specialising in the Mesolithic of Scotland, said: “This is a very important find because it helps to fill in one of the most glaring of gaps in our knowledge of the early settlement of Scotland: what was going on in the interior of the country.”

Flint-area resident taps ‘forgotten technology’ to move massive objects

FLINT — Some may find it odd that a 57-year-old man goes out into his yard to play with blocks.

But then, the blocks that Wallace T. Wallington moves around near his home in a rural Flint area weigh up to nearly 10 tons. And by himself, he moves these behemoth playthings, not with cranes and cables, but with wooden levers.

“It’s more technique than it is technology,” Wallington says. “I think the ancient Egyptians and Britons knew this.”

Last October, a production crew from Discovery Channel in Canada came to Wallington’s home to film him as he raised a 16-foot, rectangular concrete block that weighed 19,200 pounds and set it into a hole. That taping was made into a segment, which has aired on Discovery Canada and the Discovery Science program in the United States.

The project resulted in a column, standing more than 10 feet high in his yard. He says he intends to construct his own kind of Stonehenge — without cranes or any modern engines or machines. He believes that’s the way ancient people moved and constructed the great landmarks of the world.

For the full story, vist...
detnews.com/2004/metro/0404/01/d06e-109393.htm

By Corinne Field 01/04/2004

Bones of a man and woman dating back to 3000BC have been found in a gravel pit in Leicestershire. The extraordinary find, including a skull, vertebrae and long bones, are the earliest human remains ever found in the county.

Not only that but a series of timber uprights for a footbridge dating back to AD500, remnants of the only early Anglo-Saxon bridge known in Britain, were uncovered at the same spot.

Both discoveries were made at a gravel quarry near Watermead Country Park, Birstall eight years ago by archaeologists from the University of Leicester but investigations and analysis of the finds have only just been completed.

Dr Patrick Clay, Director of University of Leicester Archaeological Services said, “This is a remarkable discovery literally from the jaws of the gravel excavators.”

For the full story, visit...
24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh/ART20695.html

Norwegian archaeologists were ecstatic this week after making a rare discovery at Aukra in Romsdal, north-central Norway. They’ve confirmed finding bone fragments from a child who must have lived in the area around 6,000 years ago.

Archaeologists have confirmed that this fragment was part of a Stone Age child’s chin.

The discovery was made in connection with excavations underway for the new land-base for the Ormen Lange gas field in the North Sea. Industrial concern Norsk Hydro is developing the gas field but its excavations are being conducted in cooperation with archaeologists.

Researchers know that the area around Aukra featured ancient settlements, and several thousand items already have been found and recorded.

“We knew, of course, that there were children in the Stone Age as well, but we’re probably guilty of focusing on the male hunters from the period,” Hein Bjerck, from the Science Museum in Trondheim (Vitenskapsmuseet i Trondheim), told newspaper Aftenposten

“But when we actually find a child, it’s almost heartbreaking,” Bjerck said. It’s the first time a child’s remains from so long ago have been found in Norway.

He said that initial examination suggests the child was between two and four years old at time of death. The child’s bone fragments were found in a compact mass of sand. Archaeologists also noted contures in the sand that probably were made by a human body, as long ago as 5,000 BC.

Bjerck and members of his team were ecstatic over the discovery because “there’s a lot of facts we can get out of such remains, for example cause of death, physiology and the child’s diet. We’re on the threshold of something very exciting.”

aftenposten.no/english/local/article764163.ece

Abridged from a post by Karin Attwood to the Stones Mailing List today:

Some absolute mindless tw*t(s) seem to think its a good prank to have splattered bright yellow gloss paint over the entire ring in some cases both sides of the stones. Damage was found this morning by a member of a geo-phys team arrving for work.

The oldest measured lichen colony in the UK has a line of paint running down it plus splatters.

EH have been informed and are talking to NT about methods used at Avebury for previous paint vandalism.

In a later post she also wrote:

Hi All

Just returned home from the circle. Frist the bad news – every single one of the stones is splattered both sides, paint splodges vary from 2”-4” and in long lines. If you can imagine someone with a 6” paintbrush and a large tin of gloss soaking the brush and then flicking it over the stones you can picture the damage!

So far reaction has been shift – the local police spent 2hrs looking round for the can (did not find it though) and taking samples to take around nearby paint shops. The police socco lady was on scene with an hour of me arriving and has also taken samples. Both BBC and Central news have covered the item and local press. A joint EH & Rollright Trust Press Release will be issued tomorrow.

EH area monument inspector has been out and will be returning tomorrow with experts who cleaned up the Avebury paint damage as will the team who have been studying the lichen colonies. EH rep was as incensed as the rest of us and promised that if anyone is caught this will be taken to the full extent of the law. The cost of clean-up and repair will not be available til tomorrow but IMO given that the damage at Avebury did not leave much change out of 100k I reckon at least twice that amount. Paint is also deep inside the holes in the stones.

Damage was most likely done between 8am and 9.45 this morning going be the fact that the paint was still wet and this had to be done in daylight to get most of the paint on target instead of everywhere.

The Police did mention that letting the cost of clean-up being made public would help in getting someone to finger the culprits – who must have been splattered themselves. A reward would also help – to that end I’m currently thinking of who to ask to put up some cash or thinking of asking for pledges to set up a reward fund that would only be called in if someone is prosecuted.

I’m off for a long lie-down, I’m frozen solid after doing my bit for the Karmic wheel in the middle of a freezing cold windy circle dressed inappropriately!

Thanks to everyone for the messages of shared anger and support – hopefully the BBC local news will get over the point that this is not just vandalism but very upsetting to those who regard these places as spiritual too.

Karin – still gutted..

An Orcadian farmer has unearthed on his land at Howe Farm in Harray (Orkney, Scotland) what is believed to be a Bronze Age burial kist. Despite kists being quite common in Orkney, Historic Scotland called in AOC Archaeology from Edinburgh to carry out the excavation at the end of last week.

AOC project officer Ronan Toolis said: “The machinery went over the kist and broke through the top slab. It was reported to Historic Scotland and they called us in.” Ronan and project supervisor Martin Cook travelled to Orkney on Friday and found a stone kist grave, in effect a stone box. “It is actually very well constructed and inside was a small deposit of cremated bone. We would expect it to be human, although it is still to be analysed,” Ronan said. He continued: “The bone was in a small pile, it may have originally been in a bag that has since rotted away.”

The kist measures about 1.5 metres long, by 60cm wide and was 70cm below the ground surface. Samples have been taken from the kist and surrounding area in a bid to date the burial. The bone material will also be assessed to see how many individuals were buried, their age, sex and health. “We suspect the grave could be Bronze Age as we found a bit of melted metal within the kist,” Ronan said. The grave has been taken apart by the excavators and recorded.

Source: The Orcadian (18 March 2004)

The only known Ice Age cave art in Britain is to be revealed to the public for the first time. But the tours, to be held for just two weeks next month, will be the only chance to see the 12,000-year-old carvings at Creswell Crags (Nottinghamshire, England) for some years.

Archaeologists announced their unique discovery at the Crags last summer. The images carved by nomadic Ice Age hunters who sheltered in the caves were the first to be found in Britain. Before then only small carved objects from the period had been found in the UK. Ice Age cave art has previously been found in France and Spain. The Creswell pictures, of animals such as the ibex (a type of goat), wild ox and birds, were found carved into the walls of Church Hole Cave at the heritage site at Welbeck, near Worksop. But they have been kept from public view while they have been studied, and to protect them.

Now the first tours to see the carvings are to be run daily between April 3 and 18. Times will vary and places must be booked in advance. Visitors will be able to see the ancient images, which are high up on the cave wall, by climbing steps to a viewing platform. Brian Chambers, Creswell Crags curator, said: “This really is a chance in a lifetime.”

It is likely to be the only public viewing allowed for two, possibly three years. But other caves will remain open. Public access has been limited owing to health and safety issues. But in the long term, organisers are investigating ways for the public to have more access. Researchers will be given limited access to the site.

Ian Wall, services and operations manager, said: “It is a sensitive archaeological site and we have already had to take special measures such as installing scaffold platforms for people to stand on to look at the art.

The cave tours will cost £5 for adults, £2.50 for children or £12.50 for a family of four. Visitors must be aged above five. The number of people allowed on each of up to four tours a day will be limited to ten for health and safety reasons. Early bookings for cave tours are recommended. Call 01909 720378.

Source: This is Nottingham, Evening Post (26 March 2004)

Dog-walker Jamie Stevenson took a stroll along the beach – and stumbled across an axe head dating back to the stone age.

Mr Stevenson, a Radio Solent newsreader, said: ‘My dog Woody likes chasing stones when I skim them on the water, and so I just happened to pick it up.

‘It felt different and looked different. It moulded nicely into my hands. When I looked at it more closely I saw that the edges were cut to be sharp.‘

Mr Stevenson took the stone he found on Prinsted Beach to Havant Museum.

It was forwarded to Kay Ainsworth, the keeper of archaeology at Hampshire Museums Service.

She said: ‘This is a very nice example of a flint Mesolithic era axe. The general shape suggests that it was used as an adze – a stone-age carpentry tool.‘

Mr Stevenson said: ‘The museum dated it to around 8,500BC.

The axe head was returned to Mr Stevenson, who plans to keep it safe.

From Portsmouth Today

Published on 27 March 2004
RELICS dating back 6,000 years to the Neolithic age are being uncovered by archaeologists working on the site of the Fordham bypass.

A team from Cambridgeshire County Council’s archaeology field unit are carrying out “digs” on the line of the road before the construction workers move in to build the new route.

Aileen Connor, project manager, said the Neolithic finds, close to the existing A142 road behind the massive Turners transport depot, had not been expected.

Trial digs carried out two years ago had indicated the presence of early Iron Age remains from about 2,500 years ago.

The finds have been found in what was probably a dumping ground for flint off-cuts and other rubbish from the nearby settlement.

Roman coins and other more recent remains have also been discovered.

Ms Connor said that the project, currently the largest archaeological investigation in Cambridgeshire, was expected to continue until the end of May.

An exhibition of the finds is due to be staged in the village this summer when work on the £12.5 million road begins.

From Online Cambridgeshire News

From the Scotsman:

Drivers of 4X4 vehicles are to be banned from using parts of Britain’s oldest known road this winter.

Quadbikes, trail bikes and off-road cars will face a seasonal ban from vulnerable sections of the ancient Ridgeway which runs from Wiltshire to Buckinghamshire.

The “mudlarks” have been blamed for causing ruts in the 85-mile route, which is thought to be at least 6,000-years-old and was used by prehistoric man.

The implementation follows meetings with rural affairs minister Alun Michael and campaigners who have sought a complete ban on vehicles since 1983.

Among those pressing for the ban have been mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington.

Thames Valley Police has been carrying out special patrols in Oxfordshire recently to catch irresponsible off-road thrill seekers tearing up the track.

But off-road enthusiasts such as the Land Access and Recreation Association say they are a small minority and have been victimised. They claim farmers and horses cause more damage.

Ian Ritchie, chairman of the Friends Of The Ridgeway, said: “A voluntary code of respect has been in operation on the Ridgeway for 10 years but has plainly not been working.

“This ban is excellent news for all walkers, horse riders and cyclists who wish to enjoy the Ridgeway in peace, free from the ruts and mud that make the trail hazardous and unpleasant.

“Although a seasonal ban falls short of the total ban that we have been advocating, it is a very big step in the right direction.”

Mr Michael said: “I am sure that this will help to make the difference we all want to see in order to protect the Ridgeway for all users.”

The Ridgeway runs from Overton Hill, near Avebury in the south, to Ivinghoe Beacon, north of Aylesbury, and includes numerous Stone Age and Iron Age hill forts and burial mounds.

All six councils along the route have agreed to the seasonal ban which will be imposed from October.

From the Salisbury Journal and Wiltshire Advertiser, 24 March 2004.

Decisions taken about the Stonehenge tunnel could have a knock-on effect at Avebury, the inquiry heard last week.

Following on from archaeologists’ concerns, expressed to the inquiry last week, that the proposed 2.1km tunnel, costing £200m, would be inadequate, representatives of the Avebury Society believe the existing scheme also overlooks a significant portion of the World Heritage site.

Ewart Holmes, representing the group, which formed in 1994, said: “Our interest in Stonehenge stems from the fact that it is the other half of a World Heritage site, and decisions taken in one half, at Stonehenge, can have a knock-on effect in Avebury.

“We note that the A303 scheme, which is part of the Stonehenge project, was announced in advance of the Stonehenge Management Plan, and fails to acknowledge the overriding primary emphasis of the latter on conservation, and management of the whole site and its archaeology as a cultural landscape.

Mr Holmes said the primary emphasis of the Stonehenge Management Plan included “improving the interpretation and understanding of the whole of the World Heritage site as a cultural landscape to visitors”.

He said: “This is going to be difficult to achieve if the present scheme is to go ahead, as much of the site is divided by the width of the dual carriageways.”

The society also believes the proposals for the visitor centre should be considered now, along with the road project.

Mr Holmes said: “I feel that, by just sticking with the road, as it were, a lot of what we have learned over the past 50 years about good planning, as accepted throughout the world, has really just been put to one side. continues...

From The Herald 22 March 2004.

A birdwatcher who unearthed the 4000-year-old cremated remains of a young man has given archaeologists fresh insight into the close, superstitious bonds between humans and animals in prehistoric society.
Experts have conducted a detailed analysis of the discovery of a Bronze Age burial urn which contained the remains of a male aged between 25 and 40, found within a boulder shelter at Glennan, Kilmartin, in Argyll.
After his demise, the man had been ritually burned alongside a goat or sheep. Their remains were deliberately mixed, giving evidence of a perceived bond between farmers and their animals which may have been thought to transcend death itself.
Dr Gavin MacGregor, of Glasgow University archaeological research division (Guard), explained the significance of the vessel and its contents.
He said: “Although the sample is small, the evidence suggests that, depending on the burial rite, some species of animals were considered more appropriate than others for inclusion. Pigs are associated with inhumation (burial) and goat or sheep are associated with cremation burials.
“The choice of a domesticated animal to accompany the mortuary rites may reflect the perceived inter-relationship between the cultural landscape of people and their livestock.
Dr MacGregor said the upland location of the Glennan find was also interesting.
“It indicates that, while many of the more visible ceremonial and funerary sites of the second millennium BC may focus on the floor of the glen, other parts of the landscape were also significant for such activities,” he said.
Analysis of the deposits found below the peak of Beinn Bhan, also revealed that the man had suffered from slight spinal joint disease and mild iron deficiency anaemia, though neither seems likely to have affected his general health.
He was cremated soon after death, together with a young sheep or goat, and their remains taken from the pyre and co-mingled before burial in the urn. An unburnt flint knife was also recovered.
Patrick Ashmore, principal inspector of ancient monuments at Historic Scotland, said the Glennan urn burial raised fascinating questions.
He speculated that the man was not buried in the burial cairns in nearby Kilmartin Valley because these were reserved for special people, or because he may have been an outsider.
He added: “But the most intriguing possibility is that the cairns were only part of a much wider sacred landscape, and that this spot on the far slope of Beinn Bhan from Glennan was selected as a special place.”
The burial was discovered during the exploration of a boulder shelter at Glennan. A local birdwatcher had begun to clear the area for use as a hide when burnt bones were noticed amongst debris from the interior of the site.
Radiocarbon dating, organised by the National Museum of Scotland, dated the remains at 2030-1910 BC.

From – news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/3550105.stm

A group of potholers stopped from exploring because of the foot-and-mouth epidemic, found a network of caves under the car park of their local pub.

To stave off boredom, members of the Bristol Exploration Club volunteered to help clear out a drain at the Hunters Lodge Inn at Priddy in Somerset.

But instead of finding a blocked pipe, the group stumbled on a network of previously unexplored caves.

After two years digging and blasting, they have now opened up a 30-ft cavern.

Inside they found hundreds of bones of extinct animals – believed to have been washed into the cave nearly 10,000 years ago – and an underground world of stalagmites and stalactites.

Tony Jarrett, 54, team leader of the group which is based in the village, said: “We have been digging for years in the area trying to discover new caves and expand previously discovered ones.

“There was a two-inch natural fissure in the rock into which the rainwater from the pub roof and the car park used to drain.

“We suspected there was something down there as the water had to escape somewhere.

“So we went down and popped out into a cave of stalactites and stalagmites – we were amazed.”

The cavers have named the caverns the Pewter Pot, the Barmaids’ Bedrooms and Brown Ale Boulevard, in honour of the Hunters Lodge.

Experts at the British Museum have identified the discovered bones as belonging to animals which roamed Britain during the last Ice Age – many of the finds are on display at the nearby Wells Museum in Somerset.

The Mendips are home to some of Britain’s best-known caves, including Wookey Hole.

BBC news:
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3520384.stm

Ancient Indians made ‘rock music’ (groan)

Archaeologists have rediscovered a huge rock art site in southern India where ancient people used boulders to make musical sounds in rituals.
The Kupgal Hill site includes rocks with unusual depressions that were designed to be struck with the purpose of making loud, musical ringing tones.

It was lost after its discovery in 1892, so this is the first fresh effort to describe the site in over a century. Details of the research are outlined in the archaeological journal Antiquity.

A dyke on Kupgal Hill contains hundreds and perhaps thousands of rock art engravings, or petroglyphs, a large quantity of which date to the Neolithic, or late Stone Age (several thousand years BC).

Researchers think shamen or young males came to the site to carry out rituals and to “tap into” the power of the site. However, some of it is now at threat from quarrying activities.

The boulders which have small, groove-like impressions are called “musical stones” by locals. When struck with small granite rocks, these impressions emit deep, “gong-like notes”. Some inscribed pictures date to Neolithic times
These boulders may have been an important part of formalised rituals by the people who came there.

In some cultures, percussion plays a role in rituals that are intended for shamen to communicate with the supernatural world. The Antiquity work’s author, Dr Nicole Boivin, of the University of Cambridge, UK, thinks this could be the purpose of the Kupgal stones.

The first report of the site was in 1892, in the Asiatic Quarterly Review. But subsequent explorers who tried to find it were unable to do so. Dr Boivin has been documenting the site. A few pictures of the site were taken in the 19th Century, but the originals were either lost, or allowed to fade.

Many of the motifs on the rocks are of cattle, in particular the long-horned humped-back type found in southern India (Bos indicus). However, some are of human-like figures, either on their own or with cattle. Some of these in chains, or holding bows and arrows. The typically masculine nature of the engravings leads Dr Boivin to suggest that the people who made the images were men and possibly those involved in herding cattle or stealing them.

The motifs themselves were made by bruising the rocks, presumably with a stone implement. She believes that the people who made the motifs and those who went to view them must have been physically fit and agile. Some of the images are in locations so difficult to reach that the artist must have suspended themselves – or got others to suspend them – from an overhang to make the images.

Modern-day commercial granite quarrying has already disturbed some sections of the hill. A rock shelter with even older rock art to the north of Kupgal Hill has been partially destroyed by quarrying. “It is clear government intervention will be required to elicit effective protection for the majority of the sites in the [area] if these are not to be erased completely over the course of future years,” writes Dr Boivin in Antiquity.