Latest News

Currently showing at the museum in Devizes is a small exhibition taken from their amazing library. You can gawp at:

– Stukeley’s actual notebook from 1717-1748 (featuring his small spidery writing)
– R Colt Hoare’s notebook
– Keiller’s foreman, WEV Young’s notebooks
– Crocker’s book containing watercolours (he was surveyor to Hoare and Cunnington)

...plus other photos, notebooks and drawings from the great and the good of the archaeological world.

And of course, their usual exhibitions of artefacts from all over Wessex including those from the Bowl barrow, a wealth of axeheads, pottery and marvellous things in general.

From an article on the BBC News Web site, published 5th June 2003:

Draft plans for a £193m road development around Stonehenge have been published – but there are still divisions over the details.

It is hoped that the re-routing of the A303 road, and a £57m visitor centre, will rescue the World Heritage site from its label as a national disgrace.

Read the BBC News Article | Read the Ananova Article

from Ananova.com

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Archaeologists have discovered six more bodies near the grave of the so-called King of Stonehenge.

The remains of four adults and two children were found at a site in Amesbury, Wiltshire.

It is about half-a-mile from that of the Amesbury Archer, the Bronze Age man who was buried with the earliest gold found in Britain.

It is thought he might have had a major role in creating Stonehenge. Tests showed he was born in the Alps region in central Europe.

The latest bones discovered are some 4,500 years old – the same age as the Archer, said Salisbury-based Wessex Archaeology – which excavated the site during the digging of a trench this month.

Radiocarbon tests will be done to find out more precise dates for the burials but the people are believed to have lived during the building of Stonehenge. Wessex Archaeology say it is possible the bones are those of people from different generations.

The bones of the earlier burials were mixed up, but those of the later burials, a man and a child, were undisturbed. They said the grave, which is about three miles from Stonehenge, had narrowly missed being damaged by trench digging for electric cables and a water pipe.

The grave contained four pots in the Beaker style that is typical of the period, some flint tools, one flint arrowhead and a bone toggle for fastening clothing.

Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick, of Wessex Archaeology, said: “This new find is really unusual. It is exceptionally rare to find the remains of so many people in one grave like this in southern England.

“The grave is fascinating because we are seeing the moment when Britain was moving from the Stone Age into the Bronze Age, around 2,300BC.”

Now installed in Carnac for the summer I can report that the ‘New Project’ has indeed comenced. As far as I can see so far the abominable Archaeoscope (cheers) has been shut down and there are notices in the window announcing that it will reopen as a visitor centre this summer (although I can see little evidence of anything happing there).
Also work has begun to move the road further away from the Menec Alignements. No sign yet of the fences being removed but at least something is happening.

The National Trust has been criticised for allowing Channel 4 to use an Oxfordshire landmark to promote a TV programme.

A team from Channel 4 spent several hours on Thursday daubing a giant eye -- the logo of the channel’s Big Brother series -- on a field behind the White Horse at Uffington.

Footage to market the next series was then filmed before the logo was removed the following day.

The National Trust, which owns the site, received £2,000 from Channel 4.

But an Oxford archeologist condemned the publicity stunt as cheap and tasteless.

Alan Hardy, senior project manager for Oxford Archaeology, said: “If you’d asked them to spray-paint something on Westminster Abbey they would probably say that would be offensive.

“To a lot of people, the White Horse is a near-sacred site.”

The White Horse warden for the National Trust, Dawn Cunningham-Clayton, said tests had been carried out to make sure the logo could be easily removed.

Alan McLaughlin, for Channel 4, said: “We have great respect for the site, and were sensitive to its cultural value.”

Last summer, the 3,000 year-old Bronze Age hill chalk carving was defaced, with a hunting image, by pro-hunting campaigners.

thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/oxfordshire/news/TOPNEWS2.html

The White Horse has been defaced YET AGAIN....

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3000243.stm

showbizireland.com/news/may03/01-flatley26.shtml

Lord of the Dance Michael Flatley landed smack-bang in the middle of an important cultural heritage site on the grounds of his new home Castlehyde in Cork on Monday.

Michael Flatley seems to be never far away from controversy and the 6 euro million refurbishment of his mansion in Cork hasn’t been without delays and setbacks.

So when his workmen uncovered a 4,000 year old burial chamber while digging a septic tank on the grounds it might have been less complicated for the billionaire to simply cover it up and say nothing.

But not Michael! The talented dancer and businessman is delighted with the find which uncovered two perfect earthenware jars last Monday.

He told the Evening Herald: “It’s just incredible. It’s possible there is a whole Bronze Age graveyard in this area. There certainly should be a major study done on this site, and what else could be lying undiscovered?”

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/2985083.stm

A Devon farmer has realised his dream by building a Bronze Age burial chamber on his land. He transported four huge pieces of granite from Dartmoor to his estate near Ivybridge to carry out the construction. It is thought to be the first time in 2,000 years that a cromlech – defined as a prehistoric monument made of stones and thought to be a burial tomb – has been built in the UK. Gavin Dollard has been planning the cromlech for four years.

Mr Dollard, 52, who wants to be laid to rest in the chamber, had hoped to have the edifice constructed in time for the Millennium celebrations. However, work was only completed on Tuesday when a huge crane lowered a 14-tonne piece of granite on to three 10-tonne standing stones which had already been erected to create the chamber.

Mr Dollard’s family have farmed on Dartmoor for centuries. But in recent years he has diversified and turned part of his estate at Delamore in Cornwood into an open-air art gallery. He sees the cromlech as another piece of sculpture for his collection. But he admits that, when he dies, it will serve its more traditional purpose as a burial site.

He said: “The idea for this came to us in 1999, but it was impossible to get four stones that size safely off the moor in such a short period of time. But what’s a year here or there when we are taking about 2,000 years?”

Computer age recreates prehistoric sites in search of answers to carvings mystery

From Scotsman.com’s Heritage News

THREE-dimensional computer images of life 5,000 years ago are being created to help archaeologists decipher mysterious rock markings at the site of Scotland?s ancient capital. The virtual-reality reconstruction of hundreds of locations around Kilmartin in Argyll is expected to shed new light on the so-far unexplained “cup and ring” carvings. The project, by Warwick University, is also likely to improve knowledge of key sites such as Dunadd, a hill fort which was the Scots? capital from the 6th to 9th centuries. Standing stones, cairns, stone circles, Celtic crosses and gravestones in the area, which is regarded as Scotland?s richest surviving ancient landscape, are also among nearly 300 ancient monuments to be included.

Warwick University?s e-lab 3D visualisation group is constructing the images using information from past excavations, which include pollen samples that show the extent of past tree cover.
The pollen, recovered by Stirling University researchers, has shown the area would have been covered by hundreds of oaks.
The e-lab hopes the reconstructions will create the most comprehensive picture yet of the area?s past, enabling scientists to make new discoveries by comparing different images.
The virtual reconstructions place the engravings in the wider context of the landscape to show how the art related to its immediate surroundings thousands of years ago. They also show how the vegetation and landscape has changed through time.
The images are also being used to create computer games to enable people to better visualise what the area would have looked like.

Martin Blazeby, a multimedia designer at the e-lab, said: “We are digitising the information that is already there. When we have done that, archaeologists will be able to check the images for similarities and differences. “We do not know what the cup and ring markings were for, but they could be a type of code or descriptions of the constellations. The virtual reality software has been used in computer games to entertain, but is now emerging as a serious tool for transforming how we learn about our history. This new kit in the tool bag of museum displays has massive potential to bring Scotland?s ancient heritage back to life.”

Dunadd was established by Scots who emigrated from Ireland, and was once the centre of the long-lost Kingdom of Dalriada.
The Scots went on to take over south-eastern Scotland from the Picts in the 9th century. The hilltop fort at Dunadd, north of Lochgilphead, is where the Stone of Destiny is believed to have lain before being removed to Scone in Perthshire.

The computer game has used the results of excavations of the site to help viewers experience its panoramic outlook and navigate the area, following the progress of its inhabitants. Previous research by Dr Ewan Campbell of Glasgow University has shown that Scottish kings of that era enjoyed a sophisticated lifestyle from the fruits of international trade, importing herbs and expensive clothing dyes.

Colin Schafer, the director of Kilmartin House Museum, where the reconstructions will be displayed, said: “This project interprets ancient sites by analysing their landscape situation and builds on work reconstructing the vegetation history at rock art sites, and shows how it influenced site location.
“The computer graphics are already turning the heads of academics, historians, architects, teachers and pupils.”

ALASTAIR DALTON
Wednesday, 30th April 2003
The Scotsman

A survey by Tim Blackie and Colin Macaulay
The aim of this survey was to produce an up-to-date and comprehensive list of The Pictish and early Christian sculptured stones which have been found in the modern county of Caithness, and to provide brief details about the stones which might be of interest to the general reader. More detailed notes may be found in the various sources listed for each stone under ‘Other Documentation’; a guide to the abbreviations used is appended here. 28 stones are described with locations. This article is reproduced from the Caithness Field Club Bulletin at caithness.org/caithnessfieldclub/bulletins/sculpturedstones/index.htm

The largest prehistoric man-made cavern in the world may be hidden under a north Wales peninsula.
The cavern is part of a Bronze Age copper mine complex which was first uncovered in 1987 at Great Orme’s Head near Llandudno.

Archaeologists excavating the 4,000-year-old site made their latest discovery 130ft below ground in December and have estimated it is at least 50ft in length.

They know the roof area is large, but will have to dig down through many layers of silt before they discover exactly how deep it is.

Full story at -

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/2973877.stm

Excavations at Avebury have revealed one megalithic stone which could be among Britain’s largest, weighing around 100 tons and rivalling Stonehenge.
Archaeologists made the surprise find during preparations to straighten the stones, which have been leaning for at least 300 years.

The project was undertaken at the 3,500-year-old stone circle in Wiltshire, because engineers feared the megaliths might collapse.

The team from the universities of Wales, Leicester and Southampton found the stone, which is about 14 ft (4.4m) high above ground, goes down at least seven ft (2.2m) below the ground surface and may go down to 10 ft (3m).

Amanda Chadburn, of English Heritage, said: “We were amazed when we discovered that the stone went so much deeper than we expected.

“Ground penetrating radar and probing had suggested it existed to only about one-and-a-half to three feet below the surface.

“It is absolutely enormous and could weigh as much as the trilithon at Stonehenge.”

Text from BBCi
Issued 17 April 2003

From ‘The Oxford Times’, Friday 11 April 2003

A 5,500-year-old piece of bread has been unearthed by archaeologists at an Oxfordshire village. The two- to three-centimetre morsel, believed to be the earliest bread found in Britain was left by Stone Age people to be unearthed during a 13-year-long study of a 16.5 hectare site at Yarnton. It was discovered at the building materials firms Hanson’s Cassington sand and gravel pit, situated on the Yarnton floodplain – found in a pit with a small flint knife, apple skins and cores and hazelnut shells.

The bread will be part of an exhibition the weekend to celebrate the excavation work sponsored by Hanson and English Heritage.

More details on the bread here

More details on the exhibition here

According to a post from Andy Norfolk on the Stones Mailing List, Gun Rith is to be re-erected sometime at the end of May.

Good News.

Forwarded for info:

From: Sigurd Towrie
Subject: Neolithic Structures unearthed at Brodgar

A suspected Neolithic house on the Ness of Brodgar in Stenness was uncovered at the weekend but subsequently reburied.

Unearthed by Beverley Ballin-Smith and Gert Peterson of Glasgow University’s archaeological research division, the site at Brodgar Farm lies half-way between the Ring of Brodgar and the Standing Stones of Stenness.

But although the find is another exciting one for Orkney, the visiting archaeologists had no remit to excavate. Because the site is within Orkney’s World Heritage Site, a decision must first be made on how best to deal with it.

The round structure is much like the ones at nearby Barnhouse and last year’s geophysics survey of the area suggests that there are at least three in the area – which is also halfway between the waters of the Stenness and the Harray Lochs, on an area of high ground in line with the entrance to the Brodgar ring.

I visited the site today and will be writing up a complete article for The Orcadian (and Orkneyjar) later this week.

--
Sigurd Towrie
Blackhall – Kirbister – Stromness – Orkney
Heritage of Orkney: orkneyjar.com

I’ve just seen this story on Ch 4 news, but nothing on their website. The TV report said that they’ve had to keep it secret for several years until all the uncovering was done. The following is from the BBC website – news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/2925299.stm

The largest hoard of Iron Age gold and silver coins ever found in the UK has been uncovered by a group of amateur archaeologists. The find of more than 3,000 coins was made in a field in east Leicestershire.

Dating back 2,000 years, they are one of the first examples of Iron Age coin hoards to be seen in the country.

A group of local people who had joined an archaeological project run by Leicestershire County Council found a handful of coins while out walking in 2000.

Group member Ken Wallace returned with a metal detector and found hundreds of the coins, which date to between 1AD and 40AD. He said: “They weren’t in a pot or in a bag, they were in little pits in the clay, about the size of a clenched fist.

“There were about 13 or 15 of these little deposits and it is unique.”
A professional excavation turned up the remainder of the hoard earlier in 2003. The same dig also uncovered a silver decorated Roman cavalry helmet, the only one ever found in England. Evidence points to the helmet being buried before the Roman Conquest – raising the possibility that a Leicestershire man may have travelled to the Roman Empire to serve in the cavalry before Britain was conquered by Rome.

The coins were mostly made by the local Iron Age tribe, the Corielvatu.
Archaeologists believe they were probably offerings at a religious ceremony. The British Museum part-funded the excavations and a spokesman described it as a find of “international significance”.

John O’Groat Journal

A BUNGLING roads boss unwittingly ordered the destruction of part of a 4000-year-old ancient monument near Lybster.
Highland Council workers were preparing to tarmac over historic ruins to create a lay-by for visitors to the standing stones at Achavanich before a concerned local historian pointed out the gaffe to embarrassed council chiefs.
Work ground to a halt last week while Historic Scotland assessed the damage and the local authority employed an archaeologist to ensure work can continue without further damage to the site.
The £10,000 project was funded by the Highland Council’s recent Scottish Executive windfall under a quality of life and environment initiative. It was hoped the lay-by would provide “safe and convenient” access for the public to reach the ancient monument.
Ian Hargrave, acting Caithness area manager, claims the blunder was “largely a technicality”.
He revealed that the Highland Council believed the scheduled monumental site stopped at the fence, in off the roadside, when in fact it extends to the edge of the road.
“That’s why people got a wee bit excited about it,” he said. “Historic Scotland has examined the site and an archaeologist consultant has been engaged to ensure the project can be completed.”
The council did not need planning permission for the project because it falls under the auspices of the roads authority. However, Richard Guest, the area transport, environmental and community services manager, admitted it would have been wise to consult Historic Scotland over the plans.
Mr Guest added that an initial report by the archaeologist employed by the council suggested that the area dug up by the council to lay the foundations for the lay-by did not hold anything of archaeological importance.
However, an Historic Scotland spokeswoman yesterday said she believes the site destroyed by the council is part of the unusual horseshoe-shaped arrangement of small standing stones at Achavanich. She added: “Fortunately the damage was minimal.”
The standing stones are believed to date back to the Bronze Age and have held ritual importance in the county for centuries, although their precise purpose and date is unknown. The tallest is two metres high. Some stones may have been taller, but weathering has caused them to crack and split.
Only 36 stones remain in the setting, although there may have been about 54 originally.
Achavanich is in Councillor Billy Mowat’s Caithness South-East ward. He declined to comment on the council’s gaffe because he said he was sure the situation would be resolved.
Mr Mowat welcomes the lay-by which he hopes will encourage more visitors to the area.

Robin Turner * [email protected], The Western Mail – The National Newspaper Of Wales

A 3,000-YEAR-OLD gold ring found by a metal detector enthusiast is an important archaeological find for Wales, a coroner at a Treasure Trove Inquest ruled yesterday. Swansea and Gower Coroner Richard Morgan declared the Bronze Age “hair ring,” discovered by 38-year-old Nigel Powell in Swansea Bay, was officially Treasure Trove and belonged to the Government. The coroner suggested the compensation fee payable to Mr Powell and landowners Swansea City and County Council should be split evenly. It is thought the delicate, gold-foil covered copper ring will eventually be valued at around £3,000.

Finds of such rings are extremely rare and it is thought the piece of jewellery may have belonged to a person of wealth and influence, such as a Bronze Age chieftain or possibly a princess. Historians believe the rings, only occasionally found in Scotland, Ireland, England, and the Low Countries and rarely in Wales, were used as hair adornments and also as money. Mr Powell, of The Crescent, Crynant, Neath, who has been a metal detector enthusiast for two years, discovered the ring last year at a point on the Swansea foreshore opposite Brynmill Park. It was discovered in around 15cm of clay.

Adam Gwillt, Pre-historian at the National Museum and Gallery of Wales in Cardiff where the ring is now held, said there had only been two similar rings ever discovered in Wales, one in Gwynedd and the other at Port Eynon on Gower. Mr Gwilt said the ring contained intricate decoration and had probably originally been dropped in a peat bog.

The ring dates back to the 10th or 11th Century BC.

Robin McKie, science editor
Sunday March 16, 2003
The Observer

Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of two embalmed humans, providing the first proof that ancient Britons made mummies of their kings and queens. The bodies – a man and a woman – predate the pharaoh Tutankhamen, who was mummified and buried 3,200 years ago.

The discovery at Cladh Hallan, a remote Bronze Age site in South Uist in the Outer Hebrides, makes the couple – a man and a woman – the oldest mummies found anywhere in Europe. It is believed the male is around 3,500 years old, the female a couple of centuries younger.

‘These are the only prehistoric mummies found in this country,’ said project leader Dr Mike Parker Pearson, of Sheffield University. ‘We have some from historic times – the body of Edward I was wrapped in cloth. But we have never found an example of the kind of thing that went on in ancient Egypt till now.‘

Unlike their Egyptian counterparts, however, the Cladh Hallan mummies had to survive, after embalming, in extremely wet conditions. Hebridean weather in the Bronze Age was as grim as it is today. As a result, the couple’s wrappings long ago disintegrated. Yet Dr Pearson and his team are convinced the pair must have been swathed in bandages.

‘We found them with their knees around the chests and their thighs and calves absolutely parallel. There is no way that could have been done unless they had been very tightly bandaged or tied up with cords or straps of leather,’ added Pearson. ‘Over the millennia, the cloth disintegrated.‘

The team found evidence that the people of South Uist went to extraordinary pains to preserve the bodies of the Cladh Hallan couple. Although the pair were found buried in the foundations of two Bronze Age dwellings called roundhouses, they had not been put in the earth immediately after death.

The state of their bodies indicates they had been kept above ground for several hundred years – at least 500 years, in the case of the male mummy. ‘Something must have been done to preserve their flesh before it was wrapped up,’ said Pearson.

‘We narrowed this down to four options: the pair were left out to dry in the wind; they were slowly dried over a peat fire; they were pickled in salt, or they were dipped in a peat bog for a while.

‘To find out which, we studied mineral deposits on their bones which showed that both bodies had been immersed in peaty water for a considerable time – possibly a year before they were bandaged up.‘

After that, it appears the couple were put on display or kept in a sacred, warm, dry place – otherwise they would have disintegrated. Just why this couple, who had lived a couple of centuries apart, were venerated in this rather grisly way is still a mystery, however.

‘It could be a form of ancestor worship, or the local people could have preserved them because they were great leaders or shamans whose powers they hoped to tap into after death,’ said Pearson.

Bronze Age funereal customs in South Uist changed for some reason around 3,000 years ago. The couple were taken from their place of display and buried in the foundations of one of the roundhouses.

‘There is something touching about still taking such care about people who had died centuries earlier, said Pearson. ‘It indicates a considerable continuity to the local culture.‘

· The Mummies of Cladh Hallan will be shown on BBC2 at 9pm on Tuesday.

Paul Brown, environment correspondent
Thursday March 13, 2003 The Guardian

Plans supported by the British government would undermine protection for world heritage sites such as Stonehenge and the Giant’s Causeway, according to the organisation that advises on their protection.
The IUCN, the international conservation union, which must be consulted before the designation of a world heritage site, says proposed rule changes undermine the convention that created such sites.

It is so alarmed about the consequences that it has written to all 175 member governments appealing for help before a special meeting to change the rules is held in Paris next week.
Among the changes the world heritage committee, which runs the world heritage scheme, will discuss are:

· Allowing states to veto any criticism of them for damaging or neglecting sites within their borders.
· Allowing states to prevent the creation of new sites in their borders if they stand in the way of development.
· Stopping the committee removing a world heritage site designation when it becomes so degraded as no longer to be worthy of inclusion.

In the appeal for help, the IUCN says allowing a country a veto would “erode the credibility and strength of the convention among ... concerned civil society interests. This change would reduce state parties’ accountability to the world heritage committee and the international community”.

Listing places as endangered “has been a very effective way to signal the serious threats to a property and mobilise national and international action to safeguard the property in question”.
While the UK is keen on gaining more world heritage sites because they attract foreign tourists, critics say it wants to avoid criticism if it subsequently fails to look after them.

The rule change was originally proposed by Australia, which was stung by criticism for proposing to allow uranium mining in the Kakadu park, which is a world heritage site. Australia has left the 21-country ruling committee that runs the convention but its plans have been taken up and backed by the UK.
The US, which is not on the committee, was irritated by a “danger list” designation for Yellowstone national park and the Everglades and is also lobbying for the rule changes.

The world heritage convention committee’s membership changes regularly and, in the 30 years since the convention was first agreed, has designated 730 natural and cultural sites for special protection. There are 24 in the UK.

Adrian Phillips, vice chair of the IUCN’s world commission on protected areas, said a strength of the convention was that the decision to designate sites or make comments about them was made independently of the government that controlled the territory of the world heritage site. This has been important in protecting sites when the committee has felt it necessary to list them as “in danger”.

For some countries, for example the Philippines, which has world famous rice paddies at Luzon, north of Manila, an endangered listing was welcomed to attract foreign aid. However, many countries, including Australia, the US and Russia, resent the idea of international criticism and support a rule change, Mr Phillips said.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Culture said the current rules were legally “ambiguous” and practices might have to change. The UK was not advocating weakening the convention but had a different interpretation of the rules.

I’m sure Mr G will share with us The Truth..

From ThisIsWiltshire.co.uk

Civil engineers have returned to Silbury Hill to begin further exploration of the prehistoric mound. It’s almost three years since an ancient shaft at the core of the hill re-opened leaving a gaping hole. English Heritage was forced to act after the old shaft began to collapse leaving a massive crater in the centre of the 4,800-year-old monument.

Now international civil engineering consultants Cementation Skanska have been asked by English Heritage to carry out further tests on the hill. In 2001 the company used pioneering new methods to create a three dimensional picture of the inside of the hill. It bored four holes from the top of the hill to its base to allow sensitive recording equipment to be lowered inside the mound to provide a 3D image of the hill. The material removed during the drilling also allowed archaeologists to see how the hill had originally been constructed between 2800 and 200BC. As a temporary repair measure English Heritage had the crater in the centre of the hill packed out with polystyrene capped with a layer of chalk. But local archaeologists have called for permanent repairs to be carried out to the hill.

Plant and mobile offices from Cementation Skanska arrived at the foot of the hill this week. The engineers prepared a mesh surface on the southeast slope to enable equipment to be winched to the top of the hill. English Heritage explained that further tests were needed at the centre of the hill to ensure that the old shaft was adequately filled in.

In a statement English heritage said: ìIn 2001 we carried out works to arrest a collapse to the head of a shaft which in 1776 had been sunk by the Duke of Northumberland to the centre of the hill. Following this work a geophysical survey of the whole hill was carried out on our behalf by Cementation Skanska.
Reassuringly they reported that the hill was a robust structure which was basically stable but identified certain areas which required further investigations.”

The work that started this week is on the 18th century shaft.
“As part of this assessment we intend to test the consistency of the backfilling in the lower part of the shaft by drilling a borehole through it from the top. Another borehole will be drilled nearby as a control. The information gathered will help us design the long-term remedial work.”

entertainment.scotsman.com/visual/headlines_specific.cfm?id=6882

from ‘the scotsman‘

An archive featuring the UK’s finest collection of prehistoric rock art – stone carvings thousands of years old – is to get a global showcase via what is believed to be the most detailed internet site of its kind in the world.

The website will include global positioning system readings – highly accurate positions of the artwork compiled using satellites – and digital drawings and photographs.

Northumberland is widely regarded as having the country’s richest collection of rock art, with up to 500 examples still existing in the field and written records of up to 750 panels.

Examples include England’s largest such site at Roughting Linn, just south of the Border.

Stan Beckensall, who has spent more than 30 years documenting this mysterious phenomenon, has just donated his extensive archive to the Museum of Antiquities at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. The records include photographs, books, drawings and rubbings.

In a project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB), the university intends to make the entire archive widely accessible via a new website which will display information at differing levels of complexity, providing a valuable research and teaching resource for academics as well as schools, heritage specialists, landowners, and tourists.

Dr Aron Mazel, an archaeologist and research associate with the School of Historical Studies at Newcastle University, who is leading the project, says the website will be the most detailed of a rock art area in the world. It is due to go live next year.

By James Young – Bucks Free Press

A bumpy ride for cyclists, horse riders and walkers could soon be over as plans to improve one of Britain’s oldest road gather pace. The Ridgeway National Trail, which runs through Princes Risborough, has been damaged in recent months by rain and illegal vehicles driving along it. Details of a consultation held in November, where local people expressed their views over the best way to improve the 23-mile eastern stretch of The Ridgeway, were released this week. A number of people from Risborough and Chinnor told of their anger over the poor condition of the trail at the meeting. Suggestions being considered by the Countryside Agency include the banning of vehicles along The Ridgeway and using volunteer groups to help maintain the quality of the surface.

Countryside officer Hazel Fleming said: We are hoping we will be able to repair the surface of The Ridgeway in the near future to make the experience of using it much more pleasant for people. Vehicles are allowed to use The Ridgeway at certain points but the main problems involve illegal vehicles driving on it. The Countryside Agency is looking to work with local police to stop unlicensed vehicles such as quad bikes with no number plates from disturbing the surface of the trail. Landowners could also be asked to help maintain the trail by finding alternative routes for their vehicles off the trail route.

Section Four of The Ridgeway winds its way through the Chiltern Hills from Chinnor, through Princes Risborough and Tring, ending at Ivinghoe Beacon.
It is a popular trail for walkers and forms a major part of the area’s natural beauty and heritage, including the Whiteleaf Cross archaeological site.

Scottish Herald – Shan Ross
Builders who were on the brink of using a JCB digger to lay the foundations of a new housing estate have unearthed what may be the richest archaeological find in Scotland. It includes the well-preserved skeleton, sword and valuable adornments of an Iron Age warrior buried with full honours. Experts who announced the discovery of the site at Alloa, Clackmannanshire last night described the grave as one of the most “valuable and exciting” to have been found on these shores.

It is believed that only around 100 such ceremonial Iron Age burials took place in Scotland over 1000 years and, of those, only four had weapons lying alongside the skeleton. Ancient communities disposed of their dead in different ways and the majority of corpses in Iron Age Scotland were put in rivers, left on exposed platforms, or put up trees.

Building work was first halted last Tuesday when workmen uncovered a Bronze Age grave containing the skeleton of a woman along with an ornate food vessel and copper alloy items dating back to between 2500 and 1500BC. However, two days later, the digger uncovered the more important grave.

The Iron Age warrior whose head had been placed on a stone pillow is likely to have been a chief ruling the surrounding kingdom, and appeared to have been aged between 25 and 35 when he died around 200BC to 200AD. His sword had been placed in his hand and surrounding him were valuable toe rings, an ornate copper pin and glass beads. The artefacts indicate that he was a high-ranking powerful individual who would have been able to display great wealth. Archaeological staff, who believe there may be more graves in the vicinity, immediately secured the site to deter vandals.

Ian Ralston, professor of archaeology at Edinburgh University, said that a great deal was already known about the Iron Age in Scotland in terms of hill forts and brochs, but that rituals pertaining to death were still largely undiscovered.

“We can trace Iron Age life in the north-west, the Western Isles and Lowlands, but we still know very little about how they treated their dead.” he said. “It is quite amazing to think that this skeleton has turned up by chance, but it replicates a pattern whereby builders can be the ones who make these fantastic finds.” Professor Ralston added that such graves were often discovered by farmers ploughing their fields.

Susan Mills, museum and heritage officer for Clackmannanshire Council, said the find was less than 50yds away from a Bronze Age cemetery discovered in 1828. “The later burials of the Iron Age may have been based on some sort of folk memory of the site being used as a burial place. It could have still been regarded as a special place for those who lived in the area,” she said. “I also think the graves have been so well preserved because they were protected for years by nursery greenhouses which were demolished in the 1970s.”

Paul Duffy, human remains and forensics expert from the archaeology department at Glasgow University, said the site was the greatest find he was likely to come across in his lifetime. He said: “I’ve worked on many sites throughout my 12 years in the field but these, particularly the Iron Age grave, far outweigh anything I’ve ever seen.”

The skeletons have been taken to Glasgow University for forensic examination, while the precious artefacts found with them have been sent to a specialist firm in Edinburgh.

George Tainsh, director of the £1.5m Ochilview housing development, which plans to build 30 houses on the site, said his company would cooperate fully with archaeological experts to safeguard the graves.

A spokesman for Historic Scotland said: “It is a very significant discovery for our understanding, particularly of Iron Age warriors and warfare and the period immediately preceding the Romans.”

Action Stalled Against Stanton Moor Protestors

The Peak District National Park Authority today agreed not to take legal action that could have led to the eviction of protestors campaigning against the proposed re-opening of two quarries on Stanton Moor in the Peak District.

The Authority’s Planning Committee had been concerned that the protestors, who are occupying Lees Cross and Endcliffe Quarries, could break planning regulations, but it decided it would be inappropriate to take action at this time.

Tony Hams, Chair of the Authority, said, “The real issue at these quarries is whether they should be re-opened. Stancliffe Stone Ltd, the quarry company, want to restart work on the sites. They submitted proposals to us in 1999, under the requirements of the Environment Act (1995). We are still awaiting information from the company before we can consider their application.”

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