Latest News

Historic artefacts, August 4th 2003

icwestlothian.icnetwork.co.uk/news/

A NEW exhibition is showcasing historic artefacts that have not been seen in public in West Lothian for over 5000 years.

Monuments in a Landscape Objects from Cairnpapple was officially opened in Broxburn Library last week.

The display shows historic artefacts on loan from the National Museums of Scotland (NMS), some of which have never been on public view in West Lothian since they were discovered.

The exhibition was opened by Councillor Bert Gamble, West Lothian Council spokesman on Arts and Culture, with special guest MP Tam Dalyell, whose mother played a part in encouraging the original excavation of Cairnpapple Hill in the Bathgate Hills.

Councillor Gamble said: “I’m absolutely delighted to see these artefacts on display for the people of West Lothian. I hope it encourages local young people and schools to go and view this fascinating exhibition.

“It’s a history that’s never been shown before, and it raises the cultural profile of West Lothian.

“We’d like to thank Doctor Alison Sheridan from the NMS for all her hard work in making this exhibition happen.”

The display has been organised by West Lothian Council Museums Service, in partnership with the Archaeology Department of the NMS and Historic Scotland.

Dr Alison Sheridan from the NMS Archaeology department has provided fascinating explanations of the objects on show, some of which will go to the Cairnpapple Hill visitor centre after the exhibition.

Cairnpapple is recognised as one of Scotland’s most important prehistoric sites.

The hill was used as a funeral site at various times, beginning from the neolithic period around 2800 BC, through the Bronze and early Iron Ages, to early Christian times around 400 AD.

Since the site was excavated in the 1940s, visitors can see the remnants of a neolithic wooden henge, and enter the striking cairn centrepiece, reconstructed after the excavation.

The Objects from Cairnpapple exhibition runs until November 8th 2003, in Broxburn Library, West Main Street, during library opening hours.

from the Scotsman, 2nd August 2003

news.scotsman.com/archive.cfm?id=833982003

Discovery of ancient site stuns experts

by MICHAEL HOWIE

PREHISTORIC remains hailed by experts as one of Scotland’s most significant archaeological finds in 50 years have been unearthed in the path of a major road development.

Scores of pots, tools and ceremonial items dating back 7000 years have been unearthed where work is being carried out to create a dual-carriageway between Haddington and Dunbar.

Ancient burial sites and neolithic settlements have also been uncovered.

The discovery has stunned experts who say it is one of the biggest and most important finds in recent years.

Archaeologists have yet to analyse the many items uncovered along the 11-mile stretch but are already predicting it will tell them much about early civilisation in the Lothians region.

They say the sheer volume of material confirms the existence of thriving communities which survived on the fertile farmland of East Lothian for thousands of years.

A major conference will be held next month to discuss the results. The £500,000 dig has been funded by Historic Scotland, which says it is “surprised and delighted” at the results of the excavations, carried out by a team of archaeologists from Glasgow University.

Team leader John Atkinson said: “In a rich farming area like East Lothian we expected to find quite a lot, but we were taken aback by the sheer volume of what we discovered. It is absolutely priceless.”

Twelve individual sites were uncovered by the team of 30 archaeological staff, who worked up to five months ahead of the army of bulldozers which cleared the way for extra lanes on the A1.

Among the most stunning finds was a burial cairn at Ewford, near Dunbar. A copper alloy pike, used for ceremonial occasions was also found together with funeral urns thought to be 3500 years old. Elsewhere, remains of a prehistoric burial ground were found on Pencraig Hill, overlooking Traprain Law.

But the most exciting and unexpected find was evidence of a previously unknown settlement at Phantassie, near East Linton. The remains of around a dozen buildings and linking pathways constructed entirely of rock were discovered along with hundreds of small pieces of pottery.

Mr Atkinson said they found evidence of both burial and cremation. He said it was also possible their discoveries suggested excarnation – where the bodies of the dead are left for animals to eat and their skeleton later buried – had taken place.

He said dating of the recovered items would tell whether the ancient fort on Traprain Law was built before, or after, the surrounding settlements.

The discoveries also supported the theory that a clear class system existed in prehistoric times.

“We found large ceremonial cairns which had grave goods with them, suggesting they were for people with a reasonably high status in society. In other sites, like Phantassie, you see signs of every day, subsistence life, in the Iron Age.”

Mr Atkinson added: “As a group it certainly qualifies as one of the most important finds in Scotland in the last 50 years.”

Dr Gavin MacGregor, who directed the Ewfort dig, added: “It’s a very important piece of work for us. Nationally important sites have been discovered and it’s a great success for the all the parties concerned.”

A spokeswoman for Historic Scotland said: “We are surprised and delighted by the quality of the archaeology.

“It is going to enhance our knowledge of early people in the Lothians very significantly. And that is a huge benefit to understanding of the rest of early Scotland too.”

In 2000, the Scottish Executive pledged £50 million for upgrading the A1 to dual carriageway status, following years of campaigning by road-safety organisations and MPs.

The Haddington-Dunbar stretch is due to be completed next year.

Following my enquiry about the ‘Cornish barrow for sale’, I had a pleasant surprise yesterday. A fax from Nic Potter (the present owner).

Avid Kernow-ite TMA’ers may remember that I offered £10,000 for the barrow and land (including some sort of not-for-profit sell on clause), or suggested that maybe the National Trust (or similar organisation) might be worth speaking to, given the general location (Land’s End) and the historic interest.

Nic is selling some moor land (just less than 4 acres) in Penwith which includes a recently discovered ‘double ringed’ barrow. The land can’t be farmed or built upon.

The fax said that following the press/media coverage the website received over 11,000 hits and Nic has decided that it will be easiest to sell it at auction, via FPD Savills (Tel – 020 7824 9091), on 22nd September 2003 in London (I’m a bit confused about the venue – website says something different to Nic’s fax). A small amount of information can be found here – https://195.224.227.45/fpdsavills/

Nic says that it has proved, due to its uniqueness, impossible to value it (there simply is no precedent). Therefore there will be no estimate or guide price, but there will be a reserve, which Nic cannot reveal.

Nic added that frankly it could go for a low, medium or high price – he simply doesn’t know what will happen. He’s selling the land to provide funds for a recording studio. He liked the spirit of my offer, and added that if I couldn’t put in a higher bid, he’d talk to me if it remained unsold.

Weekly updates on the dig from Oxford Archeaology at
oxfordarch.co.uk/pages/wittenham_week2_trench1.htm

From Blairgowrie Advertiser a couple of weeks ago;

Pictish stone needs a home

Sally Wilson


AN ancient Pictish slab, which has been severely eroded after lying in an East Perthshire churchyard for decades, could soon be conserved in a museum.

Standing at around eight foot, the engraved Pictish cross-slab, which dates back thousands of years, was discovered in around 1865 before being moved to the Kettins churchyard.

Eroded after years of use as a footbridge across Kettins Burn, now government agency Historic Scotland is due to carry out tests on the ancient monument, while villagers help find an appropriate final resting place for the slab.

Coupar Angus and Meigle councillor Alan Grant, who has been in contact with Historic Scotland, hopes the historic and cultural wealth of the cross-slab will capture the imagination of local residents and so help in a bid to try and retain the stone locally.

The sheer size of the slab, however, is likely to make relocating it difficult Councillor Grant explained. He said: “The cross-slab is described as massive and indeed it is. This means that there are two principal problems in relocating it; first you have to find a big enough building to put it in and secondly you have to have a strong enough base to support it.

“That, of course, assumes you can actually move it in the first place but Historic Scotland advise me they have a specialist team which does this type of job and they seem confident they can handle the moving. So now our most important task is to find somewhere to set it up which is firstly, and most importantly, public, and if possible, local.”

Part of a former Pictish settlement, Kettins and the surrounding area has been found to be rich in 7th to 10th century stone carvings over the last 100 years or so. The discoveries in the area are recognised worldwide as one of the most important examples of early medieval sculpture in Western Europe.

And despite showing signs of physical erosion from its use as a footbridge, from the weather and from the damaging effect of ivy, the carvings are still evident on one side of the stone. Although the symbolic cross much associated with Pictish carvings is very worn, four panels on the right of the shaft contain various carvings including a griffin or winged horse, three cloaked figures and a creature with the head of a Pictish beast and the body of a horse or dog.

Historic Scotland are due to carry out a specialist assessment of the stone to decide how best to conserve it and have stressed their sensitivity to trying to retain it locally. This forms part of the work of the agency’s 7,000 monument wardens and the Kettins cross-slab was identified as being in need of conservation as a matter of routine checking.

Meigle Museum, which already contains 26 sculptured Pictish stones, is being considered alongside Perth Museum, as a possible permanent home for the slab. A spokesperson from Meigle Museum explained how the museum, which is largely visited by tourists from all over the world, was considered one of the best collections of Pictish stone in the country. She added: “The stone would certainly be one of the biggest in our collection but we’ve got the room for it and the more we have of these ancient stones the better.”

From Yorkshiretoday.co.uk

THE discovery of 12,000-year-old artwork on the walls of a North Derbyshire cave could spur on a bid for World Heritage Site status.
The momentous find at Creswell Crags is believed to give the clearest evidence yet of how far north man had travelled during the ice ages. But while archaeologists are still in raptures over the images, mostly depicting animals, trust chiefs running the site believe it could spell great things for the area.
Nigel Mills, of Creswell Heritage Trust, said the paintings – thought to be Britain’s first ever cave pictures – could mean the resurrection of an ambitious scheme to gain World Heritage Site status.
He said: “Creswell Crags is a hugely important site. The quality and the quantity of archeological evidence which has come from the site are second to none. At the time when these paintings were made the crags would have been at the very edge of the ice sheet which covered much of the North of England. The paintings are evidence that the crags were the most northerly place visited by ice age man. For these reasons the crags are unique places – and something that is so unique could form the basis of a bid to be a World Heritage Site. In 1996, a bid was put forward but was rejected. In the light of recent events it may now be appropriate to reconsider that application.”

The Creswell Crags site has come a long way in the intervening years when it was blighted by the nearby location of a sewage works and a busy road cutting through the gorge. Major progress has already been made on moving the sewage works and diverting a section of the B6042 road. The trust, set up in 1990 to safeguard the site, is leading a £14m scheme to regenerate the former coalfield area. Part of the scheme will see the construction of a £4.5m museum and visitor centre which it is hoped will secure the long-term future of the site.

The earliest-known example of prehistoric cave art in Britain could get a new £4.5m museum. A lottery bid is being prepared to allow the cave art to go on public view, although the exact details have yet to be worked out.

Read more at: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3084155.stm

Farmers to protect Archaeological Sites
by Georgina Horton
Western Morning News


Westcountry farmers have pledged to work with English Heritage to investigate how more effective protection can be given to ancient sites buried beneath farmland in Britain. It follows the launch of a new campaign by the conservation group to save thousands of fragile archaeological remains throughout the country put at risk by intensive agriculture.

Nearly 3,000 monuments that are recognised as nationally important are currently on land that is being cultivated, according to Simon Thurley, the chief executive of English Heritage, including a Roman burial in Dinnington, Somerset.

Since 1945 many ancient sites, including some of the oldest visible monuments in our landscape, have been destroyed or are being seriously damaged – ploughed up or degraded by increasingly powerful farm machinery and intensive cultivation.

Neolithic long barrows, Roman towns and villas, and Anglo-Saxon cemeteries – a patchwork of thousands of years’ worth of history – have all suffered and are continuing to suffer.

“We are quite literally ripping up our history,” he said. “In doing so we are also doing irreparable damage to the character and fascination of our much-loved countryside. A monument that might have taken decades to construct can be swept away in a matter of hours. Modern intensive ploughing has arguably done more damage in six decades than traditional agriculture did in the preceding six centuries. We cannot blame farmers for what has been happening but we need a new strategy to protect threatened archaeological sites under cultivation.”

The campaign, which is called Ripping Up History, calls for changes in the law and to the system of farm subsidiaries. It is not demanding an instant ban on ploughing, but is asking for legal provision for English Heritage to monitor the impact on sites of ploughing, and to review permits where there was clear damage.

And for the first time, farmers’ representatives are supporting the campaign. A spokesman for the National Farmers’ Union said most farmers took great pride in the historic features of their land.

“We recognise that changes to farming policy provide a useful opportunity to revisit this issue,” he said. “But we need to ensure that changes bring benefits for farmers and our heritage. We need to use language that encourages, rather than undermines partnership.”

The NFU has also called on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Tessa Jowell’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport to work with local authorities and archaeologists to ensure that farmers are told about the location and importance of remains.

“In the majority of cases, damage that has been caused to these sites has been the result of farmers not being informed about the sites rather than as a result of any malicious intent,” the NFU spokesman said. Ploughing itself has uncovered many sites that were previously unknown, and farmers have volunteered the information to local archaeologists. We hope that the many farmers who already work with English Heritage to chart and protect these finds continue to do so.”

[email protected]

You can read lots about the Ripping Up History campaign at English Heritage’s site at https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/default.asp?WCI=NewsItem&WCE=324

Workmen were spotted two days ago inside the old Archaeoscope building at Carnac. As previously reported the building is scheduled to be converted into a new visitor centre to replace the prefabricated structure at Kermario. The visitor centre is currently housed in a rather large tent in the main Menec carpark.
The three workmen were spotted at around three in the afternoon standing in the foyer of the old Archaeoscope. Although they were not actually doing anything this could be the first real sign that the ‘New Project’ is being realised. One of the workmen appeared to be smoking a cigarette but this is probably due to the archaic French Workmens Union regulations that state that for every man working at least one man or, where possible, two men should be stood nearby to carry out the essential functions of pointing, smoking and chin stroking.
It is not clear when the new visitor centre will be completed and no work has yet begun on the removal of the fences.

thisisoxfordshire.co.uk
thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/oxfordshire/news/ALLNEWS0.html

..a little report about the first dig to be done at the Clumps – and hold on, it’s not all about the Romans..

Skeletons of a young woman and a new-born baby dating back to the Roman period have been unearthed by archaeologists at Wittenham Clumps. While they could be the remains of a mother and her child, Tom Allen of Oxford Archaeology said it was unlikely. The skeletons had originally been buried several yards apart on Castle Hill, at Little Wittenham, near Didcot.

Mr Allen described the discovery as “significant but not totally unexpected”, at the start of the first archaeological dig to be undertaken at the Clumps, including the Iron Age hill fort of Castle Hill.

Iron Age, Roman and Saxon activity has previously been found inside the hill fort -- and late Roman burials discovered outside -- but the site has never been excavated.

The twin beech-capped hills form part of an 800-acre estate owned by the Northmoor Trust charity, which was awarded a £1.7m Heritage Lottery grant “to explore the evolution and future of England’s landscape”.

A further £1.3m has been raised in sponsorship.

At the heart of the £3m project will be a hi-tech visitors’ centre situated inside converted farm buildings at Hill Farm, Little Wittenham. Called a Landscape Evolution Centre, visitors will be able investigate how predicted climatic and economic factors could change the area’s landscape in the future.

An extensive archaeology programme, which is being funded with the help of the Lottery grant, will also be undertaken.

Mr Allen said a geophysical survey of the Clumps by English Heritage had revealed a buried ditch, probably from an earlier Bronze Age enclosure, on Castle Hill.

The skeletons are among the first of many finds archaeologists expect to unearth from a period spanning nearly 4,000 years.

Following careful examination, the skeletons were removed for investigative tests.The archaeologists were able to establish that the skeletons were of Roman origin because of pottery remains with the bodies.

Ian Rowland-Hill, chief executive of the Northmoor Trust, said: “This is a unique landscape and we want to explore why humans chose to live on Castle Hill.”

The excavations will continue until the end of August, and the project is looking for volunteers to help out. There is a campsite close to the site, with showers and food provided by the Northmoor Trust.The standard working day is from 8am to 4.30pm. A charge of £80 per week will be made towards the cost of food and accommodation. Call 01865 263800 for an application form or write to Denise Price, Oxford Archaeology, Janus House, Osney Mead, Oxford, OX2 OES.

article by staff of The Darlington & Stockton Times
thisisthenortheast

A CAMPAIGN to protect the setting of ancient monuments near Bedale is gathering momentum and a fighting fund has been set up.

The Thornborough henges – ancient earthworks – are said to be Yorkshire’s rival to Stonehenge.

Following an enthusiastic open meeting last week, The Friends of Thornborough adopted new chairman Jon Lowry’s strategic plan to intensify their campaign.

The group may even write to the Prince of Wales asking for his support.

The Friends are incensed that the landscape setting of the largest complex of prehistoric earthworks in Britain is being destroyed by aggregates mining.

Tarmac Northern wants to extend the workings of its quarrying and has stressed that English Heritage would be consulted on protection and preservation of the henges.

Part of the restoration would attempt to return the area to the appearance which archaeologists believed it once had.

The monuments, which are older than Stonehedge, were once used for ceremonial purposes by people from all over the North and were part of a network of prehistoric monuments including other henges near Ripon and the Devil’s Arrows at Boroughbridge.

“We need to harness people power to both save and enhance the setting of such amazing Stone Age henge temples,” said Mr Lowry

At the meeting a petition was organised on the night, and one member suggested asking for the support of the Prince of Wales who is known to have a deep concern for the country’s heritage and environment.

It was decided to keep membership of the Friends open to anyone with the same concerns and to rely upon donations to provide a fighting fund.

Those attending promptly contributed £400 to start the ball rolling, although it was recognised that far more would be necessary to finance a professional campaign

Membership requests and donations to The Friends of Thornborough can be sent to Mr Lowry at 7 Beech Close, Snape, Bedale, DL8 2TP.

Heathrow reveals historic legacy
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3072211.stm

An archaeological dig at the site of the new Terminal 5 building at Heathrow Airport has provided a unique insight into 8,000 years of human history, excavation leaders have said.
About 80,000 objects have been unearthed at the 250-acre site, including pottery and flint.

A team of 80 archaeologists have spent more than 15 months working on the site and traced how the communities and landscape around Heathrow has changed. The project was the largest single archaeological dig in the UK in terms of the area excavated and the numbers of archaeologists employed.

Evidence showed that the first permanent settlement was in the Bronze Age (2,400BC to 700BC). By the Iron Age (700BC to 43AD) a small village had appeared but that settlement died out at the end of the Roman era. Another one grew up in the 12th Century.

Experts also found evidence that field boundaries were being created from about 2,000BC, 500 years earlier than previously thought. Tony Trueman of Framework Archaeology, formed especially to carry out the dig, said this was highly significant. “It shows that people were actually claiming ownership of land for the first time. Before this land was shared by the whole of a community, but this shows us social attitudes were changing and hierarchies were emerging much earlier than we first thought.”

Before the first settlement, the team found pits where meat was cooked by hunter gatherers during the Middle Stone Age, when the landscape was covered by trees.

Heathrow Airport was built on the site of what had previously been a private airfield on Hounslow Heath in 1946. The £2.5bn Terminal 5 project is likely to be operational in 2007.

Objects from the dig are already being displayed at the Museum of London and others will be exhibited at the Heathrow Visitors’ Centre later this year.

Belfast Telegraph > News Publication Date: 17 July 2003

By Anita Guidera
email: [email protected]

THE Republic’s largest Neolithic settlement dating back 5,000 years has been uncovered on a remote mountain – more than 100 years after the site was first mapped by archaeologists.

A small team, led by Dr Stefan Bergh of the Department of Archaeology of NUI Galway, working on the plateau at Mullaghfarna, 250 feet above Lough Arrow, Co Sligo, discovered artefacts which link the site to the late Stone Age, 2,500 to 3,000 years before Christ.

The existence of some of the 140 hut sites and enclosures high up on the plateau in the Brickleigh mountains, surrounded by cliffs and passage tombs has been known to archaeologists since 1911 but until now the age of the settlement has remained a mystery.

“This has remained one of the most enigmatic places in Irish pre-history.

“It has always been a main focus of research but it could not be fully interpreted because we did not have a date for it,” explained Dr Bergh.

All this changed two weeks ago, when Dr Bergh and a small group of students from NUI Galway, uncovered a collection of cremated bones, teeth of animals, hazelnut shells, charcoal, small pieces of pottery and small tools, including an Antrim flint knife and some concave scrapers, as well as black flint debris on three separate trial digs on the 60,000 square metres limestone plateau.

“These finds are very significant for the time period and all date to the Neolithic period, although exact dates will not be known until the artefacts are carbon dated,” Dr Bergh said.

thescotsman.co.uk/index.cfm?id=776042003

Joy over double Stone Age find in Fife

TWO hugely significant Neolithic finds have been made in Fife within weeks of each other, thanks to sharp-eyed amateur archeologists. Historic Scotland has confirmed that intricate markings on boulders on the Binn Hill, a volcanic plug above Burntisland, are neolithic cup and ring marks which may be 4,000 years old. In a separate find, an outstanding example of a ceremonial Neolithic axe, which may have belonged to a leader or a priest, has been unearthed in a newly ploughed field at Mid-Conlan, just below East Lomond Hill.

Amateur archeologists Colin Kilgour and Jock Moyes contacted Historic Scotland after seeing photographs of Neolithic carvings in an exhibition and recognising the designs they had seen as children playing on the Binn Hill. “It was then we realised we had seen these markings before,” explained Mr Kilgour. “When we were kids we used to play on the Binn Hill, and I remembered finding patterns just like that when we were building a gang hut. We went back and, sure enough, the carvings were still there. We knew what the markings were, but had never imagined they would be so important.” Historic Scotland is now considering the best way to protect the neolithic cup and ring marks on Binn Hill.

Fife Council archaeologist Douglas Speirs said: “It’s fantastic – truly amazing. The carvings are what is called a cup and ring design on a large boulder, with a spiral carved out on a nearby rockface. They are about 4,000 years old – which means they were already about 3,000 years old when the famous carvings were made in the Wemyss Caves. We know of examples of this style mainly from Perthshire and Argyll, and even there they are rare, so to find one here in Fife is hugely important. The fact that one of the cup and ring marks has not been completed gives us confirmation of the method used to carve them.”

Cup and ring marks are found throughout Scotland and date from about 2000 to 3000 BC, making them up to 5,000 years old. But only six known examples have been discovered in Fife, and one of those, in a cave at West Wemyss, was lost in a rockfall in 1902. Common to all cup and ring carvings is a central scoop, or “cup” surrounded by spiral incisions and often surrounded by other curvilinear decorative designs. Archeologists are unclear about the significance of the recurring patterns, with theories that they were used for making offerings of milk or blood or that they are artistic representations of elemental forces. Despite the mystery which surrounds their creation, experts agree the find in Burntisland is of national historic significance. Councillor William Leggatt has pushed for the site to be both recognised and protected since the discovery came to light. “There’s a lot more in Fife and I’m quite sure there is a lot more to find on the Binn Hill itself, because it has been an important site through the ages,” he said.

The actor and poet Michael Kelly, who has appeared in films with Ewan McGregor and Liam Neeson, made a similarly momentous discovery when he noticed something glinting at his feet in a freshly ploughed field, while scouting for film locations. The polished axe head, which may be 5,000 years old, is a very rare example of a ceremonial axe. The craftsmanship that has gone into its production means it could have been used or owned by an important individual or by a religious figure for ceremonial or ritual purposes. The stone itself is probably not native to the area and appears to have been imported from another region, possibly as far away as Cumbria, probably already as a finished tool.

Such long-distance trade in fine exotic axes is well recorded in the Neolithic period and there were various centres that produced axes that supplied large geographical areas. Mr Kelly discovered the axe head in April, but it wasn’t until he showed it to a friend that he began to realise its true significance. He has so far resisted requests to hand over the small axe head, saying he intends to resist the law of treasure trove, which means artefacts of a certain age have to be handed over to the Crown. He said: “It really is something to hold in your hand, and think about what has happened. I found it two miles from my house and it makes you think about people working and living in your own wee town all those years ago.” He added: “I am aware of the laws. But I want to make my film and I think if Fife Council want to put this in their museum or their library they should put up some money. I have been told I will be given about £300 or £400 for it but I think it is worth at least £5,000. If they don’t manage to come up with that I might just lose it.”

Mr Speirs has had an exciting few weeks, having been privy to two hugely significant Neolithic discoveries on his patch. Of the axe-head, he said: “This is exciting, a rare and remarkable find, and an outstanding example of a mid-neolithic ceremonial piece.”

17 July 2003

FOLLOWING THE FOSSE WAY – This Is Lincolnshire

thisislincolnshire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=57711&command=displayContent&sourceNode=57238&contentPK=6357370

10:30 – 14 July 2003

The country’s newest dual carriageway follows the same route as an historic Roman thoroughfare. The roadworks gave archaeologists a rare chance to dig deep into the history of the county. Brendan Montague follows the path they charted into the mists of time. The newly opened stretch of A46 between Lincoln and Newark follows a route that has remained important for at least 2,000 years – the Roman Fosse Way.
And the construction allowed archaeologists to unearth prehistoric artefacts that date all the way back to the Late Neolithic age – as far as 2400 BC.

Many of the rare finds will be preserved in Lincoln’s new City and County Museum. The archaeological discoveries help map a route through history back to some of the earliest recorded settlements in Lincolnshire.
The historical trail began with the unearthing of pits and gullies containing pottery from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, found at the Winthorpe roundabout, near Newark. This is the spot where the present A46 is thought to diverge from the original Fosse Way, although very little of the Roman road was discovered. The pits that were found are evidence of historic timber fences, working shelters and other structures.

Further along the road at Glebe Farm, on the route of the Brough bypass, archaeologists found more evidence of Early Bronze Age habitation. A cremation cemetery was discovered, which included cremation burials in urns set in a circle-shaped ditched enclosure. This was surrounded by a ditch which had been cut into the natural sands and gravel with a south-west facing entrance. Beaker pottery found at the site dates back to 2,000BC with other burial urns also dating from 1,700BC.

Cremation burial remains were also unearthed at Langford Hall at the northern end of the Brough bypass. These were revealed to have originated from the Middle Bronze Age, between 1,700 and 1,500BC.
And they are described by the project leader of the City of Lincoln Archaeological Unit, Russell Trimble, as “the most interesting” discovery.
“This is a very unusual find for this region,” he added. “But we have got to study the pots – we have got specialists looking at them and then we will know how rare they are.”

An Iron Age settlement with boundaries was also discovered at Brough, including many crop marks such as track ways, fields and roundhouses.

The name of the village derives from the Anglo-Saxon word for an old fortification – burgh – although to the Romans it was known as Crococalana. Excavations around Glebe Farm revealed evidence of an Anglo-Saxon settlement, dating from the sixth century.

“We found about 16 small pots with fragments of pottery with human remains from the early bronze age,” Mr Trimble said. “These types of sites are rare. We know of one parallel site in the south of the country.”
The excavations at Glebe Farm revealed evidence of houses, fields and enclosures from the Iron Age, dated around 100BC.

Digs carried out during the road-building project have thrown light on the complex history of occupation at Gallows Nooking Common.

The area at the top of the Trent Valley runs parallel to an ancient earthwork “band and ditch” which marks the local parish and county boundary. Mr Trimble said: “There had only been glimpses and we have now been able to complete the picture.
“The very interesting thing about the site is the main road crosses over the area, and it seems from the work that we carried out the settlement existed for a long time.
“We want to establish why the settlement came to an end – was it something to do with the Roman road? They may have been cleared out.”

Archaeologists have been able to confirm that the A46 follows the route of the original Roman Fosse Way, built midway through the first century. At some points a limestone road surface with an underlying layer of broken Roman brick was found. But because the ancient and modern roads follow exactly the same path most of it lies undisturbed – perhaps ready for discovery 2,000 years from now.

Report from www.thisisdevon.co.uk website
09:00 – 10 July 2003

Beachgoers have been advised to think before they sunbathe or walk under cliffs, following the appearance of a crack in the Golden Cap, near Charmouth in Dorset. Chris Pamplin, earth sciences adviser for the world heritage team which looks after the Jurassic Coastline, said: “There is indeed a pinnacle of rock teetering on the brink of falling. It will fall, but the timing is anybody’s guess. It is of little danger to the general public using either Seatown or Charmouth beaches and would only pose a threat to walkers going around the base of the cliff at low tide.

“However this is a very obvious lump of rock. All beach users, wherever they are, be it Dorset, Devon, Cornwall or any other part of our coast should be aware that rocks can fall with no notice from any of our cliffs.”

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ANCIENT stone carvings found on Burntisland’s Binn Hill have excited major interest among archaeologists.

As a result they look likely to be designated a scheduled ancient monument, given the same status as national treasures such as Edinburgh Castle. And local enthusiasts hope it could prompt a fresh archaeological survey of the whole area, believing more discoveries could be waiting. The object of such excitement is a set of rock carvings thought to be about 4000 years old and of a design rare in Scotland and almost unique in Fife.

Fife Council Archaeologist Douglas Speirs enthused: “It’s fantastic – truly amazing. The carvings are what is called a cup and ring design on a large boulder, with a spiral carved out on a nearby rockface. They are about 4000 years old – which means they were already about 3000 years old when the famous carvings were made in the Wemyss Caves. We know of examples of this style mainly from Perthshire and Argyll, and even there they are rare, so to find one here in Fife is hugely important. The fact that one of the cup and ring marks has not been completed gives us confirmation of the method used to carve them.”

The find has also excited Historic Scotland, which is set to declare the site a scheduled ancient monument, giving it the maximum legal protection from development or other damage. Councillor William Leggatt has pushed for the site to be both recognised and protected since the discovery came to light. “There’s a lot more in Fife and I’m quite sure there is a lot more to find on the Binn Hill itself, because it has been an important site through the ages,” he said.

The discovery was a tale in itself. Local men Colin Kilgour and Jock Moyes, who shared an interest in archaeology, came across a picture of cup and ring-marked stones at an exhibition. “It was then we realised we had seen these markings before,” explained Colin. “When we were kids we used to play on the Binn Hill, and I remembered finding patterns just like that when we were building a gang hut. We went back and, sure enough, the carvings were still there. We knew what the markings were, but had never imagined they would be so important.’‘

10 July 2003

Yippee! At last! There may be peace and quiet for the walkers, bicyclists and horse riders who use the Ridgeway...

From the Oxford Times, Thursday 10 July 2003

Laws banning motor vehicles from the Ridgeway national trail may come into force if a conservation project to repair the damage they have caused fails.

The Government is considering barring four-wheel-drive vehicles, motor cycles and quad bikes from the historic 85-mile trail next year, if a national trails improvement scheme is unsuccessful.

Liberal Democrat and Conservative MPs called for the Government to agree to introduce a ban if the project fails.

But Tony McNulty, parliamentary under secretary of state for transport, said the project needed to be given a chance.

The Countryside Agency has pledged to restore and improve the national trails, including the Ridgeway, which runs across south Oxfordshire.

About £1m is also being sought by the Oxford-based National Trails Office to repair stretches of the route, with support from Oxfordshire County Council.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr McNulty said: “If the Countryside Agency’s management plan and the work of local authorities do not produce results within 12 months, the Government is committed to consider promoting a ban.”

A section of the Railways and Transport Safety Bill is likely to be amended to include the possible ban. It was scheduled for discussion in the House of Lords on July 10.

Lord Bill Bradshaw, who lives in Wallingford, was expected to be among supporters.

Don Foster, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, who was among those calling for the amendment, said the Government must ensure the issue was taken seriously.

Peter Gauld, secretary of Friends of the Ridgeway, which has campaigned for vehicles to be banned, said: “I would be pleased to see this amendment go through.”

In April, county councillors from the three main parties supported a motion to ban vehicles.

The executive board was asked to use traffic regulation orders to protect sections of the route, which are advertised on websites for four-wheel-drive enthusiasts.

From the BBC –

‘Satellites really could be used to spot ancient archaeological treasures buried underground, two researchers in Israel have shown.‘

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3052619.stm

Chesterfield Today

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Historians are planning a new £4.5m museum to showcase Britain’s first cave art after it was discovered at a Derbyshire attraction.
Ice Age engravings dating back 12,000 years were uncovered by a team of archaeologists investigating Creswell Crags. The sketchings, which include an ibex — an antelope-like creature — have forced a rethink of the life of prehistoric Britons.

John Humble, inspector of ancient monuments for English Heritage, said: “The text books say that there is no cave art in Britain. They will now have to be re-written. The specialist team are to be congratulated on making a very important scientific discovery.”

For the moment the paintings — some of which were covered by modern day graffiti — are not on view. But crags bosses hope the drawings will act as the catalyst for a new £4.5m museum which will showcase them and other artefacts.

Nigel Mills, manager of the Creswell Heritage Trust, said: “These discoveries confirm the importance of Creswell Crags in global terms as one of the most northerly places to have been visited by our ancestors during the Ice Age. Cave art has been found in at least three caves, and this provides a very visual and vivid addition to the Creswell Crags story, and to the story of Ice Age Britain as a whole.”

A bid for Heritage Lottery Fund money is being prepared for submission next month.

Mr Mills added: “The current visitor facilities are far too small and dilapidated. We need more space in order for us to move forward and to develop museum and educational facilities befitting the importance of the site.”

The museum plan is the latest in a series of initiatives announced in a £14m re-vamp of the Creswell area.

Severn Trent Water has shelled out £4m to relocate sewage works from the site, and £1.5m scheme will take place over the next 18 months to re-route the main road which runs through the gorge.

From an article on the Ananova Web site, published 8th July 2003:

Archaeologists have discovered the bones of a human who lived 25,000 years ago, in a cave on the outskirts of Beijing.

The bones were found in the village of Zhoukoudian near the site where the Peking Man fossils were discovered.

Excavations began in the cave in 2001 after forestry workers discovered fossilised animals there.

Nine-foot rock in his garden
by Bob Dow (Daily Record)

COMIC Billy Connolly has put up his own three-ton standing stone in his Highland garden. The lump of Caithness granite at Candacraig House in Strathdon, Aberdeenshire, is inscribed with the Big Yin’s favourite saying: “There’s no such thing as normal.” Glasgow-born Connolly has a long-standing passion for Scotland’s standing stones. He was filmed dancing naked around a ring of stones in Orkney during a televised tour of Scotland. And after buying secluded Candacraig , he was determined to have his own.

Telly pal Michael Parkinson put him in touch with English-based carver Martin Cook, 45, who travelled to Wick to select the stone himself. Martin carved the inscription by hand before transporting the stone to Strathdon and putting it up. Martin said: “I get some unusual requests and standing stones are now very popular for people to have in their gardens with carved words or poetry on them.

“The carving took the best part of a week. Then it was transported to Billy’s place and we fixed it on to a concrete foundation. With the help of the gardeners and anyone else around, we hoisted it into place with ropes .”

The stone, which is nine feet high, stands discreetly at the foot of a mound in the 12 acres of grounds. Martin said: “It is not dominating the garden, the idea of standing stones is that they draw an energy to them. It was a lovely commission, very unusual.

“Apparently, it has been admired a lot by all his guests he has had up there but I haven’t had any spin-offs from it yet.” Martin stayed with Connolly and wife Pamela Stephenson at Candacraig during the work.

He said: “It was fantastic. Billy and his wife are delightful people. Incredibly hospitable and what you see with him on TV is absolutely how he is.”

I can’t supply a URL for this one, as the site won’t let me but it was published in The Herald on 25th June this year:

DNA suggests the Celts held their ground – Scientists shatter Anglo-Saxon myth, writes STEPHEN STEWART

THE first analysis of DNA passed from father to son across the UK has shattered the Anglocentric view of early British history, it emerged yesterday. For decades, historians have believed that successive waves of invaders, such as the Anglo-Saxons, drove out the indigenous population of the British Isles, labelled Celts, pushing them to the fringes of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. However, work by a team of scientists on the Y chromosome, which is passed from father to son, has shown the native tribes left their genetic stamp throughout the UK and not only in the “Celtic fringe”. The evidence suggests that Anglo-Saxons tend to dominate British history merely because they kept better written records than their indigenous counterparts.

A large number of native people remained in England and central Ireland and were never entirely replaced by the invaders, often surviving in high proportions throughout the British Isles, according to the research by Professor David Goldstein, Dr Jim Wilson, and a team of experts at University College London. The study was based on comparing Y chromosomes from Britain with the invaders’ Y chromosomes, represented by descendants of Danes, Vikings (in Norway) and Anglo-Saxons (in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany).

Dr Jim Wilson, a population geneticist from Orkney who is now based at University College London, said: “The recent paper was based on a study that I carried out on Orkney to tell if the inhabitants were descended from Vikings. It found the genetic profile was halfway between Norway and Ireland, suggesting that the Vikings did have a significant effect on the population. In the new study, samples were collected from the whole of Britain in a grid pattern. The study contradicts the notion of the complete replacement of the indigenous people by incoming Anglo-Saxons. The data set doesn’t show that but illustrates that the English are largely indigenous in origin. We wanted to look at whether culture and genetics go together. In Orkney and Shetland they spoke Norwegian until the 1700s and there we have a strong case for genes and culture going hand-in-hand.”

Dr Wilson and his colleagues established that Y chromosomes of Britain’s indigenous populations were almost identical to those of the Basques, who live on the French-Spanish border and speak a language unrelated to the Indo-European tongues that swept into Europe 8000 years ago. “We tended to avoid the term ‘Celts’ as there is some debate about it. For example, the Irish and Welsh are indistinguishable from the Basques, who are the earliest indigenous inhabitants of Europe,” he said. “The Basques were in Europe before farming and before the development of Indo-European languages such as those spoken by the people labelled Celts.”

The indigenous population, genetically very close to the Basques, must also be drawn from the original Paleolithic inhabitants of Europe. They are possibly the first modern inhabitants of Britain, who settled the islands about 10,000 years ago. As well as the Vikings’ genetic trail in Orkney, a centre of Viking activity from 800-1200, many men in York and east England carry Danish Y chromosomes but there was little sign of Anglo-Saxon heritage in south England, once believed to have been heavily colonised.

Cultural evolution
The notion there is a specific history of the Celts, as opposed to the individual histories of the Irish, Welsh and Scots, is a recent phenomenon. Between the fall of the Roman Empire and circa 1700, “Celtic” was used only to describe the ancient Gauls of France and related continental peoples. The conventional view has been that Celts shared certain cultural traits such as related languages; they were also all non-literate and non-urban. The alternative view is that great differences occurred between so-called Celtic cultures. For example, Druidic cults may have been confined to the British Isles and much of Gaul, and were possibly unknown among most of the continental tribes called Celts in the Iron Age.

The trowels have been unsheathed for Britain’s biggest archaeological excavation as work restarts at the Scatness broch, in Shetland, today (Wednesday).

Around 60 experts and students of pre-history have descended on the Iron Age village for what will be the last of nine seasons of work, during which they have rewritten the history books about how life was lived 2000 years ago.

Work began on the Pictish broch, at the southern tip of the islands, in 1995, after Shetland Amenity Trust purchased the land and raised the cash to proceed with the first phase of activity.

By the end of this year the trust hope to have created a “living iron age village” which will demonstrate what life in Shetland was like at the time Christ walked the earth.

Since then the team from Bradford University’s archaeological department, which have been in charge of the digging programme, have uncovered a spectacular maze of stone buildings which were continuously inhabited for more than one thousand years.

Over the past few years they have discovered a wealthy settlement where people produced top of the range bronzeware, from weapons to jewellery, and lived the high life eating beef and supping locally produced ale.

Last year evidence came to light that Scatness contained a bronzeware factory importing tin from Cornwall, mixing it with locally mined copper and creating bronze implements which were exported throughout Britain and even further afield.

The find of the year was a Pictish carving of a bear, discovered almost by accident in one of the walls of a roundhouse, provoking endless debate about whether bears ever roamed the islands, or whether the artist was depicting a brown or even a polar bear witnessed during their travels south or north of the isles.

The site has become a laboratory for scientific research into new dating techniques, and allowed specialists to explore their fields in a way rarely afforded by similar digs, which are usually limited by time and resources.

This year however the focus will be on preparing the site for its long term future as a visitor centre.

County archaeologist Val Turner said: “Work on the village will be completed at the end of this season, and we will be consolidating it in the autumn. We will stabilize everything and instead of covering it up we will leave it open and turn it into a year round tourist attraction.”

Ms Turner said there was still much to look forward to though, with five of the iron age houses needing to be excavated to floor level over the next six weeks. “That’s going to be fun because the floor is where people dropped things, so that’s where you find all the goodies,” she said.

However the archaeology will not stop entirely after this year. The amenity trust hope to maintain smaller scale digging operations on different parts of the site into the future, and the hope is that Shetland folk will play a bigger part in creating the Iron Age atmosphere to visitors who come to Scatness in the years ahead.

“Some Shetland-based people are starting a textile project where they take a fleece, hand spin and hand weave it and turn it into a piece of cloth…and that’s the kind of direction we want to move in,” Ms Turner said.

“It will become a centre for interpreting the period in a “hands on” way, where people can feel what it’s like to live in the Iron Age and experience it with all five of their senses.”

Article taken from ‘The Shetland Times‘

Cornish newspaper “The West Briton” expands on the recent news about Gun Rith Menhir

The restoration process has been carefully planned to ensure that the area is safe for visitors and to make it look exactly as it did before the accident – even down to replacing it with a lean.

Ann Preston-Jones, senior archaeologist at the historic environment service said: “We wanted to make sure that although the stone was going to be built back into the hedge, it would remain as visible as it had been before.

“However, as the stone had almost no foundation and a 15 degree lean, it had become very unstable.

“The only way to make it safe without a base would have been to place it completely upright and to bury it so deep that it would have appeared very much shorter and become rapidly overgrown by trees and shrubs.

“We therefore came to the conclusion that it would be best to stand the stone up in a base as it is something that we have done before for medieval crosses.

“We felt that, in this case, it could be justified because, with the support of a base, most of the height of the menhir can be above the ground and it will be safe for it to lean slightly.”

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