Latest News

From the Stones Mailing List, some interesting discoveries – posted to the list by Sigurd Towie, whose excellent site is mentioned elsewhere here.

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I was going to hold onto this until my complete article appeared in The Orcadian, but following a number of e-mails received today after a story on Radio Orkney this morning, here’s the relevant extract:

“While attention over recent years has been firmly on Tankerness and the underground chamber of Minehowe, the emphasis in 2002 shifted firmly back to the West Mainland and the “Neolithic Heart of Orkney”.

There, for the first time in almost 30 years, the area around two of Orkney’s best-known ancient monuments – the Ring of Brodgar and Standing Stones of Stenness – came under close scrutiny.

Not only was a large section of the Ness of Brodgar painstakingly scanned, but a chance discovery of two large stones on the shore of the Stenness loch could shed some light on the construction of the stone circles, in particular how the megaliths were transported from the quarry site.

While walking the eastern shore of the Stenness Loch, Nick Card of Orkney Archaeological Trust (OAT) came across the two prone stones lying by the water. The stones, just to the north of the Wasbister disc barrow, could indicate that after being hauled to the loch after quarrying, the megaliths took to the water for their final leg of the journey. Although Nick is only certain that one of the stones was destined to be a standing stone, the discovery has intriguing parallels with a local tradition that other stones lie within the loch itself.

“It could be that these stones may once have been erected but were knocked or fell down in more recent history,” suggested Nick, “but this seems unlikely. If they had been standing, they would surely have been recorded somewhere. It seems more probable that they were actually on the way somewhere. And if you were moving something that size it makes sense to use the water.”

Staying on the subject of standing stones, work at Vestrafiold in Sandwick over the summer seems to have confirmed that megaliths were indeed quarried there – the location long held to be the source of the Stenness stones. The project, led by Dr Colin Richards of Manchester University, hopes to reveal more about the people who hewed the great stones from the quarry and moved them more than seven miles to the Ness of Brodgar. Previous investigative has concentrated on the stone circles themselves, but Dr Richards’ project could provide an intriguing glimpse behind the scenes of the construction of Orkney’s grandest prehistoric relics. The Vestrafiold work is ongoing and Dr Richards hopes to return in 2003.”

Not much else can be said about the Vestrafiold project at present – landowner isn’t keen on publicity.

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Sigurd Towrie
Blackhall – Kirbister – Stromness – Orkney
Heritage of Orkney: https://www.orkneyjar.com

Maev Kennedy, arts and heritage correspondent
Wednesday December 18, 2002
The Guardian

West Country police recently turned out on a cold wet night, to follow up reports that two men were illegally digging on an important Roman site. A man with a metal detector was detained nearby, and hundreds of objects were recovered from his car and home.

But of the extraordinary haul of Roman coins, scraps of armour and harness, a medieval purse carrier and a crushed Victorian silver thimble, only a tiny scrap of blackened Anglo-Saxon silver can be proved to be held illegally. The finds, more than 400 in all, are being studied by experts at the British Museum, but the incident increases the frustration at the present law shared by archaeologists, police and museum experts.

Although amateurs using metal detectors are encouraged to report all finds, under the voluntary portable antiquities scheme, they are only legally obliged to report treasure finds of gold or silver or hoards of coins.

Of the cupboard full of finds from the West Country case, only the sliver of silver – a decorated Anglo Saxon strap end, perhaps 1,300 years old – counts as treasure, which the finder could be prosecuted for failing to report.

The man claimed to have been digging more than two miles from the Roman site, with the land owner’s permission – though why he was doing so in darkness and rain was harder to explain.

Although many of the objects recovered are believed to have been illegally excavated, probably from scheduled ancient monuments like the Roman site, where permission would never be given for an amateur to trawl with a metal detector, it is impossible to prove where they came from. The coins would only be treasure if found as a hoard.

Although none of the objects are hugely valuable, there is a ready market for such scraps of history. Many antiquity dealers will not touch such unprovenanced items, but a dodgy dealer can accept, without written proof, assurances from an excavator that he had the land owner’s consent, then swear he obtained the items in good faith and is protected in law. The damage is done, and the knowledge which could have been excavated with the objects lost forever.

Internationally the problem is vast, with a sophisticated trade in looted archaeology, sometimes stolen to order from sites or museum stores. In Britain the problem is also widespread, with reports from many parts of the country of “nighthawks”, gangs of thieves removing van loads of material. Recently the Yeavering Bell Iron Age hillfort in Northumberland, which has never been excavated, was left pitted with dozens of holes

The government promised before the election to reform the law by creating a specific offence of acquiring, handling or selling looted antiquities, but has failed to find parliamentary time. An attempt to reform the law will be made through a private member’s bill which will be introduced in February by Richard Allan, the Liberal Democrat MP for Sheffield Hallam and a member of the parliamentary all-party archaeology group.

“This bill would mean that dealers who knowingly trade in artefacts plundered from archaeological sites could be prosecuted,” he said. “Archaeological sites must be protected. Closing down the market in looted cultural objects would remove the incentive for taking material from archaeological sites.”

At the British Museum Roger Bland, director of the portable antiquities scheme, which last year resulted in 40,000 reported finds, deals daily with the frustrations of the law as it stands: “In the West Country case the police behaved absolutely commendably, but it’s hard to blame other overstretched forces with limited resources, when they know it will be hard or impossible to get a prosecution to stick. Reform of the law is long overdue.”

news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=5513829

Proposals to divert through a tunnel the busy road currently running alongside Stonehenge were today welcomed by archaeologists.

Archaeologist and broadcaster Julian Richards, who was at the World Heritage Site this afternoon to hear more about the plans, said today’s announcement was extremely welcome news.

“This is a great step forward. We can put Stonehenge back into a more natural setting so people can appreciate what a wonderful site it is.

“You can stand here today and hear the traffic all around you – hopefully that will all change.”

Chris Jones, leading the project for the Highways Agency, said it was a “historic day for the stones”.

Environmental issues were a primary concern when considering the options and a bored tunnel would help to make sure the archaeology was undisturbed, he said.

“It is restoring the landscape to its particular historic context,” he added.

Professor John Barrett, head of the department of archaeology and prehistory at Sheffield University, said the option chosen was better than alternatives of a tunnel cut from above or a highly expensive, longer bored tunnel.

“Stonehenge and its landscape allow us to encounter something of the mystery and power of the prehistoric world. This proposal opens the way for a far greater appreciation of that world,” he added.

Arts minister Tessa Blackstone welcomed today’s announcement, saying: “It will ensure Stonehenge is reunited with its surrounding monuments in their natural downland landscape setting, protect the site from heavy traffic and make possible the construction of a world class visitor centre.”

Sir Neil Cossons, chairman of English Heritage which runs the site, said: “Today’s news is a monumental moment in Stonehenge’s 5,000 year history.

“It means that Stonehenge gets the dignified setting it so justly deserves, the roads are made safer and the core area of the World Heritage Site landscape is reunited.”

English Heritage, the National Trust, the Highways Agency and local authorities are now expected to work on the tunnel’s detailed design before publication of Draft Orders in the Spring

Daily Telegraph 12.12.02 says that “the Council for British Archaeology, the International Council for Monuments and Sites UK, the National Trust, the Stonehenge Alliance and Save Stonehenge will all be expected to call for a longer tunnel at a public inquiry into the scheme next year.”

telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/12/12/nhenge12.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/12/12/ixhome.html

Durham University Archaeology Department are hosting a one-day conference on 08 March 2003 entitled: ‘New Developments in British Rock Art’.

Speakers include Stan Beckensall and Richard Bradley. For a full programme, application form and more information on rock art see dur.ac.uk/prehistoric.art/

from icNewcastle

The huge archive built up by Stan Beckensall in decades of investigating rock art is being donated to the Museum of Antiquities at Newcastle University. Stan will be working with Aron Mazel, a researcher at the university’s school of historic studies, in creating a website so that the archive will be widely available. It includes photographs taken over 35 years, notebooks, rubbings, drawings and the books written by Stan on the subject.

“It contains every bit of information I have gathered over the years and it can now all go on the Internet,” said Stan. Stan and Aron will be revisiting and re-photographing hundreds of rock art sites in Northumberland. There are more than 600 records of rock art panels in the county. Aron said: “We want to make the material available to a wide range of people, including youngsters.
“Rock art has not been at the centre stage of archaeology and it deserves a lot more exposure. “It represents a real manifestation of human endeavour and a huge amount of time and labour was invested in its creation. We need more work on the motivation and meaning behind it and hopefully the website will encourage that.”

Recent discoveries in Cumbria are the subject of the latest book by Stan. Prehistoric Rock Art in Cumbria is published by Tempus at £16.99.
icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100local/page.cfm?objectid=12444387&method=full&siteid=50081&page=2

icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100local/page.cfm?objectid=12444387&method=full&siteid=50081&page=1

From icNewcastle
By The Journal

Examples of some of the best prehistoric rock art in the world are to be protected by a Northumbrian farmer. Much of Duncan Ord’s Chatton Park Farm near Alnwick is a prehistoric landscape, which includes a hillfort and a rock overhang shelter. The farm also has several outstanding examples of mysterious rock art, consisting of cup, ring and other patterns which were carved into sandstone outcrops from 5,000 years ago. Northumberland is especially rich in rock art, which has been explored and recorded for more than 30 years by retired Hexham headteacher Stan Beckensall. He has been campaigning for the rock panels to be safeguarded from threats which include air pollution, acid rain, trampling by cattle, ploughing and quarrying. Yesterday Stan hailed a Countryside Stewardship agreement signed between Mr Ord and Defra which will see the farmer qualify for payments by looking after the ancient legacy.
The stewardship scheme provides funding to encourage traditional farming methods which can help conserve historical features, and makes provision for public access. Under his agreement Mr Ord will now keep grazing animals away from the site, and develop a trail to allow the public to appreciate the historic sites at first hand.

Mr Ord said: “Chatton Park is a marginal farm where we keep cows and sheep, as well as a small arable acreage. Our cows were traditionally wintered on the hill where the rock art is, because it offered the animals a sheltered spot whichever way the wind blew.
“But when Stan Beckensall told me how important these markings on the rocks were I was happy to change our husbandry practices. The stewardship agreement is giving me the support I need to do that.”
Stan said: “The rock art at Chatton is first class – some of the finest in the world. Duncan Ord’s stewardship scheme is an important step forward in preserving the rock art and bringing it to a wider audience. “Developments like stewardship are good because it is a recognition that the rock art is important. This is part of what I have been wanting to happen for a long, long time.
“The farm is part of prime rock art country and the landscape definitely has a presence. It is a special place.” Views from some of the main rock panels offer a sweeping vista across the Till Valley towards the Cheviot Hills. Rock art is often found in such locations and offers clues to its original purpose, which has generated scores of theories. One of the Chatton panels has multiple concentric circles, pairs of cups, squares and domino-style markings.

Neil Clark, senior advisor at Defra’s Rural Development Service North-East, said: “This agreement shows the many applications of Countryside Stewardship, not only helping to enhance and preserve wildlife habitats but also protecting important aspects of our national heritage.”

news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=5513497

A £5.5 billion package of transport improvements for England, including a £183 million road tunnel to protect Stonehenge. was announced today by the Government.

Human remains which could be about 4,000 years old have been unearthed by archaeologists working in a Cumbrian village. A team of archaeologists found the body curled up in the foetal position in a cavity in the limestone bedrock on a building site opposite the church in Levens, near Kendal. The remains have been removed after the Home Office issued a burial licence. Jamie Quartermaine, from Oxford Archaeology North, said the manner of the burial suggested the remains probably dated back to pre-Roman times.
Mr Quartermaine, who is project manager in charge of the survey at the site where two four-bedroom houses will be built, said: “All we can say for certain at this stage is that it is at least 100 years old. “We know this because there was a 100-year-old tree on top of it.” Then he stomped grumpily for a cup of tea, kicking a passing cat. [ok so I made that last sentence up, but he obviously doesn’t give two hoots and just resents the fact his houses are going to take longer to build]

Local historian Roger Bingham said: “It is one of the most exciting discoveries we have had for a long time, possibly since Bronze Age urns were found in Allithwaite. “This is an archaeological discovery of the first importance. “It also underlines the importance of asking for archaeological research before there is development.”

from the Herald:
Shan Ross

The earliest known house in Scotland is understood to have been unearthed in Dunbar, East Lothian.

Archaeologists believe the remains of the house on the site of a limestone quarry dates from the Mesolithic era of the hunter-gatherers between 8000BC and 4000BC.

The site could pre-date the Skara Brae settlement in Orkney which is from around 2000BC in the Neolithic Age.

But the substantial structure might never have been found had planners not insisted the site be surveyed by archaeologists before Lefarge Cement could begin quarrying.

The discovery of holes to take wooden posts for a teepee-like structure, suggest for the first time that the hunter-gatherers built semi-permanent structures from which to roam the shore and countryside in search of food.

Previous sites dating from the Mesolithic era have been found, including shell middens on the west coast of Scotland. A number of small hunting camps scattered with stone tools have also been found.

However no other sites apart from Mount Sandal in Northern Ireland show evidence of serious construction methods.

First indications of the site’s age emerged with the discovery of thousands of flint shards, the remnants of stone tool manufacture, the tools themselves and burned hazelnut shells.

But significantly the discovery of the inward-sloping 8in diameter post holes indicated that the partially natural hollow around which they had been sunk was more than an overnight shelter, according to John Gooder, the project manager for the Edinburgh-based AOC Archaeology.

He said: “Considerable effort was involved in building this round house so perhaps our Mesolithic family spent a relatively lengthy stay in the area, or perhaps returned to the house at particular times of the year over a lengthy period.

“This contrasts strongly with the prevailing view of Mesolithic settlements as little more than temporary camps scattered over a hunting territory.”

Dr Alan Savile, curator of archaeology at the National Museums of Scotland, described the find as “extremely significant” and added: “We may well be looking at Scotland’s earliest house.”

Hunter-gatherers were the original environmentalists. They knew how to burn a stretch of moorland to improve hunting or stimulate the re-growth of edible plants in much the same way grouse moors are burned today to encourage the growth of fresh heather. It is still unknown why or how they managed to turn to farming as a way of life.

-21 Nov

an update of the M50 saga

The Irish Examiner 08 Nov 2002

By Caroline O’Doherty

THE National Roads Authority has denied protestors’ claims of victory after archaeologists resumed work on the controversial Carrickmines Castle site. Dozens of personnel have begun excavations at the site in south Co Dublin, which lies in the path of the South Eastern Motorway, the long-awaited last section of the M50 motorway.

Protestors calling themselves Carrickminders who have been occupying the site since the deadline for excavations ran out at the end of August have declared the return of the workers a “grudging acknowledgement” that recovery of the site’s treasures is far from complete.

“It validates what we’ve said all along. There is a wealth of artefacts still in the ground, and now that the EU and Bord Pleanála are questioning what’s going on, they have slipped the archaeologists back in to try to look like they’re doing a respectable job,” said spokesman Ruadhan MacEoin.

But Michael Egan, spokesman for the National Roads Authority (NRA), said the latest work called finds’ retrieval had always been planned and that it was in fact held up by the Carrickminders after they blocked machinery from accessing the site.

“It was always the intention after the initial manual phase of work was finished to move in with equipment and remove material for sifting to recover whatever coins or pieces of pottery or tools might be in the soil,” he said.

He said the Carrickminders had blockaded the site and prevented the use of mechanical excavators and the work had been held up while mini-excavators were sourced and delivered.

“It’s ironic. Various interests had indicated concern that this area of land needed further checks, but we had already identified that need and they delayed us doing the job.”

The current team of archaeologists expect to have only a few weeks to finish the finds retrieval exercise, and road building contractors Ascon, now working either side of the site, are ready to move in when it is cleared.

But with An Bord Pleanála and the European Commission both now probing elements of the project, it is believed Ascon will be encouraged to continue working around the site as much as possible without delaying the overall construction timetable.

(from the Yorkshire Post)

ARCHAEOLOGISTS believe they have solved a 50-year-old riddle about Iron Age remains in the Yorkshire Wolds.

For years they were puzzled by lines stretching more than 16 miles across chalky hillside near the village of Weaverthorpe.
Thought to be Iron Age crop markings, the lines are now believed to be the remains of a huge cattle ranching operation dating from the second century BC.
The lines were discovered by aerial photography in the 1950s and baffled experts until English Heritage aerial investigator Dave MacLeod – working with three other archaeologists, Mark Horton, of Bristol University, Jo Caruth, of Suffolk County Council, and Melanie Giles, of University College, Dublin – took another look.
“Essentially we are looking at the remains of a highly-sophisticated cattle business that is more reminiscent of the High Chaparral, rather than small-scale peasant farming,” said Mr MacLeod.
“Clearly thousands of cattle were being herded.
“Looking at our aerial photographs we can see that the Yorkshire Wolds are covered in a mass of ancient markings, hinting that the rural population 2,000 years ago wasn’t too much different from that today.
“It paints a vastly different picture of the Iron Age. These people were engaged in specialised farming and had the stability, resources and expertise to ranch on a much bigger scale than most people realise.”
The archaeologists will reveal their findings in the BBC2 series Time Flyers in a programme titled Reading Between the Lines, to be broadcast on Thursday.
The Time Flyers team used aerial archaeology techniques combined with ground excavations to examine the lines.
Some of the more fanciful theories for the interconnecting lines, which are broken by huge “funnels”, gaps 100m wide, suggested they were part of a Celtic purification ritual which involved cattle being driven between fires.
“The funnels channelled livestock into broad droveways leading down to the settlements along the Gypsey Race, which is still the only reliable water source on the Wolds,” said Mr MacLeod.
“The cattle would have been driven back up and out of the funnels to the higher pasture to graze and brought down for water twice a day. We think the funnels are part of a much bigger system stretching over 20km.”
He added: “None of these structures survive above ground, so the only way we can understand the scale of what we are dealing with is through interpretation and mapping of thousands of aerial photographs.”
The lines seen in growing crops are the remnants of 6ft-wide ditches.

25 October 2002

Dunbartonshire Home
Thursday, 24 October 2002

Quarry says safety plans will not detract from landscape
The Lennox Herald Thursday 24th October 2002

By WILLIAM COCHRANE

RUMOURS that a quarry firm is about to give Dumbarton’s sleeping giant a rude awakening have been blasted.

Dumbuck Hill, on the outskirts of the town near Milton, is reckoned to resemble a giant man lying on his back.

Also known to some as the elephant’s head, the hill is one of the area’s best-known and most distinctive landmarks.

But it has also been home to a quarry for well over 50 years.

And bosses there say they must cut a slice from the hillside to prevent huge chunks of rockface falling away, compromising safety.

Aggregate Industries, which has run Dumbuckhill Quarry since late 2000, has applied for planning permission to remove a sliver from the western margin of the quarry at the Milton side.

BACKLASH

The application has sparked a backlash from some villagers, who worry that commercial gain will be put before the district’s heritage.

They have expressed fears that the height of the hill could be reduced by up to 25 metres if the application is approved by West Dunbartonshire Council in November.

If that happens, they say, the famous giant and elephant resemblances would disappear forever.

Aggregate Industries, though, has dismissed such suggestions.

The firm insists that the 25 metres some objectors have referred to is in fact the horizontal distance between existing and proposed faces, which will enable stabilisation.

They say the ground level of the hill will be reduced by just four metres at most and that the work is essential to maintain safety standards at the quarry.

PROFILE

Glyn Jones, estate surveyor Scotland for Aggregate Industries, said: “The sliver we want to remove will alter the ground profile by four metres vertically along a 20-metre strip.

“The profile of the hill will not visibly change because the profile is depicted by vegetation cover and not ground level.

“We are sensitive to the fact that the appearance of the hill is important to people and hence, in agreement with Scottish Natural Heritage and West Dunbartonshire Council, will carry out tree planting on the Milton slope to infill gaps within the tree belt.

“The work we propose to carry out is essential to stabilise parts of the quarry and prevent loose pieces of rock falling from the cliff-faces.

“This problem has been caused historically through previous blasting methods.”

Mr Jones, however, did admit that machinery would be partly visible on the skyline for up to five months when the work begins.

However, he added that after that initial period of stabilisation work, most remaining activity would take place in the quarry’s existing void space and out of sight.

That could go on for between two and three years.

Mr Jones said: “Most people, once we have explained to them why this application has been submitted and what it consists of, have no problems.

“We have a good relationship with the local community and regularly hold liaison meetings with them as and when required.”

But some locals are still unconvinced by Aggregate Industries’ promises and are urging West Dunbartonshire Council to keep the district’s heritage uppermost in mind when considering the application next month.

Charles Villiers, who lives just yards from Dumbuck Hill at Milton, said: “The profile of Dumbuck Hill is that of an elephant’s head and local lore has it that this shape, which is so prominent from near and far, is a reason for the elephant being contained in the Dumbarton coat of arms.

“It would be a sad day if this profile, which for many centuries has been a part of the identity of the historic town of Dumbarton, should be destroyed.

“Such destruction would have an impact upon tourism as it would dismay and discourage potential visitors to the town, be they from overseas or elsewhere, and impair the reputation, image and value of Dumbarton as a town with an historic heritage worth travelling to see.”

Bronze Age Forum
Newcastle Friday 15–17 November 2002
Museum of Antiquities

14th -16th March 2003
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, National Museums of Scotland, and the Neolithic Studies Group
CONFERENCE
SCOTLAND IN ANCIENT EUROPE: THE NEOLITHIC AND EARLY BRONZE AGE OF SCOTLAND IN THEIR EUROPEAN CONTEXT
Royal Museum, Edinburgh

Key speaker – Richard Bradley

On Saturday at 2pm David Browne and Toby Driver, authors of the excellent RCAHMW publication on Pendinas, will be leading a tour of the hillfort. If you are interested in coming along, it all kicks off at 2pm by the monument on the top. Toby has told me they have some new theories about the design and arrangement of the defences, so it should be an interesting (if you’re a hillfort enthusiast). Hopefully the weather will improve before then!

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2279227.stm

A huge Roman iron factory has been unearthed at a remote spot on the southern edge of Exmoor.
Scientists believe the site near Brayford would have supplied markets right across the Roman Empire.

Archaeologists have found furnaces and equipment buried which would have been used to smelt hundreds of tonnes of iron nearly 2,000 years ago.

Preparations are being made to carry out further excavations.

Was it being operated by the Roman imperial army or being run by a local entrepreneur?

Dr Gill Juleff
A team of 20 students and staff from the University of Exeter’s archaeology department, plus local volunteers, have been carrying out the dig.

The team has dug a trench over 10 feet (3 metres) deep across a platform and through a heap of discarded iron slag.

The trench has revealed the scale of iron production on the site.

Pottery fragments found within the trench have also indicated that much of the activity at the site took place during the second and third centuries AD.

Supplying markets

Excavation director Dr Gill Juleff said: “One of the questions the team will be addressing is if the Roman army were overseeing and directing iron production.

“Was it being operated by the Roman imperial army or being run by a local entrepreneur, supplying iron to markets throughout the Roman Empire?

“Certainly the amount of metal produced here was far greater than would have been needed locally.”

The four-year project is being funded by English Heritage and run by the Exmoor National Park Authority, the University of Exeter and the National Trust.

buckscc.gov.uk/countryside/whiteleaf/events.htm

Sunday 15th September
10:30 – 4:00pm
The event is completely FREE!

The event is focused around the open grassland area above Whiteleaf Cross where walks and talks are lead from and displays and activities are held.

[Spacer]
Whiteleaf and Brush Hill Local Nature Reserve Open Days
Sunday 15th September
10:30 – 4:00pm
The event is completely FREE!

The event is focused around the open grassland area above Whiteleaf Cross where walks and talks are lead from and displays and activities are held.

[A Butterfly]

[Archaeologist surveying the site]

[Earth mound]
photo courtesy of Nick Bowles

Please leave your car at home. Leaflets describing scenic walks from Princes Risborough, Whiteleaf and Monks Risborough are available from the Risborough Information office in Horns Lane. Disabled visitors will of course have access to the car park at Whiteleaf Hill.

Guided walks to the sites, from Princes Risborough, will take place at key times during the day (actual times will be published soon)

The open day is run in association with WDC, Risborough Countryside Group, Oxford Archaeology, Heritage Lottery Fund and the Shadow Chilterns Conservation Board, Special Projects Fund.

The event will include-

* Archaeological excavations in action!
* Demonstrations of Geophysics and how it can be used.
* Guided talks by archaeologists about Whiteleaf Hill.
* Live demonstration of wattle hurdle making.
* Archaeological education activity for children
* Guided walks on the conservation and wildlife interest of both sites, and the Black Hedge Project.
* Information on site management works underway.
* Displays on Risborough Countryside Groups activities.
* Information on the Red Kites and Chalk Streams Projects
* Local memories, the site managers would like to talk to local people about their memories of the site and local photos.

From the Eastern Daily Press:

CAT BARTMAN

September 7, 2002 10:15

A 3-D image of the 4000-year-old flint mine at Grimes Graves.
A unique insight into the life of Stone Age miners in Norfolk has been unearthed for the first time with the help of high-tech laser equipment.

For the last week archaeologists have been working with surveyors to produce a 3D model of a 4000-year-old flint mine at Grimes Graves, near Thetford.

The mine on the English Heritage site has never been opened to the public and was described as a “time capsule” by those uncovering its Neolithic secrets.

Accessed by a 12m shaft it is the first time that a flint mine will have been surveyed in such detail, from the axe cuts made in the walls by miners to the antler picks left behind on the floor.

Grimes Graves are one of only 10 flint mines in England and the only one to have an excavated shaft open to the public.

While Greenwell’s Pit is never likely to be opened it is hoped to put together a virtual reality model of what it was like to work underground.

English Heritage archaeological investigator Cathy Tuck said the work was important for the future management and maintenance of the site.

“This shaft was first excavated in 1868, until then it would have been untouched. It was re-excavated in the 1970s by the British Museum and later sealed for preservation.” she said.

“We think it was used for about 500 years, with a team of 15 miners at a time. They only worked in the summer and would have been crawling on the stomachs in some parts.”

The pioneering work has only be made possible by the development of portable laser scanning equipment, costing about £150,000, small enough to fit down tunnels that can be less than two metres in size.

It was also used in the aftermath of the Potter’s Bar in May.

So far 433 mining shafts have been identified at Grimes Graves, most of which have filled in, creating a landscape of bumps and dips.

They were used to dig for flints, a valuable commodity in the construction of Neolithic tools and weapons.

Hertfordshire-based surveyors Plowman Craven Associates (PCA) were commissioned to carry out the scan of the shaft and adjoining tunnels.

“It’s an absolute time capsule,” said Ms Tuck, adding that the shaft was also used ritually.

“There has been the ritual deposit of two or three antler picks and carved chalk balls,” said Ms Tuck. “Maybe they left a shrine at the bottom encouraging the fertility of Mother Earth if the shaft had not been as successful as they had hoped.

“The Earth to Neolithic people was a goddess. They were asking permission to extract the flint.”

The completed 3D model should be available to view in about six months time and will include a similar virtual reality of the surface and what it was like in the Stone Age.

Derry Long, from PCA, said two thirds of the pit had been surveyed.

“We’ve scanned up to 15m to 20m out from the main shaft. It’s mind blowing when you’re down and seeing 6000-year-old antler, you do stop and wonder how they did it.”

The project has cost about £12,000 so far and the team will be back again in a few weeks to finish off the surveying.

Historic horse turns a whiter shade of pale.

Wiltshire landmark, discoloured by erosion and vegetation, restored using 160 tonnes of chalk and 2,000ft of timber.

Owen Bowcott
Monday September 9, 2002
The Guardian

Designed by a mad surgeon and derided for its elongated neck, the white horse of Cherhill was yesterday gleaming again on the Wiltshire Downs after undergoing anatomical alterations and a four-week facelift.

Motorists passing on the A4 between Marlborough and Calne can admire the completed restoration work carried out by villagers on the ancient landmark which is sculpted into the contours of the hillside beneath the iron age earthworks of Oldbury Castle.

Erosion, vegetation and damage by grazing sheep had discoloured the carving and the passage of time threatened final obliteration. A grant of £18,000 from the National Trust, which owns land near the site above Cherhill, helped purchase 160 tonnes of chalk and 2,000ft of timber to preserve the monument described by one archaeologist recently as a “giraffe-necked... charger”.

“There was a lot of distortion,” admitted Bob Husband, of the White Horse Restoration Group, when the revitalised horse was officially un veiled yesterday. “The head and neck were particularly difficult, especially when working on a 40 degree slope. But it has been a success and we are absolutely delighted with the result.

“It looks more horsey now, and you can see it from miles around again.”

Old paintings of the white horse were transferred to computer and compared with recent photographs. Once a new outline was agreed, local Scouts pegged out the shape. Money for the project was donated by a local firm, Hills Waste, through the govern ment’s landfill tax credit scheme.

The Cherhill white horse, originally 165ft by 220ft, owes its existence to the 18th century fashion for landscape follies. A surgeon, Christopher Alsop, of Calne, dragooned local people into taking part in the project in 1780.

He reputedly stood below Labour-in-Vain hill and broadcast his instructions through a loud-hailer to direct their turf-cutting.

Known locally as the “mad doctor”, he was a friend of the society painter George Stubbs whose canvases of race horses and other animals may have influenced his final design. The white horse’s oddest feature was a glass eye formed from upturned bottles pressed into the chalk. It’s dazzle was apparently visible from a great distance on a sunny day; the original bottles have been stolen by souvenir hunters.

It has been restored several times. To mark the coronation of George VI in 1937 it was floodlit and the letters GE (for George and his queen, Elizabeth) spelt out in red light bulbs above the horse.

The letters were illuminated for five seconds, then the horse floodlit for 10 seconds in a continuously repeating pattern. The display, powered by a generator at the bottom of the hill, took place every night during coronation week except for two nights when there was thick fog.

Last summer another Wiltshire monument, the Westbury white horse, was restored by English Heritage. Traditionally believed to have been cut in the ninth century to mark Alfred the Great’s victory over the Danes, it was recut in 1778, and probably provided inspiration for Dr Alsop’s Cherhill charger.

On 23rd July 2002, the City of London Corp. approved planning permission for the current building on 111 Cannon Street to be demolished. It will be replaced with an 8 story building containing office and retail space.
The stone will be relocated to the “retail frontage” of the new building. Whether the stone will be on display during the building work is at present unknown. There is no notice of any of this by the stone itself, though the remains of a piece of paper were stuck up nearby...
See City of London planning applications 02-1042Y & 02-1042Z for more details (available to view on their webpage).
cityoflondon.gov.uk/our_services/development_planning/planning_apps/register/data/10/1042.htm

One of Oxfordshire’s most famous landmarks – the Uffington White Horse has been defaced by Hunt activists.

A 19th century white horse hill figure in Yorkshire was also defaced.

Today’s Oxford Mail reports that a spokesperson from the Real Countryside Alliance says: ‘Some people in the country are getting very frustrated at the inaction. All we want is for ministers to take notice.
“Marches don’t seem to be doing any good, although it’s keeping the media focused on it.

The 374ft-long Bronze age image has had three white hounds and a rider added in biodegradable paint.

For more, see: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2220725.stm

For my own part, I hope that the hounds of hell hunt down the miserable scumbags who think this is an acceptable way of getting their abhorant opinions in the press.

A prehistoric prince with gold ear-rings has been found near Stonehenge a few yards away from the richest early Bronze Age burial in Britain.

Earlier this year, archaeologists found an aristocratic warrior, also with gold ear-rings, on Salisbury Plain and speculated that he may have been an ancient king of Stonehenge.

The body was laid to rest 4,300 years ago during the construction of the monument, along with stone arrow heads and slate wristguards that protected the arm from the recoil of the bow. Archaeologists named him the Amesbury Archer.

see the full story at.......

telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/08/21/nskul121.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/08/21/ixnewstop.html

I had a look at the poor old stone a couple of weeks ago. There was a notice near it stating that it is to be moved. I can’t remember all of the details now, but I think that the gist of it was that the bank is turning into a retail premises and that the stone will be on display in the window in some fashion, or possibly that the retail premises involved is on the other side of the road from the bank. Either way, let’s hope that the stone gets a little more of the respect that it deserves. It can hardly get any less! I’ll have another look next time I’m in the area, and keep you posted.

The Guardian

Maev Kennedy, arts and heritage correspondent
Saturday July 27, 2002

A grant for a new visitor centre at Stonehenge, agreed in principle yesterday by the heritage lottery fund, may mark the end of decades of wrangling between heritage and highway authorities over what to do about one of the most famous ancient monuments in the world.
The fund will not disclose exact details until next week, but English Heritage has not got the £26m it was seeking. It has got a “stage one approval”, which is enough to proceed with the planning, and implies willingness by the fund to give further grants.

The 5,000-year-old stone circle, with the hundreds of field monuments dotted around it on Salisbury Plain, is a world heritage site, an honour shared with the Taj Mahal and the Pyramids.

However, the monument remains imprisoned within wire fences, and clenched in the fork of two busy roads.

It is 13 years since the parliamentary public accounts committee condemned the present arrangements as “a national disgrace”. And it is five years since English Heritage launched yet another artist’s impression of happy visitors strolling through lambs and buttercups toward the stones – it was hoping to see the vision realised in time for the millennium. Since then millions in taxpayers’ money has been spent on road plans, visitor centre plans, consultation exercises, and more artists’ impressions.

Solving the traffic problem, by closing one road and burying the other in a tunnel, is seen as the key to the whole site. However, some archaeologists and many local campaigners are opposed to the “cut and cover” method insisted on for cost reasons by the highways agency. This is a construction system which involves gouging a trench for two miles across the fragile landscape.

Local sources insist this is also up for debate again, and the road may eventually be dug through a bored tunnel, which would be less destructive of surface archaeology.

Despite endless consultations, English Heritage has also failed to win over residents closest to the Countess roundabout, where present facilities are a filling station, motel and coffee shop.

After years of wrangling, this was chosen as the best site for a state of the art visitor centre. But residents remain convinced the visitor centre is the wrong scheme in the wrong place – and nothing English Heritage announces next week is likely to change their minds.