A TEAM of international archaeologists hope to answer questions remaining about an Orkney island known as “the Egypt of the north”.
The experts have started the largest geophysics survey to date on Rousay, a hilly island off Orkney Mainland.....................
thenational.scot/news/16171515.Archaeologists_search_for_answers_in__Egypt_of_the_North_/
The laser scan of Ramsey Island uncovered a “hidden” landscape thought to date back to the Bronze Age.
The survey, taken from the air, has also seen a detailed 3D model of the two mile-long beauty spot made for the first time.
Experts say the data could also be used to see if climate change affects the environment on the island.
Royal Commission archaeologist Dan Hunt described the findings as “incredible”.
He added: “It has presented us with a stunning view of the island in enormous detail.”
An Archaeologist at The Australian National University (ANU) has discovered a prehistoric Bronze-Age barrow, or burial mound, on a hill in Cornwall and is about to start excavating the untouched site which overlooks the English Channel.
The site dates back to around 2,000 BC and was discovered by chance when ANU Archaeologist Dr Catherine Frieman, who was conducting geophysical surveys of a known site outside the village of Looe in Cornwall, was approached by a farmer about a possible site in a neighbouring field.
“He told us about a ‘lump’ on his land and that nobody knew what it was, so he asked us to take a look at it,” said Dr Frieman, who is a Senior Lecturer in the ANU School of Archaeology and Anthropology.
“So we ran our equipment over a 1,600 metre square area and sure enough we found a quite obvious circular ditch – about 15 metres across – with a single entrance pointing south east and a bunch of pits in the middle.
More here: phys.org/news/2018-03-archaeologist-cornish-barrow-site.amp?__twitter_impression=true
Current Archaeology – 9 page article
dropbox.com/s/n45fvzy1g7lhvyh/Ness%20of%20Brodgar%20335_1r.pdf?dl=0
This weekend’s EH event:
theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/09/stonehenge-party-building-secrets-unearthed?CMP=share_btn_fb
Artefacts and structures found during archaeological excavations on the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route project are shedding light on land use and settlement in the north east over the past 15,000 years, including Mesolithic pits, Roman bread ovens, prehistoric roundhouses and a cremation complex.
Full story here.
facebook.com/events/2128530017175633/
Got a spare day between Tuesday 6 and Sunday 11 March 2018?
Join our survey team and help find Spodden Valley’s ancient hunting camps. Lancashire has one of the highest concentrations of hunter-gatherer sites in Europe. 8,000 years ago, it was prime territory. Today, it still bristles with the remains of ancient hunting camps... if you know where to look.
In March the DigVentures team are heading to Spodden Valley to help us begin a MASSIVE survey of its hunter-gatherer sites, and we are going to need LOADS of people. Together, we’ll sweep across the valley looking for clues, but it’s only a few weeks away and we need to assemble our team FAST
A 2,000-year-old underground chamber has been uncovered during work to build a house on the Isle of Lewis.
The Iron Age souterrain was revealed during the digging of the foundations for the property in Ness.
Local archaeologists, husband and wife team Chris and Rachel Barrowman, are recording the souterrain.
Dr Barrowman said theories on the purpose of the stone-lined, flat stone-roofed structures included storing food.
continued...
A team of archaeologists believe they may have discovered a spot where some of the architects of Stonehenge gathered and camped.
The team have been investigating a causewayed enclosure – these are thought to be ancient meeting places or centres of trade – on army land at Larkhill close to Stonehenge.
They found an alignment of posts that matches the orientation of the circle at Stonehenge, leading to the theory that Larkhill could have been some sort of blueprint for the temple.
Si Cleggett, of Wessex Archaeology, conceded it was possible to suggest that any evidence of prehistoric settlement could be connected to the creation of Stonehenge.
theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/feb/02/archaeologists-architects-camp-stonehenge-larkhill
Archaeologists say they may have discovered one of the earliest examples of a ‘crayon’ – possibly used by our ancestors 10,000 years ago for applying colour to their animal skins or for artwork.
The ochre crayon was discovered near an ancient lake, now blanketed in peat, near Scarborough, North Yorkshire. An ochre pebble was found at another site on the opposite side of the lake.
Landmark Scottish castles and chapels are among 28 historic sites at “very high risk” from climate change, according to a new report.
A further 160 properties were found to be at “high risk” from flooding, coastal erosion and slope instability.
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-42687874
Including some prehistoric sites in Shetland and Orkney.
The fort, in Worlebury Woods, suffered from vandalism and was classified as being ‘at risk’ by Historic England at the end of 2016.
North Somerset Council has received a £10,000 grant to pay for surveys at the site to see what work needs to be done to preserve it.
The volunteers of Worlebury Hill Fort Group have started to introduce limestone grassland to the area known as the glade.
In June-August 2010 large scale excavations were executed on the cemetery belonging to the monastery, an area now termed the Paardenmarkt, by Hollandia Archeologen in cooperation with Leiden University. During the course of nine weeks, the students from the former minor Human Osteoarchaeology excavated and cleaned over 180 single coffin burials and 20 secondary inhumations. Interestingly, also two mass graves dating to the Siege of Alkmaar with 9 and 22 individuals were encountered. All the remains are housed in the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University and are currently undergoing the osteological analysis.
Read more about this in English.
More serious problems at Dunbeg.
Full story:
thejournal.ie/kerry-fort-ancient-3781702-Jan2018/
THOUSANDS of years ago it would have stood proud on the horizon, a striking monument which could be seen for miles. The circular monument lay hidden for centuries under farmland, its existence only hinted at in crop marks, spotted in aerial surveys.
Read more at: yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/ancient-henge-discovered-in-yorkshire-1-8930717
A site has been chosen in Caithness for a planned reconstruction of an Iron Age broch.
Couldn’t make it up.
dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/stonehenge-comes-ayr-town-centre-11719847
Archaeologists say they are finding increasing evidence that a site near Loch Ness was important for burials in the Bronze Age.
Geologists have found evidence of a 60 million-year-old meteorite impact on the Isle of Skye.
Volcanic pumice stone and pottery of a type common on the Isle of Lewis have been found at a 2,000-year-old site in the Highlands.
The prehistoric shift towards cultivation began our preoccupation with hierarchy and growth – and even changed how we perceive the passage of time
Work on the A9 has led to the discovery of a possible structure, pottery and a stone tool from the Iron Age.
New light shed on role of women in ancient communities, as bone analysis reveals profound effect of manual agricultural labour on the human body
This news item appeared in Saturday’s Times and was passed to me today. Regret Times online link is only available by subscription so will have to make do with this one.
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5116637/Jersey-calls-return-dolmen-stones-Oxfordshire.html
Jersey calls for the return of its ‘Elgin Marbles’ monument that was taken and rebuilt in Oxfordshire as a governor’s retirement gift
- The dolmen stones were discovered in 1785 near the Jersey capital St Helier
- Monument was uprooted and taken to Oxfordshire estate of retiring governor
- Templecombe House in Henley-on-Thames which is on the market for £7million
- It has given the residents of Jersey a new hope that they could buy back the stones and return them to the island
One local man named Neil Holmes is planning to raise £8million through an online crowdfunder in a bid to purchase the estate.
He said: ‘The aim of this is to buy the property that the neolithic Jersey dolmen currently resides on, repatriate the dolmen, then resell the estate.‘
The stones were one of dozens of dolmens placed across the island which were shrouded in legend and thought to be ‘the home of sprites and fairies’.
But many were broken up for building materials in the 17th and 18th century amid waning interest in the mythology surrounding the stunning monuments, according to local history experts.
General Conway was persuaded by his cousin – author Horace Walpole – to pay for the transport of his gift.
Note: There have been several previous attempts to reclaim the dolmen and the issue was raised in the House of Commons as far back as 1928.
