Latest News
January 27, 2017
January 26, 2017
A blog by Magnus Dixon on his visit to The Grey Cairns of Camster, near Watten
northlinkferries.co.uk/caithness-blog/the-grey-cairns-of-camster/
January 25, 2017
January 21, 2017
January 15, 2017
Lots of paperwork here:
highwaysengland.citizenspace.com/cip/a303-stonehenge/
January 12, 2017
Informative article on the Ness from 2015
archaeology.org/issues/61-1301/features/327-scotland-orkney-neolithic-brodgar
A tunnel is to be built under Stonehenge under plans announced by ministers, in a move that will reignite the controversy over improving major roads around the ancient site.
Chris Grayling said he was taking a “big decision” to transform the A303, one of the main arteries to the south-west and a notorious bottleneck for lorries and holidaymakers, as part of a £2bn investment.
January 9, 2017
An ‘outstanding’ ancient monument in Weston-super-Mare has been placed ‘at risk’ by Historic England after falling victim to antisocial behaviour.
The Iron Age Worlebury hill fort, in Weston Woods, is thought to have been created some 700 years before the Romans arrived in Britain as a form of defence.
Historic England says it is an ‘outstanding example’ of its type and is also unusual, as few of these forts were created along the coast.
It has previously been listed by Historic England as being in a ‘vulnerable’ condition, but it has now been re-registered as ‘at risk’ after people camped nearby and moved parts of the structure.
A Historic England spokesman said: “Historic England made a recent visit to the hill fort in response to concerns from volunteers working on the site.....
continued.....
January 6, 2017
Ancient Britain Special Stamps
“The Special Stamps feature iconic sites such as Skara Brae and Avebury and exceptional artefacts including the Battersea shield and the Star Carr headdress. The stamps are all enhanced with illustrations that reveal how our ancient forebears lived and worked.
In addition to the Mint Stamps and Stamp Souvenir, the issue features an informative Presentation Pack – ideal gifts for anyone with an interest in prehistory.”
On sale from 17th January 2017
More details from the Royal Mail here
January 1, 2017
From The Herald Scotland
“A PAIR of “ancient” standing stones situated near a police headquarters were actually erected to mark the first major victory of the Battle of Bannockburn, new evidence suggests.
Radiocarbon dating has revealed the two stones near the entrance to Police Scotland Central Division’s Randolphfield HQ, in Stirling, were erected around the time of the battle in 1314.
It is now thought they mark the spot where Sir Thomas Randolph – Earl of Moray and a commander in Robert the Bruce’s army – routed around 300 English cavalry on the first day of the battle.
It was previously believed that the stones were positioned more than 3,000 years ago in alignment with an ancient burial ground nearby, and possibly used as landmarks in the battle.”
More here...
heraldscotland.com/news/14994252.___Ancient____standing_stones_are_linked_to_1314_battle/?ref=twtrec
December 17, 2016
December 9, 2016
Castor Parish Council has received a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) Sharing Heritage grant to carry out archaeological investigations and restoration of some ancient standing stones in the Nene Valley near Peterborough.
This exciting project – Restoration of Ancient Standing Stones ‘Robin Hood’ and ‘Little John’ at Ferry Hill – led by Castor Parish Council, has been given £10,000. The current position of the stones will be established. The two stones will be then lifted and carefully and expertly reset. Improvement works to allow public access and viewing will then be carried out. Improvements will include an all-access pathway to an area immediately adjacent to the ancient protected stones and an interpretation board.
Castor Parish Council is keen to protect these ancient monuments for future generations and is equally enthusiastic about the opportunity to allow visitors and local schools to understand more about the importance of the area as a trading and strategic place since Neolithic times. There is extensive evidence of early human settlement in the area but much of it is buried beneath the remains of countless centuries of human activity. These ancient stones stand as tangible evidence of the distant past.
Commenting on the award, Neil Boyce, chairman of Castor Parish Council, said: “We are thrilled that Castor Council has been awarded this grant and we can’t wait to get started.
“We are looking forward to working with English Heritage and Dr Stephen Upex to find out more of the ancient history surrounding these stones which we would not be able to do without the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund.”
Neil continued: “We are really keen to enhance and protect Robin Hood and Little John standing stones, in accordance with the parish council’s commitment to protecting our community heritage, both archaeological and natural. We work closely with our neighbouring parish council of Ailsworth to protect the vast ancient history in the area and the natural wildlife that has benefited from this protection – we are all really excited about telling other people of our findings and sharing our heritage and history with the wider public.”
Robyn Llewellyn head of the Heritage Lottery Fund, East of England, said: “Sharing Heritage is a wonderful opportunity for communities to delve into their local heritage and we are delighted to be able to offer this grant so that Castor Parish Council’s restoration of the Ancient Standing Stones ‘Robin Hood’ and ‘Little John’ can embark on a real journey of discovery. Heritage means such different things to different people, and HLF’s funding offers a wealth of opportunities for groups to explore and celebrate what’s important to them in their area.”
Source: Press Release from Castor Parish Council. For further information, please contact Sarah Rodger at Castor Parish Council on 01780 435084, [email protected]
Sharing Heritage is for any not-for-profit group wanting to explore their community’s heritage. With a commitment from HLF of £3m each year, Sharing Heritage grants between £3,000 and £10,000 are available to groups who want to discover their local heritage. Projects can cover a wide spectrum of subject matter from exploring local archaeology and a community’s cultures and traditions to identifying and recording local wildlife and protecting the surrounding environment to managing and training volunteers, and holding festivals and events to commemorate the past.
December 7, 2016
December 1, 2016
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-35322444
Amesbury Museum and Heritage Trust posted the above news link on FB this morning with the following statement:
“Two years ago today, the government lost its credibility here when, in a moment of pre election spin it pledged that a tunnel should be ploughed through the Stonehenge landscape so that public can no longer slow traffic down to see them, so that people in the West Country will vote for them and reap huge! benefits from saving 30 mins traffic delays on a Friday afternoon, Saturday morning and Bank holidays and so that over the coming century arguably one of the most significant Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age landscape in Europe if not the World will be desecrated and our past consigned to the past. Once a concrete structure replaces a cubic kilometre of chalk there is no return, the chalk lands and natural aquifers will be altered, water flows will change and unless maintained for perpetuity, once the tunnel comes to the end of its 125yr life design, it will become the biggest man made headache for future generations to deal with. If by some pure act of vandalism the Government manage to continue to deliver this outrageous ill conceived scheme, they and those who support it will be named, published and go down in history as the vandals who destroyed Stonehenge and Britain’s heritage.
The Trust will continue to support a southern bypass reroute that provides a sustainable long term solution for South Wiltshire, the living, as well as the dead. This alternative solution would do what the tunnel won’t do and open up fully the Stonehenge Landscape without destroying it. We hope when a public consultation is eventually launched, common sense prevails and credibility is restored.”
November 29, 2016
November 28, 2016
November 26, 2016
An ancient hill fort dubbed “one of the jewels in the crown” of the South Downs National Park has been damaged, police have said.
Illegal metal detecting is believed to be behind the disturbance to the ground at the 5,000-year-old Cissbury Ring site near Worthing in West Sussex.
More: telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11/25/illegal-treasure-hunters-damage-ancient-hill-fort-south-downs/
November 22, 2016
November 7, 2016
AN undisturbed stone circle which has been buried in the peat since its abandonment in prehistory has been lovingly excavated.
Sittaford Stone Circle, discovered in 2008 by Alan Endacott, a local amateur archaeologist, appeared to have remained undisturbed. It was revealed by the actions of peat cutters in more recent centuries and then a moorland fire in 2008 enabled Alan to spot some of the stones poking out of the surface.
A stone circle which has remained undisturbed is highly unusual. Many of Dartmoor’s stone circles have been subjected to various degrees of disturbance, ranging from ‘mining’ of the sites for stone, to investigation by antiquarians and early archaeologists.
Dartmoor National Park Authority archaeologist Lee Bray said: ‘This lack of disturbance is one of the facts that makes the site special. That this hasn’t happened at Sittaford — as far as we know — makes the site of national significance as it has the potential to shed light on stone circles which is unclouded by the activities of intervening periods.’
The monument itself is located about 300m south west of Sittaford Tor at over 520m elevation, on the summit of the ridge separating the catchments of the North Teign and East Dart. It consists of 30 stones, all of which are currently recumbent, arranged in a circle with a diameter of in excess of 30m.....
November 4, 2016
Analysis of an axe that is more than 9,000 years old, found at Ireland’s earliest burial site, in Co Limerick, has shed light on the ancient burial practices of our hunter-gatherer ancestors.
Archaeologists believe the highly-polished stone axe, known as an adze, was made especially for the funeral of a very important person, whose remains were cremated and then buried at the site.
Microscopic analysis has revealed the shale tool, believed to be the earliest fully polished adze in Europe, was only used for a short time, and then deliberately blunted.
Situated on the banks of the river Shannon at Hermitage, Castleconnell, the burial site, dating back to between 7,530 and 7,320 BC, is twice as old as Newgrange.......
irishtimes.com/news/science/a-9-000-year-old-axe-sheds-light-on-burial-practices-1.2852585
November 3, 2016
Sitting partially exposed in the hollow of the strange mound behind the Hellfire Club, a dark lump of igneous rock served as a handy border to many bonfires over the centuries. However, those who enjoyed the warmth of the fire while lying up against the comfortably curved bank of the mound may not have realised that the mound they rested upon was the remains of an ancient tomb, and that plain looking dark stone was carved with symbols and designs that are over 5,000 years old.
The discovery of the artwork was the result of incredible serendipity. The surface of the stone has been damaged by fires and weathering, so the artwork is almost completely imperceptible to the naked eye. Had we dug our trenches anywhere else on site we would not have discovered it, and had we excavated during the summer, the higher flatter sunlight may not have revealed the faint trace of the artwork.
As the stone was sitting in a disturbed modern layer of material relating to picnics and parties, it was outside of its original context. We removed it quite early in the dig, though due to the many fires that had been lit upon it, it fractured into four large fragments as we began to lift it from the trench. As we did not originally notice anything particularly unusual about the stone, we (with some difficulty) lifted it out of the trench and set it on the side, so it would be close at hand for when we began to backfill the trenches.
More here: abartaheritage.ie/megalithic-art-discovered-at-the-hellfire-club/