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Interesting in that there is a barrow next to the church.....

Plans to expand the cemetery in Kingston Deverill have run into an unexpected problem – the land may already hide a prehistoric burial ground.

The graveyard at St Mary’s Church was last extended in 1926 and is now full, prompting rector Norma Payne and churchwarden Bill Knowles to apply to extend it.

While the move was granted permission, the church was told it would have to first run an archaeological dig because the land is next to a prehistoric disc barrow.

Mr Knowles said: “The whole area is full of prehistoric remains so this is a fairly standard planning condition for the village. I’m not sure we will find anything.

“I would be surprised if there is anything there at all, but it would be very interesting if any archaeological finds are made.

“Of course it would also be a problem for us as it would delay the plans somewhat.”

Historic records stored by the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre show the strip is roughly ten metres away from a Bronze Age mound, dating from around 2,500 BC.

Since such barrows were often created in groups, heritage advisors want to conduct trench surveys of the area to see if further relics are hidden there.

The Deverill valley is believed to have been inhabited since at least 3,500 BC. Kingston Deverill is the site of a 100-yard-long barrow on Cold Kitchen Hill, with another smaller barrow on its lower slopes.

A round barrow on Middle Hill in the village was found to contain a rare necklace made of a glass-like substance found in the Baltic, proof of trade between Wessex and the continent.

Archaeologist Mike Heaton, who runs a consultancy business in Warminster, is helping the church with its investigation.

“There are an enormous amount of prehistoric sites in the valley – you can make out the barrow shapes in aerial photos,” he said.

“There were centuries of occupation in the Iron Age and by the Romans, and a lot of medieval remains too. We will start by carrying out a physical survey to see if there is anything down there. Should anything show up we will dig trenches to find out what. If there is a lot of stuff it could be an investigation lasting several years.

“But it shouldn’t take up too much room, so the church would be able to start using the patch for burials.”

wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/inyourtown/warminsternews/9538112.Kingston_Deverill_cemetery_plan_delayed_for_archaeological_investigation/

Music could have been an inspiration for the design of Stonehenge, according to an American researcher.

Steven Waller’s intriguing idea is that ancient Britons could have based the layout of the great monument, in part, on the way they perceived sound.

He has been able to show how two flutes played in a field can produce an auditory illusion that mimics in space the position of the henge’s pillars.

Mr Waller presented the idea at the AAAS meeting in Vancouver, Canada.

bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17073206

This could well be waaaay Off-Topic, but it does mention burial mounds! :-)

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-16986737

The famous Neolithic village of Skara Brae has been voted as one of the UK’s ‘must see’ attractions.

More info :

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-17013307

Plans to conserve a Neolithic site in Guernsey have been submitted to the Admiral de Saumarez Trust and the Guernsey Museums service.

Archaeologist Dr George Nash produced the Conservation Management Plan after carrying out fieldwork at the site between 2009 and 2011.

He said the Neolithic gallery grave in Delancey Park had been a centre for the ancient community.

Dr Nash said it had been a settlement before the site became a grave.

He added that the excavation, funded by the trust, had revealed a complex history of the site dating back to the early Neolithic period, some 5,500 years ago.

Dr Nash said the beads from eastern Europe dated back to about 1,500 BC
Dr Nash said the plan he submitted was a long-term strategy looking at the strengths, weaknesses and threats to the site and how they could be acted upon.

He said: “I’ve suggested we do certain things to enhance it, to make it more of an educational facility, but more importantly make it a marker within the park that people can respect, look at and gain some knowledge from.”

Dr Nash said they found “some very nice pieces of flint, but our piece de resistance, so to speak, was the discovery of three very, very small blue glass beads, which probably date to the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age, which is the next period along in the prehistoric sequence.

“It tells us there were local groups probably using the sea as their main source of economics, because of where the site is located, but it also tells something very important – that they were importing stuff from far and wide.”

bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-16945795

Because she’s too modest to post it herself... ;)

“‘Orkney Held Me Close’ is an exhibition of work created following my stay on Orkney in February 2011. I travelled to study the megalithic remains as part of my ongoing work, painting the ancient places of the UK – however Orkney enchanted me and inspired me into a hugely prolific period and I created a large body of work. I am delighted to have the chance to show a selection of paintings, landscapes and abstracts, at For Arts Sake, Kirkwall.”

facebook.com/events/298017696921790/

Also:

“9th March – 10th April 2012
‘Orkney Held Me Close‘
an exhibition of landscape and abstract paintings,
For Arts Sake Gallery, above the VAO, 6 Bridge Street, Kirkwall, Orkney. Monday to Friday 10am – 4pm, Saturday 10am – 2pm.”

nicki-paints.co.uk/

Looks fab. I’d be there like a shot if it were at all possible... :)

G x

telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/9068025/Mick-Aston-quits-Time-Team-after-producers-hire-former-model-co-presenter.html

I’m sure most of you have read about this...

Join us for the next UK Megalithomania Conference on 12th – 13th May 2012 at the Assembly Rooms in Glastonbury, with speakers including Michael Cremo (from the US), Robin Heath, Klaus Dona (from Austria), Brien Foerster (from Peru), Bob Trubshaw, John Neal, Meghan Rice, Andrew Gough, Kate Masters, Hugh Newman and more. Plus tours to Dartmoor, Avebury, Stonehenge (private access), Cornwall and around the sacred landscape of Glastonbury.

megalithomania.co.uk

Details for this years Rock Art Meeting
Old Bewick Northumberland
rockartuk.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/rock-art-meeting-20121.pdf

A conservation plan has been commissioned for the State-owned lands on the Hill of Tara by the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Jimmy Deenihan.

The minister, in collaboration with the Office of Public Works (OPW) and the Heritage Council, has commissioned the Discovery Programme to undertake the plan which, he said, “will illustrate the unique cultural and historical significance of Tara and identify appropriate policies to ensure its preservation and presentation”.

The area to be examined includes the immediate environs of the Hill which contribute to the experience and enjoyment of the monument.

While the conservation plan will also consider access and visitor amenity issues, Mr Deenihan stressed that Tara was “essentially an outdoor experience and that should not change”.

The minister emphasised that the emerging conservation plan would “place a key emphasis on consultation with stakeholders, and the local community in particular”. Ultimately, it is intended that the conservation plan for the Tara complex will act as an overarching framework for management and interpretation.

Navan area town and county councillors received a delegation from the Department of Heritage and the Heritage Council to brief them on the commissioning of the plan at their January meeting.

Ian Doyle of the Heritage Council, Brian Lacey of the Discovery Programme and Tom Condit of the Department’s National Monuments Service, provided an initial information briefing about the planned preparation of the plan.

Mr Lacey said the structure of a conservation plan is quite specific. It is recognised internationally as an ideal formula for protecting heritage and managing change in important historic places.

Since 2005, when the Cunnane Strattan Reynolds Report on the conservation of the Hill was submitted, there have been much more developments, including the completion of the M3 and the excavations associated with the motorway building, numerous publications relating to Tara, as well as remote sensing surveys, Mr Lacey told the meeting.

In the summer of 2010, the Discovery Programme and its partners at NUI Galway doubled the amount of geophysical surveys on the hilltop, revealing in the process what is almost certainly the previously unknown whereabouts of the medieval manor of Tara.

While broadly welcoming the report, councillors expressed concerns about possible restrictions on the Hill, as well as ‘Americanising’ the monument.

However, in response to Cllr Shane Cassells’ concerns that the ‘rawness’ of Tara which attracted people would be lost, Ian Doyle said there was no intention of creating the ‘Disneyfication’ of Tara, but the manage and help understand its character.

Cllr Joe Reilly said he hoped that the consultation process was not going to be similar to the recent one concerning Tara. “There is a sad history of consultation and failure to reach agreement 18 months ago,” he said.

Cllr Jim Holloway said it was an “exciting” project but that he hoped the “mystique” of Tara would be maintained. Cllr Tommy Reilly and Cllr Jenny McHugh asked that visitor facilities and car parking be looked at, with Cllr Reilly criticising the fact that the OPW centre is closed for the greater part of the year.

Mr Doyle said the purpose of the plan was to look at four points – access, value, protection and enjoyment. The Department officials requested that a representative of the council be appointed to the steering committee to oversee the project, and councillors agreed to consider this.

Archaeological works to investigate the significant degradation of the covering of the Mound of the Hostages have been completed. These excavations have resulted in the removal of a portion of the earthen mound over the passage tomb. Design options for conservation works to the passage tomb and the restoration of the mound are now being considered and will begin as soon as possible.

The Mound of the Hostages, Duma na nGiall, is one of the most prominent monuments among the concentration of prehistoric sites on the Hill of Tara. The covering of the mound is showing signs of significant degradation which, according to Minister Deenihan, “has begun to increase as a result of the very inclement weather over the last few years”.

He said that a non-invasive geophysical survey had already been completed which was followed by investigative archaeological excavations overseen by his Department and the Office of Public Works.

“The excavation results will feed into a detailed conservation and management plan for the mound,” added the minister.

The Tara-Skryne Preservation Group (TSPG) has welcomed Minister Deenihan’s announcement of a conservation plan. Carmel Diviney of the group, which was formed during the M3 motorway controversy, said it is a most welcome announcement to all concerned about the long-ranging state of disrepair on the Hill.

meathchronicle.ie/news/roundup/articles/2012/02/01/4008743-conservation-plan-to-protect-hill-of-tara-in-the-future/

Interesting article written in the Guardian by Liz Williams, though I found the original link on Heritage Daily;

Archaeologists are notoriously nervous of attributing ritual significance to anything (the old joke used to be that if you found an artefact and couldn’t identify it, it had to have ritual significance), yet they still like to do so whenever possible. I used to work on a site in the mid-1980s – a hill fort in Gloucestershire – where items of potential religious note occasionally turned up (a horse skull buried at the entrance, for example) and this was always cause for some excitement, and also some gnashing of teeth at the prospect of other people who weren’t archaeologists getting excited about it (“And now I suppose we’ll have druids turning up”).

The Brodgar complex has, however, got everyone excited. It ticks all the boxes that make archaeologists, other academics, lay historians and pagans jump up and down. Its age is significant: it’s around 800 years older than Stonehenge (although lately, having had to do some research into ancient Britain, I’ve been exercised by just how widely dates for sites vary, so perhaps some caution is called for). Pottery found at Stonehenge apparently originated in Orkney, or was modelled on pottery that did.

The site at the Ness of Brodgar – a narrow strip of land between the existing Stone Age sites of Maeshowe and the Ring of Brodgar – is massive: the size of five football pitches and circled by a 10ft wall. Only a small percentage of it has been investigated; it is being called a “temple complex”, and researchers seem to think that it is a passage complex – for instance, one in which bones are carried through and successively stripped (there is a firepit across one of the doors, and various entrances, plus alcoves like those in a passage grave, which are being regarded as evidence for this theory – but it’s a bit tenuous at present). Obviously, at this relatively early stage, it’s difficult for either professional archaeologists or their followers to formulate too many firm theories.

When it comes to the pagan community, I don’t think that its sounder members will be leaping to too many conclusions too soon; as discussed in a previous column, some of us would prefer to rely on the actual evidence rather than rushing off at a tangent. I cannot help wondering whether the relatively muted response across the pagan scene to the Brodgar findings has to do with the fact that the central artefact discovered so far –” the “Brodgar Boy” – is apparently male rather than female. I am cynical enough to wonder whether, if it had been a northern Venus, there would be much more in the way of rash speculation about ancient matriarchies. Will we see the pagan community flocking to Orkney at the solstices? I doubt it. Orkney is a long way off and rather difficult to get to, whereas Stonehenge and Avebury are with a reasonably easy drive if you happen to live in the south of the country. In the days when the site was at its peak, most traffic would have been coastal, and remained so for hundreds of years to come. (And to be fair, many modern pagans aren’t actually too keen on trampling over ancient sites, sacred or otherwise, due to awareness of their relative fragility).

With regard to the “boy” himself, and other ancient representations of the human form, we simply don’t know why people made them. Maybe they are gods, goddesses, spirits. Maybe they’re toys, or lampoons of particular individuals, or just someone doing some carving in an idle moment. It’s hardly a startling theory that, throughout history, people have made stuff for fun: I’ve always been very amused by Aztec pots made in the shape of comical animals, looking for all the world like the early precursor to Disney and somewhat at variance with the sombre bloodiness of other aspects of that culture.

As soon as the Bronze Age arrived, Brodgar was completely abandoned. There was apparently a mass slaughter of cattle, which would have fed as many as 20,000 people on the site; this is being taken by some experts as evidence of a complete and sudden cultural replacement. But whether it has ritual significance or not, the sheer size, age and numbers involved with the Orkney site make it of immense importance to the history of ancient Britain.

guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2012/jan/31/archaeologists-pagans-brodgar-complex

heritagedaily.com/2012/01/archaeologists-and-pagans-alike-glory-in-the-brodgar-complex/

This is interesting – may be prehistoric, possibly not.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-16757999

paintings of Stonehenge and Silbury Hill feature in ths exhibition of Hardy’s Wessex

salisburyjournal.co.uk/leisure/entertainments/9494732.Trio_collaborate_for_exhibitionof_Hardy_s_Wessex/

Archaeologists excavating what they claim is Britain’s oldest house have secured more than £1m in funding.

The circular structure at Star Carr near Scarborough was found in 2008 and dates from 8,500BC.

Archaeologists from the Universities of Manchester and York say the site is deteriorating due to environmental changes.

The European Research Council has given them £1.23m to finish the work before information from the site is lost.

Time running out

Nicky Milner, an archaeologist from the University of York, said the site was deteriorating rapidly.

“The water table has fallen and the peat is shrinking and it is severely damaging the archaeology,” she said.

“The water keeps the oxygen and bacteria out and because they are now going into these deposits that is causing a lot of problems.

The area was settled by hunter gatherers about 11,000 years ago
“We haven’t got much time left to excavate and we want to do some specialist analysis before all this important information vanishes forever.”

The site was first discovered in the 1940s and has since been the subject of extensive research.

The latest excavation led to the discovery of what would have been a 3.5 metre diameter house occupied by hunter gatherers about 11,000 years ago.

The remains were dated by radio carbon and the type of tools used helped identify the house as being from 8,500BC.

Large settlement

The discovery suggested that people from this era were more attached to settlements than had been previously thought.

Items such as the paddle of a boat, arrow tips, masks made from red deer skulls, and antler head-dresses which could have been used in rituals, have all been uncovered.

Dr Milner said: “What we have here is a massive site, we have structures and we have a timber platform on the edge of what would have been a lake. This suggests that people were living here for quite a long period, for generations, in a large group.

“We have to do more excavation to understand more.”

Star Carr would have been settled at the end of the last Ice Age and the team believes it may also offer insights into how people reacted to climate change.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-16721738

Stonehenge tunnel idea resurrected
7:10am Tuesday 17th January 2012 By Annie Riddle

The idea of building a tunnel under Stonehenge has been resurrected by a consortium of council leaders from across the South West.

Wiltshire was among the authorities represented at a summit meeting to discuss A303 improvements, organised by Somerset County Council last week. They discussed ways to raise the £1billion needed to widen the remaining single lane sections of the road between Wiltshire and Devon. The tunnel, which would have cost more than £500million at the last count, is one of five separate schemes they believe are needed.

Somerset?€™s leader Ken Maddock believes there is scope to seek new funding in the light of Chancellor George Osborne?€™s autumn statement, which said that pension funds could be used to fund up to £20billion of infrastructure schemes.
He said: ?€œThis is a fabulous opportunity to put a joint bid together that will bring huge benefits to the whole of the West Country.?€

The 2.1km tunnel plans were shelved in 2007 after the government said the soaring cost was not justified.

salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/salisbury/salisburynews/9474384.Stonehenge_tunnel_idea_resurrected/

More details of a second archaeological dig in April.

More info :

eastlothiancourier.com/news/aroundthecountry/articles/2012/01/19/422482-gearing-up-for-second-dig-at-sheriffside

An exhibition of oil paintings and woodcuts by British landscape artist Nick Schlee, focusing on Avebury and the Ridgeway.

This new exhibition features some of Nick Schlee’s most bold and vivid work portraying the ancient monument of Avebury and the nearby Ridgeway. 

80 year old Nick says of the exhibition: 

“More than half of the pictures in the exhibition feature those mysterious ancient stones that mean little to most of us, but must have meant a great deal to our forebears. 

Painting them, without being able to share the feelings they engendered for the people who erected them, is a problem. I can only describe their outside appearance. The spirit within is closed to me. It is as if I were recording the skin of a peach without any idea of its taste, its texture and delicious succulence. 

We are probably all aware of the difficulties and dedication that went into bringing these stones to where they stand today. This is what, to my mind, contributes to making them so unnerving. Their presence disturbs me in the same way the purposeful ditches of Avebury disturb me. 

When I paint their portraits, from close up or afar, I am trying to find a place for them in the powerful rhythms, space and colour of the natural landscape. The result is that they take on the role of rugged, weather-battered statues. 

Because I find it impossible to find an understanding of them that matches my own experience I deliberately inject a febrile nervous energy into my drawing of them. I hope that in this way I will convey to viewers the former power they held for early inhabitants of the area. I tremble. But at what I am not sure. 

In contrast, the vast panoramas along the Ridgeway move me more directly. Here I feel more confident that I do not miss anything important. What I see of the rolling landscape with its sky and clumps of trees resonates powerfully in way that reaches inside me today as they must have always done to others over the centuries. 

I use heightened colour and emphasised rhythmic line in my paintings to try make sure that those looking at them share the excitement the Wiltshire landscape creates in me.“ 

Although this is the first time Nick’s work has been exhibited at the Museum, he has had many solo exhibitions, including at the Yehudi Menuhin School, Gallery 27 in London and the West Berkshire Museum. He has also participated in many group exhibitions including Templeton College, Oxford and the Modern Artists Gallery. His work is held in public collections, including the City of London Guildhall Gallery, the Wessex Collection at Longleat House and Southampton City Art Gallery. 

More information about the artist and his work can be found on his website -www.nickschlee.co.uk/

*Exhibition runs from 14 January to 2 September 2012.*Cost:   Usual Admission Charges Apply

wiltshireheritage.org.uk/events/index.php?Action=2&thID=692&prev=1

G x

The National Trust have organized an evening of Stargazing live in this week of activity from the BBC.
The event will take place on Saturday 21st January 2012.

“Come and enjoy a wonderful evening of Stargazing on the beautiful Iron Age hillfort of Badbury Rings. Soup will be on offer as well as enthusiastic support from local astronomers.”

bbc.co.uk/thingstodo/activity/soup-stars/occurrence/45367

Members’ Only Event – £30.00

Date: Fri 2 Mar
Property: Old Sarum
Time: AM tour – 10.00 to 12.00/PM tour 13.00 to 15.00
Suitable for: Adults

Go back in time and join archaeologist, writer and broadcaster Julian Richards for a special tour of Old Sarum Castle. Discover what life was like for the people who occupied this ancient site; how they lived and how they survived through the Iron Ages and beyond. Includes refreshments.

english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/events/old-sarum-life-in-the-iron-age-and-beyond-os-2-mar

Do it
rockartuk.wordpress.com/

THE ancient megalithic site of Beaghmore near Cookstown is to become a unique observatory with a day of free BBC Stargazing.

midulstermail.co.uk/lifestyle/entertainment/stargazing_at_ancient_beaghmore_stone_circles_1_3401321

Astronomers from Armagh Observatory and archaeologists from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) will be hosting the Stargazing Live Universe Awareness (UNAWE) activities at the fascinating Beaghmore Stone Circles regarded as the best Dark-Sky site in Northern Ireland.

The event which will also run at An Creagan is to be held on Wednesday 18th January 2012.

This is an international astronomy outreach programme funded by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme. You don’t need any experience or equipment to give astronomy a go!

Also involved are Cookstown and Omagh District Councils and the aim of the project is to inspire young people to develop an interest in science and technology.

Claire Foley, Senior Inspector of Built Heritage at the NIEA, said “It is great to be part of this joint approach to our shared heritage.”

Mark Bailey, Director of the Observatory, said: “Astronomy captures the imagination of children, young and old, as well as others young at heart. A view of the stars and of our Milky Way on a clear night from a Dark-Sky site such as Beaghmore can be an awe-inspiring, sometimes life-changing experience.”

In the morning, schoolchildren will undertake a series of astronomy and science-based activities at An Creagán, including those that illustrate the lives of the people that built the stone circles at Beaghmore, in those early times. There will also be activities to illustrate the scale of our Solar System, and a fascinating shadow theatre provided by EU-UNAWE presenters from the world-famous Arcetri Observatory in Florence, Italy.

Later, children, their parents and everyone else are invited to a free Stargazing LIVE event at Beaghmore. This will take place from approximately 3.30pm to 5.00pm – weather permitting.

Participants can travel from An Creagán by free bus or make their own way to the Beaghmore Stone Circles to watch the Sun going down.

Living History enactors will greet them and demonstrate Bronze Age weapons and artefacts technology, including food and agriculture, highlighting possible reasons for the need to use astronomy and the science behind the circles’ original purpose. There will also be opportunities to view the stones at sunset and observe the bright planets Venus and Jupiter, both visible as evening “stars” after sunset, and other stars.

Don’t worry if the weather’s bad, as there will be an alternative Living History programme, a slide show illustrating the night sky from this special Dark-Sky site, and the EU-UNAWE presentation “Virginia and Galileo Galilei: A Sky Full of Discoveries”.

The last part of the event, from 8.00pm to 9.30pm, comprises two public lectures, the first by Claire Foley (NIEA) entitled “Stone Circles and the Bronze Age Perception of the Skies”, and the second by Mark Bailey (Armagh Observatory) entitled “Comets and Cometary Concepts in History: Identifying the Celestial Connection”. Following these illustrated talks will be observing from the grounds of An Creagán if clear.

Those wishing to attend these events should obtain FREE tickets by contacting Mrs Aileen McKee at the Armagh Observatory, College Hill, Armagh; Tel: 028-3752-2928; e-mail: [email protected].

heritageandhistory.com/contents1a/2011/11/wade%E2%80%99s-stone-stands-proud-on-the-north-york-moors/?doing_wp_cron=1325281002

Plans to close a main road running past Stonehenge are to go ahead.

English Heritage wants to stop traffic from travelling close to the stones and “restore the dignity” of the World Heritage Site by closing the A344.

The road from the A303 at Stonehenge Bottom to west of the visitor centre has already been approved for closure.

Now, following a public inquiry, Wiltshire Council has approved an independent inspector’s report to close the remaining section of road.

In June 2010 the council granted planning permission for a new visitors centre at Airman’s Corner, 1.5 miles (2km) west of Stonehenge.

And in November, roads minister Mike Penning approved plans to close an 879m (2,884ft) section of the A344 from its junction with the A303 at Stonehenge Bottom with a stopping up order.

Now the council has approved a traffic regulation order (TRO) for the remainder of the A344 to Airman’s Corner.

But proposals to close a number of byways around the ancient monument were refused.

Druid leader King Arthur Pendragon said the inspector’s recommendations and resulting council decision had “erred on the side of common sense”.

“I invited the inspector to recommend a modification to the order be made in that should the stopping up order be placed on the lower section of the A344 the remaining section of the metalled road be restricted by a traffic regulation order as requested.

“And he recommended that the proposed TRO be made with modification to the A344 only, leaving the byways in the World Heritage Site still open to all traffic, as they have been.”

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-16352307

On the 4th January at 7.30pm the Garioch Heritage Society have Colin Harris speaking about Dunnydeer (hillfort, stone circle etc) and Wardhouse (ancient settlement, cairns, RSCs) in the Neolithic. Venue – Acorn Centre, Inverurie.

(Hopefully the bhoy will make it and report back)

A cropmark enclosure at Sherriffside, Gifford in East Lothian (NMRS NT56NE43) was first identified in 1981 as a double ditched enclosure representing a ploughed out and flattened hillfort whose ditches survive below the ground and affect the growth of crops.

More info on booking a place on the 2012 excavations:

rampartscotland.co.uk/index.php/sheriffside-2012/