Latest News

It is believed the burial chamber was built about 5,000 years ago

The burial chamber, known as a cist, is on Whitehorse Hill, near Chagford.

It was discovered 10 years ago when one its stones fell out of the peat which had been concealing it.

Dartmoor National Parks Authority (DNPA) said it was over 100 years since a burial chamber on Dartmoor had been excavated.

It said the chamber was unusual because it was not near any other known archaeological sites.

Archaeologists hope to analyse buried pollen, insects and charcoal in the peat to establish details of the surrounding landscape when the chamber was created.

They are also looking for artefacts deposited as part of the burial ritual, including pottery, beads and stone tools.

It is believed the burial took place about 5,000 years ago.

DNPA said the prehistoric cists found on Dartmoor were chest-like structures, usually sunk into the ground, with two long granite side slabs and two end slabs set between the sides and covered with a large slab.

There are nearly 200 surviving cists on the moor.

The results of the excavation at Whitehorse Hill will be published later in the year.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-14468394

now resembling a segmented rolling-pin orkneyjar.com/archaeology/nessofbrodgar/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/0808114.jpg

Thanks to PeteG for posting this on Facebook.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-14442631

Writing in The Independent today Jack Watkins reports that -

“Jefferies grew up and, until he married aged 25, lived on a tiny farm at Coate, near Swindon. Here his father kept a small dairy herd, but while Jefferies showed little interest in helping out on the farm, he inherited his father’s love of nature, and spent his days exploring the surrounding meadows and hills, studying flora and fauna and seeking out archaeological sites, while honing the distinctive earth philosophy that elevated his work beyond mere observation.

“Today Coate farmhouse, its outbuildings and orchard, all so vividly described in his novel Amaryllis at the Fair, survive as the Richard Jefferies Museum. Beyond the ha-ha, dug by Jefferies Snr to prevent the cattle straying into the orchard, is the ancient hedgerow recognised by Jefferies in Wild Life in a Southern County as “the highway of the birds”. Over the ridge beyond is the reservoir of Coate Water, the scene for the mock battles of his children’s novel Bevis. On the skyline is Liddington Hill, crowned by an iron-age hillfort, one of the numerous tumuli of the North Wiltshire hills which the writer memorably wrote of as being “alive with the dead”. It was while lying on the slopes of Liddington Hill that Jefferies experienced the first of what he termed the “soul experiences” leading to his extraordinary autobiography, The Story of My Heart.

“Developers have been eyeing the area around Coate Water for years, however, encouraged by a general refusal of the council’s planning department to recognise Jefferies as “a major writer”. A current proposal to build 900 homes and a business park was recently rejected by councillors – stunned by the strength of an opposition campaign which has seen protest letters written in the Times Literary Supplement and a petition signed by over 52,000 people. While that rejection was the first time, says Jean Saunders, secretary of the Richard Jefferies Society, that there had been any recognition of the cultural landscape value of Coate, the developers have appealed and a public inquiry is to be held.”

Full article here – independent.co.uk/environment/nature/battle-for-jefferies-land-how-a-19thcentury-naturalist-became-a-cause-clbre-in-wiltshire-2332054.html

From Twitter:

@orkneyjar: “Pic now online. Behold the “Brodgar Boy” – Neolithic figurine unearthed at Ness of Brodgar dig.”

Pic of the figurine – yfrog.com/kk8fhqrj

Full article – orkneyjar.com/archaeology/nessofbrodgar/

G x

Final plug – our Open Day is happening tomorrow (30th July) from 11-5ish. Displays of stone tools (60+ neolithic stone axes), artifacts recovered from the henge and talks all day. Excellent food available, photo competition (bring your prints of megalithic sites) and general stones discussion.
This event is a rare beast – if you have any interest in stones and can get to Derbyshire then this really is the place to be – come and join us for all things hengey !
Also a finds evaluation service is on offer if you have any stones that you think might be human made.

COME HELP SAVE OUR HENGE.

I look forward to meeting you (I’ll be the one surrounded by stone axes).

Blingo

An archaeologist believes a wall carving in a south Wales cave could be Britain’s oldest example of rock art.

The faint scratchings of a speared reindeer are believed to have been carved by a hunter-gatherer in the Ice Age more than 14,000 years ago.

The archaeologist who found the carving on the Gower peninsula, Dr George Nash, called it “very, very exciting.”

Experts are working to verify the discovery, although its exact location is being kept secret for now.

Dr Nash, a part-time academic for Bristol University, made the discovery while at the caves in September 2010.

He told BBC Wales: “It was a strange moment of being in the right place at the right time with the right kit.

“For 20-odd years I have been taking students to this cave and talking about what was going on there.

“They went back to their cars and the bus and I decided to have a little snoop around in the cave as I’ve never had the chance to do it before.

“Within a couple of minutes I was scrubbing at the back of a very strange and awkward recess and there a very faint image bounced in front of me – I couldn’t believe my eyes.”

He said that although the characteristics of the reindeer drawing match many found in northern Europe around 4,000-5,000 years later, the discovery of flint tools in the cave in the 1950s could hold the key to the carving’s true date.

“In the 1950s, Cambridge University undertook an excavation there and found 300-400 pieces of flint and dated it to between 12,000-14,000 BC.

“This drawing was done with the right hand and the niche is very, very tight and the engraving has been done by somebody using a piece of flint who has drawn a classic reindeer design.

“My colleagues in England have been doing some work in Nottinghamshire at Creswell Crags and got very nice dates for a red deer and one or two other images of around 12,000-14,000 BC.

“I think this [newly found carving] may be roughly the same period or may be even earlier.”

Glacial geology

The limestone cliffs along the Gower coast are known for their archaeological importance.

The Red Lady of Paviland, actually the remains of a young male, is the earliest formal human burial to have been found in western Europe. It is thought to be roughly around 29,000 years old.

It was discovered at Goat’s Hole Cave at Paviland on Gower in 1823 by William Buckland, then a geology professor at Oxford University.

Dr Nash added: “We know from the glacial geology of the area this was an open area just before the ice limit came down from the glaciers 15,000-20,000 years ago and it stops just about 2km short of the cave site.

“We know hunter fisher gatherers were roaming around this landscape, albeit seasonally, and they were burying their dead 30,000 years ago and making their mark through artistic endeavour between 30,000 and 40,000 years ago.”

The find is now being officially dated and verified by experts at the National Museum of Wales and Cadw.

Its location will be revealed to the public in the future.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-14272126

Somerset was the site of the UK’s oldest open-air cemetery, the county council says.

Recent radiocarbon dating of two skulls found at a sand quarry in Greylake nature reserve near Middlezoy in 1928 revealed them to be 10,000 years old.

The council said the find was made under its Lost Islands of Somerset project by a team investigating the archaeology of the Somerset Levels.

More: bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-14239742

(Don’t know why this is not posted in the news section but here goes...)

The CBA Festival of British Archaeology is ane annual extravaganza of heritage events coordinated by the Council for British Archaeology and this year started on Saturday 16th and runs until Sunday 31st July

Each year the Festival showcases the very best of British archaeology, by presenting hundreds of special events organised and held by museums, local societies, national and countryside parks, universities, and heritage organisations across the UK. The Festival presents everyone the opportunity to learn about their local heritage, to see archaeology in action, and to get involved.

Events ranging from excavation open days and behind-the-scenes tours to family fun days, hands-on activities, guided walks, talks and finds identification workshops take place all over the UK during this special fortnight.

To find out what’s on in your area goto festival.britarch.ac.uk/ and search your region

“Researchers in Germany have discovered Stone Age cave art in the country for the first time including carvings of nude women that may have been used in fertility rites.
Archaeologists working for the Bavarian State Office for Historical Preservation came upon the primitive engravings in a cave near the southern city of Bamberg after decades searching, a spokeswoman for the authority said.
The spokeswoman, Beate Zarges, confirmed a report to appear in the weekly newspaper Die Zeit that the engravings were believed to be around 12,000 years old, which would make them the first Stone Age artwork ever found in Germany.”

More: news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-world/stone-age-erotic-art-found-in-germany-20110721-1hpat.html

Reports began to circulate in early June concerning damage to one of a series of four remarkable Neolithic monuments in Somerset, southwest England. However, the scale of the damage to the Priddy Circles is only now being fully appreciated.

The four Circles are listed together as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, and as such are under the protection of the State. Somerset County Council confirmed it was working in conjunction with English Heritage to pursue a resolution for this distressing situation, which arose when the landowner, Mr Penny, allegedly used his earth-moving equipment to bulldoze, flatten and reseed the entire southwestern arc of the southern circle.

full story at

pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/07/2011/neolithic-monument-bulldozed-flat-in-england-provokes-outrage

BBC News report of this find at Thrumster, near Wick.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-14154062

Jersey is probably best known for its sun-kissed beaches, new potatoes, the doe-eyed, fawn-coated cattle which produce those creamy dairy products, and the hit 1980s TV series Bergerac.

Most of Jersey’s holiday attractions are therefore firmly out-of-doors, and it claims in its advertising to be the UK’s warmest spot. But I discovered a much darker, hidden side to the famous holiday island just 14 miles off the Normandy coast on a recent visit.

Underground Jersey offers a far more enigmatic glimpse into the island’s turbulent ancient and not-so-ancient history, but one which repays exploration.

And the one site which encapsulates Jersey’s amazing continuity of history extending over an astonishing 6,000 years is the enigmatic Neolithic passage grave of La Hougue Bie, near Grouville in the south east of the island.

Jersey certainly didn’t rank among the nation’s hotspots on the day I visited La Hougue Bie (pronounced La Hoog Bee).

Stinging showers of icy rain were lashing down as I crept, bent double, into the claustrophobic space of the four feet high and three feet wide stone-lined passageway. The cramped corridor led 30 feet into the echoing darkness of the huge, grass-covered mound.

As my eyes became accustomed to the dark, I could make out the smoothly carved granite of the columns which lined the tunnel and, looking back, light streamed in, illuminating the pebbled floor.

It was only in 1996 that reconstruction archaeologists saw for the first time in five millennia that at the spring equinox, the sun’s rays extended the length of the passage and onto the back wall of the inner sanctum in the heart of the mound.

Reaching the 6½-foot-high oval central chamber, I could at last stand upright and look around what had been the holy of holies – the centre of the unknowable ritual activities which took place here.

It was a moving, slightly spooky, experience and I’m sure that the chill which ran down my spine was not caused solely by the weather.

Outside again, I climbed the winding, spiral pathway to the top of the mound, where the simple apsed chapel of Notre Dame de Clarte was built in the 12th century – probably in an attempt to reclaim the ancient pagan site for Christianity.

A small sepulchre was built into the mound by the mystic Dean Richard Mabon in the 16th century, designed to replicate the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and he apparently regularly performed ‘miracles’ there.

Then in 1792, Phillipe d’Auvergne built a mock medieval castle known as The Prince’s Tower over the chapel, and it became a major tourist attraction and pleasure ground for visitors in the 19th century, complete with hotel, summer house and screaming peacocks. But the Tower fell into disrepair and was finally demolished in 1924.

However, the long story of La Hougue Bie doesn’t end there. Following the German occupation of the island in 1940, soldiers of the 319 Infantry Division built their eastern command bunker into the western side of the mound. Over the next two years around 70 trenches were dug in Phillipe d’Auvergne’s pleasure grounds, no doubt causing even more archaeological damage........

tinyurl.com/5vskyaa

After 17 years on site the publication report for Nosterfield Quarry is complete. This important work tells the story of the northern margins of Thornborough Moor, the changing patterns of its use during the prehistoric period, the drainage of the wetland and their subsequent enclosure.

https://www.archaeologicalplanningconsultancy.co.uk:80/thornborough/nos.php

UCL Institute of Archaeology are holding a multidisciplinary conference; Martin Locker has confirmed the date as 22nd October 2011. Papers invited.

ucl.ac.uk/archaeology/calendar/articles/20110707

heritageaction.wordpress.com/2011/06/29/news-stonehenge-evidently-cursed-r/

I’m really struggling with this one! I’m *sure* it’s within TMA’s remit, but it just seems somehow a bit too out there! Ah well. It’s within the timeline at least. There’s been far less relevant stuff posted here, and it’s REALLY interesting! So here goes! :D

“The world’s oldest known computer, a 2,000-year-old Greek-built astronomical calendar, has been brought back to life in Lego form.

The Antikythera mechanism is a sophisticated, scientific instrument built in Ancient Greece around 100 BC. It was then lost for 2000 years in a Roman shipwreck below the seas off Antikythera island, until divers discovered it in 1901.

But while historians and archaeologists were fascinated by its complexity and precision, the amount of corrosion and number of missing parts meant its exact purpose was still unconfirmed for another century.

In 2006, archaeologists used high resolution X-ray tomography to peer behind the layers of filth and rust to read and translate more Greek inscriptions. The findings led historians to realise the computer was actually an incredibly accurate celestial calendar, capable of predicting solar and lunar eclipses.

And now Apple software engineer Andrew Carol has knocked up a faithful recreation of the machine out of Lego. He received the recreation request after building a Babbage Difference Engine in Lego.

The plastic Antikythera mechanism took just 30 days to design, prototype and build, and uses 1,500 Lego Technic parts and 110 gears. Slightly more than the original machine, but Carol had to work with the sizes that the Danish toy maker produced.

The final contraption is an incredible feat of engineering, with four separate gear boxes all linked up to a central pair of clocks that can tell you, to an accuracy of two hours, the exact time and date of upcoming solar and lunar eclipses. According to the machine, the next solar eclipse is due at 4:30 GMT on 8 April, 2024.

The remake is a fitting tribute to the relic, which remains as one of the forefathers of modern computing and mechanics. The ancient computer predated devices with such complexity and design by several centuries, as similar astronomical mechanisms didn’t crop up again until the 14th century AD in Europe. The original Antikythera mechanism is kept at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.”

wired.co.uk/news/archive/2010-12/10/greek-computer-in-lego

****
Goffik, if you are confused I suggest you read this page, particularly the ‘primary concerns’.
themodernantiquarian.com/submission_guidelines/
TMA Ed.

An ancient Leicestershire hillfort will reveal some of its historic secrets over the next month, as archaeologists from the University of Leicester welcome the public to visit the second season of major excavation of the site.

Situated on the Jurassic scarp with commanding views of the surrounding countryside, Burrough Hill near Melton Mowbray is one of the most striking and frequently visited prehistoric monuments in central Britain.

Despite the site’s importance, relatively little is known about its ancient past. Last year a team from the University of Leicester began a five-year survey and excavation of the site, with support from landowners the Ernest Cook Trust (a national educational charity), English Heritage and Leicestershire County Council.

Trenches dug within the fort last summer revealed part of its stone defences, along with a cobbled road, a massive timber gateway and a ‘guard’ chamber built into the entrance rampart. This room remarkably still had surviving Iron Age floors, complete with its hearths an incredibly rare find (www.le.ac.uk/departments/archaeology).

The most surprising discovery so far is evidence of a further large Iron Age settlement just outside the hillfort that was discovered by geophysical survey, suggesting that the hillfort community may have been even larger than thought.

This year the team is revisiting the massive eastern entrance to expose the remainder of the chamber and reveal clues as to what it was used for. Another area will target several roundhouses in the settlement outside in order to find out when and why so many people lived here.

The excavations will take place between 13th June and 15th July and will aim to add to results from a successful first season of excavation in 2010.

A public open day on Sunday June 26th (11am to 4pm) will include guided tours of the excavations and a display of archaeological finds, as well as a chance to meet an ‘Iron Age warrior’ and learn about life in a roundhouse. Many of these activities are funded by the Southeast Leicestershire Treasure Project which has made another wonderful Leicestershire Iron Age find, the Hallaton Treasure, available to the public. A guided walk around the hill fort will also be held at the end of the dig on Monday 18th July as part of the national Festival of Archaeology.

The University of Leicester is also organising a summer school for local pupils. Funding from Aimhigher in the East Midlands will enable 16 year 11 pupils from backgrounds under-represented in higher education to benefit from a residential experience, including working on the dig at Burrough Hill and skills development work with the Department of Archaeology.

Funding from the Ernest Cook Trust (www.ernestcooktrust.org.uk) has enabled the University to employ an outreach worker and create resource packs for schools, making the most of the site’s education potential.

Byron Rhodes, Leicestershire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Country Parks said:

“Burrough Hill Country Park is one of the most striking and historic features in the landscape of eastern Leicestershire. The well-preserved Iron Age hill fort dramatically crowns a steep-sided promontory of land with superb views. A prominent landmark and ready-made arena, the hill has long been a place for public recreation.

“I am delighted that the County Council is working in partnership with the University to delve deep into the parks history and I’m looking forward to seeing what further discoveries are made. The open day will provide the opportunity to showcase some of the amazing finds for the very first time and I would urge people to come along.”

Dr Patrick Clay, Co-director of University of Leicester Archaeological Services added:

‘This is a great opportunity to examine the development of this remarkable monument. Our understanding of Iron Age sites has increased enormously in the last 20 years but this has mainly been through examining lowland farmsteads and a few larger settlements. This work will help our understanding of the role of ‘hillforts’ and their relationship with the smaller surrounding settlements’.

24dash.com/news/education/2011-06-21-Ancient-Leicestershire-hillfort-to-reveal-ancient-secrets

University of Leicester webpage on excavations taking place at Burrough Hill.

www2.le.ac.uk/departments/archaeology/research/projects/burrough-hill-iron-age-hillfort

“Hello to all supporters of the Rollright Stones. Just to update you all on the progress at the Rollright Stones and to let you know of up and coming events.

“Since re-starting the Wardens at Easter we have been able to cover most weekends with a Warden on site for a greater part of the day which has resulted in an exceptionally positive reaction from the public who appreciate someone to be able to talk to about the monuments. This has also increased our income through the sale of pamphlets etc. Whilst we have a core of people we are still looking to expand our number of Wardens over the summer – if you are still interested in becoming involved please get in touch or come up to the Stones on a dry day and have a chat. It may be that you might prefer to help out as a volunteer, to this end we have scheduled in a ‘site clearance’ weekend on Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th July. We plan to clear the site of rubbish including the wooded areas, get rid of any barbed wire on the fences, repair some fencing by the lay-bys and any other jobs that need doing. We will supply everything from gloves to food. If you think you may be able to spare a couple of hours or more to come along , either as a Warden or a Volunteer, you will be most welcome – and it is great fun.”

Robin Smitten of The Rollright Trust

More here – heritageaction.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/a-call-for-volunteers-at-the-rollrights-stones/

The remains of a permanent settlement which could date back to the Iron Age has been uncovered on a remote Scottish island, according to archaeologists.

It was previously thought Boreray in the St Kilda archipelago was only visited by islanders to hunt seabirds and gather wool from sheep.

Archaeologists have now recorded an extensive agricultural field system and terraces for cultivating crops.

They have also found an intact stone building buried under soil and turf.

More here...

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-13753643

“The summer solstice observance at Avebury is expected to be very busy and there will be limited car parking as a result.

From Monday 20 June until mid afternoon on Wednesday 22 June there will be a temporary campsite alongside the car park, opening at 9am on Monday 20 June and closing at 2pm on Wednesday 22 June. There will only be 93 tent spaces, allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. They are expected to be in high demand.

There will be no camping available on the weekend before the Solstice.

We would advise anybody planning to come to celebrate the solstice at Avebury to consider both finding accommodation in official campsites nearby and to visiting by public transport. The main celebrations will take place on the evening of 20 June and at Sunrise on 21 June.

The National Trust is part of the Avebury Solstice Planning Group and works closely with police, the local councils, residents, the fire brigade and other safety groups to ensure that this is a peaceful and safe event for those who wish to celebrate the solstice here.”

Full information: nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-avebury/w-avebury-parking.htm

As part of the Festival of British Archaeology (thanks to Blossom for flagging it on TMA forum).

festival.britarch.ac.uk/whatson

Meet the Experts

Sun 17 July 13.00–14.30 & 15.00–16.30

Join Museum Curator Dr Ros Cleal for a tour of the henge and stone circles followed by handling real finds from the Museum collections. Free (donations welcome).

Location: Meet outside the Barn Gallery, Old Farmyard, High Street, Avebury SN8 1RF.

Org: National Trust
Tel: 01672 539250
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/avebury

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-13693199

Also the Swindon Advertiser reports that last night the council threw out plans for the controversial Coate housing development – much to the surprise and jubilation of the 100 or so audience in the chamber at the Civic Offices. The fact that the site is an area of outstanding natural beauty and that it is a historic area were two of the five reasons cited for refusal.

The developers plan to appeal so there is always a danger that once again the majority wishes of the people from Swindon could be over-ridden. Meanwhile, here’s to people power and especially Jean Saunders from the long and tiring ‘Save Coate Campaign’. Three cheers for you, Jean and everyone else involved in the campaign.

Maev Kennedy in the Guardian.............

A new scientific dating technique has revealed there was a building spree more than 5,500 years ago, when many of the most spectacular monuments in the English landscape, such as Maiden Castle in Dorset and Windmill Hill in Wiltshire, were built, used and abandoned in a single lifetime.

The fashion for the monuments, hilltops enclosed by rings of ditches, known to archaeologists as causewayed enclosures, instead of being the ritual work of generations as had been believed, began on the continent centuries earlier but spread from Kent to Cornwall within 50 years in about 3700 BC.

Alex Bayliss, an archaeologist and dating expert at English Heritage, said: “The dates were not what we expected when we began this project but prehistorians are just going to have to get their heads around it, a lot of what we have been taught in the past is complete bollocks.”

Bayliss worked on the new dating system with Professor Alasdair Whittle of Cardiff University and other experts, combining hundreds of thousands of scraps of dating evidence, obtained from the last century of excavations, on Cardiff’s computers. They matched notoriously imprecise carbon-14 dates from organic remains – which can have a margin of error of centuries – with all the other evidence from archaeological finds, narrowing the dates for sites from centuries to decades.

“The old techniques gave us such imprecise results that it’s like taking the Napoleonic wars, the first world war, the second world war and the computer revolution and insisting that they’re all contemporary.

“Now we can narrow that down dramatically. You take a granny with a good long life living near Windmill Hill in Avebury, she could have seen her family start the enclosure as a child, see it fall out of fashion and them turn to building barrows, and then return to do more work on the enclosure, all in her lifetime.”

Although some sites were used for generations, the evidence suggests others were built with enormous effort, and then used only once or on a handful of occasions.

“Their construction may have been sparked by a critical mass of population, power and goods to trade around 3700 BC. It’s the Swinging Sixties, everything changes – new wealth, new goods.”

Bayliss added: “We began by looking at the evidence from the causeway enclosures but then to get the story into which they fit, we ran every other carbon date taken for the period. What we found is that the spread of agriculture was far more rapid than we had believed.

“It took two centuries for agriculture to reach Cheltenham from London – and then just 50 years to get from Cheltenham to Aberdeen.”

guardian.co.uk/science/2011/jun/06/archaeology-dating-property-boom-3700bc

A Nottinghamshire farmer is building a Romano-British dwelling in his back garden in Calverton. Grahame Watson said he had started the project because he wanted to learn more from experimental archaeology.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-13460450

Photo story from the BBC. Apparently he’s already built an Iron Age round house – for his universiry dissertation. Obviously doesn’t do things by halfs.