Latest News

When Warwick Peirson stumbled on markings on a stone highlighted by snow little did he know it was to spark a passion which would span more than 30 years.

A winter walk with his young son on Ilkley Moor drew his attention to one of the hundreds of carved rocks which have occupied a swathe of West Yorkshire upland for thousands of years.

Efforts to find out more about the curious carvings – which date back to the Bronze Age – led to a quest he is still pursuing more than three decades later.

“I always knew about the stones but about 30 years ago I noticed a stone on Ilkley Moor and the carvings stood out with the snow,” said Mr Peirson, who lives in Menston.

“I went down to the museum in Ilkley to try to try to find out more and I realised there was very little information about them.”

The novice began his own survey mapping out the carved stones and has continued to study the artefacts ever since.

Mr Peirson, 68, said: “I realised that they must be one of the earliest forms of communication of writing, being about 4.000 years old. That fascinated me.

“I have found them addictive. I wrote a letter to the Ilkley Archaeology Group asking for information and wrote, PS, didn’t they think that all the stones should bear a government health warning because they were extremely addictive.”

So when a call was put out for volunteers to help with a survey to investigate the hundreds of carved stones on Rombalds Moor, Mr Peirson leapt at the opportunity.

He is among a group of more than 30 volunteers who are spending three years surveying the stones on the upland that lies between the River Wharfe and the River Aire – collectively known as Rombalds Moor.

Last year Pennine Prospects was awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund grant and South Pennine Leader funding to run the Watershed Landscape Project which covers a range of smaller projects, including Carved Stone Investigation Rombalds Moor.

Gavin Edwards, community archaeologist for the Watershed Landscape Project, said: “The survey on Rombalds Moor will be the most comprehensive undertaken in over two decades, and at the end of the 36 months, with the help of the volunteers, we will have gathered very valuable information.

“Prehistoric carvings are a unique and valuable part of our heritage, providing a direct link with the people who lived here over 5,000 years ago. Although stone is a long lasting medium, it is, nevertheless, subject to erosion by wind and rain and the destructive effects of vegetation.

“It is important to try and capture a detailed record of the carved stones and their surrounding landscape both for current studies and to guide conservation management, so we can protect them for future generations.

Existing records indicate that more than 300 carved panels lie on the moors between the rivers Wharfe and Aire.”

Ilkley Moor has the highest number of carved rocks but they are also to be found at Bingley Moor, Addingham, Baildon and Burley In Wharfedale.

Varying from simple marks to elaborate patterns, the carvings have baffled people for generations and it is still not clear why so many occupy Rombalds Moor.

“They do cluster in different parts of the country but why that should be, we do not yet understand,” said Mr Edwards. “Clearly Rombalds Moor was treated differently to everywhere else. It must have been a special landscape in which these were made but what made it special we just do not know.

“These are marks that were made by the same people who were working that landscape all those thousands of years ago and it is a really tangible connection we have with the past.”

The work is initially focusing on Ilkley Moor where people can learn the craft of recording the stones. Volunteers will record those which are already scheduled monuments, which protects them by law.

Mr Edwards said: “Although they are already known, what we are concerned about is whether they are deteriorating. The survey is to get a detailed record of them as they are today so that we can then see just how much weathering and damage is being caused to them in the future.”

It is hoped that the work will not only record the rate of deterioration but also throw light on what can be done to slow it down – hence preserving the historic stones for generations to come.

The survey will also photograph the carved rocks with a technique called photogrammetry, which creates three-dimensional images that will help researchers in their studies.

yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/country-view/environment/rock_on_stalwart_s_long_quest_to_preserve_carvings_1_3072032

The National Trust will be holding an Avebury Landscape Photography Workshop on Saturday, 26 March 2011.

“Professional photographer Mark Philpott will help you look at landscapes in an exciting new way. Learn how to get the best from your camera and be inspired by the Avebury landscape, its stone circle, cosy cottages, fine church and ancient trees.”

More here – nationaltrust.org.uk/event-search-2/events/show?id=2108046427&direct=1

Looks a lot different from UK rock art of the same period but interesting to compare these finds with what we see when out and about.

Given the site of these finds (west coast of Norway) and the period (late Iron Age) I can’t believe there wasn’t some form of cultural exchange across the North Sea to Shetland/Orkney?

pasthorizons.com/index.php/archives/02/2011/norways-secret-petroglyphs

Interesting news article on research from Oz on local “sundial” that pre-dates stonehenge.

news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/ancient-aboriginal-eyes-were-on-the-skies/story-fn5fsgyc-1226000523978

More information on the site here:

atnf.csiro.au/research/AboriginalAstronomy/Examples/WurdiYouang.htm

“A Stone Age-era artifact carved with multiple zigzags and what is likely a woman with spread legs suggests that fertility rituals may have been important to early Europeans, according to new research.”

Full story here –

news.discovery.com/archaeology/fertility-artifact-ritual-stone-age-110204.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1

Bid for a new dig on Bennachie. An area full of prehistoric and other sites.

More info :

pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/2123624

Bones and skulls from ancient settlements will be reburied and lost to science under controversial legislation that threatens to cripple archeological research

Human remains from Stonehenge and other ancient settlements will be reburied and lost to science under legislation that threatens to cripple research into the history of humans in Britain, a group of leading archaeologists says today.

In a letter addressed to the justice secretary, Ken Clarke, and printed in the Guardian today, 40 archaeology professors write of their “deep and widespread concern” about the issue.

More:
guardian.co.uk/science/2011/feb/04/archaeologists-forced-to-rebury-finds?cat=science&type=article

Andrew Collins will be attending the monthly Pagan Moot at 4.00pm in the Red Lion, Avebury on Sunday 6th February. He will be talking about his fascinating book The Cygnus Mystery.

aveburymoot.blogspot.com/

I am currently reading this book and, as it says on the cover, it is “an intellectual adventure”. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend but on the basis of reading the book am happy to recommend it.

(Thanks again to Faerygirl for mentioning book on the forum).

A 4000-year-old standing stone in Angus has fallen over due to severe winter weather.

The Carlinwell stone at Airlie, near Kirriemuir, toppled over as the snow, ice and frost from the long cold spell melted away.

The 7ft prehistoric unsculptured standing stone is situated on the crest of a knoll on a farm. Human remains were found underneath the scheduled monument at the end of the 18th century. It is one of a number of standing stones across the country.

Historic Scotland is now looking to carry out an investigative dig of the site, before reinstating the stone.

A spokeswoman said: “Carlinwell standing stone is a scheduled monument near Airlie, Angus.

“The stone fell over a couple of weeks ago when this winter’s heavy frost finally thawed. We were contacted by the landowner and had a meeting with him on Friday.

“Fortunately the stone was not damaged in any way and the owner has cordoned the stone off to protect it from grazing stock.

“Prehistoric standing stones such as this commonly have relatively shallow footings and two thousand years of soil erosion can result in instability. We will be investigating options for reinstating the stone.

“Historic Scotland is hoping to arrange for archaeological excavation around the base of the standing stone followed by its re-instatement.”

news.stv.tv/scotland/tayside/225279-prehistoric-standing-stone-falls-over/

The Bullring henge in Dove Holes, Derbyshire is in need of protection and the love it deserves. It has survived around 4500 years but could be gone in the next 50.
I have started a campaign to try to protect it. Much positive support already received from people all over the world. If you can help in any way or if you just have a message of support then please contact me.

Blingo_von_Trumpenst
[email protected]

The single page article about the Bullring in the 1905 Derbyshire Archaeological Journal ends with the line:
“Can we save it?” – 106 years later I am answering that question – “Yes, Yes, Yes”

A Guernsey park could be home to artefacts dating back to the Stone Age, according to a Bristol University archaeologist.

Dr George Nash has asked the States for permission to excavate an area of Delancey Park in St Sampson.

Dr Nash has already carried out some test digs in the area and believes a Neolithic gallery grave, with some intact artefacts, is located there.

If permission is given, work should start in June.

Dr Nash will work with the archaeology officer for Guernsey Museums, Phillip de Jersey, on the dig.

Mr de Jersey said: “The stone used to be upright, forming what is called a gallery grave.

“It is quite a rare type of Neolithic monument in the Channel Islands – there’s just this one on Guernsey and a couple on Jersey.

“We got a fair amount of pottery and flint from the trial pits that were dug last summer, and we’ve also got material in the museum’s stores from the excavation that took place here in 1922, so we can be fairly sure there is still material to be found.”

He said any finds would remain in the island and some could go on display in the island’s museum.

bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-12334385

LECTURE: The Marvellous Marden Henge: Recent Work
2:30 pm, Saturday, 05 February, 2011
LECTURE: The Marvellous Marden Henge: Recent Work

A lecture by Jim Leary about the excavations at Marden in 2010 and the discovery there of an extraordinarily well-preserved Neolithic building.

The summer of 2010 saw excavations at one of the largest Neolithic henge monuments in Britain: Marden. Located in the heart of the Vale of Pewsey between Stonehenge and Avebury it does not have any surviving stone settings, but its sheer size is astounding.

The excavation was the culmination of a two-year multi-disciplinary project and provided evidence for a now demolished mound – said to be the second largest in Wiltshire after Silbury Hill. More remarkable, however, was the discovery of an extraordinarily well-preserved Neolithic building – undoubtedly one of the best preserved in Britain outside Orkney.

This lecture will discuss the findings from the project, and explore some reasons of why it was constructed and what it could have been used for.

Jim Leary, FSA, an English Heritage archaeologist, was much involved with the excavations at Marden Henge and also those at Silbury Hill. He is co-author of a new book ‘The Story of Silbury Hill’.

Pictures (c) Jim Leary, English Heritage.
Saturday afternoon lectures start at 2.30pm and last approx. one hour.

This lecture is now taking place at Devizes Town Hall, just a short walk from the Museum.
Booking: Essential
Contact the Bookings Secretary:
* Tel: 01380 727369 (10am to 5pm Monday to Saturday)
Cost: £3.00 members, £5.00 non-members

wiltshireheritage.org.uk/events/index.php?Action=2&thID=603&prev=1

From an article published on the News Wales web site on 24th January 2011:

Army Preparation Course students have helped to repair a Scheduled Ancient Monument in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The group of 14 from Pembrokeshire College joined the National Park Authority’s Archaeologist and Rangers to help reinstate damaged Bronze Age burial cairns on the Preseli Hills

On the summit there are three cairns, probably for Bronze Age burials.The site is nationally important and is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument. As such, it is a criminal offence to alter it without permission. However, visitors have been moving stones to make shelters within the cairns.

The students have been helping to restore them to their original formations.

Read the full article...

From Stonepages

Maltese prehistoric site scheduled to stand

The MEPA (Malta Environment & Planning Authority) board confirmed the scheduling of a prehistoric site and turned down appeals to have the scheduling reconsidered.
In the area around Ħagra ta’ Sansuna in Xagħra lie the remains of a prehistoric temple. A man who owns nearby land said that the buffer zone negatively affected the value of his land, while another compared the scheduling to expropriation, and cited antiquity scholars John Evans and David Trump who expressed doubts about the site.
But the Heritage Planning Unit representative pointed out that land value was not a consideration when sites were scheduled, and pointed out that Evans and Trump doubted what the site was, (i.e. whether it is the remains of a Neolithic temple or a Bronze Age menhir/dolmen), but not its archaeological value. It should also be pointed out that in the 1968 National Ordinance Survey Maps, the site is indicated as a Neolithic Monument.
HPU also said the objector is incorrect in stating that there are no associated finds. During the widening of Triq Ġnien Imrik in 1946, a stone mortar used for corn grinding together with a number of prehistoric sherds were discovered and hastily re-buried. The MEPA board subsequently unanimously voted to keep the scheduling as is.

Archaeologists have made the stunning discovery of a 5,500-year-old Stone Age village, home to Derbyshire’s first farmers and potters. Ben Johnson and his team made the ancient find during a painstaking dig in Peak District fields, near Wirksworth.

archnews.co.uk/world-archaeology/uk-archaeology/4682-major-archaeological-find-in-derbyshire-uk.html?print

This an opportunity to learn more about Fyfield Down (Site of Special Scientific Interest) with Peter Keene, formerly senior lecturer in geomorphology at Oxford Brooks University.

“The ability to ‘read’ landscapes or to have ‘an eye for the country’ adds a new dimension to our appreciation of our surroundings. On this walk, from Avebury via Overton Down to Clatford Bottom across the Fyfield SSSI we shall learn through discussion and investigation of the evidence that is observable in the field how the landscape, with its layers of chalk, sarsen rocks, streams and dry valleys, evolved in this part of the Marlborough Downs.”

The walk begins in Avebury at 10:30am on Saturday, 16 July 2011. More here – wiltshireheritage.org.uk/events/index.php?Action=2&thID=607&prev=1

Archaeologists hail oldest wooden structure ever found on river, despite security services’ armed response to researchers.

When MI6 set up home on the banks of the Thames one secret escaped its watchful eyes. The oldest wooden structure ever found on the river, timbers almost 7,000 years old, have been discovered buried in the silt below the windows of the security services’ ziggurat headquarters at Vauxhall, south London.

The archaeologists who uncovered the six hefty timber piles had to explain to the security services what they were up to when armed police turned up after they were spotted pottering about on a foggy day in the mud, armed only with tripods, cameras and measuring equipment – not, as one spectator had apparently reported, shoulder-mounted rocket launchers.

“They accepted there wasn’t much damage we could do with a tripod,” said Gustave Milne, the archaeologist who leads the Thames Discovery programme that has been surveying the entire prehistoric foreshore, uncovering centuries of ancient wharves, fish traps, jetties and ship timbers.

The timbers, partly scoured bare by erosion of the river bed, the largest up to a third of a metre in diameter, were discovered in work during exceptionally low tides last February, but carbon dating work – revealed in the new edition of London Archaeologist journal – has only recently been completed, proving that the trees were felled between 4790 BC and 4490 BC.

Full story in The Guardian

A 79 year old recluse has left his fortune to the National Trust of Scotland. He had never visited apparently and his conception of Scotland was based on the film Brigadoon. His only friend, the barber, got the pug and a vet’s bill.

independent.co.uk/news/people/news/love-of-brigadoon-inspires-vegas-tycoon-to-leave-fortune-to-scotland-2176161.html

A BOOK which sets out to fill the ‘black hole’ in Cumbria’s prehistoric past has been published by a Cambridge academic.

Dr David Barrowclough, a Fellow in Archaeology, has pulled together decades of research to come up with new interpretations about how ancient Cumbrians lived and why they built some of the most impressive stone monuments in England.

One theory Dr Barrow-clough propounds is that patterns and marks carved on some of the ancient stones, such as Long Meg, in Eden, could have originally been ‘map’symbols’ to guide people from valley to valley.

This early ‘rock art’ eventually was used to chart the movements of the sun and moon and rituals associated with passing from life to death, says Dr Barrowclough.

His book, Prehistoric Cumbria, also suggests that thousands of years ago the Langdale Valley was a centre of ‘professional’ axe-head production, with part-finished products being manufactured for both local and ‘export’ trade, overseen by organised groups.

He reveals that the axe-heads, which were finished by polishing in lowland Cumbria, have been found in excavations as far away as the Yorkshire Wolds and the Thames Valley.

But ancient Cumbrians were not just exporters of weaponry.

Dr Barrowclough writes that by the Bronze Age the area was a net importer of a range of manufactured artefacts, many of which were deliberately thrown into bogs and rivers — a practice known as ‘deposition’.

“To an outsider, there would be nothing to indicate the long-term history of deposition in a moss or river.

“Yet particular locations were selected time after time for such actions; in the case of the Furness Peninsula, from Neolithic through to the end of the Bronze Age.

“The repeated use of the same places must have been deliberate: such places were meaningful and historical and imbued with memory,” says Dr Barrowclough.

He suggests that depositing imported artefacts in bogs and rivers was a ‘compelling way to realign a foreign idea’ and ‘to make alien, ambiguous items morally acceptable at home’.

Dr Barrowclough claims there was previously a ‘proliferation of misconceptions about the region’s archaeology; in particular, that it was in some way a ‘black hole in prehistory’.

“This book takes the opportunity to publish details of excavations that have in some cases only been hinted at in previous works, and in other cases not known of at all,” he said.

* Prehistoric Cumbria is published by The History Press at £19.99. ISBN 9780752450872.

thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/8767816.Mysteries_of_Cumbria_s_ancient_stones_unlocked/

Martin Davidson, the BBC’s commissioning editor for history, reveals what we can expect to see on TV in the year ahead.

... This year Neil Oliver delves further into the distant past while remaining closer to home when he presents landmark series A History of Ancient Britain. His epic quest through thousands of years of ancient history tells the story of how Britain and its people came to be. He journeys from the glacial wasteland of Ice Age mammoth hunters, through the glories of the Stone Age, to the magnificence of international Bronze Age society ...

historyextra.com/blog/history-highlights-bbc

Was out walking locally today down Dayhouse Lane which runs alongside Coate Country Park; also the site of what remains of the Coate stone circle. Dayhouse Lane is a little bit of rural history as, apart from the stone circle, it is also often mentioned by writer Richard Jefferies.

Background:
Redrow and Persimmon Homes originally wanted to build 1,800 homes in the area but plans were refused at a planning appeal in 2009.

In May, developers submitted another application for up to 960 homes, a business park, local centre, school and extension to Great Western Hospital. Objections were received from residents and expert bodies, including the Environment Agency, Natural England and Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. A revised application has now been submitted with a 21 day consultation on the revised plans to start on Tuesday. The (Conservative) council will a decision in February or March.

swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/8763730.Fight_is_on_to_save_Coate_again/?ref=rss

forestry.gov.uk/newsrele.nsf/AllByUNID/8F39E72FC224AABF802577D2004D9456

The modern Forestry Commission have to be commended for their far-thinking approach to land management and the proactive preservation of our heritage.

There are other local instances (which I’ll dig out)where the Commission team here in the North have contributed to the the vast cache of archeological gems which have been largely hidden and forgotten since many huge stands of conifers were planted in the 40’s and 50’s.

I posted something about William Cunnington, 200 year anniversary of death, at the beginning of December (now removed to avoid duplication). Am glad to see the Wiltshire Heritage Museum are marking the occasion. A ‘must visit’ to the museum some time very soon.

(From their website)
The Wiltshire Heritage Museum will be commemorating the 200th anniversary of the death of one of Britain’s first archaeologists, William Cunnington, by displaying two fragile manuscripts not normally seen by the general public – the original account of the discovery of Bronze Age gold objects from a woman’s grave at Upton Lovell, near Warminster, and beautiful watercolour drawings of the objects, painted by surveyor and artist Philip Crocker. Cunnington, who died on 31 December 1810 and is buried at Heytesbury Church, excavated hundreds of Bronze Age barrows in the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site, and discovered the most outstanding group of early Bronze Age finds in Britain, most of which are on permanent display in the Museum.

A wool merchant and linen draper from Heytesbury, William Cunnington became an archaeologist after being told by his doctor to ‘ride out or die’. He was fascinated by the prehistoric remains he saw all around him, and in 1803 he began to excavate for Sir Richard Colt Hoare, the owner of the Stourhead Estate and a member of a wealthy banking family. Colt Hoare, who was by his own admission ‘barrow mad’, provided the finance for the excavations and later published the results in the pioneering History of Ancient Wiltshire – the first account of the archaeology of the County.

Cunnington was a pioneer of excavation and the first scientific archaeologist. He was thorough, paid careful attention to detail when excavating and had a painstaking regard for the facts. He wrote many comprehensive reports and the Museum holds thirteen manuscript books, bound into three volumes, containing the records of his excavations. The objects he excavated were acquired by Sir Richard Colt Hoare in 1818 and in 1883 they were acquired for the Museum where they are still on display and remain vitally important for archaeological research.
Lisa Webb, Curator says, “the Stourhead Collection contains many unique and rare artefacts including fine examples of prehistoric pottery, weapons and jewellery, which form the core of the permanent displays at the Museum. I am delighted that we are able to put on display some of the unique and beautiful drawings made by Philip Crocker which we rarely show visitors because of their fragile nature.”
The items will be on display until late January. Usual Museum admission charges apply.

wiltshireheritage.org.uk/news/?Action=8&id=124&home=1

SNOW and ice failed to keep people away from Stonehenge today as they gathered to see the sun rise on the winter solstice.

More than 2,000 people came together at the stones, which were surrounded by a thick blanket of snow.

The winter morning mist obscured the actual sunrise – which took place at 8.09am – but an eclectic mix of people celebrated the ancient festival.

Among the Druids, hippies and sun worshippers were those just curious to experience the spiritual event at the site, on Salisbury Plain, in Wiltshire.

Serving soldier of 15 years Lance Corporal Paul Thomas, who fought in Iraq, was ‘’knighted’’ with a sword by Druid protester King Arthur Pendragon.

Formerly known as John Rothwell, King Arthur changed his name by deed poll.

Formerly of Winchester, Arthur stood as a parliamentary candidate for the city in 2005 and in Salisbury during this year’s general election.

This morning, he also performed a handfasting – a Pagan marriage ceremony – inside the stones.

As well as the traditional Druid and Pagan ceremonies, a spontaneous snowball fight erupted as people enjoyed the cold weather.

The shortest day of the year often falls on December 21, but this year the Druid and Pagan community marked the first day of winter today because the modern calendar of 365 days a year – with an extra day every four years – does not correspond exactly to the solar year of 365.2422 days.

During the winter solstice the sun is closer to the horizon than at any other time in the year, meaning shorter days and longer nights.

The day after the winter solstice marks the beginning of lengthening days, leading up to the summer solstice in June.

dailyecho.co.uk/news/8752033.Hundreds_turn_out_for_winter_solstice_at_Stonehenge/?ref=twt

Archaeologists in Spain have unearthed the remains of a possible family of 12 Neanderthals who were killed 49,000 years ago.

Markings on the bones show the unmistakeable signs of cannibal activity, say the researchers, with the group having probably been killed by their peers.

bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12049854