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“...to support the courageous people of the front line at the Hill of Tara, who – regardless of risks for their lives, health or civil rights – have been blocking the bulldozers for months now, which are digging up ancient ground, the ground of an official World Heritage Site, the ground that holds the first High Kings of Ireland...”

More info here:

myspace.com/taravigilcampcd

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“Orthostat, The Mound of Hostages”

Sean Moriarty’s research paper which shows the complexity and signifacance of the Hill of Tara and the orthostat at the Mound of Hostages can be read and downloaded here:

knowth.com/tara-orthostat.htm

The film by Maireid Sullivan (which is on this profile) which is based on Sean Moriarty’s reasearch paper “Orthostat, The Mound of the Hostages”

Tara: Voices from Our Past ~ a recent discovery
a short film by Mairéid Sullivan

“Over the past five years, there has been considerable controversy regarding construction of the M3 Motorway in County Meath, especially in light of the discoveries at Roestown, Lismullin and Soldier Hill. While those finds are extremely significant, they pale in comparison to a more recent discovery at Tara.

A short film by the award winning documentary filmmaker and musician Maireid Sullivan, which is based on the research paper “Orthostat, The Mound of the Hostages” shows that the complexity and importance of The Hill of Tara goes well beyond what we’ve known about the site for the past few millennia.

The Tara complex is a major part of the cultural heritage of the Irish people, yet it’s being destroyed by those in the government who have been entrusted with protecting it. In stark contrast, governments of third world countries are going to great lengths to excavate, restore, preserve and protect their monuments, and prosecute those who injure or deface them.”

Issue 212 of Current Archaeology magazine has an interesting summary of Tim Darvill’s work on the bluestone quarry in the Preseli Hills and his theory that their setting at Stonehenge reflects their geographical provenance in Wales.
There’s also a nice round up on recent Stonehenge books and an editorial about Durrington.

archaeology.co.uk/

Archaeologists working near Stonehenge have uncovered what they believe is the largest Neolithic settlement ever discovered in Northern Europe.

Remains of an estimated 300 houses are thought to survive under earthworks 3km (2 miles) from the famous stone rings, and 10 have been excavated so far.

But there could have been double that total according to the archaeologist leading the work.

“What is really exciting is realising just how big the village for the Stonehenge builders was,” says Professor Mike Parker Pearson of Sheffield University.

Allowing four per house, he estimates there could have been room for more than 2,000 people.

Analysis of the houses has also showed that some were higher status than others. This is the first evidence for social difference and hierarchy at the time of Stonehenge, indicating that the organisation of labour for moving and raising the stones was not egalitarian.

The settlement is buried beneath the bank of Durrington Walls, a great circular ditched enclosure.

Durrington Walls holds clues to the Stonehenge story
Geophysical survey and excavation work have revealed that the ditch and bank had been constructed in large sections, probably by separate work gangs.

A find of dozens of antler picks in one section of ditch gives some idea of the size of these work parties.

“From the number of antler picks left in the bottom of one section – 57 – if you allow two people with one pick plus a team of basketeers carrying the rubble away and you’ve got to have the sandwich makers as well.

“This suggests a minimum team size of 200. If the 22 sections of Durrington’s ditch were all dug at the same time, that’s a work force of thousands.”

The settlement beneath Durrington Walls dates from around the time of the construction of Stonehenge’s sarsen stones, about 2600 to 2500 BC.

For Mike Parker Pearson, the new evidence throws an important light on how Neolithic society worked – how people organised themselves to build mega-structures.

Bone and other artefacts are being dug up
Apply this to Stonehenge, and he believes there were groups of about 200-400 people working under a clan head, responsible for completing individual sections of the overall monument.

“It’s possible that most of Southern Britain may have been involved at one stage or another,” Parker Pearson says.

Other evidence from cow and pig bones found on the site suggests that people were coming into the area on a seasonal basis.

“This was a temporary settlement,” he says. “They were not doing basic daily chores, not grinding corn, not raising animals. There were no baby pigs and cows. It looks like the livestock had been brought in.”

And there is also evidence of feasting at Durrington Neolithic village such as bones still connected together.

“This is the sort of thing you are expecting at feasting occasions – discarded but still-edible joints of meat – when everyone has got enough to eat.”

So far, only a fraction of the area has been excavated
The team has also found a tantalising artefact: a piece of chalk with cut marks that Parker Pearson believes was made by a copper axe.

He is not surprised at the evidence – as copper working in neighbouring parts of mainland Europe dates back to 3000 BC – but it would be the first evidence from Britain before 2400 BC.

The theory is also supported by the almost total absence of evidence of stone or flint axes in the village.

The current excavations at Stonehenge began four years ago and are part of a 10-year project.

Secrets of Stonehenge is on BBC Radio 4 at 2000 GMT on Monday, 5 November.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7078578.stm

Understanding the ancient landscape, the heavens,
and the dawn of agriculture...a two day conference

Bury St Edmunds – Sat. and Sun. 17th and 18th November 2007. Lawneys Farm – Rougham – Bury St. Edmunds – Suffolk – Tickets limited to 80 at £40 each – Single day £20 – Booking enquiries 01359 270524.

Two days of lectures, talks, networking, socialising, and open forums on the origins of modern man and his development from Cro-Magnon hunter gatherer to a sophisticated being, with remarkable abilities in: – agriculture, animal husbandry, social organization, astronomy, surveying, mathematics, engineering, building skills, artistic expression, consciousness, self awareness, and a belief in the transmigration of the soul.

see goldenageproject.org.uk/conferences_stars.html
for more details.
All other enquires:- John Agnew 01359 270796 [email protected]

2nd to 11th November – This week-long event comprises three threads centred on the theme of understanding the consciousness of the people who built the megalithic temples::

* Conference: An international, inter-disciplinary conference on different ways of approaching the thinking and imagination of the Neolithic people who built the megalithic temples in Malta and elsewhere in the world.

* Workshops: A series of experiential workshops enabling us to make the imaginative leap into the Neolithic worldview.

* Tour: Several tours of Malta’s megalithic heritage.

Speakers include GRAHAM HANCOCK, PAUL DEVEREUX, BENNY SHANNON, HUGH NEWMAN, JAKE EWEN, STUART MASON, CAROLINE MALONE, SHAUN KIRWAN, PETER MARSHALL....and many more.

It takes place on the Vittoriosa Waterfront on the Mediterranean island of Malta, an island noted for its exceptional legacy of prehistoric temples.

metageum.org

The hazelnut was found in a layer beneath the Bronze Age burial mound at Longhowe during excavations earlier this year. The charred shell has been dated to 6820-6660 BC, and its discovery pushes back the known settlement of Orkney by 3,000 years. Mesolithic settlement has long been known from stone tools, but the nut has provided the first definite date.

courtesy orkneyjar.com/archaeology/minehowemeso20072.htm

The Office of Public Works
Celebrates the 40th Anniversary
of the
Winter Solstice
at
Newgrange

____________________

Lectures at Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre at 8pm

Wednesday November 7th 2007

What the Builder Saw:
The Prehistoric Astronomy of Newgrange

By Terry Moseley, President of the Irish Astronomical Association

Wednesday November 14th 2007

Tombs with a View:
New Thoughts on an Old Puzzle

By Frank Prendergast, Dublin Institute of Technology

Apparently, because of contaminants from preservatives used in the 19th century, previous tests have underestimated the age of the skeleton. It’s now thought that he’s 29,000 years old (4000 years older than before!).

This could mean that people living in these islands were the first in Europe to bury their dead in such a way, and that perhaps the custom spread from here (ah it’s always seen to be a bonus when a Briton invents something).

It also means that Mr Paviland would have lived in a warm era, rather than a cold period as previously thought.

He will be going back to Wales for an exhibition at the National Museum in Cardiff, starting on December 8th. The ‘Origins’ gallery has been redeveloped. It’s got some very interesting things.
museumwales.ac.uk/en/846/

information from C4 article at:
channel4.com/news/articles/science_technology/red+lady+skeleton+29000+years+old/979762

Now downloadable at ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/library/des/index.cfm as a .pdf for each year from 1947-2001. However these are facsimiles, so you really need to know which year you want as these won’t be truly searchable

Julian Richards is giving a talk on Stonehenge at the Newark Millgate Museum, tomorrow Friday 19th October at 7.30pm. Tickets are £5 or £4. “Advance booking is essential” so you’d better be quick.

On Saturday, he is hosting a workshop with Newark and District Young Archaeologists.

This is the museum’s webpage.
newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/pp/Gold/ViewGold.asp?ID=1931
and this their list of events:
newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/pp/gold/viewGold.asp?IDType=Page&ID=8112

This article at the Kildare Nationalist reports on recent claims by the Hill of Allen Action Group. They say that the hill is the site of two National Monuments (a cist and a barrow), which are within the land being quarried by Roadstone. They say that when Roadstone registered the quarry with Kildare County Council in 2006, neither of those sites appeared on their registration papers or maps. The Council in turn made no mention of the monuments. However, it is the landowner’s responsibility to be aware of their presence. Damage to a site listed on the Record of Monuments and Places (RMP) is a criminal offence. It seems that the required legal procedures involving planning and environmental impact assessment were not carried out.
kildare-nationalist.ie/news/story.asp?j=26440&cat=news

The Government could face fines imposed by the European Union over its handling of the M3 motorway project in the Tara-Skryne valley following legal action which gets underway today.

The European Commission is expected to begin legal action against the Government today over the manner in which it has proceeded to build the M3 motorway near the Hill of Tara.

The decision will provide a boost to campaigners who are trying to force Minister for the Environment John Gormley to consider re-routing the motorway.

The legal move is not expected to halt the construction of the road, but it will force the Government to defend its position at Europe’s highest court, a process that could eventually lead to the imposition of fines if it loses the case.

Environment commissioner Stavros Dimas will tell his commissioner colleagues at a meeting in Brussels today that the National Monuments Act in the Republic does not offer enough protection for important archaeological sites.

He will also highlight alleged weaknesses in Irish law that split decision-making between Irish planning authorities and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for industrial projects.

Meanwhile, pressure group TaraWatch has described as “significant” the discovery of a new archaeological site in the path of the M3 motorway, at the Hill of Tara in Co. Meath.

The group called on Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley, to place a preservation order on the site which it says may be a fortified complex.

The site is located between the defensive fort of Rathmiles and the burial ground at Soldier Hill, the newly discovered site is further proof that the Hill of Tara constitutes a vast archaeological complex.

ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/1017/breaking7.htm

A website is to be developed which will give access to all the lovely archaeological objects in the region’s Museum Service’s collections.

“The collection is one of the largest in Scotland and described as a “comprehensive collection of Dumfries and Galloway’s material culture over an 8,000-year period”.”

icdumfries.icnetwork.co.uk/gallowaynews/tm_headline=archaeological-website-launch%26method=full%26objectid=19935010%26siteid=77296-name_page.html

Archaeologists have been excavating Whitby headland and found a carved stone. They have found traces of an Iron Age enclosure there, and they’re hoping the stone might be prehistoric. I wonder what people here think.

24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART51381.html

Scroll down towards the end to see the stone (past the altogether more impressive Fylingdales stone).

THE European Union Petitions Committee, which visited the Tara-Skryne Valley and the route of the M3 motorway in June, has called for a substantial review of the environmental impact of the M3 and for less intrusive alternative routes to be designated which should safeguard the area for the Irish nation.
The delegation from the European Parliament said it was perplexed by the choice of route and by the damage done to the integrity of the many sites in the Tara area and the Gabhra Valley which had been drawn to its attention by petitioners, mentioning sites in particular at Baronstown, Collierstown, Roestown and Dowdstown.
It says it is also concerned as to why it has been deemed necessary to build one of the largest M3 intersections precisely at the most vulnerable location in terms of Ireland`s national heritage.....

more here; meathchronicle.ie/story.asp?stID=910&cid=126&cid2=134

Cardiff university and Herefordshire Archaeology have been excavating at Credenhill Park Wood to determine the full extent of its hillfort – which although little known is one of the largest in the country.

Channel 4’s ‘Time Team’ have agreed to survey the site using ‘Lidar’ to provide extra information.

The Woodland Trust are also improving access to the fort by removing conifer stands and replacing them with deciduous trees and grazing land.

The Time Team programme will be shown next spring.

From an article by Paul Ferguson on today’s Hereford Times website
herefordtimes.com/news/latest/display.var.1745129.0.time_team_joins_the_dig.php

The charge of aggravated trespass against six protesters is being dropped, after the Crown Prosecution Service said there was not enough evidence to secure convictions.

And to think (according to the BBC article) they were just fussing about a ‘Bronze Age Footpath’.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hereford/worcs/7029688.stm

The tower on top of Glastonbury Tor in Somerset has been covered in purple paint and had graffiti daubed on its flagstones.
The National Trust, which owns and maintains the Tor, said it was “dismayed” after spending more than £500,000 recently on its restoration.

The Trust said the southern face of St Michael’s Tower had been targeted during Sunday night.

The group Fathers 4 Justice said one of its sympathisers was responsible.

Andrew Mayled, National Trust Somerset property manager, said: “This is a terrible case of vandalism to the Tor.

“Glastonbury Tor is a Scheduled Ancient Monument of national importance and this wanton vandalism is the equivalent of desecrating Stonehenge.

“As a charity, we will now need to expend our valuable time and resources attempting to restore the Tor to its former appearance.

“First impressions suggest that the still-wet paint used to vandalise the Tor is a water-based paint and we hope we will be able to begin removing it on Monday without damaging the monument.

“However, access to the top of the Tor is very difficult for vehicles and we will need to look at how we get pressure-washing equipment to the top of the Tor.”

Last year, the Trust completed a £540,000 five-year restoration plan of the tower and Tor. Avon and Somerset Police said the incident had not been formally reported to them, and that they could not therefore comment.

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/7022154.stm

TO most passers-by it looks little more than a weathered boulder lying forlorn on the side of a farm lane in East Lothian.

The faint markings etched on its sides are barely distinguishable, and to the untrained eye look like nothing more than graffiti scratches.

So when land factor Francis Ogilvy decided to move the heavy stone near Haddington in order to widen the farm lane beside it, he barely thought twice.

What he had no way of knowing is that he was potentially vandalising an ancient and protected monument.

Full story from the Scotsman

‘More than 100,000 old books previously unavailable to the public will go online thanks to a mass digitisation programme at the British Library.
The programme focuses on 19th Century books, many of which are unknown as few were reprinted after first editions.‘

Should be interesting for us TMA’ers ;-)

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7018210.stm

Campaigners fighting to preserve the Rotherwas Ribbon say they will be taking the “issue further” after they claimed a council scrutiny committee decision to endorse a plan to build a road over the Bronze Age find was invalid.......... more at the following link

24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART50991.html

The Rotherwas Ribbon site has a more detailed account of the council meeting....

rotherwasribbon.com/

This exhibition at the Royal Academy explores the work and achievement of the Fellowship of the Society of Antiquaries of London since its foundation in the early eighteenth century to the present day.

Organised by the Royal Academy of Arts and the Society of Antiquaries of London to celebrate the Society’s tercentenary, the exhibition showcases treasures from Britain’s oldest Learned Society concerned with the study of the past and is complemented by works from national and regional museums.

It features works of art, antiquities and manuscripts of unique historical importance, such as a processional cross of King Richard III and his defeated Yorkist army recovered from the battlefield of Bosworth (1485). Also on show will be the earliest known medieval manuscript illustrations of Stonehenge, as well as drawings and paintings of this and other historic sites and monuments by great artists such as Constable, Turner, Girtin and Blake.

A selection from the Society’s extraordinary collection of early English royal portraits from Henry VI to Mary Tudor will be displayed together in public for the first time.

royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/makinghistory/

MORE THAN 10,000 of the most important ancient and historical sites around Scotland’s coastline are at risk of being destroyed by the storms and rising sea levels that will come with global warming.

Sites in jeopardy include the neolithic settlement of Skara Brae on Orkney and the prehistoric ruins at Jarlshof on Shetland. Others under threat range from Viking burial boats to Iron Age brochs and Mesolithic middens.

New surveys for Historic Scotland reveal that the remains of communities up to 9000 years old could be lost for ever due to accelerating coastal erosion.

The potential loss is incalculable and has alarmed experts. “This is a uniquely valuable and totally irreplaceable part of the nation’s cultural heritage, with much still to teach us about our past,” said Tom Dawson, an archaeologist at the University of St Andrews....

the article continues at the link below

sundayherald.com/news/heraldnews/display.var.1708488.0.10_000_historic_sites_at_risk_from_climate_change.php

TIMEWATCH.ORG MEDIA RELEASE – 10/09/2007

Huge Labyrinth walk ceremony will herald the launch of new Thornborough restoration campaign

Thornborough Henges to be target of Restoration campaign

More the 500 candles will be used to create a massive labyrinth at Thornborough’s Central Henge as part of the opening ceremony for TimeWatch’s new campaign to restore Thorborough’s ancient cursus.

Heritage campaign Group TimeWatch has announced that the group is to launch a new campaign aimed at restoring what the group is calling the “sacred Landscape” of Thornborough Henges.

To kick off the campaign, and in recognition of the ancient site’s ritual purpose, TimeWatch have invited local religious and spiritual groups to participate in a ceremony of good fortune for the campaign. The ceremony will begin at 7pm on Saturday 22nd September and will involve pagan, Christian and people from other faiths who all agree that restoring one of Yorkshires oldest and largest ritual monuments is an important next step for the campaign. The ceremony will last for two hours and will include a partial walk of the cursus and story telling.

“In recognising the religious origins for the mighty monuments at Thornborough, we also recognise that no particular group has ownership of these structures; they belong to us all and we invite all-comers to come and help us begin the task of restoration by taking part in this spectacular ceremony” Said TimeWatch Chairman George Chaplin.

After more than five years of campaigning against quarrying at Thornborough, and following the planning ruling that the important archaeology surrounding the henges had to be protected TimeWatch have announced that it is time to begin restoring parts of the site that have been previously ruined.

“Thornborough Cursus is potentially the oldest major monument in the world aligned to the Constellation Orion. It is also the largest monument at Thornborough; almost a mile long” Said Mr Chaplin “On the 22nd of September we will be launching an entirely new campaign to restore the section that has been quarried back to its original state. We believe that this move will be positive for all involved since it will return the land back to original quality.

The Cursus at Thornborough is thought to have been built around 3,500BC, some five hundred years before the henges. It is a fifty meter wide strip of land, almost a mile long that was cleared in order to create a ceremonial causeway that some think of as a “spirit path” for the soul to return to the heavens.

Thornborough’s cursus has been compared to the shaft within the King’s Chamber in the Great Pyramid in Giza. This was also aligned to Orion and emanates from the central pyramid of three structures that mirror Orion’s Belt. This too has been equated to a spirit path – a passageway for the soul of the pharaoh to travel to Orion.

“We think we can best protect Thornborough by helping to promote it as a unique site of international importance. Restoring the cursus will greatly help with this and will have local and regional environmental and economic benefits” Said Mr Chaplin.

An Emergency Situation is developing at the Lismullin Site where Construction Works to Divert the Gabhra River have Seriously Breached the 250m Exclusion Zone of the National Monument.

Heavy machinery and gravel lorries moved in to the Lismullin site this afternoon to begin works to divert the historic Gabhra River as part of the M3 Construction.
Observers were immediately concerned as machines began excavating well within the 250m exclusion zone around the Lismullin National Monument. There was no Archaeologist present as NRA Contractors made deep excavations & backfilled with truckloads of hardcore only 120m from the Lismullin Henge.
Activists entered the site and were able to stop work for most of the afternoon by occupying the diggers. Gardai were called to the site and activists were given a Caution not to interfere with works. However, two people re-entered the site and have stopped two of the machines by standing on them.

These incursions show a blatant disregard for the EU concerns currently being voiced about the legality of destroying a National Monument without a further Environmental Impact Assessment being made. The EU petitions Commitee is due to meet tomorrow (13th September), hopefully Lismullin will be high on the agenda.

indymedia.ie/article/84178?author_name=Helen%