On Radio Orkney this morning (first few minutes at bbc.co.uk/scotland/radioscotland/console/index.shtml?listen=/scotland/radioscotland/media/news/orkney ) a report on the re-discovery of the amber beads (not disintegrated as feared) dropped back into the famous cist at the time of the original dig, so they are finally back to start.
Latest News
July 11, 2005
July 8, 2005
If you have a large garden and would like a full-size replica of Stonehenge to impress your neighbours and visitors then you need to speak to Channel 5.
The biggest problem is that it measures 33 metres across. The good news, however, is that it is light to carry about because all of the replica stones are made of polystyrene.
Exact copies of each stone were made at a military camp near Bicester, the only place big enough the programme makers could find. It took a fleet of 14 articulated lorries to transport the replica stones to Wiltshire. The chosen location, said Mr Pitts, was a hilltop near Warminster.
Mr Pitts said the most important aspect for him as an archaeologist was the detailed inspection of the real monument that had to be carried out so that the stones could be replicated. He said: “I realised how little time we had actually spent before looking at the stones themselves.”
He said: “It has impressed us so much that we are talking seriously about a proper modern survey of the megaliths using modern techniques.” Such a survey could reveal much about the stones, where they had become from, the way they had been shaped and possibly the way they were originally put up.
Anyone wishing to acquire the replica should get in contact with Channel Five.
more at
thisiswiltshire.co.uk/wiltshire/marlborough/news/MARLB_NEWS_LOCAL2.html
July 6, 2005
A new attraction which offers visitors the chance to experience life as an Iron Age villager opens this weekend. The Cinderbury settlement near Coleford in the Forest of Dean, includes several roundhouses, an iron smelting furnace, pottery kiln and clay-domed bread oven.
People can visit for the day, for a weekend, or experience an entire week, where they will wear authentic clothes, forage for food or learn to weave.
Director Jasper Blake said Cinderbury aims to be both fun and education. “The idea is that they come and experience some of the life an Iron Age person might have lived,” he said.
“We don’t want to make it a survival holiday, we want people to get back in touch with raw materials like wood and iron and stone.”
Those braving a week’s stay will live in a communal roundhouse, sleeping on animal skins, existing on a pre-Roman diet which excludes caffeine, sweets or potatoes and using compost-style toilets.
No mobile phones, wrist watches or any modern accessories will be allowed, although “tribal staff” will have access to telephones for emergencies.
“It’s not the only thing, we are open to day visitors and school parties, it’s very much an educational type project,” said Mr Blake, who hopes to inspire an interest in archaeology.
from news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/4647917.stm
July 2, 2005
Protesters to deluge council over quarry
By Richard Edwards
Protesters fighting a quarry plan near an ancient Yorkshire monument are to hit a council with the biggest number of objections in its history. Campaign groups Timewatch and the Friends of Thornborough Henges have been campaigning for more than a year against Tarmac’s scheme at Ladybridge Farm, Nosterfield, near Ripon.
Timewatch will hand 1,500 letters of objection and a petition on Monday that will carry more than 10,000 signatures to North Yorkshire County Council planning chiefs.
The response will be the largest number of objections the council has ever received to a single application.
Timewatch chairman George Chaplin said: “Our response shows that the application is fundamentally flawed and contrary to council planning policy on many counts.
He added: “We feel that by showing we are more than willing to argue our case, together with significant public support, we can ensure that right is done at Thornborough.”
taken from the article at Leeds Today
leedstoday.net/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=39&ArticleID=1073879
coverage also at the bbc website
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/4642175.stm
July 1, 2005
Peterborough City Council is to hold two public meetings about plans to build a renewable energy plant near the famous Flag Fen Bronze Age site.
Local residents and businesses will get the opportunity to question the company behind the £250 million, 29-acre waste processing energy park proposed for the site at Fengate in Cambridgeshire.
The two-hour meetings will be held on July 13 at Peterborough Central Library and on July 25 at Peterborough Town Hall Council Chamber.
The developers estimate that the plant could handle more than a million tonnes of waste each year. Innovative technology will then be used to generate electricity by burning the waste along with biomass (organic matter such as plants) at very high temperatures in an oxygen deficient environment.
Dr Pryor recognises the importance of renewable energy: “Anyone living in the fens has to be in favour of any electricity generation which doesn’t contribute to global warming and I’m wholly in favour, in principle. But,” he added, the location of the plant “seems to me really very insensitive.” While he considers the possibility of a visitor centre at the plant to be a good idea, he added: “It isn’t going to make up for the impact of the development.”
Responsibility for approving or disapproving the planning application lies with the Department for Trade and Industry. The city council has until September to compile a report and make comments for consideration.
For more information about the development visit prel-online.co.uk and to see the full planning application online see the Peterborough City Council website
peterborough.gov.uk/page-4166
Taken from the 24hourmuseum article at
24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART29265.html
June 30, 2005
“Plans to build the largest onshore wind farm in Europe have been approved by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council).
An application by Lewis Wind Power for a 209 turbine wind farm in North Lewis, costing £400m, was passed by 19 votes to eight on Wednesday evening.
It was approved despite more than 4,000 objections.
The council also approved by 22 votes to 7 an application by Beinn Mhor Power for 130 turbines on the Eishken Estate.”
Full story:
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4635897.stm
June 25, 2005
The controversial tunnel under Stonehenge was dubbed “the new Bath Spa” by campaigners yesterday after the cost of the project soared to £223million. The Department for Transport (DfT) said the previous figure of £193million had ignored the cost of buying and preparing the land for the tunnel, designed to hide the A303, which passes near the ancient Wiltshire monument.
Stonehenge campaigners said the project was looking more and more like the disastrously overpriced Bath Spa and Millennium Dome projects.
The cost of the mile-long tunnel was originally put at £183million in 2002, but Transport Minister Stephen Ladyman yesterday said “some further increase in costs is now anticipated”.
The “Save Stonehenge” group said delays and price increases could lead Ministers to abandon plans for the road altogether.
And druid leader King Arthur Pendragon – who led a pagan service at the monument at Tuesday’s solstice festival – warned that the “biggest protest in Europe” would be staged if the Government rejected the tunnel in favour of a cheaper option.
He said the Government could opt for a “cut and cover” tunnel, which would involve sinking the road then adding a roof, rather than boring a tunnel.
“If the Government did that, it would devastate so much archaeology – they could expect the biggest protest in Europe, ” he said.
“Stonehenge is up there with the pyramids in Egypt for cultural significance, so they have to get it right. But they also have to get on with it – the longer they take the more it will cost and the less chance they will build the road at all.
“It is being handled like the Millennium Dome – needless bureaucracy making what is already a very expensive project into an unattainable one.”
Chris Woodford, of Save Stonehenge, said: “It is increasingly likely the Government will not approve the tunnel. If the price goes up much more it will simply not be affordable. You can imagine the Government thinking this is a Millennium Dome-type white elephant and giving up on the project.”
The planning inspector’s report on last year’s public inquiry into the road was completed in January, but the DfT has still to decide whether to approve the tunnel.
Added to this, plans for a new £57million visitor centre have been submitted to Salisbury District Council by English Heritage. These are the subject of another planning inquiry, but if DfT rejects the tunnel then there is no hope for the visitor centre.
Terence Meaden, of the Stonehenge Society, said the bureaucracy was holding up the project and adding to the cost.
He said: “Nowadays, everybody gets consulted and there are so many bodies and committees sticking their noses in. There are similarities with the Bath Spa situation.”
But David Batchelor, an archaeologist for English Heritage, played down concerns about the project. He said: “It would be nice if the process went forward faster, but it takes time and we have to accept that.”
article at the Western Daily Press website
westpress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=146278&command=displayContent&sourceNode=146274&contentPK=12705772
kent.gov.uk/your-council/news/june-05/jun-23-a.html
Time: 11am (speeches at 11.15, opening ceremony 11.45)
Location: Swanscombe Heritage Park, Craylands Lane, Swanscombe
Details: Phil Harding from Wessex Archaeology – part of Channel 4’s Time Team – will cut a ribbon to celebrate the park’s new entry feature. This is a sculpture based on a 400,000-year-old hand axe discovered in the park. The ceremony will celebrate many hours of work by the local community, businesses and public sector in restoring one of the most important archaeological sites in northern Europe. It also marks the 70th anniversary of the discovery of human skull fragments there.
Local schoolchildren will enjoy an organised treasure hunt in the park and will take part in the opening ceremony. Guests will be offered an optional guided tour of the site at 12 noon to see the project work which has been carried out by Groundwork Kent Thameside and Swanscombe Action Group. A short display of the ancient art of flint-knapping will also be given at 12 noon.
Speeches will be given by Swanscombe Action Group Chairman, Cllr Bryan Read, Patrick Conrad from Groundwork Kent Thameside, KCC Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport Richard King and Professor Chris Stringer from the Natural History Museum. The project has been supported by a number of partners with part funding from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. KCC is the accountable body.
A heritage campaigner has warned that Flag Fen could become the next Thornborough if plans to plans to build a waste processing plant near the famous Bronze Age site succeed.
George Chaplin told the 24 Hour Museum that a vast waste processing plant at Flag Fen could affect the site in the same way as quarrying has affected Thornborough.
“We at Time Watch are very concerned that Flag Fen could be turned into another Thornborough,” he said. “Sites like Flag Fen, which are already established as being extremely important, have been invested in,” he added, “and because of the investment we’ve already made what we should avoid at all costs is ruining that.”
The company behind the planning application is Global Olivine UK, which hopes to build a £220 million 38-acre waste processing plant to recycle waste and turn it into electricity.
While George suggested that many of the 20,000 visitors who flock to Flag Fen every year would inevitably be put off by the industrial plant, he also highlighted the potential for damage to archaeology still in the ground.
“We are concerned about the impact on archaeology by things like leakage,” he said, “and the impact on the local environment.” All this, he added, when instead we should be “turning Flag Fen into our archaeological flagship.”
His words follow the concerns, reported by the 24 Hour Museum last week, of Flag Fen Manager Toby Fox: “It’s absolutely on top of us. We are very concerned,” he said. “On a 30-acre site, the amount of rainfall that will hit a concrete slab and be used in the cooling towers will have a direct effect on the surrounding land,” he said. “It won’t be keeping the archaeological remains wet. We’re trying desperately to protect our heritage and we feel that this will compromise that.”
Heritage experts and members of the Flag Fen team are not the only worried voices. On June 23 it was reported in the city’s Evening Telegraph newspaper that Peterborough MP Stewart Jackson has called for a public inquiry into the plans. The same publication has also run stories relaying the reservations of residents and businesses in the area.
According to Peterborough City Council, the plans will not be approved or disapproved by them. Instead, because it is an electricity generating plant, it falls within the Electricity Act, putting responsibility for making a decision in the hands of the Department for Trade and Industry.
The council’s role is as one of several consultees who will advise the DTI on the application. Council officers will put together a report for councillors to consider, following which their views and recommendations will be presented to the DTI. The deadline for submission is late September.
Despite its restricted role, the council told the 24 Hour Museum that it would be taking archaeological, as well as other environmental, concerns into account.
“Council officers are carefully evaluating all aspects of the planning application,” reads a statement, “including the proposed development’s likely impact on highways, archaeological sites, air quality, landscape, wildlife, ground water regime, water pollution, waste management and noise nuisance to nearby residential and commercial properties.”
The 24 Hour Museum tried to contact Global Olivine, but calls and emails were unanswered.
From the article at the 24 Hour Museum
24hourmuseum.org.uk/images/head_nwh.gif
June 24, 2005
From Heritage Action, 22 June 2005
Access to the three ancient monuments that make up the Rollright stones has been greatly improved. It is now easier than ever for wheelchair users and families with pushchairs to enjoy the spectacle of the The King’s men stone circle, the Whispering Knights burial chamber and the King Stone standing stone in the beautiful north Oxfordshire countryside.
The improvements were unveiled in a ceremony last weekend when George Lambrick, chair of trustees of The Rollright Trust who cares for the monuments welcomed visitors and guests to inspect the new facilities for themselves.
A portion of land to the south of the King’s Men stone circle has been acquired to allow visitors to enter the circle through the portal that the bronze age builders of the circle originally intended. An all-weather anti-mud path suitable for wheelchairs now leads down from the King’s men stone circle to the Whispering Knights burial chamber. Access to the King stone has been improved and information boards have been erected.
Continues here
To the untrained eye the Bloodgate Hill Iron Age hill fort at South Creake, near Fakenham, is nothing more than a circular mound in a grassy field. But with the aid of aerial photo-graphs, hi-tech surveying equipment and painstaking excavation work archaeologists have unearthed the fort’s past and provided a glimpse at the turbulent early history of Norfolk. The site is to be preserved thanks to the work of the Norfolk Archaeological Trust, a local charity which, two years ago, bought the field in which it sits.
Tomorrow, the Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk Richard Jewson will unveil two information panels at the fort, explaining the ancient settlement’s past and giving visitors an impression of what it once looked like. It is one of only six known pre-Roman hill forts in the county.
Dr Peter Wade-Martins, director of the Norfolk Archaeological Trust, said the fort, probably built between two and three thousand years ago, was an important reminder of what life was like in pre-Roman Britain.
The fort would originally have had a four-metre deep outer ditch surrounding a bank topped with a wooden palisade. Measuring 210m across, it is one of the biggest in Norfolk and has some unusual features – the main entrance, to the east, is in line the entrance to the inner ditch and mound, which is rare in Iron Age forts. There is also evidence of at least two smaller entrances to the west and other fences and gates within the fort.
Plenty more information and a picture at the EDP website
in the rest of this article by Edward Foss.
Examples of rock art are to be recorded with ‘3D laser scanning’ as part of the Northumberland and Durham rock art project. This is being funded and co-ordinated by the two county councils and English Heritage.
The project’s main aim is to develop new and undamaging approaches to recording and conserving rock art.
Rock Art project officer Tertia Barnett said: “Laser scanning has been used to record only a handful of prehistoric carvings and this will be the largest number of carved panels scanned by one project.
“The scanner sends a laser beam across the rock and records very small changes in the surface. Changes of less than 0.5mm (0.02in) can be captured and recorded as digital data on a computer and used to create extremely accurate three-dimensional reconstructions of the rock surface and carvings.”
She said the technique would not damage the rock surface.
“It’s a powerful tool for conserving rock art and it allows us to look in detail at things such as the techniques used to make the prehistoric carvings and subtle changes in the rock structure where it might have been eroded or damaged”, she said.
“This will help us assess how to protect the carvings from further decay.”
Computer generated reconstructions can also be manipulated to create 3D animations for museum displays and exhibitions.
Northumberland and Durham have more than 1,000 examples of rock art and the project aims to compile a complete record.
from the BBC article at
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4125078.stm
June 18, 2005
As from 28 May 2005 Rombalds/Ilkley Moor is covered by the Open Access Legislation, cms.countrysideaccess.gov.uk/places_to_go/open_access/ . So you do not *have* to keep to the paths. The northern part of the moor has been Open Access for some years. A new issue of the OS Explorer map 297 Lower Wharfedale & Washburn Valley showing the Open Access areas covered is on sale. Ensure that you get one with the gray patch on the spine and front. Be aware that there are restrictions (people with dogs) on the use of some of this land, and “Exclude people altogether” restrictions on some days, as listed on the web site above. The legislation will become effective throughout England by the end of 2005.
The usual warnings. Anyone who goes off the paths should treat the Moor with respect, boots, food, walking gear, wet weather gear etc. The going underfoot varies from easy grass, to knee deep heather or reeds, knee deep bog, or waist high bracken. These often hide dry or water filled deep holes, not to mention disused quarries.
Rombalds Moor contains some 350 Cup & Ring stones and other neolithic sites. A few dozen of these are well known and were discovered and described in Victorian times: Cow and Calf Rocks, Swastika Stone, Pancake Stone etc. and these are easily found and close to existing paths. But many more have now been listed in Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding (PRAWR) K.J.S Boughey and E.A. Vickerman, ISBN 1 870453 32 8 alkelda.f9.co.uk/wybook1.htm, which includes an order form.
PRAWR lists in all some 653 cup and ring stones and other sites within the West Riding, only a few of which are listed on this web site. Previously unknown examples are found regularly in the area.
An advantage of PRAWR is that it gives the usual lengthy discussion. Plus for each site, not only a description, position and often a photograph and/or sketch. But also 10 figure (1 meter) OS National Grid References for each rock, which means the a person with a hand held Global Positioning System receiver (GPS) can walk to within a few meters of a rock. Hopefully in 2006, EGNOS esa.int/esaNA/GGG63950NDC_index_0.html, which is much behind schedule, will at last become operational. This is similar to WAAS, but for Europe. Then it well be possible for a hand held GPS user to walk to within 2-3 meters of a rock. Without a GPS, and some description of the rock, finding a single boulder in Bracken/Heather is shall we say difficult.
June 17, 2005
Environmentalists have won a campaign to stop quarrying at a beauty spot in the Peak District.
The Court of Appeal ruled on Friday there should be no more work at Lees Cross and Endcliffe quarries, near Matlock in Derbyshire.
June 16, 2005
From BBCi, 16 June 2005
A New York-based conservation group has joined the battle to prevent further quarrying near an ancient monument known as the Stonehenge of the North.
The Landmarks Foundation said plans by Tarmac to extend its sand and gravel quarry close to Thornborough Henges, near Ripon, would be a “tragedy”.
North Yorkshire County Council is due to consider the application to extend the quarry later in the year.
The foundation said: “We strongly urge the council to reject the application.”
Tarmac already has a quarry at Nosterfield, close to the ancient henges.
The new site at Ladybridge Farm is also near the henges, which consist of three earthworks built in a line running north-south for about a mile.
Residents fear further quarrying could destroy clues about why the 5,000-year-old earthworks were built.
Their fears have come to the attention of the Landmarks Foundation, which says its mission is to conserve sacred sites and landscapes around the world.
Continues...
From PeterboroughNow 16 June 2005
In a clash between ancient history and new technology, fears have been raised that Peterborough’s renowned Flag Fen site could be forced to close if a giant waste plant is built.
Each year, more than 20,000 people visit the celebrated site in Fourth Drove, Fengate, which is recognised as one of the most important Bronze Age sites in Europe.
It was discovered by Dr Francis Pryor in 1982 when a piece of timber was spotted sticking out of the peat by archaeologists looking for a Roman road.
Since then, hundreds of relics have been discovered, including Britain’s oldest wheel, and Dr Pryor has gone on to find television fame as part of the BBC’s Time Team.
Today, the last day for public objections to be lodged, he said he had “serious reservations” about the controversial plans to build the Global Olivine energy-from-waste recycling site, which will cover 29 acres and dwarf Flag Fen.
He said: “The proposal as it currently stands gives me serious worries that it will adversely affect the undisturbed archaeological deposits on the site.
I also have concerns about the visual impact of the scheme and the way this will affect how visitors experience our Flag Fen.”
continues here...
June 15, 2005
A sculpture inspired by a paleolithic hand axe will be unveiled at Swanscombe Heritage Park on June 29. The ceremony links in with the 70th anniversary of the internationally significant discovery of skull fragments at the site.
It also marks the culmination of two years of work to rid the site of dumped cars, fly-tipping and illegal motorcyclists.
The axe sculpture and clearance work forms part of the A Walk into History project which is being managed by charity Groundwork on behalf of the Swanscombe Action Group.
The project was set-up with a £370,000 grant from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister via Kent County Council.
Groundwork’s landscape architect David Robinson said: “We hope this exciting sculpture will not only provide an interesting landmark for visitors but also raise the public’s perception of the archaeological importance of the park.”
‘Info taken from
This is Local London
A picture of the designer with his design at
https://www.groundwork.org.uk/kent/news/SHP%20design.htm
June 12, 2005
Source: Bournemouth Daily Echo
Date Published: Friday 10 June 2005
AN ancient standing stone from a lost sun temple has been unearthed by dowsers in east Dorset.
Students on a local dowsing course discovered the hidden Bronze Age relic at Knowlton Henge, two miles south of Cranborne.
Experts believe it is one of the most exciting finds in the region for years.
And, intriguingly, the dowsers pinpointed the ancient flat stone after spotting an energy line on a photo of the area.
“It’s a very significant find,” said Paul Craddock, chairman of Wessex Dowsers and a local dowsing tutor.
“Where the stone was discovered, we believe there may have an avenue of stones. We also think there is a second stone close by, buried upright in the ground.”
Dating as far back as 4,000BC, the large slab is thought to have been part of the stone circles of a pagan sun temple.
It is widely believed the henge was either knocked down or broken up when the now ruined 12th century Norman Knowlton Church was built on the same spot.
It was common practice for early Christians to take over the older pagan sites, as local people were used to worshipping at the sacred circles.
Some of the stones are thought to have been used in the church’s foundations, and may also form part of the altar.
Dowsing expert Paul Craddock, from Parkstone, first suspected an energy line running in the area near the stone after a “ghost” line appeared on three photographs taken by a friend’s son.
He runs courses on dowsing and decided to take his students up to the site to practise some of their dowsing techniques.
One tracked the energy line directly to the stone, which was lying hidden under thick weeds.
Dorset ancient stone expert and author Peter Knight has now examined the megalith and says he is “very excited” about the find, and keen to notify local archaeologists.
Paul was delighted with the success of his dowsing students.
“Most people know dowsing as a means of finding water with a twig, but it can also be used for archaeological searches, building site surveys, tracing lost objects, and much more,” he said.
Government departments and public utilities both here and abroad discreetly make use of the techniques, as dowsers are far cheaper than ordering full site surveys.
During the Vietnam War in the 1970s, US soldiers were taught dowsing to locate hidden Viet Cong tunnels.
It can also be used in healing, said Paul, with many doctors in Germany, Austria and France using dowsers in their health care programs.
And he says interest in dowsing is on the rise locally, with more students signing up for courses in techniques using rods and pendulums.
For more details, call Paul at Wessex Dowsers on 01202 733452.
First published: June 10
thisisbournemouth.co.uk/dorset/east_dorset/news/EAST_DORSET_NEWS_NEWS1.html
Source: The Times: 11 June 2005
Sweet return for Iron Age boat with a heart of oak
By Simon de Bruxelles
AN ANCIENT dugout canoe is to be seen in public for the first time in 2,300 years after spending the past decade being preserved in sugar.
The same principles used to preserve fruit were used to save the Iron Age craft from crumbling after it was found buried in sediment at the bottom of Poole Harbour in Dorset.
The sugar treatment was crucial to prevent the 32ft canoe crumbling on exposure to air. It was found during dredging in the early 1960s and spent the next 30 years submerged in a tank of water while experts debated how best to keep it intact.
The boat is now being kept in a warm room while the last of the water evaporates and after that it will go on display at the Poole museum.
The canoe is thought to have been built by the Durotriges tribe in about 300BC specifically for use in the harbour where it was found. The draft is too shallow for it to be used in the open sea and its length would have made it awkward to manoeuvre on local rivers.
The canoe was made by splitting an oak trunk measuring 32ft (9.75m) by 6ft (1.8m) that weighed up to 12 tonnes. The trunk was hollowed out and the bow and stern were then carved into it. It would probably have propelled by paddle and is likely to have been used to ferry goods and passengers from sea-going vessels to the shore. Experts estimate that it could carry two to three tonnes of goods and up to a dozen people.
The Durotriges are known to have traded with tribes on the Continent and also imported goods such as wine, table wares, olives and spices from as far afield as Greece and Rome. Exports from Britain included pottery, jewellery and salt.
The trading ships are believed to have moored alongside a recently rediscovered causeway that linked Green Island and the mainland.
Keith Jarvis, of Poole Museum, said: “The sugar replaces the water in the wood so that it does not disintegrate when it hits the air. It is a gradual process and we’ve had it buried for ten years, constantly seeing how much water is left.
“The boat is now in a tent being warmed to extract the last of the water. After that we can put it on display in the museum, which is having a room added,” he said.
“It is an important and unique boat and it is wonderful that after 40 years it will soon be on display for the public to see.”
Source: The Times: 11 June 2005
June 7, 2005
From the Western Morning News, Tuesday June 7th:
The playing fields of Truro College have been excavated to reveal two Iron Age settlements. Finds include fragments of South Western decorated ware dating from 200 – 100 BCE and a “La Tene” Celtic brooch of similar age:
A team of university archaeologists has uncovered the remains of an Iron Age settlement in the grounds of a Gloucestershire castle.
The group, from the University of Bristol, found fragments of human bones and prehistoric flint tools in the gardens of Berkeley castle.
The discoveries were made by students taking part in a training excavation.
Mark Horton, head of archaeology, said: “To find prehistoric remains is an exciting and unexpected discovery.”
Parts of a ring ditch, which may have circled a house, were also uncovered in an area below the castle’s Victorian flowerbeds and greenhouses.
Berkeley castle has been owned and inhabited by the same family since 1156, but little is known about the early history of the site.
“It is possible this settlement was located on a small ridge of high ground, to be visible from the River Severn, and might even had been located to help prehistoric navigation,” Dr Horton said.
The excavations are due to be filled in, but it is hoped the artefacts will be put on display for visitors to the castle.
From BBCi, 7 June 2005
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/4614747.stm
June 4, 2005
Another unique design found on cist slab. headlandarchaeology.com/Projects/Balblair_cairn/Headland-Archaeology_Archaeological-Excavations_Balblair.html
June 1, 2005
Revisions to the Stonehenge planning application and environmental statement are now available for viewing and comment. Online at Salisbury District Council’s website:
salisbury.gov.uk/stonehenge/
where the revisions (including answers to questions/clarifications people and organisations have posed) are at
salisbury.gov.uk/stonehenge/ application/report/s2004-0001-supplementary-information.pdf
May 27, 2005
From an article published on the BBC News web site on 21st May 2005:
Mining for copper and zinc could return to Anglesey’s Parys Mountain mine after an absence of almost 100 years.
As a result of recent increases in world metal prices, owners Anglesey Mining plc are starting exploratory drilling work.Finance director Ian Cuthbertson said they were confident of “significant reserves” at the site, which has been mined since the Bronze Age.
May 26, 2005
A year-long project to restore and preserve an Iron Age hill fort on the Painswick Beacon is nearing completion. The £80,000 initiative involved repairs to the ancient ramparts at Kimsbury Camp and new measures to reduce erosion caused by walkers and history-lovers.
Built sometime between 400 and 100BC, the fort is considered to be nationally important by archaeologists and the limestone grassland is a haven for rare orchids and butterflies.
“The work is extremely important,” said county archaeologist Jan Wills. “Painswick is so well-visited by walkers, the local community and people who come to see the fantastic views that the pressure of visitors’ feet has literally worn away the ramparts. The state of the site has been a concern for some time but it is only when the funding comes together that you have the chance to do something about it.”
The work was led by county archaeologists and was largely funded by national bodies like the Heritage Lottery fund, who contributed £50,000, English Heritage and English Nature.
Local bodies, chiefly the Painswick Beacon Conservation Group, was heavily involved in getting the project started. Group secretary Cedric Nielsen said: “It was almost at the point where if someone gave it a good push it would all fall down. This means people will be able to see the view and enjoy the fort but hopefully we are managing the erosion and making a better job of it.”
The work, which will include information boards about the site’s history and wildlife, is expected to be completed in a month’s time.
From the This is Stroud web site (also less comprehensive coverage of this item on the BBC News web site).