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Thousands of years of history were uncovered when excavations started in a village near Stamford last week.

Archaeologists spent three days carving trenches out of the landscape to uncover artefacts which dated the site at Northborough to 6,000 years ago .

The experts think the site is one of only seven of the same type of Neolithic site in the country.

Time Team researcher Karen Kirk explained they thought the site may have been a meeting place or have a ritual significance.

Either way there have been some exciting finds, including a leaf shaped arrow head and a piece of flint.

The team also uncovered pottery from 3,500 BC and animal bone with marks on it consistent with them being hit.

Both presenter Tony Robinson and Dr Francis Pryor, who discovered Flag Fen at Peterborough, were at the site looking at the finds and taking part in the dig alongside archaeologists from around the country.

Using state-of-the-art technology they were able to find archaeological hot spots and dig in the right places.

Karen said they liked to use local people with local knowledge to help them out, and they have also used people with metal detectors to help with digs.
She said: “We had our own diggers, Wessex Archaeology, Northampton Archaeology Unit and Flag Fen diggers on the site.”

The Deepings’ Red Cross ambulance was also on hand to keep a watchful eye on the team and ensure any injuries could be attended to.

Although the site has now been filled in, all finds and significant items have been logged and recorded by the team for the future.

The show will be aired next year between January and March as part of Time Team’s 12th series.

From Stamford Today, 16th September 2004.

Plans for a £67.5m visitors’ centre, which will help rejuvenate facilities at Stonehenge, have been unveiled.

The proposals, submitted by English Heritage, are for a single-storey building two miles from the stones.

Around 750,000 people visit Stonehenge each year, but the site’s facilities have been slammed by critics who have called them “a national disgrace”.

Sir Neil Cossons, chairman of English Heritage, said: “Until now, we have let our ancestors down.”

He added: “If successful, this planning application will allow us to remove the worst excesses of the modern day and create a seamless downland landscape.”

‘Inspiring and uplifting‘

The proposed new centre is the product of three years’ work by English Heritage.

It will be built just outside the World Heritage site and will contain exhibitions, educational facilities and a cafe.

A new land train will take visitors on a 25-minute journey from the centre to the stones, via a series of drop-off points across the site.

The plans have been submitted to Salisbury District Council and a decision is expected in 2005.

“At last, it looks as if the millions of people who come to visit Stonehenge from all over the world will receive the inspiring and uplifting experience that they expect and the stones deserve,” said Sir Neil.

A public inquiry was held earlier this year into a separate £193m scheme, which would see the busy A303 re-routed away from the Stonehenge site through a tunnel.

The findings of that inquiry are being examined by an independent planning inspector.

A report from the inspector will be used by the government to decide whether the plans get the go-ahead.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/3658024.stm

One of the mines, Greenwell’s Pit, has been mapped by laser to allow visitors to “fly” in virtual reality over the surface and along the shafts and galleries. It should be in place next year as part of the overhaul of the visitor facilities at the site.

The mine scanned is one that isn’t open to the public normally, so it’ll give everyone a new view of the site, not just benefitting people that can’t shimmy down ladders.

Story at the EDP24 website.

14 Sept 2004 by David Bell, Evening Mail

The remains of a sauna used by Bronze Age Brummies is set to scupper a
multi-million pound marina project for the city. The ‘hot tub’ threat emerged
as planners investigated possible sites for the big money tourism scheme.

Water voles who live on the stretch of water at Millpool Hill, Alcester Road South,
alongside the Stratford Upon Avon canal, could be another hurdle.

Planners have identified the location as the only place in the city with the potential
to be turned into a marina with mooring for up to 80 boats. But the area includes
the sauna suite beside the Chinn Brook known as the Bayston Road Burnt Mound.

Dating to between 1500 and 1000 BC, it is thought to be the debris from heated
stones used as saunas by Bronze Age Brummies within the shelter of willow
structures. Councillors want a proper archaeological excavation to uncover other historical clues.

“This site proves that Bronze Age Brummies were far more sophisticated than we gave them
credit for,” Coun Peter Douglas Osborn told city planners. “You can tell it was a sauna
because of all the round stones on the site. They used it for recreation.”

Marina developers will also be required to carry out a field survey for water
voles – a legally protected species – and avoid habitats at all costs.

Officials want the marina complex to include a clubhouse, cafe, restaurant
and visitor facilities. They see it as a lure not only for tourists, but also as
a centre for water sport activities.

From: icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=14640183&method=full&siteid=50002&headline=bronze-age-sauna-may-sink-plans-for-tourism-name_page.html

The existence of a 6,500-year-old forest in Sanday has been confirmed.

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An update on the 2004 excavations on this enigmatic Iron Age cemetery.

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Iron Age Orkney was the centre of a vast province, ruled over by a chieftain who co-ordinated a massive programme of defensive brochs to counter a threat from the south. This is the conclusion of Shetland archivist Brian Smith.

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Orkney’s first underwater archaeological investigation concludes two islets are definitely crannogs.

Full story

The report on controversial plans to build a £200m tunnel near Stonehenge has gone to the secretary of state for transport, Alastair Darling.

Planning inspector Michael Ellison has been compiling his findings since the public inquiry into the road building scheme at the world heritage site finished in May.

His completed report will contain a recommendation about whether a 2.1km tunnel should be bored through the landscape or the plans should be scrapped in favour of finding an alternative solution.
More here...

From an article by Stephen Stewart of The Herald – 9th September 2004

One of Scotland’s most important museums has been saved from closure by a £100,000 investment package. Frank McAveety, the culture minister, helped broker the deal which will save Kilmartin House Museum in Argyll.

Stars from the world of television archaeology including Tony Robinson, Baldrick in the comedy Blackadder and presenter of Time Team, had rallied to support the museum, which was due to close this month.
More....

From the Irish Times – 08.09.04

The controversy over the routing of the M3 motorway near the historic Hill of Tara has been revived, with Meath county councillors agreeing to consult archaeologists about the treasures which may lie beneath the site of the road.

County council official Mr Oliver Perkins has told local councillors that surveys have identified 28 sites of potential archaeological importance on the section of the proposed motorway near the Tara/Skryne valley in Co Meath.

The Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the National Museum of Ireland are to confer and produce a report shortly.

Mr Perkins added, however, that the schedule for appointment of a contractor remains September 2005. It is hoped to start construction at the end of 2005.

County councillors have no statutory role in the routing of the project, which has been confirmed following an oral public hearing by An Bord Pleanála two years ago.

However, some councillors, including Sinn Féin member Mr Joe Reilly, are arguing for the right of county councillors to continue campaigning for a change of route.

Independent councillor Mr Brian Fitzgerald said the motorway should be built in phases, starting with the section from Clonee to Dunshaughlin.

He said this would relieve traffic chaos, while allowing time for further archaeological research on the Dunshaughlin to Navan section.

By Ben Lowry ([email protected]) – 31st August 2004

A Bronze Age burial ground in Co Down has been unearthed during work on a dual carriageway on the Belfast-Dublin route.

The construction scheme on the A1, between Loughbrickland and Beech Hill, has led to a number of important archaeological finds that provide evidence of a settlement site stretching back thousands of years.

A cemetery of eight early Bronze Age ring ditch barrow cremation burials, dating to 1800 BC, have been excavated and recorded, following three months of work by 12 archaeologists.

Kev Beachus, the head archaeologist, said: “The wealth of archaeology uncovered provides a fascinating insight into the lives of our
ancestors.”

Read the rest at...

belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/story.jsp?story=556975

An article by David Hartley from The Scotsman:

They were the first people to live in Scotland, nomads who left little trace of their day-to-day lives. But the first evidence that early man built homes as far north as Orkney up to 10,000 years ago appears to have been uncovered by archaeologists.

Tiny slivers of stone – combined with previously puzzling results from a geophysics survey – point to the presence of a settlement created by Mesolithic hunter gatherers.

The discovery of the islands’ first houses would represent a major step forward in understanding the shadowy lives of our earliest ancestors.

Jane Downes, from Orkney College, one of the archaeologists leading the excavation at Mine Howe, said: “To find evidence of a settlement would be a first for Orkney.

“But it would also be incredibly unusual for Scotland, because the lifestyle of the Mesolithic people meant they left few traces for us to find,” she added.

Orkney is internationally famous as the home of some of the Neolithic period’s greatest architectural masterpieces. Stone monuments like Skara Brae and Maes Howe date from about 5,000 years ago.

A more detailed survey of the area will now be carried out by the new geophysics unit at Orkney College.

thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1018502004

CAMPAIGNERS fighting to safeguard the Thornborough Henges say the country is “waking up” to the threat facing the nationally important site near Ripon.

Just over one month ago the campaign group Heritage Action vowed to make Thornborough a national issue, and already senior figures within the archaeological world are coming forward to denounce proposals by Tarmac to extend its quarrying operations closer to the triple henge complex.
And Thornborough is gaining widespread media attention. The henges have been featured in The Times, The Guardian, BBC Radio Five, and a number of national magazines.
Top archaeology title Current Archaeology called the situation a “crisis” and commented that quarrying the Ladybridge site adjacent to the henges would “cause the loss of another 111 acres of archaeology of critical importance”.
George Chaplin, Thornborough campaign co-ordinator for Heritage Action, said this week: “The signs are that Britain is waking up to this savage threat to our heritage.”
He says the archaeology world is not well known for either speaking out or co-ordinating activities, but now it seems that a strong consensus against the quarrying at Thornborough is building. Both the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) and the Yorkshire Archaeological Society (YAS) have voiced their opposition to the quarrying.
“The proposals are contrary to national and local policy. The application is incomplete, non-compliant with regulatory requirements, and granting consent would set unacceptable precedents”, says the CBA’s director, George Lambrick, in a letter to North Yorkshire County Council.
Peter Addyman of the YAS says: “This area is part of an extensive area of archaeological importance and potential, the destruction of which, even with archaeological recording and survey, is not in the local, regional or national interest.
“The proposed extraction is part of the setting of the most important prehistoric monuments of their date in Yorkshire. It is clear that the landscape as a whole around Thornborough is of archaeological significance and only now becoming even partially understood.”
Top archaeologist Aubrey Burl has likened Tarmac’s plans to dropping Stonehenge into the River Avon, while TV’s Dr Mark Horton, Head of Archaeology at Bristol University, commented that his was no longer a lone voice. “Increasingly, fellow archaeologists are coming forward to condemn this application,” he said.
To take the campaign to an even wider audience, Heritage Action have produced a re-vamped Thornborough website, which includes brand new aerial photos demonstrating the impact of the Ladybridge application. The website now also offers an online ‘objection letter kit’ which aims to make the task of objecting easier for the general public. Full details are available at www.heritageaction.org/thornborough
Heritage Action have also organised a large number of talks and events aimed at providing as many people as possible with an in depth understanding of the issues.
Among events it is attending this month are the York Peace Festival (September 11), Nidderdale Show (September 20) and Masham Sheep Fair (September 25 and 26).

3rd September 2004

nidderdaletoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=18&ArticleID=850122

An important archaeological site could be lost because of a row between the owner and the Environment Department.

Remains dating from 4000 to 2000 BC are evident in a courtyard surrounded by the Swan Inn, Bank of Bermuda and accountants Lince Salisbury. They are threatened even though the owner wants to preserve them as part of a new development. When accountant Michael Fattorini bought the site three years ago, it had permission for an office development. But site investigations uncovered a unique stone cairn.
He then shelved the plans to expand his office into the site and proposed a car park with public viewing and access for academics.
‘I fail to understand its stance in reality. Here is someone looking to be supportive of our heritage, saying there’s a site and rather than develop it I’m happy to preserve it,’ said Mr Fattorini. ‘The Environment Department is just saying no and giving it no support whatsoever.‘
Various ideas for the project from architects Lovell Ozanne have been put forward since Mr Fattorini bought the property.
‘It should have some feeling for these things. They allow the Royal Bank of Scotland and Admiral Park, all the glazed buildings, and that’s fine, but we just want to preserve what’s here,’ he said.
‘I’d like the Environment Department to acknowledge the fact there’s something worth preserving and be supportive of the plans.‘
The site is the only one of its type in the Channel Islands and its importance has been verified by visiting archaeologists.

More of the article
“Plans to save dig remain blocked”
by Nick Mann
in This Is Guernsey
thisisguernsey.com/code/shownewsarticle.pl?ArticleID=011853

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/3613882.stm

A Bronze Age cemetery is one of a number of prehistoric settlements that have been discovered in County Down.

Neolithic homes, which date to 4000 BC, were also uncovered by archaeologists along the A1 road near Newry.

Evidence from the excavation is being preserved before work begins on upgrading the road at Loughbrickland.

Head archaeologist Kevin Beachus said the find, which he described as “significant” was far more then his team expected.

“We didn’t expect quite so rich a find, we knew there would be something there or supposed there would be, but we had no idea it was going to be as wealthy as it is.

“The three neolithic houses which are about 6,000 years old, there are perhaps 30 maybe 35 in the entire UK known.

“We have got three of them, so they are very important.

“I think our findings are going to be used by universities, I would have thought, as a teaching aid for many years to come.

“The burials have been buried inside bronze age pots, each pot is buried in the centre of a circle or a ditch and then that is filled over the top.”

The archaeologists, which were brought onto the site by the Roads Service, have only a few days to collect their findings before work begins on the project.

“I’m afraid the road is going to be bulldozing its way straight through the site in the next few days,” said Mr Beachus.

However, he added that he was confident everything would be preserved in time and that future generations would learn a lot from the artefacts.

“I have got a wonderful team on site and I have no doubt that we will have it cleared by then.”

Archaeologists have described the finds of the Bronze Age community on the former Vaux Brewery site in the city centre as “significant”.

The dig was carried out as part of pre-development work on the site . Robin Taylor-Wilson, project manager at the Durham branch of Pre-Construct Archaeology, said : “It was totally unexpected to find evidence of a hitherto unknown Bronze Age settlement here.”

It was impossible to say its exact size at the moment, but Mr Taylor-Wilson said evidence suggested a wooden wall with houses inside it.
Archaeologists found pieces of pottery that would have been used as drinking vessels, flint used as tools and worked bone.
“One piece of bone looks a bit like a Polo and it is possible it was neck decoration or personal adornment, possibly a pendant.”
Burnt and charred seeds were found on the site and were dated as coming from between 2,480 and 2,280 BC. The seeds were hazelnuts which could have formed part of an early Wearside diet, or perhaps be from natural or man-made forest fires along the riverside.

“The evidence that we have found shows that there was quite a sophisticated society on the banks of the Wear with some socio-economic activity and a social hierarchy. They are significant finds,” said Mr Taylor-Wilson.
He said because of the landscape features, and being next to the river, the commanding spur of the Vaux site was an ideal place for pre-historic Britons.

complete story at Sunderland Today
sunderlandtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1107&ArticleID=847454

Taken from article by Joe Willis at This Is the North East: complete story at thisisthenortheast.co.uk/the_north_east/news/NEWS4.html

George Lambrick, director of the Council for British Archaeology, is one of several senior archaeologists who have spoken out against the plans by owners Tarmac Northern. He said: “The proposals are contrary to national and local policy. The application is incomplete, non-compliant with regulatory requirements, and granting consent would set unacceptable precedents.”

Other experts backing campaign group Heritage Action in their fight against the extension include Peter Addyman, of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society. He said: “This area is part of an extensive area of archaeological importance and potential, the destruction of which, even with archaeological recording and surveys, is not in the local, regional or national interest.”

Meanwhile, archaeologist and Stonehenge expert Aubrey Burl likened Tarmac’s plans to dropping the Wiltshire stone circle into the River Avon.
...
The planning application will be considered by councillors next month.

Moira Greig, an archaeologist with Aberdeenshire Council, has been carrying out an aerial survey of the north-east since the early 1990s and has discovered a significant number of new sites. She is to give an illustrated lunchtime talk tomorrow when she will discuss the highs and lows of recent archaeological photography work over Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray and Angus.

“The use of a plane brings a new perspective to archaeological photography,” said Moira. “Having a different viewpoint can help towards a better understanding of the setting of a monument in the landscape, as well as being able to see a larger area of a complex site at one time. It would be good to get information about what, for example, the crop mark sites are, but we tend to leave the monuments alone unless someone is doing research on the site. It is used mainly so we know what features are there, so we can stop any potential developments in that area. Just about every flight we do comes up with a new site, but it depends on the weather.”

A Date with the Flying Archaeologist has been jointly organised by Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire councils as part of a series of events being held throughout September to mark Scottish Archaeology Month. See also www.scottisharchaeology.org.uk

The Flying Archaeologist will be at Provost Skene’s House, Aberdeen, from 12.30pm to 1pm. Admission is free but places are limited to a maximum of 60. The museum is in Guestrow, off Broad Street.

From This is North Scotland

A perfectly-preserved 4,000-year-old flint dagger unearthed at the dig in Mellor, Stockport, is being hailed as one of the most significant finds of its type in the region. The hidden site was spotted during the long, dry summer of 1995, when local historian Anne Hearle noticed that a strip of grass next to her vegetable patch stayed green when all else had gone brown. The patch was later found to be part of a ditch in an Iron Age fort. Digs have progressed since 1998 via volunteers, Lottery and Stockport Council money, and have shown that the area has been occupied for 10,000 years.

The 12cm long flint dagger was dug from the mud by Peter Noble. Manchester University archaeologist John Roberts said: “This dagger is an astonishing piece. I have worked on sites all over the country for 18 years and I have never seen anything so beautiful. It gave me goose-bumps on the back of my neck when it was found. Daggers like this have been found in the region before, but they are very rare, especially in this condition. Everyone is thrilled to bits.” It’s thought the dagger may have been included in a burial chamber on the site.

The dagger and other artefacts discovered in the Mellor archaeological dig will be on display at an open day at the site on September 4 and 5.

more at Manchester Online
where there is a picture of the dagger.

Hey, TMA kids, why not vote? britarch.ac.uk/yac/voting

by Martin Wainwright
Thursday August 26, 2004, The Guardian

Thousands of young archaeologists are rallying to the defence of the country’s only GCSE in the subject, which is facing abolition by the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance examining board (AQA).

An online opinion poll and petition will be launched today to demand a change of heart over ending the “first-stage” exam which has a record of stimulating interest in A-level and archaeology degrees. Voting will run until September 30.

The campaign has been organised by the Young Archaeologists’ Club, which has seen a steady rise in membership following TV series such as Time Team. Although only 350 students sat the exam this year, up to 10 times that number are estimated to want to tackle it, if appropriate teaching can be found.

“We are ready and able to help with that,” said Don Henson, an education officer of the Council for British Archaeology, which has organised some of Britain’s most distinguished specialists in the country to lobby the exam board. The campaign is also being backed by the presenter of Time Team, the actor Tony Robinson, who called the abolition decision “plain daft”.

Mr Robinson said: “We should be making the past more accessible, not burying it. There’s a huge interest in archaeology these days, and it’s an interesting, exciting and open-air science which specially appeals to the young. How sad it’ll be if only those students who stay on into the sixth form are able to take an archaeology exam.”

The Young Archaeologists’ Club, whose members are currently fighting it out in a national competition to design a prehistoric monument, promised to campaign against the abolition with vim. There may also be a legal challenge to AQA because of the lack of any alternative to their archaeology GCSE.

“They have announced quite a list of GCSEs they plan to get rid of, including accountancy, classical Greek and Russian,” said Mr Henson. “But archaeology is the only one which isn’t available from any of the other boards.”

The AQA has regularly praised the quality of its archaeology candidates, despite teaching shortages.

from guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1290993,00.html

by Norman Hammond, Archaeology Correspondent of The Times Online, 24 August 2004

UNPRECEDENTED protests have been made in Yorkshire about plans to quarry the prehistoric ritual landscape around the Thornborough Henges.

Although the closing date for comments on the proposals is still more than a month away, North Yorkshire County Council has received more objections than for any other planning application, according to the magazine Current Archaeology.

Thornborough — sometimes called “the Stonehenge of the North” although the monuments consist of three huge earthen banked circles without stones — has long been a scheduled ancient monument in recognition of its importance.

But protesters say that the problem is that, as at Stonehenge, the visible monument is just the core of a densely packed ritual area of other ancient sites. “The quarry has already eaten 40 per cent of the ritual landscape of the henges, we cannot afford to lose more,” Current Archaeology says.

English Heritage stated this year that Thornborough was “the most important ancient site between Stonehenge and the Orkneys”, but quarrying so far has come within yards of the henges. Although Tarmac Northern Ltd, the company involved, has responded by announcing that it will hold off plans to quarry Thornborough Moor, one of its potential gravel sources that is closest to the henges, it has applied to expand at the Ladybridge Farm site to the north.

“If permission is granted to quarry there, it will cause the loss of a further 111 acres of archaeology that is of critical importance”, Current Archaeology says. More than 10,000 people have already signed a petition against the development, organised by Heritage Action, which claims that the Ladybridge site “is potentially the most important remaining area of archaeology in the ritual landscape of the henges”.

George Chaplin of Heritage Action said that Ladybridge included the remains of a settlement between the henges and a dried-up glacial lake to the north which may have been used by those attending rituals. “Current quarrying in this general zone has already turned up large amounts of archaeology: smaller investigative excavations indicate even more lies within the Ladybridge area. It is a tragedy that despite knowing this, Tarmac is intent on going ahead,” Chaplin told the magazine.

The landscape includes settlement, alignments of pits creating avenues to structures no longer visible, and burials covering three millennia of ceremonial activity. “Much of this archaeology is extremely rare and nationally important in its own right,” Current Archaeology says.

On 19th August, Members of the Tonbridge and Malling Bourough Council rejected an application by telephone company Orange to install a 15 metre tower within yards of the White Horse Stone in Kent, England.

The application had almost gone unnoticed until a local resident found out and remembered that the Stone was used by Odinists/Wodenists for rituals and celebrations. He asked his friend to contact these groups on the internet and she contacted The Odinic Rite who sent word around the world asking people to contact the council with their objections. Over 100 people heeded this call.

The council meeting heard submissions from Hengest Thorsson of the Odinic Rite, Lee of Woden’s Folk and from the local resident who had contacted the OR.

The Councillors were then able to give their comments and all agreed that this mast would be completely unsuitable in such an area. They also condemned Orange for their lack of concern for the special status of the site. Some councillors spoke out in support of the religious groups present and showed a genuine interest in the “history lesson” they were given. After unanimously voting to reject the application, an addition was added to the effect that “minority” religious groups with links to a monument should be consulted about development plans which involve that monument.

The Odinic Rite would like to thank all who took the time to object to this application and particularly the members of Woden’s Folk who attended the council meeting.

This 2,500-year-old Iron Age fort is to be reclaimed from nature, thanks to a share of a £1.4 million ‘Caring for the Cotswolds’ lottery award.

Scheme leader is Jenny Phelps, from the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Project says: “It will be a national example. Fifteen different organisations are working with the local community.” Four landowners, including Stroud District Council, are involved in the bury’s revival.

Working parties at the bury are already removing fencing, erecting new fences and gates and providing water for the cattle which will be introduced shortly to graze the grassland, and in turn encourage wild flowers, butterflies and other insects.

Coun Janet Wood, who chairs the Cam Dursley Uley Joint Woodland Management Committee, said visitors might be concerned to see large holes being dug around gatepost holes. “These are the basis of an archaeological search and survey of the historic monument and will be covered in afterwards,” she said.

The central field of the bury has already been seeded and is ready for grazing. The scheme is designed to ensure a sustainable future for the bury including protection of flora, the opening up of views and the enhancement of the fort’s ramparts.

Edited from ‘The Citizen‘.

“SALISBURY, England (Reuters) -- Whoever built Stonehenge, the 5,000-year-old circle of megaliths that towers over green fields in southern England and lures a million visitors a year, couldn’t have planned for the automobile.

If they had, they might have defused a growing controversy over proposals to dig a massive car tunnel a few hundred yards from one of Europe’s best-known historical sites.

Conservation groups, the Highways Agency and white-robed druids -- a pagan order that celebrates Stonehenge as a center of spiritualism -- are fighting over a 200 million pound ($367 million) proposal for a 1.3-mile-long tunnel.”

continues on CNN.com ...

edition.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/08/18/stonehenge.tunnel.reut/index.html