Devon

A team of archaeologists is braving horse flies, spiky vegetation and murky ditches to hunt for mysterious standing stones lost beneath a West Country salt marsh.

The Yelland stone row at Isley Marsh disappeared beneath a thick blanket of silt after the closure of a power station changed the flow of sediment in the Taw and Torridge estuary in north Devon in the 1980s.

theguardian.com/science/2018/jun/27/prehistoric-stone-hunt-under-way-in-devon-salt-marsh

Follow up to news story from October.

“A Stone age knife, a Bronze age arrow head and a Roman nail are just some of the surprises uncovered by a new archaeological dig in Devon.

The idyllic fields around Spriddlestone, near Plymstock, were first identified as a potential area of historical interest by amateur archaeologist Howard Jones.

But what began as an armchair project to find a prehistoric settlement – with Google Maps as his only tool – has now progressed into a two-week on-site exploratory dig.”

Read more: westernmorningnews.co.uk/Devon-archaeological-dig-reveals-exciting/story-26142640-detail/story.html#ixzz3U0yoxIcB

exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/Devon-treasure-hunter-locates-Bronze-Age/story-23349132-detail/story.html

A Devon treasure hunter has stunned professional archaeologists by locating a Bronze Age settlement using Google Earth.

Howard Jones shunned the usual methods of finding ancient communities and relied on the internet instead.

He trawled satellite images for the sort of terrain that would have offered food, water and shelter for a prehistoric settlement.

Howard used Google’s overheard mapping site to zoom in on fields and farmland before pinpointing a spot in the South Hams.

The former Royal Marine then sought permission from the local landowner before heading down there to scour for remains.

He soon unearthed old flint tools, pottery shards and scraps of metal thought to date back 5,000 years.

Howard called in Devon County archaeologist Bill Horner who carried out a geophysical survey using ground-penetrating radar equipment .

The two men found two large buried structures that they believe are farm buildings dating back to the bronze or iron age.

Howard, a commercial diver from Plymstock, said: “Night after night I looked at Google Earth asking myself the question ‘if I was alive 3,000 years ago where would I live’.

“I would need food, water, shelter, close to Dartmoor for minerals, close to a river to access the sea and trade routes .

“After a few weeks I put an ‘X marks the spot’ on the map – that was where I would live.”

Not knowing who the site belonged to, Howard was initially unable to test his theory until he tumbled across the landowner by chance.

He said: “At kids rugby training one night I remembered that one of the other coaches was a farmer and I asked him if I could field walk and detect on his land.

“As I didn’t know where his farm was, I arranged for my family and I to meet him and he gave us a tour of his fields.

“It was then I found out that my ‘X marks the spot’ was on his land – it was unbelievable.”

Howard has previously searched for ancient artefacts underwater and in 2010 he was involved in the discovery of the 300-year-old Dutch merchant vessel the Aagtekerke off the Devon coast.

But after deciding to switch his search inland because of this year’s storms he hopes his latest find will prove his best yet.

Mr Horner has arranged for a series of trench digs, which could take place as early as February next year.

He says Howard’s web-inspired find could offer new insights into Bronze Age trading outposts.

Mr Horner said: “The survey shows two or three probable farmsteads which look to be late prehistoric, bronze age to iron age.

“Other parts of the underlying settlement possibly continue to the Romano-British period, around 1,500-2,000 years ago.

“The images also show tracks and enclosures, as well as a number of pits, which alongside Howard’s findings, looks like evidence of metal works.”

“We know that Devon’s mineral resources were being traded along the coast and along the channel in prehistoric times.

“While Dartmoor is famous for preserved historic sites, the same is not true of coastal areas. So this could be the missing link between those moorland sites and the evidence we have of trading.”

An Iron Age settlement unearthed in Devon has been described as one of the most important finds of its kind.

More Here:

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-23733741

William Stukeley, Saviour of Stonehenge exhibition, opens tomorrow (9 June) at Hartland Abbey, Hartland, Bideford, North Devon and runs until 6 October.

Details here – hartlandabbey.co.uk/exhibition.htm and here – thisisnorthdevon.co.uk/exhibition-William-Stukeley-goes-display-Hartland/story-19271727-detail/story.html#axzz2WArN9bxi

One of the world’s oldest shipwrecks has been discovered off the coast of Devon after lying on the seabed for almost 3,000 years.

The trading vessel was carrying an extremely valuable cargo of tin and hundreds of copper ingots from the Continent when it sank

Experts say the “incredibly exciting” discovery provides new evidence about the extent and sophistication of Britain’s links with Europe in the Bronze Age as well as the remarkable seafaring abilities of the people during the period.

Archaeologists have described the vessel, which is thought to date back to around 900BC, as being a “bulk carrier” of its age.

The copper and tin would have been used for making bronze – the primary product of the period which was used in the manufacture of not only weapons, but also tools, jewellery, ornaments and other items.

Archaeologists believe the copper – and possibly the tin – was being imported into Britain and originated in a number of different countries throughout Europe, rather than from a single source, demonstrating the existence of a complex network of trade routes across the Continent.

Academics at the University of Oxford are carrying out further analysis of the cargo in order to establish its exact origins.

However, it is thought the copper would have come from the Iberian peninsular, Alpine Europe, especially modern day Switzerland, and possibly other locations in France, such as the Massif Central, and even as far as Austria.

It is first time tin ingots from this period have ever been found in Britain, a discovery which may support theories that the metal was being mined in the south west at this time.

If the tin was not produced in Britain, it is likely it would have also come from the Iberian peninsular or from eastern Germany.

The wreck has been found in just eight to ten metres of water in a bay near Salcombe, south Devon, by a team of amateur marine archaeologists from the South West Maritime Archaeological Group.

In total, 295 artefacts have so far been recovered, weighing a total of more than 84kg.

The cargo recovered includes 259 copper ingots and 27 tin ingots. Also found was a bronze leaf sword, two stone artefacts that could have been sling shots, and three gold wrist torcs – or bracelets.

The team have yet to uncover any of the vessel’s structure, which is likely to have eroded away.

However, experts believe it would have been up to 40ft long and up to 6ft wide, and have been constructed of planks of timber, or a wooden frame with a hide hull. It would have had a crew of around 15 and been powered by paddles.

Archaeologists believe it would have been able to cross the Channel directly between Devon and France to link into European trade networks, rather than having to travel along the coast to the narrower crossing between modern day Dover and Calais.

Although the vessel’s cargo came from as far afield as southern Europe, it is unlikely it would have been carried all the way in the same craft, but in a series of boats, undertaking short coastal journeys.

The wreck site is on part of the seabed called Wash Gully, which is around 300 yards from the shore.

There is evidence of prehistoric field systems and Bronze Age roundhouses on the coast nearby and it is thought the vessel could have sunk while attempting to land, or could have been passing along the coast.

The coastline is notoriously treacherous and there is a reef close by which could have claimed the vessel.

The recovery work took place between February and November last year but the discovery was not announced until this month’s International Shipwreck Conference, in Plymouth.

The finds have been reported to both English Heritage and the Receiver of Wreck, which administers all shipwrecks. The artefacts are due to be handed over to the British Museum next week.

They will be independently valued and the museum will pay the team for the items.

Mick Palmer, chairman of the South West Maritime Archaeological Group, said: “For the British Isles, this is extremely important. This was a cargo trading vessel on a big scale.

“There is more down there and we will carry on searching for it. We anticipate a lot more will be found.”

Dave Parham, senior lecturer in marine archaeology at Bournemouth University and a member of the team, said: “What we are seeing is trade in action.

“We are not stuck with trying to work out trade based on a few deposits across a broader landscape. We are looking at the stuff actually on the boat being moved.

“Everything that is in the ship sinks with it and is on the seabed somewhere. What you would call this today is a bulk carrier. It was carrying what was for the time a large consignment of raw materials.”

Dr Peter Northover, a scientist at the University of Oxford who has been analysing the find, said: “These are the produce of a multitude of countries, scattered right around Europe, up and down the Atlantic coast and inland.

“It came from a combination of places. It is showing the diversity of the trade.

“Metal traders and workers would have traded parcels of metal with each other. The metal would have moved in steps, along networks of contacts exchanging metal as and when they need it.”

Dr Stuart Needham, a Bronze Age archaeologist, said: “This is genuinely exciting.

“Everyone knows that man has been walking around on land since time immemorial, but I think people now will be surprised to know how much they were plying the seaways at this time, up and down the Atlantic seaboard and across the Channel.

“There’s a complex lattice of interactions across Europe happening throughout this period.

“A lot of stuff may have moved across land, but it is eminently possible at this stage that there were quite sophisticated maritime networks with specialist mariners – people who know how to read the tides and the stars and who are not just casually going out on the sea to do some deep sea fishing.

“If you have got specialist mariners plying the Atlantic seaways, there is every possibility they could be picking up material in different locations and stockpiling it.

“The mainstay of this exchange network might have been a number of vessels undertaking short journeys. It doesn’t mean there weren’t occasional vessels and people going longer distances.”

One other Bronze Age vessel has previously been found near Salcombe, where just 53 artefacts were recovered. Another eight Bronze Age items have also been found at a third nearby spot, indicating another possible wreck.

The only other Bronze Age wrecks found in the UK have been located on land, or on the foreshore, at Dover and North Ferriby, on the Humber.

Ben Roberts, Bronze Age specialist at the British Museum, said: “It is an incredibly exciting find. What we have here is really, really good evidence of trade. We don’t get many shipwreck sites.

“It is very rare to get a snapshot of this level of activity. It is very possible there were also animals and people going across the Channel too.

“We hardly ever get to see evidence of this cross Channel trade in action. It is a huge amount of cargo.”

Article by Jasper Copping; Telegraph

telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/archeology/7228108/Bronze-Age-shipwreck-found-off-Devon-coast.html

“Keen historians are being invited to help a team of Exeter University archaeologists uncover secrets of an ancient Bronze Age and medieval site.Members of the public are invited to the dig to investigate the remains of a medieval building near an old manor house.

The team have worked at the site, in Stokenham, near Kingsbridge, for two years and they will reopen it again from July 2 to 24. Last year’s excavation unearthed a number of finds including the remains of a medieval manor house and Bronze Age pottery.

Project director Penny Cunningham said that anyone who wanted to help would not need any particular skills. “They will be asked to sort or wash finds like pottery and will help analyse them,” she said.

“We want to encourage people to think about ownership of the past, especially among people who have been living in the area for a long time.”

The team will work from 9am to 5pm every day except Fridays. Anyone who wants to lend should just turn up.

There are open days on the weekends of July 7 and 8, 14 and 15 and 21 and 22.

Children of all ages are welcome to participate in the junior archaeologist workshop days on July 7, 14 and 21 from 10am to 3pm.

The dig is in the field immediately behind Stokenham parish church.

For more information contact Dr Williams, Department of Archaeology, Laver, University of Exeter, EX4 4QE, or [email protected] . uk, or call 01392 262491.”

from ‘thisisexeter.co.uk’ 19th May.

From This is Devon website, 8 March 2005

A Westcountry diving team has uncovered one of the oldest shipwreck sites in the world. In an exclusive report, John Kirk reveals how the remarkable find was made off the Devon coast

A team of amateur divers who uncovered the find of a lifetime off the Westcountry coast has struck gold for a second time. Thirteen divers – all members of the South West Maritime Archaeological Group (SWMAG) – have unearthed 3,000-year-old Bronze Age artifacts from what may be one of the oldest shipwreck sites in the world.

They include a gold bracelet called a torc, a cauldron handle, and the remains of weapons ranging from rapier blades to axe heads and swords.

All were discovered off the coast of Salcombe last October, when the divers were expanding their area of investigation from a previous site where in 1995 they found the biggest collection of Islamic riches ever found off Britain.

Experts say the latest finds are even more significant, as they may be from one of the oldest shipwrecks ever discovered. The finds, which date from 1300BC, were immediately declared to the Receiver of Wreck, Sophia Exelby, at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, as it is believed the relics come from an ancient shipwreck. They are now at the British Museum in London, where they are being examined.

Once the examinations are complete, the collection will be valued as a whole and interested museums will be able to bid for it – although it is likely that the British Museum will get first refusal, as the find is of national significance. It is believed the museum has already expressed an interest.

The divers received a salvage award of almost £100,000 when their last collection – discovered on a shipwreck a quarter of a mile off Prawle Point in 1995 – was eventually sold to the British Museum. That find included 460 gold coins, as well as ingots, nuggets, pewter, jewellery and pottery which had lain undisturbed since it was lost at sea in the 1630s.

The latest site falls within the area for the wreck which is protected from unauthorised and illegal diving under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973.

The divers say they do not want to talk about salvage awards for the latest discovery and are more interested in the significance of the find.

A spokesman for SWMAG, which includes four divers from Devon, said: “The cash has not been discussed because it’s very early days and we’re just really excited about the find.

“We thought the 17th century wreck site where we discovered Islamic gold was wonderful. But this is different and is extremely significant.

“It could possibly be one of the oldest shipwrecks in the world. To my knowledge there’s also been no gold found at a Bronze Age wreck before, and this is one of just two Bronze Age wrecks in the country.

“This discovery has really been a team effort, and we are now working with the Receiver of Wreck and English Heritage to ensure that these important artifacts are put on permanent display to the public.”

The spokesman said the location was of national interest, particularly as Bronze Age artifacts were found at the nearby Moor Sands site in the 1980s. The finds from Moor Sands date to around the same time as those discovered in the latest find, and archaeologists are examining whether they came from the same vessel.

The latest find is dominated by the blades of swords and rapiers, but axes, tools and ornaments are also present. The swords are among the earliest found in north-west Europe, while some of the other objects are of northern French origin and are types which are rare in this country.

Receiver of Wreck Ms Exelby said: “This is a very exciting find which shows the breadth of information which is available from shipwreck sites. We are now working to ensure that these unusual artifacts are given a good home, where their historical value can be appreciated by everyone.”

Stuart Needham, curator of European Bronze Age collections at the British Museum, said: “The evidence from Salcombe and other rare sites help us to build up a picture of object movements, the organisation of trade and the character of seafaring.”

English Heritage and SWMAG are now planning a research-led field season later in the year to find out more about the site.

BBC Devon

Garden makeover programmes are being blamed for an increase in the theft of ancient artefacts from Dartmoor.

Electronic tags are being used to help protect valuable stone crosses and troughs in the area.

Officials from the Dartmoor National Park Authority say the popularity of TV garden series could be triggering more thefts.

New security measures follow a recent attempt to remove a granite cross.

Jane Marchand, an archaeologist with the park authority, said: “Unfortunately we have lost a number of artefacts and there has been a recent attempt to remove a cross from the moor.

“It is hard to say who is to blame, but I think it’s an interest in garden ornaments from TV gardening shows.

“If you look through auction sales they very often have granite objects for sale.”

The new measures will mean any stolen artefacts can be traced using an electronic scanner.

A microchip, about the size of a grain of rice, is inserted into the granite so it is invisible.

Ms Marchand said: “I think it’s very sad that we have to do this.

“I can’t understand how anyone could think of removing these things.

“But there is some strange irony that we are using the latest technology to help protect these very ancient artefacts.”

Hot on the heels of this: themodernantiquarian.com/post/24862
comes this:
tavistock-today.co.uk/news/newsdetail.cfm?id=74945
Huzzah!

A BRONZE age burial chamber has found a new place of rest after almost two years in limbo.

The 4,000-year-old grave or cist, which weighs well over a tonne, was moved to its new home at the High Moorland Centre in Princetown last week.

The granite slabs that make up the cist were transported by truck from Torquay Museum and lifted into position using a crane.

Its reconstruction is as close to the original as possible, aligned in a south easterly direction and covered by the ancient capstone for protection from Dartmoor?s fiercest weather.

It is the second time the cist has been relocated ? after its discovery on Thornworthy Tor in 1880 it was transported to Torquay Museum and spent the next 120 years embedded in the entrance hall floor.

Having removed the cist during refurbishment two years ago the curators could find no alternative site for it within the museum so offered it to Dartmoor National Park Authority.

They arranged for the grave to be reconstructed in the Jack Wigmore garden at the High Moorland Centre where it is now on permanent public display.

The cist will soon be accompanied by an information point describing its fascinating and eventful history.

Copyright: Tindle Newspapers Ltd 18 March 04

Hoorah! A ‘good news’ story for once!

A 4,000 year old grave discovered in Chagford in 1879 is returning to Dartmoor.

The prehistoric grave will be relocated to the High Moorland Centre in Princetown early next month from Torquay Museum where it has been for 120 years. Torquay Natural History Society has loaned the grave to Dartmoor National Park Authority for an initial period of five years because it no longer has room for it at the museum.

It is one of two graves or cists (from the Germanic word kistvaen, literally meaning stone chest) which were discovered during the excavation of a prehistoric burial mound near Thornworthy Tor, Chagford in 1879. Burial cists date to the earlier part of the second millennium BC and consist of slabs of granite set on edge to form a box-like structure with another slab laid horizontally as a lid. They were usually sunk into the ground and covered with earth or stones, forming a mound and would have contained either a single burial or a cremation.

The first cist discovered at Thornworthy was excavated by Samuel Slade of Torquay, who decided to seek the help of William Pengelly, the Torquay geologist, in excavating the second cist at the site. By the time Pengelly reached the site the second cist had been looted and all that remained were pottery fragments and flint tools.

Robert Standerwick, the landowner, donated the second cist to Torquay Museum which Pengelly had been instrumental in founding in 1845. It was reconstructed in its original form on the museum floor and will be moved and resited by Dartmoor National Park Authority’s Conservation Team.

Communications officer for Dartmoor National Park Authority, Mike Nendick, said the cist would be rebuilt and installed in the Jack Wigmore garden, exactly as it was in the museum floor in 1880.

‘It consists of five blocks of stone, which weigh a quarter of a tonne each,’ he said.

‘The garden has been redeveloped to represent some of the natural and cultural aspects of the Dartmoor landscape, which is one of the most important areas in Northern Europe for Bronze Age archaeology. It is the perfect spot to have the cist, which will be an excellent addition to the centre — and it will be seen from the inside as well as the outside.‘

Copyright Tindle Newspapers Ltd, 26 February 2004

Ramblers have held a mass trespass on one of Dartmoor’s most popular landmarks to protest over its closure. Vixen Tor at Merrivale (Cornwall, England) was shut to the public when a new landowner bought it earlier last year. Mary Alford closed the tor after the insurers said she could be liable if someone injured themselves in the area, which includes several ancient monuments.

Rambler Richard Doswell, who was one of about 20 ramblers at the tor, said: “We are not causing any damage, we are simply exerting our rights to walk on part of Dartmoor National Park.” Following the closure, a walker reported Mrs Alford to the Department for Rural Affairs (Defra), alleging that fertiliser had been spread on the moorland around the tor. Defra investigated and Mrs Alford has now been charged with carrying out land improvements without an environmental impact assessment. The assessments are required by law so that rare plants, wildlife and archaeology can be protected from potential damage caused by any working of land.

Source: BBC News (1 January 2004)

Volunteers from Tavistock Conservation Project have been helping to restore the setting of an ancient Scheduled Monument on Dartmoor, almost totally obscured by vegetation.

The Pound at Deeper Marsh on Spitchwick Common, an earthwork enclosure and ditch, was covered by thick scrub and gorse bushes until the volunteers, under close supervision by archaeologists, cleared the area.

A survey is now planned of the site to discover its original function. Over the years it has been described as a Neolithic henge, a Bronze Age burial mound or an Iron Age hill slope enclosure.

It is thought the Iron Age suggestion is most likely, as it would tie in other sites in the area. This would date the pound between 700BC and 43AD.

Other conservation measures to archaeological sites on Dartmoor have also been carried out recently by Dartmoor National Park Authority.

They include repairs to the Yellowmead stone circle and row on Cosdon Hill and damage to the Langstone Moor stone circle on Merrivale firing range, where visitors to the site have built two crude stone walls between the stones.

A DNPA spokesman said: ‘The material used in the construction was derived from inside the circle and consists of the shattered remains of former standing stones, destroyed by American military during the second world war.‘

(c)Tindle Newspapers Ltd 18 December 03

from the Tavistock Times Gazette

The farmer who closed Dartmoor’s (England) Vixen Tor to the public has been charged with carrying out land improvements without an environmental impact assessment. Mary Alford, who owns the site at Merrivale, near Tavistock, Devon, will appear before Plymouth Magistrates in the New Year.

Vixen Tor, nicknamed the Sphinx of Dartmoor, is a well known landmark and a popular destination for walkers and rock climbers. Although lying on private land, the previous owner had allowed public access to the weathered outcrop for more than 30 years. But earlier this year Mrs. Alford stopped access to the site. Following the closure a walker reported Mrs. Alford to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, alleging that fertiliser had been spread on the surrounding moorland. Mrs Alford was charged following a Defra investigation.

Defra regards uncultivated land as a very precious resource: “If anybody wants to agriculturally intensify land, to basically change its use, they need to complete an environmental impact assessment. That would highlight any of the adverse effects. If (the change) is deemed unsustainable for whatever reason … it is possible that it would not be allowed to go ahead. When someone cultivates the land without completing an assessment they could be prosecuted. We are talking about the heritage of the countryside.” Defra has powers to insist that illegally improved land must be returned to its original condition.

The Dartmoor National Park Authority has said that the case was between Mrs. Alford and Defra, and had nothing to do with the Authority. But: “The National Park Authority’s viewpoint is that we have been deeply disappointed by the withdrawal of public access to the Tor. We are looking forward to 2005 when public access will be resumed under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act.”

Sources: BBC News, Western Daily Press (7/9 December 2003)

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/2985083.stm

A Devon farmer has realised his dream by building a Bronze Age burial chamber on his land. He transported four huge pieces of granite from Dartmoor to his estate near Ivybridge to carry out the construction. It is thought to be the first time in 2,000 years that a cromlech – defined as a prehistoric monument made of stones and thought to be a burial tomb – has been built in the UK. Gavin Dollard has been planning the cromlech for four years.

Mr Dollard, 52, who wants to be laid to rest in the chamber, had hoped to have the edifice constructed in time for the Millennium celebrations. However, work was only completed on Tuesday when a huge crane lowered a 14-tonne piece of granite on to three 10-tonne standing stones which had already been erected to create the chamber.

Mr Dollard’s family have farmed on Dartmoor for centuries. But in recent years he has diversified and turned part of his estate at Delamore in Cornwood into an open-air art gallery. He sees the cromlech as another piece of sculpture for his collection. But he admits that, when he dies, it will serve its more traditional purpose as a burial site.

He said: “The idea for this came to us in 1999, but it was impossible to get four stones that size safely off the moor in such a short period of time. But what’s a year here or there when we are taking about 2,000 years?”

From the Western Morning News (thisisdevon.co.uk)

“More than 40 rare Bronze Age ingots from Devon have been given to the Royal Albert Museum in Exeter.

The ingots, part of a shipment salvaged in 1991, was handed over by the Receiver of Wreck, Sophia Exelby, at a ceremony yesterday.

More than 40 ingots recovered from an underwater hiding place were donated to the museum.

The ingots were discovered by the South West Maritime Archaeological Group in the Erme Estuary in 1991.

The ingots vary from 10 to 20cm in diameter.

Experts said they might have been in the Erme estuary as a result of a vessel capsizing while trading along the coast between Cornwall and Devon.

John Allan, museum curator, said: “We regard this group of ingots as a very significant discovery and are delighted that they are now at Exeter Museum, where a selection of them are displayed.”

Ms Exelby said: “We are very pleased that these ingots will be displayed in a museum so close to the find site.

“They were a very exciting find for the diving group and their placement in the museum is an excellent outcome for everyone.”