Dorset

A project to remove electricity pylons from a protected landscape has led to archaeological discoveries dating back 6,000 years.

More info :

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-57411051

Ancient Mediterranean cultures thought nothing of splicing different animals together to form fantastical mythical beasts, such as the half-lion, half-goat chimera or the half-lion, half-eagle griffin.

Until now, however, ancient Britons were not credited with such imagination. That is all about to change following the discovery of a series of animal skeletons near Winterborne Kingston in Dorset, which raises the possibility that Britain’s ancient Celtic population had hybrid-animal monster myths similar to those of the ancient Greeks, Mesopotamians and Egyptians.

Continued.....

independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/news/the-boneyard-of-the-bizarre-that-rewrites-our-celtic-past-to-include-hybridanimal-monster-myths-10381965.html

An archaeological scheme to investigate an area of Blandford in Dorset where ancient settlements have been found has been given £23,100 of lottery cash.

In 2008 a dig was carried out on the site earmarked for the new Milldown Primary School in the town.

It found evidence that the site was lived on between the end of the Stone Age and beginning of the Bronze Age, between 5,000 and 4,000 years ago.

The money will pay for further research into signs of settlements in the area.

The Blandford Schools and Communities Project will bring together schools and local groups with archaeologists at events where they can learn more about Milldown's past.

During the excavation a large number of flint tools and indications of pits and ditches were discovered.

Nerys Watts, the Heritage Lottery Fund's head of region for the South West, said: "We are delighted to be supporting this exciting project, which will enable Blandford's whole community to gain a real sense of its history.

"In particular, it is great to see so many young people given the opportunity to investigate their heritage and ensure that it is preserved for future generations to learn about and understand."

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/8484794.stm

The skulls of scores of young men have been found in a burial pit on the route of a new road in Dorset.

So far 45 skulls, believed to be almost 2,000 years old, have been found, and more may be found as the pit is emptied. Archaeologists have called the discovery extraordinary, saying it could be evidence of a disaster, a mass execution, a battle or possibly an epidemic.

The bones recovered so far are still being examined but most appear to be of young men, and are believed to date back to the late iron age or early Roman period. They may be evidence of a fatal encounter between the invaders and the local population, buried at a site which had ritual significance for thousands of years before they died.

David Score, project manager for Oxford Archaeology, said: "There are lots of different types of burial where skeletons may be aligned along a compass axis or in a crouched position, but to find something like this is just incredible.

"We're still working on carefully recording and recovering all of the skeletons, which will be taken back to our offices in Oxford for detailed analysis, and trying to piece together the extraordinary story behind these remains."

As well as the skulls, the archaeologists found torso and leg bones buried in separate sections of the pit.

"It's very early days, but so far, after a visit to the site by our head of burial services, the skulls appear to be predominantly those of young men," Score said.

"At the moment we don't fully understand how or why the remains have come to be deposited in the pit but it seems highly likely that some kind of catastrophic event such as war, disease or execution has occurred."

The Oxford team completed the main excavation at Ridgeway Hill last year, uncovering a series of earlier burials, including cremated remains, skeletons and a man buried with a dagger under a round barrow. This year they had been monitoring the site as roadworks began, but the discovery a fortnight ago, was a complete surprise.

Construction work has stopped, the site has been fenced off and is under 24-hour security, and Dorset county council has appealed to the public to stay away and let the archaeologists get on with their work.

The pit is on the outskirts of Weymouth, where a new relief road is being built, but stands by one of the oldest roads in Europe, the Ridgeway. The site was used for ritual burials for thousands of years before the young men died: the archaeologists had already found burials from neolithic to Roman times, as well as pottery, animal bones and flint tools.

guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jun/11/skulls-dorset-road-burial-pit

More than a dozen skeletons thought to be thousands of years old, have been found by Oxford archaeologists working at an ancient burial site in Dorset.

Excavations are taking place at the site in Weymouth before builders move in to build an access road to the Olympic sailing centre for 2012.

Archaeologist David Score said they had catalogued finds from almost every period of human life.

He said it "really added to knowledge of the Bronze and Neolithic eras".

"Building the relief road has given archaeologists an excuse to excavate and record finds dating back thousands of years," Mr Score said.

"I think it is very important because it's not very often that you get the opportunity to excavate an area of this size, in a location of such importance with so many burials from a wide span of time.

"I think once we have done all the analysis it really will contribute quite a lot to the corpus of knowledge that we've got about the Bronze Age and Neolithic periods in this area.

"We found more than a dozen skeletons they're in various states of preservation. Some are fairly poorly preserved, but the later ones, particularly the Roman ones are fairly well preserved."

All the finds are being taken back to Oxford where they are being catalogued.

Scientists will also look for small fish bones or charred plant remains to try and find out more about ancient eating habits.

The items will eventually be returned to Dorset where they will be put on display in a museum.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/7804287.stm

The south Dorset Ridgeway project was launched in Portesham village hall. The three year project aims to protect historic monuments affected by erosion over the last forty years. The cash comes from the heritage lottery fund.

An Iron Age boat found when Poole Harbour was dredged in the 1960s is nearly ready for display after extensive conservation work overseen by York Archaeological Trust. You can visit it when the Poole Museum reopens in June. From the Manchester Evening News website.

From an article published on the BBC News web site on 19th October 2005:

A campaign to raise public awareness of a historic countryside area to safeguard it for the future is to be launched next month.

The campaign is to use a range of arts to get people interested in and to understand the history of the South Dorset Ridgeway, north of Weymouth.

Photography and painting competitions are among the ways organisers hope to raise awareness of the area.

A new project aims to increase people's awareness, knowledge and appreciation of the amazing landscape between Weymouth and Dorchester.

It is being launched on November 5 by the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty team which hopes the project will appeal to everyone who enjoys the countryside, including artists, photographers and amateur historians.

Among outstanding features of the area are the strange `lumps and bumps' which litter the skyline between Broadmayne and Hardy's Monument – and which few realise are round barrows that have been there 4,000 years.

See thisisdorset.net/dorset/weymouth/news/WEYMOUTH_NEWS_NEWS3.html for details.

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

Hmmm, I wonder how much more has been found and not reported?

A day's metal detecting has unearthed an unexpected treasure – a 4,000-year-old piece of gold.

The ornamental piece of gold is only the second piece to ever be found in the UK and the first to be discovered in Dorset.

It was found by Clive Gibbs and his metal detector in a ploughed field in Fontmell Magna in November 2002.

The precious metal has a gold content of 87 per cent and although it can't be identified with total certainty, may have come from Ireland or France.

Claire Pinder, senior archaeologist at Dorset County Council, said: "One side of the strip is decorated with thin lines, the other side is quite plain.

"It's meant to be decorative, maybe it would have been set into something like a wooden object or wrapped around clothing.

"It could also have been part of an earring or twisted into someone's hair, we just don't know.

"It probably belonged to someone wealthy or of high status. It looks flimsy but is very heavy because of its high gold content."

The only other similar piece to be found in Britain was discovered in Oxford and sent to the British Museum in 1982.

The gold is the most significant find in Dorset recently but treasure seekers have enjoyed a run of success.

John Hinchcliffe, of Tarrant Hinton, was metal detecting on farm land at Charlton Marshall last December when he discovered a medieval silver finger ring, engraved with flowers and bearing a merchant's mark.

And Julian Adams unearthed six Roman coins on land at Melcombe Horsey last October.

All three items were officially declared "treasure" by coroner Michael Johnston at an inquest this week and are awaiting valuation.

Published: May 21

From:

thisisdorset.net/dorset/north_dorset/news/NORTH_DORSET_NEWS_NEWS0.html