thesweetcheat

EAST Yorkshire’s oldest lady has come home – after a 21-year absence.
The Iron Age representation of a woman was sent to experts at the British Museum in 1989.

Staff at Hull Council’s archaeology department assumed it had been returned and was somewhere in their stores.

Manager of Humber Archaeology Partnership Dave Evans decided recently to track it down and found it still at the British Museum. He said: “It’s a joy to have her back.”

yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Back-home-Iron-Age-figure.6462598.jp

A cave thought to have been occupied by people as early as 3BC was still being lived in this year, it has emerged.

A new hearth for a fire and stacks of wood cut for kindling were found in the L-shaped fissure at Leitir Fura, Kinloch, on Skye.

Its present day occupation is noted in the former sea cave’s entry on Highland Council’s historic environment record database.

The cave is 6m deep and stretches to 3m at its widest sections.

Forestry Commission Scotland commissioned archaeologist Martin Wildgoose to make a fresh assessment of a township abandoned during the Highland Clearances and the nearby cave.

His report was published earlier this year and is among new additions uploaded to the online database of Highland archaeological and historic sites.

Excavations of the cave in May 1996 uncovered evidence that the cave was occupied at periods of time from at least 3BC.

When it was first discovered tools, pottery, a hearth and a shell midden were found suggesting people had lived in it during the late 18th or early 19th Century.

But according to its historic environment record entry, the site remains in regular use.

From BBC News website:

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-11004214?

CONSERVATION GROUP Friends of the Irish Environment has called for the “full weight of the law” to be brought to bear following the complete destruction of two ancient ring forts located in Co Cork.

The group has written to Minister for the Environment John Gormley calling for prosecutions to follow the recent destruction of the two forts in north Co Cork.

The ring forts were located in the townland of Knockacareagh, near Kilmurry, Co Cork.

One was oval and measured almost 60m in an east-west direction, 48m in a north-south direction, and was enclosed by a two-metre high earthen bank.

Archaeologists had found the remains of cultivation ridges crossing its interior.

The other ring-fort was circular and slightly smaller, measuring just more than 33 metres, and was surrounded by a two-metre high earthen ditch. It featured numerous cattle gaps across its bank.

However, both structures have been completely levelled. No above-ground trace remains. All their earthen banks have been removed and filled in.

Further details from the Irish Times (10.8.2010) and Irish Examiner (9.8.2010):

irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0810/1224276470654.html

irishexaminer.com/ireland/inquiry-after-two-ring-forts-destroyed-127349.html#ixzz0x5L9TSYQ

Archaeologists digging in the Paardenmarkt (Horse market) square in the centre of the Dutch town of Alkmaar have discovered a prehistoric grave.

The remains show a person buried in the crouched position, which is typical of the Iron Age. The grave was found under a layer of sand found earlier in Alkmaar and known to date from the same period, between 700 BC and the beginning of the Christian era.

The dig in the centre of town is now in its final phase.

Earlier, archaeologists found a collective grave dating from 1573 and containing 15 skeletons and several musket balls and traces of shot. The siege of Alkmaar by the Spanish and the subsequent relief by William of Orange took place between August and October 1573. Other discoveries include a monastery graveyard and the remains of an historic street plan.

The dig is due to end later this month, after which the square will be subject to a major redesign.

From Radio Netherlands Worldwide:

rnw.nl/english/bulletin/prehistoric-grave-found-alkmaar?

THE Habitats and Hillforts project has been staging a four week archaeological dig at Eddisbury Hill Iron Age Hillfort.

The intention is to re-excavate trenches through the ramparts and one of the entrances that were originally opened up between 1936 and 1938 in order to expose the sections and recover charcoal samples for radiocarbon dating.

Details at iccheshireonline:

iccheshireonline.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100regionalnews/tm_headline=habitats-and-hillforts-project-stage-dig-at-eddisbury-hill&method=full&objectid=27031610&siteid=50020-name_page.html?

From Cornish Guardian 3/2/2010:

A Bronze Age hut circle near Lanlivery, on Helman Tor (Cornwall, England), has been revealed by conservationists. Recently, nine volunteers met at the Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s largest nature reserve, which takes in the tor and the surrounding 217 hectares (536 acres), and stripped back gorse to show off the monument.

Mid Cornwall reserves officer, Sean O’Hea said: “This is a really positive thing we are doing for the reserve. By stripping back the gorse, we are encouraging increased plant biodiversity and as a result we will see more butterflies and bird species eventually. The whole tor including the hut circle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument – the tor’s got quite a few features of interest but the gorse makes it difficult to see them.”

The archaeological management of the reserve is being advised by English Heritage with the Historic Environment Service. Helman Tor is a county geological site and the ancient monument makes up part of the remains of a Neolithic hill settlement.

thisiscornwall.co.uk/cornishguardian/home/cornishguardiannews/Helman-Tor-Bronze-Age-hut-circle-uncovered/article-1799300-detail/article.html?

From Salisbury Journal 11/2/2010:

English Heritage has hit back at criticism of its management of Old Sarum (the site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury, in England, containing evidence of human habitation as early as 3000 BCE) as a fresh round of scrub clearance gets under way. And it has confirmed that no new trees will be allowed to grow up there. The work has upset campaigner Mo Vines, who has accused the organisation of ‘getting rid of our future’ by felling yew and beech saplings and holly bushes. “It will end up like Figsbury – just dead,” she said. “I want to see variety and diversity there.”

English Heritage says it is trying to preserve the embankments, which are being damaged by tree roots, by grass being shaded out on the surface, and by rabbits. Its ultimate aim is to restore the monument’s original character as unimproved chalk grassland, and it has the backing of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. EH landscape manager for the Southwest, Chris Bally, said only scrub was being taken out, and the work was being car ried out by volunteers from the group Friends of Ancient Monuments. He said large trees would not be felled unless they became unsafe, but he is preparing a planning application for permission to clear more thorn, ash and sycamore.

Archaeologist Julian Richards, who is drawing up a management plan for the site, said he was recommending ‘a lot more’ scrub clearance. “The policy is going to be not to allow woodland to regenerate naturally in places where we don’t want it. Primarily, Old Sarum is not a nature reserve, it’s a nationally important ancient monument and English Heritage holds it in guardianship for the nation. I will be working with the volunteers up there on Sunday and I will be happy to explain to people what’s going on.” Mr Richards said he was recommending to English Heritage that a Friends of Old Sarum group be formed to involve the community in its care.

salisburyjournal.co.uk/news/journalnewsindex/4996707.Scrub_clearance_at_Old_Sarum/

A bronze age dagger found by a metal-detectorist has been donated to the Island’s museum.

Story (with picture) from local press here:

iwcp.co.uk/news/news/bronze-age-dagger-given-to-museum-30379.aspx?

The earliest evidence of human occupation yet to be found in Birmingham has been found at a dig on the site of the new Birmingham City Uni campus. The finds include flint tools, together with pollen and charcoal, which have been carbon dated to 10,400 BC during the Mesolithic – about 7000 years earlier than any previous finds in the city.

birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2009/07/24/evidence-of-stone-age-man-found-in-digbeth-65233-24226815/

Park Hall Countryside Experience, located near Oswestry, is undertaking a major new project for 2009 with the reconstruction of an Iron Age roundhouse built using traditional methods by local crafts men and women.

There is an important local connection to the Iron Age, for just over a kilometre from Park Hall is the site of the Old Oswestry Iron Age Hill Fort, which is one of the finest hill forts in Britain.

The construction is a ‘work in progress’ and visitors to Park Hall can see each stage as it progresses. The expected completion date is mid/end of May.

Further information can be found at parkhallfarm.co.uk/iron-age-roundhouse/index.shtml

The story from Dredging News (what, you don’t read it?):

sandandgravel.com/news/article.asp?v1=11680

Barbed wire fencing is being erected across West Penwith (around Tregeseal and Nine Maidens/Lanyon areas in particular) with a view to introducing more cattle to areas where prehistoric sites stand.

See the following links:

stonepages.com/news/archives/003108.html

and for pictures (updated regularly):

menantolstudio.freeserve.co.uk/save%20penwith%20moors.htm

There is also a management plan leaflet:

theheathproject.org.uk//content_pdf/en/Managing_Archaeology_booklet1220874208.pdf

Which includes the following statement:

“Paths and tracks which pass over, or
close to, archaeological remains may
present a risk and may need to be
rerouted. Care is needed so that new
routes do not themselves affect sites or
features.”