Monumental Battle
by Richard Sadler of The Guardian
Wednesday February 4, 2004
A public inquiry into plans for a dual carriageway under Stonehenge will stoke the fierce debate on how best to protect a site on a par with the Taj Mahal and the pyramids.
Six years ago, when the new Labour government was seeking to justify spending £758m on the Millennium Dome, ministers were finalising plans involving another national monument, but it, unlike the dome, had been built to last - about five millennia at the last count.
Stonehenge, one of the world's most famous landmarks and Europe's most sensitive archaeological site, is on a par with the Taj Mahal and the Pyramid Fields of Giza on the UN's list of world heritage sites. But the prehistoric monument was due for a makeover - at least, that is how the plans were sold by the government. Complete story here....
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Panamanian Jungle Rock Carving Discovery
An ancient rock covered in carved symbols has been discovered in a South American jungle by an archaeologist from Cornwall.
Julien Chenoweth, from St Mawes, said a date test showed the carvings were as old as ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Whole story here at BBCi
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Bronze Age Axe Head 'Too Heavy' Theory
A Bronze Age axe head unearthed in a Lincolnshire field is baffling archaeologists - because they think it is too heavy to use.
Made of stone, the axe head weighs 4.4lb and was produced some time between 2000BC and 1600BC. It was found when a walker stumbled across it last summer in a farmer's field near Scotter, north of Gainsborough.
Once the axe head was cleaned it was reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme - a project run by North Lincolnshire Council which records artefacts found by the public.
The artefact is a traditional axe shape and features a hole through the middle where a stick would have been placed as a handle. Archaeologists often refer to these items as axe hammers.
But principal keeper of archaeology Kevin Leahy (57) said the artefact would have been hard to use. Continues here...
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Badgers Blamed for Trashing Ancient Sites
From 'The Grauniad', January 2004
The secrets of how the ancient ancestors of modern Britons lived and died could be lost forever because the evidence is being destroyed by badgers.
Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire has harboured the mysteries of civilisations for more than 5,500 years, making it one of Europe's most treasured archaeological sites.
Just beneath the surface are the remains of Bronze Age burials, Iron Age enclosures, Roman villages, Saxon and Medieval settlements and the Second World War.
Yet a fast growing population of badgers, attracted to easy digging conditions, is building networks of tunnels that threaten to wreck Britain's historical treasure trove.
Read whole story here
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Scottish Carved Stones Could be Safeguarded
Carving out a safe future for nation's most precious stones by Stephen Stewart of 'The Herald', December 22 2003
ONE of Scotland's most valuable historic resources could be safeguarded for future generations by a consultation document published today.
Carved stones, from prehistoric rock art to gravestones, will be the focus of a three-month investigation involving owners, local authorities, special interest groups and the wider public.
Frank McAveety, minister for tourism, culture and sport, launched the consultation, due to finish at the end of March, which is designed to protect carved stones such as the Pictish cross-slabs at Glamis, Aberlemno and Eassie.
Other significant carved stones include the eagle from the Broch of Burrian in Orkney and the boar on the roadside stone at Knocknagael, near Inverness.
Whole story here
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Protest at Boyne Battle Site
From BBCi, 22 Dec 2003
A cross-border heritage group has been protesting against plans to build a rubbish incinerator near the site of Newgrange and the Battle of the Boyne in County Louth.
The demonstrators called on the Irish Government to stop what they described as "cultural vandalism".
Whole story here
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Restoration of Historic Site on Dartmoor
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
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Kentish Metal Detectorists Unearth Treasure
In two separate incidents metal detectorists working in Kent have unearthed fascinating hoards of prehistoric coins, axe heads and jewellery.
A number of weeks ago two metal detectorists found an Iron Age hoard on farmland near Maidstone and last Sunday another detectorist dug up a Bronze Age hoard near Wye.
Whole story here
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Log Boat Unearthed
A second prehistoric log boat has been unearthed in a Derbyshire quarry less than a mile from where a similar find was discovered five years ago.
Archaeologists found the 3,500-year-old log boat, which dates back to the Bronze Age, at Shardlow Quarry, Shardlow, in an area that used to be river channel into the Trent.
The boat lay 1km away from the area where a similar boat, now on display at Derby Museum and Art Gallery, the Strand, was found in 1998.
University of Birmingham archaeologists made the discovery in September while carrying out a study on behalf of the quarry's owners, Hanson Aggregates, but news of the find has just been revealed.
More here at 'This is Derbyshire'
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Ancient Axe In 'Buried Treasure' Exhibition
The oldest man-made object found in Britain has been unearthed in Norfolk, offering dramatic new evidence that the history of mankind in northwest Europe began up to 200,000 years earlier than previously thought.
A stone axe unearthed along the coast by a man walking his dog is thought to date from 700,000 years ago. Experts at the British Museum say that it could revolutionise our understanding of our ancient origins. While further research is now taking place at the Norfolk site, the axe is to be displayed next week at the British Museum, in an ambitious exhibition on British archaeology.
Whole story here from The Times Online
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Ancient Scots Link To Stonehenge
'Ancient Scots may have enjoyed sophisticated economic, social and cultural links with the builders of one of the world's most mysterious ancient monuments, according to new research.
Experts have revealed a previously unknown link between the elite of ancient Scots society and Stonehenge, dispelling the myth that Scotland's Bronze Age tribes were uncultivated barbarians.' says STEPHEN STEWART of 'The Herald'
Read whole story here
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(Another) Archaeological Site At Risk
One of Britain's most important archaeological finds is under threat - from North Yorkshire potato farmers.
Scientists have discovered a vast area of buried buildings and villages spanning 6,000 years, under fields at West Heslerton, near Malton in North Yorkshire.
Read whole story here...
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Acoustic Archaeology - the new rock 'n roll
Mark Pilkington in The Guardian
Thursday November 6, 2003
Were some ancient sites designed to be acoustically, as well as visually, awe-inspiring?
Ongoing research at Neolithic sites around the UK has revealed striking similarities in their acoustical properties. Key examples, both in Ireland, are the huge passage tomb of Newgrange and the burial mound known as Cairn L at Loughcrew. These sites contain passageways leading to large circular chambers, and have a resonant frequency (at which sounds naturally echo and reverberate) of about 110hz - the frequency of the male baritone, the second lowest singing voice. Standing waves, whereby sounds are reflected off walls and superimposed on to one another, and other acoustic curiosities, have been observed in these and other sites. Stone circles including Avebury and Stonehenge also appear to reflect sound in distinctive ways.
Archaeologists have suggested that chanting, singing and drumming at these sites would have produced reverberating echoes that might have been interpreted as voices of spirits or gods; they may also have induced physiological and psychological changes in people, adding to their potency as sites of spiritual importance.
These acoustic discoveries may also shed light on some of the visual motifs etched into the walls of many ancient sites. Experiments in a replica of the Newgrange passage, at Princeton University, showed that if a site was smoky or misty, standing sound waves would become visible as they vibrated particles in the air. Could this visualising effect account for the zigzag and concentric ring markings on the chamber walls?
Intriguing acoustic effects have also been noted at sites in the Americas, from Anasazi kivas (ritual chambers) in New Mexico, to Chichen Itza on Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. Here, the famed Mayan pyramid of Kukulcan, or Quetzelcoatl, is known for the way the solstices and equinoxes are reflected in its stones, but professional acoustician David Lubman has observed another aspect to its design. If you clap in front of the pyramid, the sound is reflected back by its stone steps, sounding, Lubman claims, like the chirp of the quetzal bird, sacred to the Mayans.
Acoustic archaeology is a young field finally gaining academic respectability. New discoveries are made constantly, so next time you're at an ancient site, sing, clap your hands - and listen carefully.
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Was Orkney The Ceremonial Capital Of Ancient Britain?
Orkney may have been the largest prehistoric settlement or ceremonial site in Britain, new research reveals today.
Archaeologists using the latest techniques to map under the soil discovered the world heritage site covering the Ness of Brodgar in Stenness, was a massive centre of activity in Stone Age times.
Orkney's landscape has largely managed to avoid the rigours of industrialised farming and may yet yield its secrets about the recently-surveyed site, which in terms of scale, puts the likes of Stonehenge, Avebury and Skara Brae in the shade.
Whole article here....
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Oetzi's home village pinpointed
By Helen Briggs, BBC News Online
Scientists have pinpointed the likely birthplace of Oetzi the famous Iceman.
The ancient hunter probably spent his childhood in what is now the Italian South Tyrol village of Feldthurns.
Evidence suggests his lifelong travels were confined to a 60-kilometre (37-mile) range south-east of where his body was found.
The 5,300-year-old frozen mummy emerged from a melting glacier along the mountainous border between Italy and Austria in 1991.
Scientists have been carrying out detailed studies of how he lived and died ever since.
The latest research, published in the journal Science, looked at isotopes found in the Iceman's teeth and bones. Whole story here...
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Archaeologists Battle To Save Galloway Site
Archaeologists are engaged in a race to save the remnants of an Iron Age settlement built by one of the most mysterious early peoples of Scotland.
The prehistoric site at Carghidown, near the Isle of Whithorn, Galloway, could illuminate the lives of an ancient tribe called the Novantae.
However, the promontory fort located 100ft above the sea, which has a number of extremely rare features, faces destruction after years of wave and wind action and could collapse into the sea... Whole story here.
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Sky-religion in the Bronze Age discussed on TV
A lecturer will be explaining the history of a sacred calendar - that could be Germany's equivalent to Stonehenge - on the BBC's Horizon programme in January
Professor Miranda Aldhouse-Green, a senior lecturer at the University of Wales College, Newport has been filmed discussing a Bronze Age sky-disc, which features in early man's attempts to map the heavens.
Prof Aldhouse-Green, a European prehistorian specialising in the archaeology of ritual and religion, was filmed for the popular Horizon TV series.
"They spent a day interviewing me about the significance of an ancient sky-disc, dating from around 1600BC, which may have been used by priests as a sacred calendar," explained Prof Aldhouse- Green.
Full story here
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Human sacrifices at the Clumps?
Archaeologists are investigating whether Wittenham Clumps was a centre for human sacrifice - after the chopped-up remains of a woman were found in a grave at Castle Hill.
The skeletal remains of the women were part of a remarkable discovery by archaeologists of a shared grave containing skeletons of a child and a man.
Read whole story here
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Dig Unearths Evidence Of A Bronze Age Settlement
Dig unearths ancient mine and Roman road
Last posted: Friday 10 October 2003 12:10
ARCHAEOLOGISTS have unearthed evidence of a Roman road and Bronze Age settlement at a multi-million pound business and leisure park development.
The dig at the 300-acre Gibfield Park site in Atherton has revealed fragmentary remains of the badly damaged road, which linked Roman forts at Manchester and Wigan.
A 10-strong team of archaeologists from Manchester University spent the summer excavating the former site of Gadbury Fold, off Atherleigh Way. Their survey also revealed that mining had been carried out on the site since at least the 14th century.
Whole story here
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Habitat: Commonly sighted in fields round Oxfordshire and Wiltshire.
Distribution: Widespread; occasional migrations to overwinter in Africa or other hot climes.
Characteristics: A tall, blonde, opinionated bird with feisty temper when provoked. Prone to spells of gloom during winter months. Usually sporting dark plumage, except for golden head, can often spotted with sketchbook and brushes near megalithic sites.
Feeding habits: Easily tempted with cheese (any variety) or a nice cup of tea. Unfeasibly fond of curry.
Behaviour: Unpredictable, approach cautiously. Responds very favourably to flattery.
Abhors: slugs, invisible sky gods, Tories, the Daily Mail, bigots, eggs, the cold, walking and timewasting.
Adores: a man called Moth, painting, live music, furry creatures, tea administered frequently, hot places, cheese, writing crap poetry, David Attenborough, Ernest Shackleton, Vincent van Gogh and the English language.
Want more?: see her website.
Big old rocks I find appealling
Their secrets they are not revealing
Some are chambers, some are tombs
Hidden in valleys and in combes
Some are said to act like clocks
With shadows cast out from their rocks
I like the way they just survive
When I visit, I feel alive
So I chase my rocks around the maps
Round England, Ireland and France, perhaps
But there ain't nothin' that I liked so much
As to see the Hunebedden, dem is Dutch.
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