Rhiannon

Native Woodland, a company from Edinburgh, want to develop a natural burial ground at Cothiemuir Hill – within 15 yards of the scheduled ancient monument. They have not yet received planning permission for the scheme, but it’s provoked an backlash from local people, who are forming an action group. The company wants to offer “rights of burial” for ashes in plots laid out in concentric rings around the ancient site, and full interments in a dedicated grassland area to the east of the stone circle.

The campaign against the burial ground plan is being led by Jo Stover, of nearby Auchnagathle Farm. She said: “We are a close-knit community here and I think that is why people are quite appalled and really quite upset about what is being planned. This is a commercial development which just doesn’t belong here. Local people are extremely alarmed and angry about what is being proposed. It has no sensitivity to the local area and the people here – quite the opposite. It would encourage the use of a remote graveyard by persons who have no connection to this area or to the people here.”

She added: “The company claims the burial site will not physically damage the stone circle, but it will be changed for ever by this development.”

The burial scheme is being backed by the local laird, Malcolm Forbes, the Master of Forbes, whose family has owned the estate incorporating the land surrounding the stone circle for about 600 years. Ian Walls, the director of Native Woodland, was unavailable for comment yesterday. His letter to Aberdeenshire Council, in support of the planning application, curiously states: “The main objective behind our proposals for the site is for the change of use to have as little impact on the landscape as is practically possible. We aim for the changes to be imperceptible.”

summarised from the article at news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=370602005

Atkins Heritage was commissioned by English Heritage and the Thornborough Henges Consultation Group to prepare a conservation plan for the local area. At a meeting with residents on Wednesday they suggested an eight square mile “exclusion zone”. Project manager Andrew Croft said the aim of the plan, due to be completed by next March, was to aid decisions on planning applications, archaeological research and landscape management. The area covered includes Nosterfield Quarry, which has a pending planning application for quarrying only half a mile from the henges.

Local landowners are concerned controls could hit their livelihoods. For example, potato farmer David Robinson, of Howgrave Hall, said a ploughing depth restriction of eight inches would put him out of business.
Mike Sanders, of the Friends of Thornborough, said he hoped North Yorkshire Council would act on the plan’s recommendations. He suggested the area would benefit from tourism, and that farmers could be offered compensation or subsidies to allow access to the sites.

summarised from the Yorkshire Post article at
yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=1006494

City Druids line up to put a spring in their step
By Sam Coates – Times Online

It was an incongruous sight: 40 hooded Druids staging a fertility ritual next to the Tower of London, while customers from an adjacent fast-food restaurant looked on in bewilderment.
Yesterday was the spring equinox, one of two dates each year when day and night are of equal length. Since the earliest times this has been celebrated by pagan festivals, with Druids and others gathering round the bonfire to chant, sing, dance and leap through the flames, while praying for a bountiful harvest.

Festivities were held around the country yesterday, including a dawn celebration at Stonehenge. But perhaps the most bizarre was held in the City. Here the Ancient Druid Order, a pagan group based in the financial heart of London which includes businessmen, a dancer, an osteopath and an alternative therapist, donned their white cloaks to take part in the traditional ceremony, begun in London in 1717.

But this ritual came with a modern twist: gone was the bonfire and the seed-planting, while the long flowing robes barely covered the participants’ jeans and hotpants. Led by David Loxley, the Chief Druid, the group assembled next to Tower Hill Underground Station to call for peace and prosperity, and mourn the passing of the dead.

At the heart of the ritual was a woman representing the goddess of spring, dressed in a long yellow robe, bringing seeds and flowers to present to the Chief Druid. These were sprinkled liberally on the concrete floor. After this exchange, Mr Loxley, who works in an alternative therapy store, said: “Prepare for the day when that seed in you shall live and grow — when the influence and the power of the All-Excelling shall shine forth in your life.”

The spring equinox of the Ancient Druid Order is held in the City of London to demonstrate pagans’ belief that the City will eventually revert its “pre-metropolis natural state”.

timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,4484-1535230,00.html

Campaigners have hit back at claims by quarry company Tarmac over the threat of job losses if it is not allowed to expand its operations close to the Thornborough Henges.

In a statement last week Tarmac warned the local economy would suffer if quarrying had to cease and said tourism would not compensate for the loss of some £2.3m resulting from its present operations at Nosterfield Quarry.
Responding to the claims this week, the Friends of Thornborough campaign group insisted that quarrying did not provide long-term jobs.
Chairman, John Lowry said: “Aggregates quarries actually create very few jobs in relation to the amount of land they sterilise, and the employees know those jobs are relatively short-lived because all mining ventures have a limited life.
“To ensure a constant supply of minerals, well-managed mining companies buy up mineral reserves in advance, phasing development so that a new quarry is opened as an existing one becomes exhausted. So jobs are not ‘lost’ – they are simply transferred to the new quarry and the sub-contractors follow them.
Mr Lowry, who is a qualified exploration geologist and chartered engineer, added: “In trying to reduce this issue to a simple contest between the relative economic benefits of quarrying versus tourism, Tarmac is cynically ignoring the over-riding need to save Yorkshire’s greatest archaeological treasure for future generations.
“Due to the concern our campaign has raised in both Parliament and the EEC, Tarmac now has to prove that it is necessary to destroy a landscape of international importance in order to supply a local market with sand and gravel that could readily be obtained from a less sensitive site like those already quarried by its competitors.”
Tarmac is applying for planning permission to quarry further land close to the henges, at the Ladybridge Farm site.
But Mr Lowry said: “Tarmac’s employees should be demanding that the company gives up its plans to expand near the henges and turns its attentions to opening a replacement quarry in a location already designated by the county council. Surely good management practice dictates that a contingency plan should already be in place, in case the application to extend the present quarry is refused?”

Knaresborough Today at
knaresboroughtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=18&ArticleID=968360

An interactive dig – Diane Maclean, the Scotsman.com

Archaeologists working in Skye have secured funding to begin an innovative interactive project. Excavations of a cave at Kilbride in the south-west of Skye are turning up exciting finds, including bones, early Iron Age tools, evidence of cooking and even what is thought to be Bronze Age pottery.

Most startling the archaeologists have found evidence that the floor of High Pasture Cave was laid with flagstones, suggesting that the cave was used for a specific purpose.

From March the team working at the project hope to launch Scotland’s first live archaeological website. This would allow people to see their work as it happens and learn more about their discoveries.

“Archaeology is a little bit elitist at the moment,” said Martin Wildgoose, one of three archaeologists working on the project. “Setting up the website will make it much more accessible. It’s all about bringing a new approach to involve more people.”

The site will broadcast a live feed from the cave while archaeologists are working on the project.

A recent geophysics survey has located the original entrance to the cave, and the team hope to open this access. Once they have opened the “door” they can bring lights and additional equipment into the cave.

The archaeologists are currently speculating that the cave was used in a ritualistic way.

“Bronze and Iron Age people seemed to revere the underworld and places near water,” noted Steve Birch, another member of the team. “Perhaps they used this cave as a place to leave votive offerings to their Gods?”

The team hope that bringing their findings to a wider public will encourage more interest in the subject. They also hope to inspire people to join them this summer to work at the project.

Once it has launched, the website will be found at: https://www.high-pasture-cave.org.

This article: heritage.scotsman.com/news.cfm?id=182462005

This from today’s Western Daily Press website.

Urgent remedial work must be carried out to save Silbury Hill from collapse, English Heritage said yesterday. The threat to the 130ft mound, which is one of the West’s most mysterious prehistoric monuments, was blamed on excavations made for a BBC TV documentary in the 1960s.

An English Heritage survey has revealed that the late Professor Richard Atkinson’s tunnel, which was dug in 1968/69 was not, as previously thought, properly filled in.

The unexpected discovery is already causing minor internal collapses and ‘voids’ within Europe’s largest man-made hill that will, in time, reach the surface. If unattended, it will damage highly significant deposits in the centre of the structure that contain its early history and perfectly preserved plant and animal remains.

English Heritage says it is considering three options:

- Pumping chalk slurry into the voids.

- Re-opening the tunnel and backfilling by hand.

- As above, but supporting the tunnel to allow repeated access.

Respected West archaeologist Mike Pitts, editor of British Archaeology magazine which revealed the threat, urged English Heritage to act swiftly.

westpress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=146049&command=displayContent&sourceNode=145779&contentPK=11772411

I can’t see any of this on the EH website – it still says “we are relieved to be able to conclude that Silbury Hill is a very robust structure with no major defects that might threaten its stability, due largely to the way it was originally constructed 4,500 years ago.”

From ‘Isle of Wight Today’ by Martin Neville.
iwcp.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=1252&ArticleID=936045

A crumpled piece of metal found in a field in the Newchurch parish turned out to be an extremely rare Bronze Age decorative ring of national importance.A treasure trove inquest was told how it was unearthed by illustrator Alan Rowe, of Alvington Road, Carisbrooke, while out metal detecting last summer.

Experts believe the ring, known as a composite ring and which comprises of three ribs fused together, may have hung from a twisted torc worn around the neck or from a bracelet.

Frank Basford, county archaeologist, said the piece, which weighs 3.57 grams and is 82 per cent gold, probably dated back to the middle Bronze Age period, making it around 3,500 years old.“There is very little Bronze Age gold work around, making this a very significant and important find in a national and Island context,” he said.

...Island coroner John Matthews declared the ring treasure following last week’s inquest.
The treasury valuation committee at the British Museum will set a value on the item and Newport’s Guildhall Museum has already expressed a wish to buy it.

Photo and drawing on the link.

From

yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=921180

The half life-size boat was paddled off down the Humber yesterday, crewed by members of Hull University Boat Club. The article includes a photograph of the boat passing the Humber Bridge.

Previous information at:
themodernantiquarian.com/post/33764

From the ‘this is Berwick‘ website

A new partnership looks set to safeguard two of north Northumberland’s ancient monuments.

Duddo Tower and Duddo Four Stones, both designated scheduled ancient monuments on the Duddo Estate, are being protected with funding from both Defra’s Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS) and English Heritage.
The aim is to create a network of grass margins, new hedgerows, cover for wild birds and a programme of over-wintered stubbles on the 2000-acre estate. These measures will help local wildlife and fauna.

Duddo Four Stones is a prehistoric stone circle, situated within an arable field, which has now been protected by a buffer of grassland reversion, to prevent damage by ploughing or drilling.

In addition to the environmental work, CSS will also pay for new permissive access to the stones, allowing public access for the first time, hopefully to be completed early this year .

more at berwicktoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=970&ArticleID=918436

If you’re wondering about the Four Stones/ Five Stones thing – apparently the fifth was reerrected in 1903. That’s only a century to get used to the new name.

More than 60 druids gathered on the top of the flat hill to the west of the Long Man crest at 2pm.
They took part in a rite to mark the ‘feast of the unforgotten sun’ where their activities were watched with enthusiasm by dozens of Sunday walkers.

The ceremony took the form of a mummer’s play with actors wearing masks depicting the sun, moon and earth. At one point watchers were asked to close their eyes when the mask was taken off a man and put on to a child, depicting the rebirth of a new year.

The next Long Man ceremony is to mark Imbolc – the first celebration of Spring – anyone who wants to find out more is encouraged to look at: bardicarts.com

reduced from the article at ‘Lewes Today‘
lewestoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=509&ArticleID=916225

Campaigners fighting further quarrying near a site of historical interest will demonstrate at a museum at the weekend.

Members of Heritage Action, angry at plans by Tarmac Northern to extend its Nosterfield Quarry close to Thornborough Henges, near Masham, North Yorkshire, will protest outside the Buried Treasures exhibition staged at Manchester Museum. They are unhappy at Tarmac Northern’s sponsorship of the event.

Heritage Action spokesman George Chaplin said: “This is a marvellous exhibition and we hope as many people as possible will see it, but we want them to also reflect on who is sponsoring it and why.

“Tarmac Northern are applying to quarry the surroundings of Thornborough Henges, in North Yorkshire, and the buried archaeology there is treasure as well. We find Tarmac’s behaviour breathtakingly hypocritical.”

Tarmac chief executive officer Robbie Robertson said he was saddened and surprised that Heritage Action should want to picket the exhibition.

“Careful investigation, recovery and recording of artefacts is an on-going feature of our quarrying operations,” he said. “Through working with professional archaeologists, we believe that we have added significantly to knowledge and understanding at Nosterfield and other sites across the UK. At Nosterfield alone, we have spent in excess of £400,000 on detailed archaeological work covering more than 100 acres of land.”

He said this included intensive field work, geophysical surveys, trial excavations, sieving and sampling, radio carbon dating and logging of all finds on a website that people could view.

From ‘This is the North East‘
thisisthenortheast.co.uk/the_north_east/news/NEWS12.html

“The chairman of Swansea’s tourism association is backing an campaign to secure the return to Wales of the Red Lady of Paviland. The remains have been on show for decades at the Oxford University Natural History Museum.

Earlier this year, Swansea councillor Ioan Richard began a campaign to have the Red Lady returned to Wales. Now, Geoff Haden, chairman of Tourism Swansea, wants to step up the pressure on the Oxford museum.

He said the rainy summer this year emphasised what a great wet weather draw the Red Lady could be. He said, “We are suggesting an interpretive visitor centre near Paviland Cave or possibly at the Gower Heritage Centre, which would be a wet weather and an all- year-round attraction. This is something we must follow up.”

The Gower Society is behind the campaign to have the Red Lady returned. The bones date back to 24,000 BC, pre-dating Stonehenge by 20,000 years.

The skeleton was taken from Wales and never returned within a year of being found. Mr Richard said, “Just like the Elgin Marbles were taken from Greece this very important piece of history was taken from us by the English.”

The Red Lady of Paviland was excavated by the Reverend William Buckland, who was the first Professor of Geology at Oxford University at the time. As a result the skeleton was taken to Oxford.

There is a dispute about how well the Red Lady’s remains are displayed. David Laws of Oxwich, Gower, visited the exhibit and found it “in a dusty cabinet”. He labelled the display “pathetic”. But Professor Jim Kennedy, the director of the museum, said the Red Lady was being kept in a “beautiful, hardwood cabinet”.

Museum administrator Wendy Shepherd said there was “not a chance” of bringing the remains back to South Wales. “This goes back to the days when the archaeologists who made finds had the final say on where they should be exhibited.”

From the article by Robin Turner, in the Western Mail (icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/).

[Perhaps she didn’t say it ‘quite’ like it’s reported – but when I imagined Ms Shepherd snapping “not a chance” it made my blood boil. What’s the point in the bones being in Oxford? Wales and England are both supposed to be part of the UK. What’s wrong with ‘lending’ the bones for a display on the Gower?]

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/4125955.stm

Article about two children who found a strange-shaped flint on Arthur’s Seat over Christmas and took it to the museum of Scotland.

(Reads slightly like an advert for responsibly handing stuff over, but fair enough).

Society wants Moors stone to go on display – taken from the article by Julie Hemmings in Yorkshire Post Today
yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=912795

One of the country’s last surviving literary and philosophical societies may challenge the decision to deny it the chance to display an important archaeological discovery.

Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society, which runs the town’s museum, was disappointed to miss out on a significant carved stone, more than 4,000 years old, which was found on the North York Moors near Fylingdales.

The stone was one of thousands of archaeological remains exposed by a major fire on the moors last year and archaeologists believe it is of national importance.

Since the fire in September last year, conservationists have been working to restore the landscape to its original condition. As well as preserving the ecology of the area, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, the work is intended to protect the artefacts and earthworks from erosion by the weather. These efforts will continue for some months but the carved stone already has been returned to the earth where it was found. Before this was done archaeologists laser-scanned and photographed it.

Neil Redfern, English Heritage’s inspector of ancient monuments, said the stone had been reburied as it “belongs on the Moors”, adding that putting it in a glass case in a museum would not have made it any more accessible to the public. He said the image scanned from the stone might serve in the making of a replica, which could be touched, unlike the precious original.

However, some historians are arguing the stone should have been put on on public display and are disappointed not to have been consulted about its future. Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society chairman Fred Payne is meeting members next week to discuss the matter. “We feel it should be exposed, rather than buried again,” said Mr Payne.
“It should be on display, and in Yorkshire, if not in Whitby then at the Yorkshire Museum in York.
“To my knowledge, no-one locally was consulted.”

Peter Barfoot, the authority’s head of advisory services, said the laser-scanned image showed more detail on the stone than could be seen with the naked eye.

The axe found at Bubbenhall Quarry is to be displayed at Warwickshire Museum’s Market Hall site in Warwick.

It’s made of andesite – which must have come from the lake district or north wales, according to the museum’s curator.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/coventry_warwickshire/4117227.stm

A half size replica of a Bronze Age boat that was found at North Ferriby will be sailed on the Humber as part of SeaBritain 2005, a celebration of our maritime heritage.

The original 16-metre boat wasn’t a dug out but used sophisticated techniques and carpentry skills that are difficult to match today. The replica’s planks are cheatingly fixed together with polyester rope, rather than the yew stitches used to sew the oak timbers on the original.

The Hull amateur archaeologist, Ted Wright, who impressively found no less than three boats between 1937 and 1963, always wanted to see them recreated. With extra funding it’s possible that a full-scale version will be built.

You can see the half-size replica in the meantime at the Streetlife Museum in Hull.

Read more at the Yorkshire Post’s site:
yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=904948

Archaeologists are planning to build a copy of an ancient boat found in Dover and sail it from Britain to France. The original was found by chance in 1992 in a water filled shaft during roadworks in the town. It was one of the best preserved examples of a coastal vessel from the Bronze age ever found. Studied intensively by experts at Dover museum, the only way they say they can find out more is to build a replica... John Iverson from Dover museum describes it as “a remarkable feat of engineering” and will copy the materials of the original: yew timber, bees wax and moss.

A section of the boat has already been reconstructed but the project is expected to cost £200,000 in total. Funding is now being sought, but some may be available from the EU, as French museums are involved in the project. The boat will probably take three years to complete and after the crossing, it is hoped it will go on tour in Britain and France.

(adapted from the article at
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4056021.stm)

This brief piece from the Irish Examiner website:

Minister signs order protecting Bronze Age sites – 17/11/2004

The Minister for the Environment has signed a preservation order to protect two Bronze Age sites in Co Wicklow.

The move is being seen as showing fresh Government commitment to the safeguarding of archaeological monuments throughout the country.

The protection orders were signed following reports that a prehistoric settlement near Blessington had been damaged.

The Bronze Age sites include a stone circle and a number of burial mounds.

breakingnews.ie/printer.asp?j=102235440&p=yxzz36xzx

Summarised from James Goffin’s article, “Norfolk’s changing landscape set for web”, published on 17.11.04 by EDP24.

The Norfolk Historic Environment Record (NHER) could be made available to the public over the internet in a £140,000 project. It contains more than 40,000 entries detailing archaeological activity, sites, finds, cropmarks, earthworks, industrial remains, defensive structures and historic buildings in the county.

It’s currently held on a computer database with built-in digital maps, and there are more detailed paper records for many of the sites.

Currently the records are only available by appointment at the archaeological services’ base at Gressenhall, near Dereham. However, the Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service is bidding for lottery funding to make easily understandable summaries of the records available on the web.

A decision on the lottery application should be made by March. If successful the scheme could start in July and be completed by June 2007, with records being made available in batches as the project progresses.

THE government will face “international outrage” if the green light is given for the dual carriageway to be constructed near Stonehenge, according to a survey by the Save Stonehenge group. The group claims that a new survey shows people from all parts of the world are opposed to the Stonehenge road scheme.

Group member Chris Woodford said: “Our survey suggests there is overwhelming international opposition to the British government’s plans to construct a new section of dual carriageway – a four-lane highway – only partly in a tunnel, through the world-famous heritage site.”

The group has been publicising the plans on a website, which also includes an interactive message board where readers can post their views. The group claims that, between March 2001 and October 2004, readers from 18 countries have left more than 300 written comments, and only 12 have supported the plan.

Mr Woodford said: “Most of the comments express anger, shock, shame and outrage. Almost all call for the British government to explore other solutions that do not involve damaging road construction inside the World Heritage site. Stonehenge is not just a World Heritage site, it is a world icon. People throughout the world revere and respect this place.

“We believe transport secretary Alistair Darling is considering giving the green light to a road scheme that will bulldoze a new, four-lane highway right through the middle of it*. If he does, as our survey very clearly shows, he will experience the full force of international outrage and concerted opposition every step of the way.”

[*presumably not actually through Stonehenge itself.]

from thisiswiltshire.co.uk/wiltshire/amesbury/news/AMES_NEWS6.html

and you may wish to view the site at
savestonehenge.org.uk/

part of the article in the Guardian by
Angelique Chrisafis, Ireland correspondent
Thursday November 11, 2004

The motorway plans have been passed by Ireland’s planning board, despite the campaign by archaeologists and local groups, and are now sitting on the desk of the new environment minister, Dick Roche, who has the power to say yes or no. A decision is imminent.

Dozens of academics from Ireland and abroad have written of their concerns in the Dublin-based Sunday Tribune. Dennis Harding of the archaeology department at Edinburgh University called the plans “an act of cultural vandalism as flagrant as ripping a knife through a Rembrandt painting”.

Archaeologists who have researched Tara say the nine-mile stretch of the new M3 motorway will mean the excavation of at least 28 sites and monuments in the road’s corridor. But these, they say, will be “ultimately destroyed”. They expect many more sites to be affected, with 48 archaeological zones within 500 metres of the road corridor and around one site every 300 metres along the road itself.

Conor Newman of the archaeology department at the National University of Ireland, Galway, is the director of a state-funded archeological research programme at the Hill of Tara. “They are knowingly putting this four-lane motorway through the middle of what is actually a relatively compact but uniquely important archaeological landscape,” he said. “I don’t mean landscape in an aesthetic sense, I mean landscape in an archaeological and historical sense. They are doing it willingly when they could have come up with alternative ideas.” He said archaeologists had not been listened to.

What puzzles many international archaeologists is why Ireland has chosen this motorway route at a time when British authorities are spending hundreds of millions of pounds trying to undo past mistakes at Stonehenge. There they are grassing over one road and burying another in a tunnel to remove traffic from the surroundings of the ancient monument.

Edel Bhreathnach, a medieval historian at University College Dublin, and editor of a forthcoming book on kingship and the landscape of Tara, said if the government approved the motorway it would be “the decision of a people who no longer understand their past”.

The road authorities have already dug test trenches along the corridor of the motorway, identifying 28 sites which they could excavate before building.

more at
guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1348030,00.html

Salisbury district council is urging people to comment on the Stonehenge visitor centre planning application before the public consultation comes to an end next Wednesday.

Already, more than 250 people have written to the council with their views on English Heritage’s plans.

On top of that, a week-long exhibition held at Amesbury library, where people could view a model of the proposed visitor centre and ask Salisbury district council’s case officer, David Milton, questions about the scheme, attracted about 350 residents.

The scheme from English Heritage, plans for a single-storey visitor centre alongside Countess Road in Amesbury, is one of the biggest and most eagerly awaited planning applications ever submitted to Salisbury district council.

The model of the proposed visitor centre can be viewed at the council offices in Bourne Hill.

Copies of the application are also available for inspection at Bourne Hill, the planning office in Wyndham Road and Amesbury library.

Alternatively, plans can be viewed on the council’s dedicated Stonehenge pages at www.salisbury.gov.uk.

From This Is Wiltshire:
thisiswiltshire.co.uk/wiltshire/amesbury/news/AMES_NEWS3.html

Teams from Cork and Cambridge Universities have been using the recently-developed technology of Lidar (light detecting and ranging), which uses airborne lasers pulsing at 33,000 times a second to scan the landscape and pick up details of relief. “The beam is scanned over the ground in a zigzag manner as the aircraft flies along an accurately planned set of paths”.
Amongst other things they can construct “viewsheds” from the data, indicating which parts of the ancient landscape were intervisible.

More at Times Online
timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,61-1274921_1,00.html

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.

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

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.

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‘.

More at theherald.co.uk/news/21875.html

The body of an Iron Age woman in her early twenties has been excavated from beneath a jewellery workshop at Minehowe. Archaeologists believe the ‘eoteric and mystical nature’ of metal working during this period would account for her presence, but it’s all rather mysterious at the moment and they are searching for more evidence about her life and death. She lay on her back, hands by her sides, with a piece of decorated antler lying on her chest. Nick Card, from the local archaeological trust, states in the article that it is an ‘unique burial’. Fragments of bodies have been found in sites before, but not a complete skeleton. The woman had one toe-ring decorating each foot: this is also an extremely rare aspect to the find.

A second timber circle, 300 years older, was found near Seahenge. Instead of being composed of plain wooden posts, parts of it could have been decorated with carvings. The hypothesis is linked to the discovery of a carved wooden figure called the ‘Dagenham Idol’ (pictured on the website). The story will also be explained in the September issue of British Archaeology magazine.

Also see the Times at
https://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,61-1224115,00.html

Two long articles can be found at the EDP24 site
here.

More national publicity for the threatened henge complex. Mr Chaplin puts the case in Martin Wainwright’s article at:
‘Diggers threaten ancient monument‘
guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,1276469,00.html

More at
The Western Mail

A 24-year archaeological dig which has transformed Wales’ view of the Iron Age is to be wound up.
...secret stashes of sophisticated artefacts such as querns for grinding corn, spindle whorls for weaving, brooches, spear heads and horse harnesses [were found, and] painstaking sifting at the student training ground each summer has also unearthed several high-class Roman-style goods. This year 50 students led by Harold Mytum, of York University, have already found an almost perfectly preserved fifth-century-BC bowl, as well as glass beads.

“To me this site is very important,” said Dr Mytum yesterday. “It’s the only example of this sort of fort that’s been excavated very extensively. It’s revealed that they are very much more complicated in their design and construction than people thought.

“In Britain it’s up there with two or three other major Iron Age sites people know about such as Danebury in Hampshire. Although it was on the fringes, excavations show that it was not out of touch with the rest of the country. It’s made important changes to our perceptions of Iron Age Britain. It was on coastal trading routes and not perceived as a marginal area.”

From an article by John Lichfield in the Independent. More at:
news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=546468

The bison turning its head to lick its flank, carved with extraordinary precision from a reindeer antler, might have been made yesterday. Even the animal’s tongue, a couple of millimetres long, is visible.

The mint-fresh small carving, among the most celebrated and startlingly beautiful examples of palaeolithic art, was made 12,000 years ago. Since its discovery in the Dordogne, in south-west France, it has rarely been seen in public. It went on permanent, public display this month for the first time.

The “licking bison” has spent most of the past century locked away, appearing only for occasional exhibitions. The pre-history museum at Les Eyzies has made a policy decision to show original artefacts, rather than copies, wherever possible.

The bison se léchant is among 18,000 objects – many never shown before – in France’s Museum of Pre-history, which opened this month in Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, in the Dordogne. The museum, 20 years in the planning, arguing and making, is a triumph. It is attracting more visitors than can be comfortably handled in the village which calls itself, with some justification, the “capital of pre-history”.

Local wits decorated the hill figure last week to leave no doubt about his sex. They also gave him a smiley face and decorated the staffs as flags, using white paint.

Sussex Past, the organisation responsible for the Long Man’s maintenance, is investigating the vandalism. Their spokesman Chris Munns said, ‘The extra lines were made with some kind of paint, so we should be able to strim them out.‘

The outline is actually marked with large white stone blocks, rather than being cut into the chalk itself.

(gleaned from ‘Eastbourne Today‘)

Edited from “Iron Age ‘nerve centre’ uncovered on hill” by Angie Brown, The Scotsman
thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=863592004

New findings at Traprain Law, near Haddington, include the first coal jewellery workshop unearthed in Scotland as well as hundreds of artefacts giving new insight into life in the 700BC-AD43 era. Experts who have been working on the site for several weeks are now able to paint a picture of a densely populated hilltop town which was home to leaders of local tribes, following the discovery of multiple ramparts, Roman pottery, gaming pieces, tools and beads.

Fraser Hunter, the curator of Iron Age and Roman at the National Museums of Scotland (NMS), said pottery found at the site proved that in AD80-400 Traprain Law’s inhabitants had regular contacts with Roman visitors, highlighting the importance of the area.

“The finds confirm the importance of Traprain in the Iron Age. This was a major craft centre, with jewellery being cast in bronze and carved out of oil shale. The whole site is more complex and densely fortified than we originally thought. Our finds show it was the power centre of East Lothian from the multiple ramparts we have found and the fragments of Roman objects which tell us this site was important as it had affiliations with the Romans.

“Our excavations confirm that the site thrived during the Roman period, with the inhabitants having access to a wide range of Roman goods which are otherwise very rare in Scotland. We are also very excited to find a workshop where cannel coal was carved into jewellery. We knew this vegetable-based coal was used to make bangles and beads but nobody had ever found a workshop where it was made.

“It brings the Iron Age to life to know where they stood making these objects and gives us a vivid insight, which we have not had until now.”

Experts at the latest excavation, the largest since 1923, have also produced the first detailed plan of the hill using new global positioning satellite equipment to chart the 50 hectare area.

Interesting archaeological exercise – or (paranoia?) p.r. for quarry owners?!
In

People are being invited to be among the first in 6,000 years to try their hand at building sections of what were the north Highland version of the Pyramids.

The cairn-building project, launched at the weekend by Caithness Archaeological Trust (Cat), is designed to lift the profile of the ancient tombs and encourage more people to come and see them. The great mounds of stone, of which the Grey Cairns of Camster is best known, were used for burials by the area’s first settlers.

An initial 13 volunteers have so far joined the modern-day construction team in the village of Spittal, just off the northernmost stretch of the A9 between Latheron and Thurso. Cat’s archaeological development officer Andy Heald said yesterday: “We’re trying to relive a community project carried out by our Caithness ancestors more than 6,000 years ago.”

The volunteers are being overseen by Mr Heald and John Barber, director of the AOC Archaeology Group. Local quarry owner A & D Sutherland is supplying the stone being used.

Mr Heald said: “We’re building up experience and expertise for the longer-term aim of the project which is to construct a full-size cairn somewhere in Caithness. We hope to involve as much of the community as possible and, ideally, we will attract people of various ages and strengths to help us at every stage of the project from collecting the stone to building the cairn.”

He believes the initiative can serve as a visitor attraction and help in Cat’s drive to increase the popular appeal of the county’s rich archaeology. The scheme at Spittal is scheduled to last until July 30.

Special children’s days are being held on July 17 and 24, while an evening lecture, on the current scheme, is at Spittal Village Hall on July 19.

Anyone interested in taking part in the cairn-building should can turn up at 9.30 any weekday morning at the entrance of A & D Sutherland Ltd’s quarry. All under-18-year-olds have to be accompanied by an adult.

As well as the quarry owners, the project has been supported by O’Brien Construction Ltd, John Gunn & Sons Ltd and Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise.

- Come and find out from the horse’s mouth exactly why it’s so important that Thornborough should be quarried. You can ask questions.

From Nidderdale Today
nidderdaletoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=18&ArticleID=818968

“A quarry firm at the centre of a bitter row with conservationists is squaring up to its critics by staging a public exhibition to explain its controversial plans to extend operations next to an ancient site near Ripon.

Tarmac Northern Ltd – part of Anglo American plc, one of the world’s largest mining companies – is holding the event to enable members of the public to find out more about its plans for Nosterfield Quarry at Thornborough.

Tarmac submitted proposals to extract sand and gravel from a further 111 acres at Ladybridge Farm, east of the current quarry, last month, saying the expansion was necessary to provide much-needed sand and gravel supplies to North Yorkshire’s construction industry.

Now members of the public will be able to see the plans in detail for themselves. Visitors to the exhibition being held at West Tanfield village hall on Saturday, July 10, from 11am to 4pm, will find information about the application and quarrying in general. They will also be able to follow a virtual tour of how the area will be restored once the quarrying has finished, access information on the archaeology of the area and view some of the finds from excavations as part of the quarrying process.

Bob Nicholson, estates manager at Tarmac, said: “This is a great opportunity for residents from the local communities to get a clear picture of our plans for Ladybridge Farm, why we need to quarry here and how the area is going to be restored in the future. There will be a team of us there to deal with any questions people may have.”

The exhibition by Tarmac will be closely followed by a talk about the importance of the henge site and what should be done to protect it.

The new visitor centre was unveiled yesterday (5th July) and the caves are once more open to the public.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/3867385.stm

Also see ThisIsDevon for more details:
thisisdevon.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=143650&command=displayContent&sourceNode=143634&contentPK=10562050

From
This Is Devon.

Dartmoor campaigners have drafted in ponies to help control bracken which is damaging a precious archaeological site. Around 25 campaigners from the Dartmoor Preservation Association (DPA) are using Dartmoor hill ponies to pull a roller to bruise bracken on Corndon Tor, Poundsgate on Dartmoor.

The historic site – situated between Ashburton and Princetown – is thought to be more than 3,000 years old, and dates back to the Bronze Age. The site is littered with remains of hut circles, pre-historic boundaries and Bronze Age field systems. But it is being threatened by the spread of bracken. The plant’s root systems can get underneath the low-standing stone walls and damage them.

The DPA, with the support of the Dartmoor National Park, is carrying out a programme designed to control the spread of bracken and protect historic sites. Yesterday, it joined forces with the Friends of the Dartmoor Hill Pony to try to clear some of the bracken on the 20-acre site. Three ponies were used – two attached to a bracken bruiser, a chain and harrow, and one pulling a weighted rubber tyre to stamp down the plant.

Dru Butterfield, development officer for the DPA, said: “We are working on a magnificent Bronze Age settlement that is currently covered in bracken. The advantage of using ponies is they are able to walk over the archaeological site without harming it – something that a quad bike or tractor is incapable of doing”

...

The DPA has been controlling the bracken for a few years and hopes it will be under control in three years’ time. The volunteers plan to return to the site on Saturday to continue the bracken bruising, and again in August. The process will then be repeated twice every year for the next two years. Anyone interested in taking part on Saturday or in August should call Dru Butterfield on 01626 355314.

From u.tv

The 700 metres of earthen works that surrounded the ancient Dun Mor Fort on the Dingle Peninsula were levelled at the weekend by an excavating machine. An entrance and a standing stone with an ogham inscription were also removed.

Heritage Ireland spokeswoman Isobel Smyth said it was a dreadful act. “This is a very important site and we want to see an investigation carried out,” she said.

The 80 acre Dun More fort overlooks the Blasket Islands and the Skelligs. The Ogham stone which was removed contained an inscription to Dhuibne, a deity of the Corca Dhuibne tribe which lived in the area from around 1,000 BC to 600 AD.

Gardai visited the site yesterday and have begun an inquiry into the incident.

“There is no preservation order but it is listed as a National Monument and should not have been interfered with,” said a spokesman.

The destruction was uncovered at the weekend by local walking tour guide and amateur archaeologist Con Moriarty. “Someone has to be held responsible for this outrageous behaviour. People are lamenting the loss of historic sites and artefacts in wartime Iraq but here it is happening in peace time Ireland,” he said.

It is understood the man responsible is from the local area. The Dingle Peninsula, which is part of the famous Ring of Kerry route, contains nearly 40 national monuments and around 2,000 other archaeological sites.

Dun Mor was one of the biggest settlements of its kind in Europe, according to Galway-based archaeologist Michael Gibbons. “The average ring fort was around 30 metres in diameter. This was 500-600 metres. This is vandalism on an unbelievable scale,” he said.

According to a Heritage Council survey, around 10% of all national monuments have been lost in the last 10 years. The vast majority of this destruction is carried out by farmers who are reclaiming land. Mr Gibbons said that changes in Irish farming had accelerated the process. “As farm sizes increase and smaller farms decline, farmers are gobbling up land they have no connection with. We are losing a lot of monuments, especially in Munster,” he said.

Under the new National Monuments Bill being prepared by Environment Minister Martin Cullen, the fines for destruction of a national monuments will increase from a maximum of 62,000 euro (£41,000) to 10 million euro (£6.6 million).

u.tv/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=47131&pt=n

24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh/ART22422.html

Expert Stan Beckinsall is stumped. One suspects a local will sheepishly admit they’re the culprit, like after other recent similar stories? Have a look at the photos on the link...

english-heritage.org.uk/default.asp?wci=mainframe&URL1=default.asp%3FWCI%3DNodeContent%26WCE%3D3824

No duvets, nightlights, bicycles or wheelbarrows please.

A major project to excavate and record the famous Wemyss caves and their ancient carvings begins today. The joint project between Fife Council and Channel 4’s Time Team is expected to last for five days and aims to preserve a wealth of information for future generations.

Although there is evidence (now lost due to cave collapse) that some of the carvings dated from as early as the bronze age, the vast majority of the carvings visible today are Pictish, probably from the 6th-9th centuries AD. They are the the largest single grouping of carvings of this date to be found anywhere in Europe. The wider archaeological significance rests on the potential of the deposits within and immediately outwith the caves to shed further light on their use over the past 4000 years.

For many years, these caves have been suffering from vandalism and erosion caused by both natural weathering and, more recently, as a result of a dramatic increase in coastal erosion. Many attempts have been made in the past to preserve them but these have only been partially successful and Fife Council decided to preserve the caves by record.

When Channel 4’s Time Team heard about the proposal, they asked if they could become involved and a partnership project was developed. Running from today until Monday, with filming taking place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the project consists of major excavations both inside and outside the caves conducted by the Time Team in partnership with Fife Council archaeological unit and an intensive programme of high- definition 3D laser scanning of the caves.

It is hoped the excavations will shed further light on the use and occupation of the caves, during the Pictish period when most of the carvings were produced. However, information about the caves during the bronze age, iron age and during the medieval period when they were occupied by Christian hermits should also be recovered.

Using laser scanners, the project will also produce an extremely accurate 3D measured visual record of the caves and their carvings. This information will provide a lasting record of the caves and will be used for multi-media presentations and interpretation work in Lower Methil Heritage Centre and at other Fife Council museums. It is hoped that the scanning might also discover new carvings and add increased definition to the ones already visible.

The Courier
test.thecourier.co.uk/output/2004/06/03/newsstory5982886t0.asp

Archaeologists startled to discover Neolithic ritual site – Frank Urquhart in ‘The Scotsman‘

thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=610172004

The setting for one of the most famous castles in Scotland’s North-east was first used as the site for a high-status building almost 6,000 years ago, it was revealed yesterday.

A team of archaeologists began work earlier this month at the Crathes Castle Estate, on Royal Deeside, to investigate what was thought to be the remains of a timber hall from the Dark Ages, 1,500 years ago.

But they have instead found the remains of a large Neolithic building which may have been used as a prehistoric ritual site.

The remarkable discovery was yesterday hailed as one of the most significant archeological finds made in the North east of Scotland for years.

Charlie Murray, co-director of the excavation, said: “What we discovered is highly significant and has taken everyone by surprise. This site is of huge importance and we will now have to really rethink our use of the landscape by the farmers and what they were doing in the early Neolithic period.

“Considering you are talking about 5,500 years ago, the structure we have found was massive, constructed of huge timber posts and as a big as 25 metres by up to ten metres.”

Edited from

Edited from icNorthWales.

The Great Orme Copper Mines have won official recognition as the largest Bronze Age copper mines in the world. The category is new, making the Great Orme site the first holder of the title. Mines spokesman Nick Jowett said staff were delighted. “Finally the mine has been recognised for what it is – a world-class site of major archaeological significance. The discovery of these mines turned former ideas about Britain in the Bronze Age on their head. Twenty years ago it was thought no copper mining took place in Britain during the Bronze Age.”

The award comes after 15 years of excavation, surveying and recording along five kilo-metres of tunnels. A section of the mine is open to the public as part of the Bronze Age mining experience tours. Research is currently being carried out by experts from the University of Wales and Daresbury Laboratories, in Cheshire.

They are fingerprinting the copper from the Great Orme to determine the extent of the trade network emanating from the mine. This year DNA analysis is being carried out on human bones discovered in the mine.

24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh/ART21824.html

24hourmuseum reports on Heritage Action’s upcoming protest and the response from English Heritage...