Rhiannon

The wrangling over the future of the roads near Stonehenge came to an end on Tuesday, after almost three months of hearings. Since the inquiry began on February 17, Inspector Michael Ellison has heard arguments supporting the construction of a 2.1 km tunnel under the World Heritage site from the Highways Agency and English Heritage, along with heated objections from the National Trust, environmental campaigners and archaeological groups.

Mr Ellison has also studied eight official alternative routes for the A303, which include converting the current road into a dual carriageway, extending the tunnel, and rerouting the stretch to either the north or south of the stones. More than 100 witnesses, including Druids, concerned residents, noise and light pollution experts and anti-road protesters, have given evidence at the inquiry, and thousands of documents, letters and maps were received. Participants have outlined their cases and faced rigorous cross examination before closing submissions were made this week.

The inspector has also been on site visits to Stonehenge and its surrounding roads and landscape, and will now consider the masses of evidence before compiling his report, due to be published in the autumn. Mr Ellison’s findings will include a recommendation that will be put before the deputy prime minister, John Prescott, who will make the final decision on the future of the world famous landmark.

If the tunnel gets the green light, £70m of the £200m bill will be met by heritage sources and the department of culture, media and sport, in one of the first agreements of its kind. The Highways Agency said the project, which includes a bypass for Winterbourne Stoke, could begin as early as next spring. It predicts it will take three-and-a-half years to complete, and will affect between 22,000 and 33,000 motorists a day. However if Mr Prescott rejects the published scheme, the 13-year row over the A303 near Stonehenge looks set to rage long into the future.

thisiswiltshire.co.uk/wiltshire/salisbury/news/SALIS_NEWS11.html

Archaeologists are starting work to restore one of Cornwall’s prehistoric stone circles.
Three of the stones at the Nine Maidens circle at Madron near Penzance which have fallen over will be re-erected in time for the summer.

The project is a joint venture with Cornwall County Council, the Environment Department (Defra) and the Nine Maidens Commoners.

Work is expected to last until the end of May.

In the 18th century there were 13 stones in the circle, but workings at the nearby Ding Dong mineral mine moved closer to the circle until they reached and disturbed the site.

Of the nine stones remaining, three have fallen, two are leaning and four are upright.

The Nine Maidens pagan circle derives its name from a group of maidens who broke the Sabbath by dancing on a Sunday and were immediately turned to stone.

The archaeologists will also be carrying out drainage improvements, scrub clearance and footpath repair.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/3703043.stm

Update of a previous story, from News Wales (newswales.co.uk/?section=Culture&F=1&id=6926:)

A Bronze Age hoard of international significance has been declared treasure today by H.M. Coroner for North East Wales. Dating to the Middle Bronze Age, this hoard includes a torc, bracelet, a necklace pendant and a collection of beads and rings, all of gold.

The hoard was discovered by three friends Peter Skelly, William May and Joseph Perry, whilst metal-detecting in the Burton area, near Wrexham, during January this year.

More details of the hoard’s discovery at: themodernantiquarian.com/post/25163

The National Museums & Galleries of Wales will acquire the hoard, following its independent valuation. It is anticipated that the hoard will be displayed for the first time over the summer at the ‘Buried Treasure’ exhibition at the National Museum & Gallery in Cardiff: nmgw.ac.uk/nmgc/2004/buried_treasure/

Criminal proceedings against Leslie man Michael Kelly, who found a neolithic axe head and initially refused to give it up, have been dropped.

Mr Kelly discovered the 6000-year-old axe head late last year while walking in the Lomond Hills. After having it verified by experts, Mr Kelly (45), a former stuntman, was adamant that he would keep hold of his find unless Fife Council paid him thousands of pounds to help fund a movie he wants to produce.

The local authority turned down his request and, as such ancient items belong to the Crown, the procurator fiscal service in Kirkcaldy wrote to inform him he would be prosecuted unless he handed the axe head over. Last month, however, Mr Kelly relented and voluntarily gave the piece to detectives when they called at his home.

Now the procurator fiscal has decided not to press charges against him. A relieved Mr Kelly said, “I am glad it’s all over and that I won’t have to go to court. I’m also disappointed I had to give up the axe head but I just didn’t want any more hassle.”

Fife Council archaeologist Douglas Speirs believes the Lomond Hills may possess similar treasures but does not recommend excavating its slopes. He cautioned, “I would strongly advise anyone to resist the temptation of actually digging into the ground to look for new finds.”

Tayside and Fife Courier
test.thecourier.co.uk/output/2004/04/23/newsstory5842720t0.asp

From the BBC News site
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/3651467.stm

Archaeologists believe they have unearthed an ancient fortified settlement at a hilltop paddock in Buckinghamshire.
A dig on the site of a new £30m Thames Water main near Taplow has uncovered finds thought to date to the Bronze and early Iron Ages.

Pieces from Roman and mediaeval times have also been found. The finds suggest it would have been a settlement on a key route to the centre of the country between 700BC and 400BC. But despite the fortifications, experts called in by the water company believe the site would not have had a military purpose.

Project manager Mark Collard from archaeological contractors Cotswold Archaeology said the settlement, although itself previously unknown, fitted into a pattern of farms enclosed by fortifications. “It’s not particularly military – it would have been more to say ‘This is our bit of land’, it’s more a sort of status symbol than anything else.”

The team was called in ahead of construction work because evidence from nearby sites indicated the area was of historical interest. But although there is a cluster of other prehistoric sites in the vicinity, the latest find came as a complete surprise to the archaeologists.

“It was totally unknown before work started, Thames Water commissioned a whole series of surveys, it’s a success for the system. Basically it was a green field before the work started, if they hadn’t decided to put a pipeline there we would never have known it was there.”

The finds will now be taken away for more detailed study expected to include radio-carbon dating and examinations of the changing styles of pottery to give a clearer picture of their age. Mr Collard said: “Any discovery of a prehistoric site is significant particularly one that it relatively well preserved and extensive.” Thames Water is keeping the exact location secret to prevent any interference at the site but Cotswold Archaeology will eventually produce a full report and register the findings with the Sites and Monuments Records Office so that other archaeologists will know the location.

BBC news:
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3520384.stm

Ancient Indians made ‘rock music’ (groan)

Archaeologists have rediscovered a huge rock art site in southern India where ancient people used boulders to make musical sounds in rituals.
The Kupgal Hill site includes rocks with unusual depressions that were designed to be struck with the purpose of making loud, musical ringing tones.

It was lost after its discovery in 1892, so this is the first fresh effort to describe the site in over a century. Details of the research are outlined in the archaeological journal Antiquity.

A dyke on Kupgal Hill contains hundreds and perhaps thousands of rock art engravings, or petroglyphs, a large quantity of which date to the Neolithic, or late Stone Age (several thousand years BC).

Researchers think shamen or young males came to the site to carry out rituals and to “tap into” the power of the site. However, some of it is now at threat from quarrying activities.

The boulders which have small, groove-like impressions are called “musical stones” by locals. When struck with small granite rocks, these impressions emit deep, “gong-like notes”. Some inscribed pictures date to Neolithic times
These boulders may have been an important part of formalised rituals by the people who came there.

In some cultures, percussion plays a role in rituals that are intended for shamen to communicate with the supernatural world. The Antiquity work’s author, Dr Nicole Boivin, of the University of Cambridge, UK, thinks this could be the purpose of the Kupgal stones.

The first report of the site was in 1892, in the Asiatic Quarterly Review. But subsequent explorers who tried to find it were unable to do so. Dr Boivin has been documenting the site. A few pictures of the site were taken in the 19th Century, but the originals were either lost, or allowed to fade.

Many of the motifs on the rocks are of cattle, in particular the long-horned humped-back type found in southern India (Bos indicus). However, some are of human-like figures, either on their own or with cattle. Some of these in chains, or holding bows and arrows. The typically masculine nature of the engravings leads Dr Boivin to suggest that the people who made the images were men and possibly those involved in herding cattle or stealing them.

The motifs themselves were made by bruising the rocks, presumably with a stone implement. She believes that the people who made the motifs and those who went to view them must have been physically fit and agile. Some of the images are in locations so difficult to reach that the artist must have suspended themselves – or got others to suspend them – from an overhang to make the images.

Modern-day commercial granite quarrying has already disturbed some sections of the hill. A rock shelter with even older rock art to the north of Kupgal Hill has been partially destroyed by quarrying. “It is clear government intervention will be required to elicit effective protection for the majority of the sites in the [area] if these are not to be erased completely over the course of future years,” writes Dr Boivin in Antiquity.

Edited from BBC News, North East Wales
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_east/3532395.stm

An “exceptional” hoard of buried treasure has been found in Wrexham just two years after another major find of Bronze Age treasure there. The 14 pieces of priceless gold and bronze jewellery and pottery, dating back more than 3,000 years, were found by three metal detector enthusiasts in the last few weeks.

Archaeologists are excited about the latest discovery in the area which is also home to the 4,000 year-old gold Mold cape. They believe this latest group of artefacts were buried between 1300 and 1100 BC as a gift to the gods by a well-connected and wealthy farming community.

The hoard is currently with the National Museum & Galleries of Wales in Cardiff where a report is being prepared for a coroner’s inquest to consider whether it should be declared treasure trove.

This hearing will be held within the next couple of months and until then pictures of the artefacts are not being released.

“This hoard includes a torc (bangle) and bracelet, a necklace pendant and a collection of beads and rings, all of gold,” said a museum spokeswoman. “It was buried alongside two palstaves and a chisel, within a small pot, fragments of which were found in the ground alongside. The twisted gold wire bracelet and the pendant, made of spiralled gold wire and forming a long bead shape, are unique within Britain. One or two similar objects have been found in north-western France.”

*

In January 2002, two metal detector enthusiasts found gold bracelet fragments, a bronze axe and a dagger in the same area near Rossett, in Wrexham. The dagger was the first of its kind to be discovered in Wales.

From This is Bristol.

Druid leaders yesterday called for the creation of a sacred site at Stonehenge for the re-burial of human remains unearthed during a unique road project in the area. They want a parcel of land near the “powerful temple of our heritage” to be set aside as a ceremonial shrine for the Pagan and Druid communities. They also hope to carry out important rituals at key stages of the proposed Stonehenge Tunnel construction, such as the first ground breaking “to ease ancestral spirits”. And they want to be informed of any archaeological discoveries during the £193million A303 road scheme in the World Heritage Site.

The Druid Network told a public inquiry they were in favour of the 4,500-year-old stone circle being returned to its natural setting without nearby roads and visitor centre. But they are concerned about various aspects of the proposed project, which is the subject of a 10-week public inquiry in Salisbury. Giving evidence for the network, Emma Restall Orr said the scheme “lacks any acknowledgement of this ancient site’s significance as a working temple for existing spiritual and religious communities”.

She said: “A major concern is the potential lack of respect given to our ancestors and their physical remains.” Such problems could be diverted if “the sanctity of the temple” was acknowledged and respected throughout the work.

Ms Restall Orr said the Druids wanted to carry out their rituals at important stages of the three-year construction programme. These include the first sod-cutting and when the work nears sensitive sites such as Longbarrow Crossroads, the Avenue and the Heel Stone.
Rituals were also required at times of significant archaeological finds during tunnelling at the heritage site, especially the uncovering of human remains.

She said: “Of particular concern are human remains. “We seek assurances that any Pagan human remains found during the work are treated with appropriate respect. While we do not wish to stop the archaeologists from gaining knowledge, removing human remains to store in museums is no longer acceptable within international Pagan communities. All human remains must be reburied with the appropriate Pagan ritual as close to the site of discovery as possible, together with their grave goods – or appropriate facsimiles. We would support the setting aside of a piece of land within the World Heritage Site that could act as a ceremonial funerary shrine for the Pagan and Druid communities. This could be used not only for the reburial of the ancient dead, but also as a place of honouring the dead within many modern spiritual communities.”

Quarry sites begin to give up secrets – Cat Bell, The Hunts Post huntspost.co.uk/man/news/

A major awareness campaign, aimed at highlighting the vast wealth of archaeology found in quarry workings in the Lower Ouse Valley is launched this week.

Leading the initiative is Cambridge Archaeological Unit and building materials company Hanson Aggregates, backed with a £50,000 grant by English Heritage from the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund. It is based principally on investigations at Hanson sites at Needingworth, Earith and Whittlesey.

Focal point of the launch will be the start of restoration work of a Bronze Age ring ditch, dating back to 1200BC. It is sited near a cluster of five Neolithic or early Bronze Age burial barrows, known as the Over Monument Group, regarded by English Heritage as one of the most important sites in the Fens.

Chris Evans of Cambridge Archaeological Unit, said: “The site is designated as an ancient moment and is of huge significance. We propose to subtly re-instate the earthwork. This will involve scooping out its profile to a depth of just over a metre, creating a bank-like effect about four metres wide around the enclosure.”

Brian Chapman, Hanson’s Anglia unit manager, added: “Quarrying and archaeological investigations have made a major contribution to our understanding of early life in the Fens. It is vital we share this information with the local people.”

The campaign has five key components:

A website based on information gathered from Hanson’s sites at Needingworth, Earith and Whittlesey;

Schools material, relevant to Key Stage 2 and available through Hanson’s own education initiative – Material World and its website.

Handling collections for schools and quarry visits based on local finds and dovetailing with the schools’ material. The collections will relate to Roman and earlier Prehistoric finds.

Two exhibitions will be available for use in libraries and schools. One will exclusively concern the ‘Romans at Earith’ and the other will largely focus on results from Hanson’s flagship quarry at Needingworth.

The restoration of the ring ditch at the Over barrow cemetery and the erection of information boards.

from The Cornishman
fuller version at thisiscornwall.co.uk

[Could be making a mountain out of a molehill if the stones are just sooty? There’s no mention of them being cracked. It’s surely likely the heather has been managed with fire for centuries..?]

“- The local farmer who had been asked to clear the gorse around the stones was retained fireman Station Officer Clive Williams, who has a management agreement with the county council’s Historic Environment Service to keep the circle and pathways clear of gorse.

He started the controlled fire to clear gorse that was encroaching on to the circle on the advice of Anne Preston-Jones, of the council’s environment service.

But angry locals and members of West Cornwall’s pagan moot, who have been caring for the circle over the past decades, say that five of the ancient standing stones have been scorched black as a result of the fire and four others have been partially blackened.

Gorse and heather have been stripped from around the stones, leaving them exposed in a blackened landscape. Slow growing lichens have also been stripped by the fire from the ancient monument.

Andy Norfolk, chairman of the Cornish Sacred Sites Protection Network, said that he feared the flames may have got into the fissures of the stones and may have caused irreparable damage. “But we won’t be able to tell how much damage has been done until the soot is washed off the stones,” he said. “We will probably get together a group of volunteers to clean the stones under the supervision of an archeologist in the coming weeks.”

Anne Preston-Jones said this week that she gave Mr Williams permission to burn the gorse around the monument. She said she visited the site after the fire and in her professional opinion she does not feel the stones have been too badly damaged.

“I accept that the blackened site does look awful as you approach it,” she said. “Twenty years ago the circle was completely blackened by a heavy burning of the gorse, but the area quickly recovered. I don’t think last week’s burning has damaged the circle, which isn’t perfect anyway, as part of it was reassembled some years ago from the bottom of tin pits.”

She added: “The lichens, gorse and heather will grow back again. In all honesty I don’t think the damage is as bad as it might at first look.” ”

Summarised from the This Is Devizes site:
thisiswiltshire.co.uk/wiltshire/devizes/news/DEVIZES_NEWS_LOCAL16.html

The finds from the Bush Barrow will be going to the museum in Halle, Germany, for an exhibition running from October to April.

The exhibition will centre around the recently uncovered Nebra Sky Disk, a Bronze Age disk embossed in gold leaf with the images of the sun, moon and 32 stars, and will bring together for the first time Bronze Age objects found all over Europe.

Dr Paul Robinson, curator at the Wiltshire Heritage Museum, said: “The participation of the Wiltshire Heritage Museum in the exhibition is an acknowledgement of the international importance of the Devizes collection which attracts visitors from all over the world.”

Road plan would make Stonehenge site “a monument to the car”

From the Green Party’s website
The proposed road cutting would dominate the World Heritage Site, say Salisbury Greens. If the A303 proposals were approved, the new road cutting would become the most prominent monument within the Stonehenge World Heritage Site: the 21st century monument to the car, a kind of inverted Cursus, rivalling the original Cursus in size.”

That’s the warning Salisbury Green Party will present to the public inquiry that begins on Tuesday (17th February).

Local spokesperson Hamish Soutar will tell the inquiry that the damage caused by the new road would far outweigh any benefits from closing the existing roads. He will call for a return to the consensus reached at the 1995 Red Lion Planning Conference. “The Conference agreed with the aim of removing the roads entirely, at least from the area known as the Stonehenge Bowl. There is no surface route for a new road that would meet either with that objective, or with the government’s international obligations to protect the World Heritage Site. English Heritage and the present government are betraying the public by backing the proposed road scheme.”

Local Greens say no new road should be built, leaving the current A303 where it is but implementing road safety measures such as closing the junction with the A344 (something first recommended nearly 70 years ago). But if the government is determined to press ahead with its road-building plans, they say the only solution is a long tunnel under the entire World Heritage Site, as originally proposed by the National Trust and English Heritage and backed by the 1995 Conference.

Hamish Soutar says: “We don’t really want the tunnel, but we are putting it forward because it is important that the Inquiry should consider it. We will argue that any tunnel design has to include every available safety feature, whatever the cost. We will also argue that there are benefits to be had from putting the whole project on hold for twenty years or so. Technology is changing, transport policy changes, and Stonehenge itself is old enough to wait.”

Finally, he adds: “The most important World Heritage Site that we need to protect is the world itself. Our uncertain future will not be helped by continuing to spend hundreds of millions of pounds on vast new roads. Our duty to conserve Stonehenge for future generations is pointless unless we ensure that they have a world fit to live in.

By Carl Butler (from IC Northwales)

A visitor centre to highlight the Bronze Age and Celtic culture of north east Wales is planned and could attract up to 150,000 tourists a year.

At its core would be the famous gold Bronze Age Mold Cape, currently held in the British Museum.

Experts have drawn up a study and believe a centre is feasible, probably on land next to Clwyd Theatr Cymru.

The CAPE (Culture, Archaeology, Prehistory Experience) Project chairman is Adrian Barsby, of Mold’s Beaufort Park Hotel. He said: “Early indications from the report suggest the project is viable, there are a number of possible sites available and it has the potential to fill a tourism gap in the region.

“We urge local people to take an interest and get involved. It is vital we now widen the debate and engage local people at the earliest opportunity in the future planning of the project in the hope that they will get behind it.

“Early reactions from people consulted have been positive.”

To get the project going, the report will suggest trying to establish an academic centre first which could be a base for archaeological dig teams.

With its proximity to the major towns and cities of the North West, a new visitor attraction could attract anything between 50,000 and 150,000 a year, say the consultants.

The team behind CAPE includes representatives of the area’s tourism organisations as well as local businesses, Flintshire County Council, Mold 2000, Mold Town Partnership and the Welsh Development Agency.

The whole idea was sparked by a drive in the town for the return of its famous Bronze Age cape.

* The report will be presented to the public on Monday, February 16 in Clwyd Theatr Cymru Mold at 7pm. Copies of the study report will be available to view in Mold Library.

thisissouthdevon.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=102060&command=displayContent&sourceNode=100885&contentPK=8674870

The caves will reopen on Saturday, February 7, and the whole £600,000 project will be finished in late spring. There will be a 80-seater visitor centre and reception area, including a coffee house, shop and exhibition galleries. The cavern now also has a licence to operate a function bar and hold events underground.

New exhibition galleries will hold the artefacts that have been found over the last century.

“Carved Stone Balls – a Prehistoric Mystery”
The exhibition runs January 19 – March 31 2004 at the Marischal Museum in Aberdeen.

No-one knows exactly what the balls were used for, but the exhibition includes suggestions from archaeologists, the children of Woodside School and the sculptor Keiji Nagahiro (two of whose sculptures are included in the exhibition).

For further information contact Dr Hilary Murray on 01224 274305 or visit the website at www.abdn.ac.uk/marischalmuseum
or
abdn.ac.uk/marischalmuseum/exhibitions/current.hti

“As over 70 stone balls will be on display this is a unique opportunity to see one of the largest collections of these enigmatic carvings.”

Also why not see Annabel Carey’s batiks of standing stones, “Spirit of Stones”, also on at the museum until the 19th of February. Her inspirations include well known north-east sites such as Sunhoney, Cullerlie and Loanhead of Daviot. An example is on the website above.

Full details at ‘this is amesbury‘
thisiswiltshire.co.uk/wiltshire/amesbury/news/AMES_NEWS3.html

English Heritage bosses are to be told by the people of Durrington and Larkhill to rethink their plans for a land train to ferry visitors to the World Heritage site at Stonehenge.

Durrington parish council chairman David Healing told a public meeting in the village last Friday night that the proposed route for the land trains would pass very close to the rear of houses in Strangways and Fargo Road, in Larkhill.

More than 100 Durrington and Larkhill residents attending the meeting, held at Durrington village hall, recognised that visitors would have to be transported to Stonehenge but unanimously agreed that the parish council should oppose the planned route and put forward viable alternatives.

They also signed a petition which, when completed, will be handed to English Heritage.

Where next????

World heritage site faces quarry threat – John Ross, The Scotsman

news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=84342004

Residents living close to an island quarry fear its planned expansion could affect an internationally renowned archaeological site.

Orkney Islands Council will next week consider a planning application to extend the islands’ largest quarry on Heddle Hill in Finstown which is near the Neolithic sites of Maeshowe, the Ring of Brodgar, the Stones of Stenness and Skara Brae, classed as a World Heritage Site.

Opponents of the planned expansion by Orkney Aggregates Ltd say that it would breach council regulations and have significant visual, geological and environmental impacts.

Simon Treasure, who lives near the site, claimed information supplied by the company with the application is out of date and said that a full assessment would have to be made of the impact of the expansion.

He said: “Heddle quarry is highly visible, indeed it is the most visible man-made object in Orkney, seen by ships 50 miles to the east on a clear day. It is the nearest thing in Orkney to industrial pollution. It is at the top of a 400ft hill.
The south-west approach to Heddle Hill is less than 2,000 yards from Maeshowe and the Stones of Stenness.

“The western boundary of the quarry is probably less that two miles from the WHS. At present the quarry is only visible from the north and eastern approach to Finstown, not from the south or west. We recognise the importance of a suitable quarry within the county. Heddle quarry has good stone and has been in operation, satisfying a high demand from customers, for 100 years, the principal current customer being Orkney Islands Council.

“However, given the intense natural sensitivity of the Orcadian landscape and the importance of the WHS, it is felt that, whilst trying to keep Heddle quarry in operation, permission for any extension can only be granted after fully meeting the demands imposed by statutory local planning policy and of a fully independent environmental, visual and geological impact assessment process in the clear light of day and with the total involvement of relevant outside agencies.”

He added: “It is our contention that the views of the hill will be affected from all sides, including most notably those from Stenness and the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site at the Ring of Brodgar, Stones of Stenness and Maeshowe.

“We may be wrong. But there is no supporting evidence to tell either way. Blowing two million tonnes of rock up is not something that can be undone.”

The application will be discussed by the council’s environment, planning and protective services committee on 28 January. A council spokesman said the authority did not wish to comment ahead of the meeting.

Roy Brown, a director of Orkney Aggregates, said: “A topographic survey is being carried out and we expect the consultant to confirm our view that the World Heritage Site will be unaffected by the quarry extension.

“All necessary reports and surveys have already been commissioned, including a visual impact assessment and a botanical and habitat survey.”

Susan Denyer, secretary of ICOMOS-UK, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, said her organisation has not objected to the proposal.

“We would get involved if we believe a development would be damaging to a world heritage site, but we have to be selective in the causes we take up,” she said. We have looked at this case and although the WHS is visible from the site, it is some distance from it.”

It is understood that Historic Scotland, a statutory consultee, has also not objected to the planned extension as it is felt it would not impact on the WHS or scheduled ancient monuments.

However a spokeswoman for the agency would only say: “We have sent our comments to the council but it would not be appropriate to make these comments public before the application is considered.”

More at www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk

Holidaymakers will be able to spend a week living in the Iron Age at a new tourist attraction being planned in the Forest of Dean. Tourists will give up their clothes and modern items and dress in costume and spend time living in the village of Cinderbury. They will sleep in primitive huts and will have to cook for themselves, mine ore, make tools and weapons and look after the village’s animals.

Mobile phones and watches will be confiscated and the project website says that “make-up, jewellery, hair products and perfumes are strongly discouraged and will possibly be mocked”.

The living history project is being created near Clearwell.

Although corporate funds are still needed it is hoped the village will be open by May.

For more information about Cinderbury or for anyone interested in funding the project go to www.cinderbury.co.uk

from the Salisbury Journal and Avon Advertiser, 5th Jan 04
Full article (thisiswiltshire.co.uk)

Residents living on the edge of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site have accused heritage bosses of placing more importance on life 4,000 years ago than the quality of life of today’s inhabitants who live close to the ancient stones.

People living in Fargo Road and Strangways, near Larkhill, say English Heritage and the National Trust plan to remove “20th century clutter” from the site but will be replacing them with “21st century clutter”.

The accusations were made at a public meeting in Figheldean last week, when English Heritage and the National Trust revealed their plans for the multi-million-pound Stonehenge visitor centre and the revolutionary land trains that will ferry tourists to and from the stones.

Residents living in Fargo Road and Strangways were notified just before Christmas that English Heritage and the National Trust had chosen their preferred route.

Drop-off points containing just a shelter will be at strategic points along the route and, once at the terminal, visitors will have a ten-minute walk along a bridleway to the stones. The bridleway will be upgraded, so that it can be used by disabled visitors and people in wheelchairs.

The route the land trains will travel goes within 50m of the backs of houses in Fargo Road and Strangways but tree-screening and fencing will help obscure the trains from the houses, said Mr Maloney.

Jane Danser, of English Heritage who is based in Salisbury, assured those present they would meet residents in the New Year individually or as a group, to talk over concerns.

Penny Worboys, who lives in Fargo Road, said the plans for Stonehenge only replaced 20th century clutter with 21st century clutter.
She said: “There are no land trains or tracks there now, no visitor centre. They are being introduced. You are putting something at the back of our houses that is not there now.”

Residents were told that, on peak days, up to six land trains an hour would operate. On other days, there were likely to be between two or three an hour but during the winter months perhaps only one an hour.

Residents suggested that the land train route be sunk into the ground slightly, to reduce the impact, and they asked that any screening be as close to the route as possible, to maximise its effect.

Mr Maloney promised that all suggestions made at the meeting would be looked at and discussed further with local people in the new year, prior to the planning application.

The ministry has not yet agreed to sell the land it owns near Larkhill which is needed for the land train route.

EDP24 November 19, 2003 09:41

Yesterday, West Norfolk area museums officer Robin Handley explained that about half the original circle would be displayed and gave an insight into what visitors had in store.

“The idea is that they would obviously be able to look at the timbers themselves, and the backdrop would be showing it as it was built,” he said.

“What we would be looking to do is to treat the circle quite respectfully. That was something that came out quite strongly in a public meeting at Holme.

“We are looking to be quite restrained in the interpretation we put on the circle, using light effects so people get a clear idea of how it would have looked.

“But in terms of telling the story, we would be looking to use a range of devices, including audio wands, so people can select a commentary. The interesting thing about Seahenge is the different levels on which it has a story to tell.

“We are looking to interpret it on a range of levels and give people the opportunity to decide what they want to hear about, but we are also looking to have some discreet computer-style interactives.”

As well as Seahenge, the other key element of the scheme is to restore the museum building to its former glory.

“Clearly the other thing we are looking to do and one of the advantages of having it in the Lynn Museum will be displaying it in the context of other sites and finds from the area,” said Dr Handley. “We have a very good archaeological collection here.”

The outcome of grant applications for £900,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £85,000 from Norfolk County Council’s capital fund will not be known until spring, but the new-look museum could open in autumn 2005.

(Not many) Human remains found at juamei’s ‘world’s dullest fort’.

Richard Parr EDP24
November 13, 2003 06:00

Fragments of human skull were found on the side of a ditch during an excavation of the site of an Iron Age hill fort in north-west Norfolk.
In the summer, Norfolk Archaeological Trust announced it had bought a 17-acre site comprising the remains of the fort at Bloodgate Hill, South Creake, near Fakenham, to stop further ploughing. A geophysical survey was carried out and this revealed the line of a defensive ditch and an internal circular enclosure. A complete section was dug up along the main ditch and bank to reveal that it was four metres deep, making a formidable defence.

Up to half a dozen Iron Age forts are known in Norfolk and two of them at Thetford Castle and Warham Camp, near Wells have revealed defences of a similar size in previous excavations. The trust was looking for artefacts to help date the site, which is believed to have been constructed in the last few centuries before the Roman invasion.

Peter Wade-Martins, who runs the archaeological trust at Gressenhall, near Dereham, said the trust did not know whether the fort had ever been attacked, but fragments of human skull had been found on the side of the ditch during the excavation. So few finds were made during the excavation that the trust brought in Jean-luc Schwenningen, from the Research Laboratory for Archaeology at Oxford.

The laboratory took three samples from the silts in the ditch to measure the electronic charge in the particles of sand. These particles pick up charge at a constant rate from the radiation in the surrounding soil from the moment they were last exposed to daylight. “So the hope is that we will know how old the silts are, plus or minus 10 per cent,” said Dr Wade-Martins. “This is a new technique which has only recently been employed on sites like this. We are hoping to hear the results by January.”

Archaeologists have discovered a previously unknown ancient settlement on a Westcountry island while carrying out a watching brief on the construction of a new playing field. Members of Cornwall County Council’s environmental and heritage services made their exciting find on Tresco in the Isles of Scilly.

Commissioned by Tresco Estate, their excavation has so far uncovered the remains of five houses, other stone buildings and some walls which have survived for centuries just a few centimetres below the present ground surface.

The main buildings were circular and rectangular. Some contained remains of porches, hearths, quernstones for grinding corn and also internal partition walls.

Fragments of carefully recovered pottery suggest that the settlement, like others on Scilly, dates to the Bronze Age of about 3,500 years ago.

The form of the buildings is similar to houses of Bronze Age origin which were excavated on Nornour in Scilly’s Eastern Isles in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a council spokesman said.

Nornour’s dwellings had displayed evidence of continuous occupation and modification throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages.

Some of those buildings had been used as a Roman shrine up until the fourth century AD.

The buildings that have just been unearthed on Tresco would have been destroyed if the construction of the playing field had continued.

Because of the importance of the site, Tresco leaseholder Robert Dorrien-Smith decided to move the new playing field almost 20 yards to the north in order to preserve the remains.

The features uncovered have been cleaned and recorded by the archaeologists from County Hall, Truro, before being reburied for posterity.

Charlie Johns, one of the county council’s senior archaeologists, said: “We have been amazed to find these remains so close to the surface of the ground. It is great for the people of the Isles of Scilly that the Tresco Estate has decided to move the new playing field in an effort to preserve these historic findings.”

A report on the findings is expected to be completed in two months’ time.

Archaeologists say the earliest record of human habitation in Scilly comes from the Bronze Age. On nearly all its islands there can be found ancient barrows, passage graves and stone boxes in which the remains of the Bronze Age dead were laid.

From ThisisDevon

From the Department of Culture Media and Sport

(For all its perceived benefits, does the new Act ultimately mean that people are reporting more finds purely for the financial rewards, and does this have any impact on where they’re going to dig next? I’m sure it raises lots of issues and different points of view. Not least about the use of the word ‘Treasure’).

“Large increase in treasure finds on the way says arts minister Estelle Morris”

The Treasure Annual Report published today shows that reported cases
of Treasure can be expected to increase further with the expansion of
the Portable Antiquities Scheme.From December there will be a network of Finds Liaison Officers across England and Wales actively working with finders to ensure the reporting of Treasure finds. A study in the latest Annual Report demonstrates that the presence of a Finds Liaison Officer can increase the number of finds reported as Treasure by up to five
times.

Arts Minister Estelle Morris said:” Once again this report demonstrates the success of the Treasure Act. It also shows how improvements to the Act and the work of the Portable Antiquities Scheme have led to a substantial rise in the number of significant new finds that would otherwise not have been reported. I am also pleased to see that many objects are going to regional rather than national museums. This will enable people around the
country to gain a greater understanding of their local heritage. Every now and then a superb find like that of the Ringlemere gold cup reminds us of our hidden heritage – the treasure that lies under our soil waiting to be discovered. It brings the past to the surface
and provides tangible evidence about the lives and skills of those who preceded us. We now have a framework in place through the Treasure Act which enables the significance of such finds to be properly assessed by archaeologists and historians. That adds
immeasurably to the understanding we all have about the history of this country.”

Among other developments:
- although the number of finds was slightly down on previous years,
this was due to public access restrictions as a result of foot and
mouth disease and the long term trend still remains upward
- the Treasure Act has recently been extended to include deposits
of prehistoric base metal objects and a better Code of Practice
- the Portable Antiquities Scheme, a voluntary scheme enabling all
archaeological objects found by the public to be recorded, has now
been extended across the whole of England and Wales for the first
time
- the work of Finds Liaison Officers meant that a number of finds
were reported as Treasure that would otherwise not have been.
- 78 local museums around England and Wales acquired Treasure
objects in 2001. 15 were acquired by the British Museum.

The total value of finds in the Annual Report is about half a
million pounds. The figure represents 89 out of the 214 reported
Treasure finds. Confirmation of outstanding valuations means that the
final total will be higher.

The Treasure Act 1996 removed the worst anomalies of the old
common law of Treasure Trove and defined more clearly what qualifies
as Treasure. Under the Act the following finds are at present defined
as treasure provided they were found after 24 September 1997: a)
objects other than coins at least 300 years old with a minimum
precious metal content of 10%; b) all groups of coins from the same
find at least 300 years old (if the coins have a precious metal
content of less than 10% then the hoard must consist of at least 10
coins) and c) objects found in association with Treasure.

In 2001 the criteria for Treasure were extended to include any
group of two or more metallic objects of any composition of
prehistoric date that come from the same find.

The British Museum is due to hold an exhibition, Buried Treasure:
Finding Our Past between 21 November 2003 – 14 March 2004. The
exhibition includes some of the most spectacular finds from British
history, most of which have been found by chance, by members of the
public. These finds have come to light through the Treasure Act and
Portable Antiquities Scheme and have revolutionised our understanding
of the past. After London, the exhibition will tour to Cardiff,
Manchester, Newcastle and Norwich.

Don’t know if this will turn out to be another misunderstanding (like this) but some strange carvings have been found near Wooler in Northumberland. Mr Beckinsall’s on the case though:
BBC News site at https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/3177822.stm

Mystery markings baffle experts

Experts are scratching their heads about a series of rock markings discovered in north Northumberland.
The markings – including a heart shape and one resembling a human footprint – are being investigated by archaeologists on rocks near Wooler.

The Newcastle University team, who were alerted to the carvings by a local farm-hand, have said they are baffled as to what they mean or who created them. And fellow experts they have consulted are equally confused.

The markings found on isolated sandstone boulder, include a group of concave spherical shapes of around 20 cm in diameter. Another resembles an adult footprint, several deep scores and a heart-shaped marking. People are now being encouraged to come forward with explanations and to help solve the mystery.

Dr Aron Mazel, research associate with the School of Historical Studies, has been investigating the markings with Northumberland and international rock art authority Stan Beckensall.

Despite having over 60 years experience of studying rock art between them, they have been unable to identify what they were.

Dr Mazel said: “They are not the cup and ring marks which we have been studying as part of the Northumberland prehistoric rock art project they appear to be more recent than that.

“There have been people in the Northumberland area since the start of the Mesolithic period around 10,000 years ago, but I would think that these markings were made after cups and rings, probably during the last 3000 years.

“Until we know more about these markings it would be hard to pinpoint which era they belong to.”

Mr Beckensall said: “As far as I know, these markings are unique and nothing like them exists anywhere else in Northumberland or in the British Isles.

“That’s why we are keen to draw people’s attention to them – seeing the pictures of the markings may prompt somebody to come forward with new information, perhaps relating to similar rock art samples they have viewed elsewhere.”

Holme Henge pushes up museum costs
07 October 2003
Lynn News.co.uk
lynnnews.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=991&ArticleID=670976

Plans to display half the Holme Henge timber circle in Lynn Museum have pushed up the cost of the museum’s development scheme to £1.2 million. Originally, it was expected to cost between £800,000 and £1 million to re-display the Market Street museum’s collections, which include a lot of West Norfolk Bronze Age material.
But now it has been agreed that all the timbers, which are currently being stored at Flag Fen Bronze Age site, near Peterborough, in chemically-treated water, can be housed at Lynn – half of them on permanent display.
An application for £940,000 is being made to the Heritage Lottery Fund and a bid sought for £80,000 from Norfolk County Council towards the cost of the expanded project.
Area museums officer Dr Robin Hanley said: “Including Holme Henge has increased the display costs quite significantly. We are planning to display it well and the plans are exciting and expensive.
“But with a monument of that international significance we need to ensure that the way we display it is right.”
The Holme Timber Circle Working Group, which comprises representatives from groups such as Holme Parish Council, West Norfolk Council and the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, has already welcomed the idea.
And when the plans were explained at a public meeting in Holme on July 31, it was recognised that this offered a way to display the timbers in West Norfolk even if it was not the ideal solution of a purpose-built display in the village, Dr Hanley said.
He pointed out that Lynn Museum was a showcase for the whole borough and Holme Henge was important to the interpretation of the area’s archaeology.
Although only half the circle would be displayed in the museum, a suitable storage space would be found for the other timbers where people could access them, he said.
Dr Hanley said all the timbers would soon be going to a conservation laboratory to undergo “a very delicate and slow” freeze-drying process, so that they would not need to be displayed behind glass at Lynn Museum.
“The timbers will be capable of going on open display so that people can get close up to them,” he said.
The central stump could take up to five years to conserve, so a replica may be needed for the display until it is ready. Lynn Museum hopes for decisions from the Heritage Lottery Fund and county council by April next year, so that work on the project can start next September and be ready to open to the public in September, 2005.

Prehistoric Long Man is ‘16th century new boy‘
By David Derbyshire, Science Correspondent
(Filed: 02/10/2003) Telegraph

news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&xml=/news/2003/10/02/nchalk02.xml

The origins of England’s tallest chalk hill figure, the Long Man of Wilmington, have puzzled historians and archaeologists for generations.

Carved into a steep slope on the South Downs in Sussex, the imposing figure has been claimed as an Anglo Saxon warrior, a Roman folly and an Iron Age fertility symbol. But acccording to a team of researchers, the Long Man may be a relatively recent addition to the landscape. Tests carried out this summer have produced compelling evidence that it dates from the mid-16th century.

The findings have surprised the experts and will cast doubt on the age of other supposedly prehistoric carvings, including the Cerne Abbas giant in Dorset.

Standing 226 feet tall, the Long Man of Wilmington is one of the largest carved figures in the world. It dominates the grassy downland at the village of Wilmington near Eastbourne, holding a stave in each hand.

Although the earliest known record of the figure comes from 1710, many scholars have argued that it already existed when the Romans invaded Britain.

The new findings come from a team of researchers led by Prof Martin Bell, an environmental archaeologist at Reading University. Their research is part of Figures in the Chalk, broadcast on BBC2 tonight at 7.30pm.

“I didn’t expect this date at all,” Prof Bell told The Daily Telegraph yesterday. “I expected it to be no later than Anglo Saxon.”

Prof Bell’s conclusions come from an analysis of chalk fragments washed down the slope over the past few thousand years.

The analysis revealed little activity on the hillside during the Iron Age, Roman occupation or Medieval times. But about 500 years ago there was a sudden change when a layer of chalk rubble swept down the slope. Prof Bell believes that the chalk debris may have been come [sic] from the freshly cut Long Man.

Museum chiefs are awaiting the outcome of a funding bid which could pave the way for Seahenge to go on public display in West Norfolk.

Norfolk’s museums and archaeology service has submitted a £900,000 bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund towards the redevelopment of Lynn Museum at King’s Lynn.

Earlier this year county councillors decided that the Bronze Age timber circle, which was discovered on the Le Strange estate at Holme near Hunstanton in 1998, should form the focal point of the £1.2m project.

Organisations including West Norfolk council have already agreed to make financial contributions towards the revamp.

A bid for £85,000 capital funding from Norfolk County Council has also been submitted.

Area museums officer for West Norfolk, Robin Handley, said that they should know the outcome of both bids in the spring.

“We have obviously put in as strong a bid as we can. We have had support from heritage organisations to demonstrate to the Heritage Lottery Fund that the bid is supported locally”.

“The borough council has indicated its support as has English Heritage. It is a really substantial piece of work and it has taken six months for us to put together,” he said.

Dr Handley said that Seahenge would form part of a display telling the story of Lynn and West Norfolk.

“We want to put Seahenge in the context of the archaeology of the area,” he said.

“We are not only wanting to create an exhibition but to put in lots of interactive elements and real objects on display. We have an excellent collection and during a consultation of people before the bid was put in they said they wanted to see lots of artefacts.”

From the EDP website.

From this week’s New Scientist (reporting on a story in Nature vol 425)

‘Neolithic people quickly rejected fishing in favour of agriculture, an analysis of ancient British diets has revealed.

The accepted view was that converting to farming was so complex it took 1000 years to make the change. But Michael Richards at the university of Bradford and his team have found evidence that the switch to a farmed diet happened much more quickly right across Britain.

They analysed the ratio of carbon isotopes in bone collagen from 164 early Neolithic skeletons between 4500 and 5200 years old, and 19 skeletons dating from 5200 to 9000 years ago. The isotope ratio revealed whether the people lived primarily on fish or terrestrial animals.

Before the change, 5200 yrs ago, there was a mix of diets but within 200 years all the Neolithic people had begun to eat food grown on land, suggesting that farming quickly won out over fishing.‘

Rather raises some questions about where the skeletons were from, what ratio of farming:fish you decide means they had switched, etc... might be worth looking at the original article?

According to the East Lothian Courier, the grassland on top of Traprain Law was ablaze last weekend. The fire was believed to have been started by a dropped cigarette end. Archaeologists are apparently currently excavating the site, and were this week trying to decide how much damage had been caused to the hill fort. One hopes that the fire and the presence of archaeologists who smoke are unconnected.

More at
news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1014022003

thisislancashire.co.uk/lancashire/lancaster/news/LANCNEWS8.html

THE Storey Gallery in Lancaster is hosting an exciting exhibition of archaeological sculpture, photography and paintings from Saturday.

The display – entitled the Segsbury Project – is a result of artist Simon Calleryís experiences of an archaeological dig at Segsbury Camp, an Iron Age hill fort in Oxfordshire.

It includes a sculpture entitled Trench 10 made by pouring plaster directly on to the surface of a 20-metre Bronze Age ditch.

The exhibition will run until November 15

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/3081532.stm

Thursday is the deadline for people to express their views over a proposed £193m road development around Stonehenge. It is hoped that the re-routing of the A303 road, and a £57m visitor centre, will rescue the World Heritage site from its label as “a national disgrace”. More than 1,000 people have already made their views known and a public inquiry is to be held early next year.

But the National Trust, while supporting the overall scheme, has reiterated its call for the 2.1 km tunnel proposed by the government, to be lengthened. Speaking in June, trust territory director Martyn Heighton said: “We are not convinced that the plan for a 2.1km tunnel will adequately safeguard the integrity of the site. There are strong archaeological and curatorial reasons for building as long a tunnel as possible, to preserve and enhance the qualities of the site.”

Landowners the National Trust, monument keepers English Heritage and the Highways Agency are working together on the scheme.

The publishing of the report sets off a 12-week public consultation period.

Work will start by 2005 if the scheme is approved.

Ok, so they’re doing it for their own ends, because they might have to dredge some of it. But they could find all sorts of Prehistoric Stuff.

royal-navy.mod.uk/rn/content.php3?page=1&article=725

Wrecks and ‘drowned’ prehistoric settlements may be among the mysteries of the Solent that could be discovered during the most scientifically advanced survey of the area, being undertaken by the Royal Navy.

New hi-tech equipment is being used to produce pictures of what is on and below the seabed in an area that will have to be dredged if it is chosen as the new route into Portsmouth Naval Base for the navy’s new and much larger generation of aircraft carriers.

The geophysical survey – part of a £150-£200 million Portsmouth regeneration scheme – is being conducted by the RN Hydrographic surveying squadron’s smallest vessel, the 35ft long HM Survey Motor Launch (HMSML) Gleaner. With her small crew under the command of Lieutenant Commander Matt Syrett, the Gleaner started her survey task on Monday (September 1) and will continue the work until September 12.

Working under contract to the ministry of defence, the commercial company Wessex Archaeology is assisting the survey which will be carried out using a multi-beam echo-sounder, high-frequency sonar which can detect small items on or below the seabed and, for the first time, a computer-controlled camera system known as Remus.

Also new will be a Canadian-developed system – Caris – which will be used to process the data at the end of the operation. That data, which should be ready before the end of the year, will be provided to the organisations being consulted as part of an environmental impact assessment already announced.

Among the organisations being consulted are local authorities in the area, English heritage and the Mary Rose trust, who have a keen interest in the results of Gleaner’s survey of the Mary Rose wreck site, where the ship’s bow castle is thought to be lying under the seabed.

An initial assessment provided for mod by Wessex Archaeology has found that there are 174 known and documented wrecks and seabed obstructions in the Solent, including the remains of the Portsdown steam ferry which lies on the route of the navy’s preferred channel.

Much earlier wrecks could also be found as the Romans used the Solent sea routes. Other artefacts and structures may date back to the stone and bronze ages as 18,000 years ago the Solent was dry land that gradually became inundated.

If the link’s still working you can see them: do they have beaky faces like the Uffington horse? They’re facing the right way. Though horses do have to face one way or the other, I admit.

Hoard of golden coins found at dig site
August 14, 2003 08:20

By any stretch of the imagination, it is an unusual moneybox. But some 2000 years ago, this mud-filled end of a cow’s leg bone became the storage place for a hoard of Gallo Belgic Es gold coins, or staters, which date from around 60-50 BC.It has come to light just a few days before the end of the eighth season of the Sedgeford Historical and Archaeological Research Project (SHARP), which aims ultimately to build up a full history of the village, near Hunstanton.

Each summer sees a continuation of an extensive excavation of a Saxon cemetery in the valley of the Heacham River, which has so far unearthed around 200 skeletons and evidence of an Iron Age settlement.The discovery of the hoard by metal detectorist Kevin Woodward is being hailed as the most significant find in the dig’s history and is expected to generate considerable interest in the archaeological world.

“It was in a pit which we had followed down over several years, knowing we might get to something. It was underneath a whole mixture of later gullies cut during the medieval and Saxon periods, bearing in mind it’s in the area of our Saxon cemetery.“"They are in newly minted condition – they really look superb.”

also see the SHARP site:
sharp.org.uk/ironage/hoard.htm

Great.
From thisisoxfordshire.co.uk

Arsonists have destroyed the site headquarters of a major archeological dig in Oxfordshire.

The temporary building was set up next to Castle Hill, the site of an Iron Age fort at Wittenham Clumps -- where archaeologists are carrying out the first excavation of one of the two beech-capped hills at Little Wittenham.

Hugo Lamdin-Whymark, an Oxford Archaeology project officer, said the cabin was mainly used as a tea room and office for archaeologists and volunteers, who are excavating trenches at the hill fort site.

The fire happened between 5pm on Tuesday and 8am on August 13, when the smouldering remains of the building were discovered by a warden at the Northmoor Trust, which owns the Clumps.

Firefighters from Didcot attended. Ian Rowland-Hill, chief executive of the Northmoor Trust, described the fires as “wanton vandalism”.

At Airy Hill Farm, near the interestingly named ‘Boosbeck’.

From thisisthenortheast.co.uk/the_north_east/east_cleveland/news/NEWS1.html

CONCERN has been voiced by archaeologists over plans to site a mobile phone tower near a Bronze Age monument. Planning officers recommended Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council planning committee approve the mast at Airy Hill Farm, Boosbeck, near Guisborough.

It would be sited 40 metres from a burial ground dating back to about 1800BC, which has national protection. Robin Daniels, from interest group Tees Archaeology, said: “We want to ensure that this scheduled monument survives and we are concerned that if planning permission is granted for this mobile mast that further masts may also be built near it in the future.

“We are happy for this mast to be built 40 metres away from the site, but we are worried any future masts may creep closer to the site. “By the time three or four more masts have been built, that 40 metres can soon be eroded. We often see the proliferation of these things once one has been built.”

The site is protected under national legislation by the Ancient Monument and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. Permission would have to be sought from the Secretary of State for any building which was less than 40 metres away from the site.

Mr Daniels said: “This burial mound has not been excavated, but the pattern you see is that mounds such as these have the cremation urn of an important person from the local area at the base and often secondary urns were inserted later. The mounds acted both as burial grounds and as territorial markers and were found round the edges of boundaries.”

Mobile phone company Orange PCS submitted the application for the mast. It would be a 20-metre lattice tower supporting three antennae and two microwave dishes. Equipment cabinets would also have to be built next to the mast. The site is close to an existing mast and a pylon, both owned by Northern Electric, but Orange has found it impossible to reach an agreement to share the structures.

The planning committee will decide whether to approve an application to build the mast on Thursday.

I’ve since read that the planning application has been refused – but I haven’t got any more details because the website has since removed the story.

August 5, 2003 06:30 – from the EDP24 site

Seahenge could go on public display for the first time in the summer of 2005, it emerged last night.

The future of the 4000-year-old Bronze Age timber circle has been the subject of fierce debate since its controversial excavation from the beach at Holme, near Hunstanton, in 1999.

County councillors have now decided the internationally-important find should form the focal point of a £800,000 redevelopment of Lynn Museum at King’s Lynn.

Norfolk’s museums and archaeology service is making a bid for Lottery cash towards the scheme and, if all goes to plan, work could start towards the end of next year.

English Heritage is in the process of choosing a specialist firm to carry out the conservation of the structure, which is being kept at the Flag Fen Bronze Age site near Peterborough.

Originally, it was thought that only a third or about 20 of the timber posts could be included in the display, but there are now plans to accommodate more than half of them.

“The smaller timber posts should be conserved by the middle of 2005,” said Norfolk Archaeological Unit’s archaeology and environment officer, Brian Ayers.

“We always knew the larger central tree was far too big to do by then – nobody in the world has conserved anything as big as that. It’s going to take a lot longer, so at the moment we are discussing a replica for the tree, which will go on display until it can be replaced by the original.”

The role of Seahenge in the new-look museum, which is expected to re-open to visitors around mid-summer, 2005, was explained to a public meeting at Holme Village Hall.

“There were a lot of folk who would like to see the whole thing on display, but there was a general consensus that it was a move forward – we did stress it could be put on full display at a later date,” said Mr Ayers.

“It does get it on display back in West Norfolk, within a stable environment and, importantly, within one which is already a focus for activity. It should be good.”

A mobile exhibition charting the remarkable story of Seahenge is touring a series of venues in north-west Norfolk.

edp24.co.uk/content/News/

Historic artefacts, August 4th 2003

icwestlothian.icnetwork.co.uk/news/

A NEW exhibition is showcasing historic artefacts that have not been seen in public in West Lothian for over 5000 years.

Monuments in a Landscape Objects from Cairnpapple was officially opened in Broxburn Library last week.

The display shows historic artefacts on loan from the National Museums of Scotland (NMS), some of which have never been on public view in West Lothian since they were discovered.

The exhibition was opened by Councillor Bert Gamble, West Lothian Council spokesman on Arts and Culture, with special guest MP Tam Dalyell, whose mother played a part in encouraging the original excavation of Cairnpapple Hill in the Bathgate Hills.

Councillor Gamble said: “I’m absolutely delighted to see these artefacts on display for the people of West Lothian. I hope it encourages local young people and schools to go and view this fascinating exhibition.

“It’s a history that’s never been shown before, and it raises the cultural profile of West Lothian.

“We’d like to thank Doctor Alison Sheridan from the NMS for all her hard work in making this exhibition happen.”

The display has been organised by West Lothian Council Museums Service, in partnership with the Archaeology Department of the NMS and Historic Scotland.

Dr Alison Sheridan from the NMS Archaeology department has provided fascinating explanations of the objects on show, some of which will go to the Cairnpapple Hill visitor centre after the exhibition.

Cairnpapple is recognised as one of Scotland’s most important prehistoric sites.

The hill was used as a funeral site at various times, beginning from the neolithic period around 2800 BC, through the Bronze and early Iron Ages, to early Christian times around 400 AD.

Since the site was excavated in the 1940s, visitors can see the remnants of a neolithic wooden henge, and enter the striking cairn centrepiece, reconstructed after the excavation.

The Objects from Cairnpapple exhibition runs until November 8th 2003, in Broxburn Library, West Main Street, during library opening hours.

From Yorkshiretoday.co.uk

THE discovery of 12,000-year-old artwork on the walls of a North Derbyshire cave could spur on a bid for World Heritage Site status.
The momentous find at Creswell Crags is believed to give the clearest evidence yet of how far north man had travelled during the ice ages. But while archaeologists are still in raptures over the images, mostly depicting animals, trust chiefs running the site believe it could spell great things for the area.
Nigel Mills, of Creswell Heritage Trust, said the paintings – thought to be Britain’s first ever cave pictures – could mean the resurrection of an ambitious scheme to gain World Heritage Site status.
He said: “Creswell Crags is a hugely important site. The quality and the quantity of archeological evidence which has come from the site are second to none. At the time when these paintings were made the crags would have been at the very edge of the ice sheet which covered much of the North of England. The paintings are evidence that the crags were the most northerly place visited by ice age man. For these reasons the crags are unique places – and something that is so unique could form the basis of a bid to be a World Heritage Site. In 1996, a bid was put forward but was rejected. In the light of recent events it may now be appropriate to reconsider that application.”

The Creswell Crags site has come a long way in the intervening years when it was blighted by the nearby location of a sewage works and a busy road cutting through the gorge. Major progress has already been made on moving the sewage works and diverting a section of the B6042 road. The trust, set up in 1990 to safeguard the site, is leading a £14m scheme to regenerate the former coalfield area. Part of the scheme will see the construction of a £4.5m museum and visitor centre which it is hoped will secure the long-term future of the site.

Farmers to protect Archaeological Sites
by Georgina Horton
Western Morning News


Westcountry farmers have pledged to work with English Heritage to investigate how more effective protection can be given to ancient sites buried beneath farmland in Britain. It follows the launch of a new campaign by the conservation group to save thousands of fragile archaeological remains throughout the country put at risk by intensive agriculture.

Nearly 3,000 monuments that are recognised as nationally important are currently on land that is being cultivated, according to Simon Thurley, the chief executive of English Heritage, including a Roman burial in Dinnington, Somerset.

Since 1945 many ancient sites, including some of the oldest visible monuments in our landscape, have been destroyed or are being seriously damaged – ploughed up or degraded by increasingly powerful farm machinery and intensive cultivation.

Neolithic long barrows, Roman towns and villas, and Anglo-Saxon cemeteries – a patchwork of thousands of years’ worth of history – have all suffered and are continuing to suffer.

“We are quite literally ripping up our history,” he said. “In doing so we are also doing irreparable damage to the character and fascination of our much-loved countryside. A monument that might have taken decades to construct can be swept away in a matter of hours. Modern intensive ploughing has arguably done more damage in six decades than traditional agriculture did in the preceding six centuries. We cannot blame farmers for what has been happening but we need a new strategy to protect threatened archaeological sites under cultivation.”

The campaign, which is called Ripping Up History, calls for changes in the law and to the system of farm subsidiaries. It is not demanding an instant ban on ploughing, but is asking for legal provision for English Heritage to monitor the impact on sites of ploughing, and to review permits where there was clear damage.

And for the first time, farmers’ representatives are supporting the campaign. A spokesman for the National Farmers’ Union said most farmers took great pride in the historic features of their land.

“We recognise that changes to farming policy provide a useful opportunity to revisit this issue,” he said. “But we need to ensure that changes bring benefits for farmers and our heritage. We need to use language that encourages, rather than undermines partnership.”

The NFU has also called on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Tessa Jowell’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport to work with local authorities and archaeologists to ensure that farmers are told about the location and importance of remains.

“In the majority of cases, damage that has been caused to these sites has been the result of farmers not being informed about the sites rather than as a result of any malicious intent,” the NFU spokesman said. Ploughing itself has uncovered many sites that were previously unknown, and farmers have volunteered the information to local archaeologists. We hope that the many farmers who already work with English Heritage to chart and protect these finds continue to do so.”

[email protected]

You can read lots about the Ripping Up History campaign at English Heritage’s site at https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/default.asp?WCI=NewsItem&WCE=324

thisisoxfordshire.co.uk
thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/oxfordshire/news/ALLNEWS0.html

..a little report about the first dig to be done at the Clumps – and hold on, it’s not all about the Romans..

Skeletons of a young woman and a new-born baby dating back to the Roman period have been unearthed by archaeologists at Wittenham Clumps. While they could be the remains of a mother and her child, Tom Allen of Oxford Archaeology said it was unlikely. The skeletons had originally been buried several yards apart on Castle Hill, at Little Wittenham, near Didcot.

Mr Allen described the discovery as “significant but not totally unexpected”, at the start of the first archaeological dig to be undertaken at the Clumps, including the Iron Age hill fort of Castle Hill.

Iron Age, Roman and Saxon activity has previously been found inside the hill fort -- and late Roman burials discovered outside -- but the site has never been excavated.

The twin beech-capped hills form part of an 800-acre estate owned by the Northmoor Trust charity, which was awarded a £1.7m Heritage Lottery grant “to explore the evolution and future of England’s landscape”.

A further £1.3m has been raised in sponsorship.

At the heart of the £3m project will be a hi-tech visitors’ centre situated inside converted farm buildings at Hill Farm, Little Wittenham. Called a Landscape Evolution Centre, visitors will be able investigate how predicted climatic and economic factors could change the area’s landscape in the future.

An extensive archaeology programme, which is being funded with the help of the Lottery grant, will also be undertaken.

Mr Allen said a geophysical survey of the Clumps by English Heritage had revealed a buried ditch, probably from an earlier Bronze Age enclosure, on Castle Hill.

The skeletons are among the first of many finds archaeologists expect to unearth from a period spanning nearly 4,000 years.

Following careful examination, the skeletons were removed for investigative tests.The archaeologists were able to establish that the skeletons were of Roman origin because of pottery remains with the bodies.

Ian Rowland-Hill, chief executive of the Northmoor Trust, said: “This is a unique landscape and we want to explore why humans chose to live on Castle Hill.”

The excavations will continue until the end of August, and the project is looking for volunteers to help out. There is a campsite close to the site, with showers and food provided by the Northmoor Trust.The standard working day is from 8am to 4.30pm. A charge of £80 per week will be made towards the cost of food and accommodation. Call 01865 263800 for an application form or write to Denise Price, Oxford Archaeology, Janus House, Osney Mead, Oxford, OX2 OES.

article by staff of The Darlington & Stockton Times
thisisthenortheast

A CAMPAIGN to protect the setting of ancient monuments near Bedale is gathering momentum and a fighting fund has been set up.

The Thornborough henges – ancient earthworks – are said to be Yorkshire’s rival to Stonehenge.

Following an enthusiastic open meeting last week, The Friends of Thornborough adopted new chairman Jon Lowry’s strategic plan to intensify their campaign.

The group may even write to the Prince of Wales asking for his support.

The Friends are incensed that the landscape setting of the largest complex of prehistoric earthworks in Britain is being destroyed by aggregates mining.

Tarmac Northern wants to extend the workings of its quarrying and has stressed that English Heritage would be consulted on protection and preservation of the henges.

Part of the restoration would attempt to return the area to the appearance which archaeologists believed it once had.

The monuments, which are older than Stonehedge, were once used for ceremonial purposes by people from all over the North and were part of a network of prehistoric monuments including other henges near Ripon and the Devil’s Arrows at Boroughbridge.

“We need to harness people power to both save and enhance the setting of such amazing Stone Age henge temples,” said Mr Lowry

At the meeting a petition was organised on the night, and one member suggested asking for the support of the Prince of Wales who is known to have a deep concern for the country’s heritage and environment.

It was decided to keep membership of the Friends open to anyone with the same concerns and to rely upon donations to provide a fighting fund.

Those attending promptly contributed £400 to start the ball rolling, although it was recognised that far more would be necessary to finance a professional campaign

Membership requests and donations to The Friends of Thornborough can be sent to Mr Lowry at 7 Beech Close, Snape, Bedale, DL8 2TP.

Heathrow reveals historic legacy
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/3072211.stm

An archaeological dig at the site of the new Terminal 5 building at Heathrow Airport has provided a unique insight into 8,000 years of human history, excavation leaders have said.
About 80,000 objects have been unearthed at the 250-acre site, including pottery and flint.

A team of 80 archaeologists have spent more than 15 months working on the site and traced how the communities and landscape around Heathrow has changed. The project was the largest single archaeological dig in the UK in terms of the area excavated and the numbers of archaeologists employed.

Evidence showed that the first permanent settlement was in the Bronze Age (2,400BC to 700BC). By the Iron Age (700BC to 43AD) a small village had appeared but that settlement died out at the end of the Roman era. Another one grew up in the 12th Century.

Experts also found evidence that field boundaries were being created from about 2,000BC, 500 years earlier than previously thought. Tony Trueman of Framework Archaeology, formed especially to carry out the dig, said this was highly significant. “It shows that people were actually claiming ownership of land for the first time. Before this land was shared by the whole of a community, but this shows us social attitudes were changing and hierarchies were emerging much earlier than we first thought.”

Before the first settlement, the team found pits where meat was cooked by hunter gatherers during the Middle Stone Age, when the landscape was covered by trees.

Heathrow Airport was built on the site of what had previously been a private airfield on Hounslow Heath in 1946. The £2.5bn Terminal 5 project is likely to be operational in 2007.

Objects from the dig are already being displayed at the Museum of London and others will be exhibited at the Heathrow Visitors’ Centre later this year.

Belfast Telegraph > News Publication Date: 17 July 2003

By Anita Guidera
email: [email protected]

THE Republic’s largest Neolithic settlement dating back 5,000 years has been uncovered on a remote mountain – more than 100 years after the site was first mapped by archaeologists.

A small team, led by Dr Stefan Bergh of the Department of Archaeology of NUI Galway, working on the plateau at Mullaghfarna, 250 feet above Lough Arrow, Co Sligo, discovered artefacts which link the site to the late Stone Age, 2,500 to 3,000 years before Christ.

The existence of some of the 140 hut sites and enclosures high up on the plateau in the Brickleigh mountains, surrounded by cliffs and passage tombs has been known to archaeologists since 1911 but until now the age of the settlement has remained a mystery.

“This has remained one of the most enigmatic places in Irish pre-history.

“It has always been a main focus of research but it could not be fully interpreted because we did not have a date for it,” explained Dr Bergh.

All this changed two weeks ago, when Dr Bergh and a small group of students from NUI Galway, uncovered a collection of cremated bones, teeth of animals, hazelnut shells, charcoal, small pieces of pottery and small tools, including an Antrim flint knife and some concave scrapers, as well as black flint debris on three separate trial digs on the 60,000 square metres limestone plateau.

“These finds are very significant for the time period and all date to the Neolithic period, although exact dates will not be known until the artefacts are carbon dated,” Dr Bergh said.

FOLLOWING THE FOSSE WAY – This Is Lincolnshire

thisislincolnshire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=57711&command=displayContent&sourceNode=57238&contentPK=6357370

10:30 – 14 July 2003

The country’s newest dual carriageway follows the same route as an historic Roman thoroughfare. The roadworks gave archaeologists a rare chance to dig deep into the history of the county. Brendan Montague follows the path they charted into the mists of time. The newly opened stretch of A46 between Lincoln and Newark follows a route that has remained important for at least 2,000 years – the Roman Fosse Way.
And the construction allowed archaeologists to unearth prehistoric artefacts that date all the way back to the Late Neolithic age – as far as 2400 BC.

Many of the rare finds will be preserved in Lincoln’s new City and County Museum. The archaeological discoveries help map a route through history back to some of the earliest recorded settlements in Lincolnshire.
The historical trail began with the unearthing of pits and gullies containing pottery from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, found at the Winthorpe roundabout, near Newark. This is the spot where the present A46 is thought to diverge from the original Fosse Way, although very little of the Roman road was discovered. The pits that were found are evidence of historic timber fences, working shelters and other structures.

Further along the road at Glebe Farm, on the route of the Brough bypass, archaeologists found more evidence of Early Bronze Age habitation. A cremation cemetery was discovered, which included cremation burials in urns set in a circle-shaped ditched enclosure. This was surrounded by a ditch which had been cut into the natural sands and gravel with a south-west facing entrance. Beaker pottery found at the site dates back to 2,000BC with other burial urns also dating from 1,700BC.

Cremation burial remains were also unearthed at Langford Hall at the northern end of the Brough bypass. These were revealed to have originated from the Middle Bronze Age, between 1,700 and 1,500BC.
And they are described by the project leader of the City of Lincoln Archaeological Unit, Russell Trimble, as “the most interesting” discovery.
“This is a very unusual find for this region,” he added. “But we have got to study the pots – we have got specialists looking at them and then we will know how rare they are.”

An Iron Age settlement with boundaries was also discovered at Brough, including many crop marks such as track ways, fields and roundhouses.

The name of the village derives from the Anglo-Saxon word for an old fortification – burgh – although to the Romans it was known as Crococalana. Excavations around Glebe Farm revealed evidence of an Anglo-Saxon settlement, dating from the sixth century.

“We found about 16 small pots with fragments of pottery with human remains from the early bronze age,” Mr Trimble said. “These types of sites are rare. We know of one parallel site in the south of the country.”
The excavations at Glebe Farm revealed evidence of houses, fields and enclosures from the Iron Age, dated around 100BC.

Digs carried out during the road-building project have thrown light on the complex history of occupation at Gallows Nooking Common.

The area at the top of the Trent Valley runs parallel to an ancient earthwork “band and ditch” which marks the local parish and county boundary. Mr Trimble said: “There had only been glimpses and we have now been able to complete the picture.
“The very interesting thing about the site is the main road crosses over the area, and it seems from the work that we carried out the settlement existed for a long time.
“We want to establish why the settlement came to an end – was it something to do with the Roman road? They may have been cleared out.”

Archaeologists have been able to confirm that the A46 follows the route of the original Roman Fosse Way, built midway through the first century. At some points a limestone road surface with an underlying layer of broken Roman brick was found. But because the ancient and modern roads follow exactly the same path most of it lies undisturbed – perhaps ready for discovery 2,000 years from now.

Chesterfield Today

chesterfieldtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=728&ArticleID=556923

Historians are planning a new £4.5m museum to showcase Britain’s first cave art after it was discovered at a Derbyshire attraction.
Ice Age engravings dating back 12,000 years were uncovered by a team of archaeologists investigating Creswell Crags. The sketchings, which include an ibex — an antelope-like creature — have forced a rethink of the life of prehistoric Britons.

John Humble, inspector of ancient monuments for English Heritage, said: “The text books say that there is no cave art in Britain. They will now have to be re-written. The specialist team are to be congratulated on making a very important scientific discovery.”

For the moment the paintings — some of which were covered by modern day graffiti — are not on view. But crags bosses hope the drawings will act as the catalyst for a new £4.5m museum which will showcase them and other artefacts.

Nigel Mills, manager of the Creswell Heritage Trust, said: “These discoveries confirm the importance of Creswell Crags in global terms as one of the most northerly places to have been visited by our ancestors during the Ice Age. Cave art has been found in at least three caves, and this provides a very visual and vivid addition to the Creswell Crags story, and to the story of Ice Age Britain as a whole.”

A bid for Heritage Lottery Fund money is being prepared for submission next month.

Mr Mills added: “The current visitor facilities are far too small and dilapidated. We need more space in order for us to move forward and to develop museum and educational facilities befitting the importance of the site.”

The museum plan is the latest in a series of initiatives announced in a £14m re-vamp of the Creswell area.

Severn Trent Water has shelled out £4m to relocate sewage works from the site, and £1.5m scheme will take place over the next 18 months to re-route the main road which runs through the gorge.

From the NorthWest Evening Mail
nwemail.co.uk/viewarticle.asp?id=12123

6,000-YEAR-OLD AXE FOUND IN ULVERSTON

A POLISHED stone axe which may have been made in Langdale 5,000 to 6,000 years ago was one of the most exciting finds unearthed by archaeologists in Ulverston at the weekend.

Excavation of a trench and a Channel 4 Time Team “test dig” at Sir John Barrow’s Cottage in Ulverston, which began the previous weekend, was completed on Sunday.

It was a joint venture between Ulverston Heritage Centre and the Morecambe Bay Archaeological Society and excavation directors were Daniel Elsworth and Jo Dawson.

Among finds in the main trench were a large number of pieces of 19th century pottery, nails, buttons, glass, clay pipes and other items and artefacts.

Among finds of note relating to the period also included pieces of slate writing pencil and the writing slates complete with score lines.

Earlier finds included a possible 16th century silver groat as well as the Bronze Age flint scraper dating to around 1000BC found last weekend.

Heritage Centre director and chairman of Morecambe Bay Archaeological Society Daniel Elsworth said: “In the test pit similar 19th century remains were discovered, although an old animal burrow had disturbed deposits!

“Some further prehistoric remains were found this weekend in the test pit including a burnt piece of a flint blade and a fragment of a stone axe.

“Even more exciting was the discovery of an entire end of a polished stone axe, of a type made in the Langdale area around 5,000 to 6,000 years ago.

“Although these finds do suggest earlier activity on the site, the action of worms and roots in the soil and centuries of digging in the garden have apparently mixed up finds from different periods”.

He said they are now dealing with the finds and compiling an archaeological report about the excavation and it’s intended that the finds will be displayed in the cottage following full cataloguing and conservation

This Is Malvern.co.uk

ONE of the most prominent man-made features of the Malvern Hills may be a lot older than previously thought. Archaeologists surveying the hills have uncovered evidence that the Shire Ditch, which runs along the hills’ ridgeline, could date back to the late Bronze Age. Until now it was believed the ditch, also known as Red Earl’s Dyke, was built in the 13th Century by Gilbert de Clare, the Red Earl of Gloucester, who had been having a disagreement with Thomas de Cantilupe, Bishop of Hereford, over the boundaries of their hunting grounds.
But a recent archaeological survey shows that part of it at least may be 2,000 years older.

At Midsummer Hill, the prehistoric hill fort seems to be built on top of part of the ditch – which therefore must be older. The Red Earl, say the experts, must have just strengthened or refurbished the existing ditch, rather than making it from scratch. “This discovery really adds to the story of the Malvern Hills,” said Mark Bowden, of English Herit-age, one of the partners in the project. The survey is a collaboration between English Heritage, Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Conservators, Herefordshire and Worcestershire councils and other bodies. It was launched in 1999, but work was interrupted by the foot-and-mouth in 2001, when the Hills were closed to the public. The job has been completed, and results are being written up with a view to publication next summer.

A sponsor is now being sought to help cover the cost of publishing. “It will only be a matter of a couple of thousand pounds,” said Mr Bowden, “But it will help keep the cover price down and make it more affordable.” Anyone interested in sponsoring the book should call David Armitage of the Malvern AONB on 01684 560616.

from This is Devizes Gazette and Herald
thisiswiltshire.co.uk/wiltshire/devizes/news/DEVIZES_NEWS_KENNET7.html

PARISH councillors in Avebury have criticised the National Trust for the “disgraceful” condition of their village, a World Heritage Site.
They agreed to write to the National Trust’s director general Fiona Reynolds to seek her help in getting the village spruced up for the hundreds of thousands of tourists who visit annually.
Much of Avebury and its world famous stone circles comes under the control of the National Trust, which parish councillors say is not doing enough to keep the place tidy.
Clerk Gretchen Rawlins, who is the village’s Kennet district councillor, went as far as to say: “Avebury is looking disgraceful from end to end.”
Chairman Jenny Baldrey said: “On the bulges at the top of the High Street the grass is as high as an elephant’s eye.
“When you live is a World Heritage Site this is quite appalling.”
Coun Baldrey said one resident could hardly see out of her cottage windows because of the long grass.
Coun Peter Latimer-Kerr said there was a lot of National Trust ground in the village where grass had not been cut.
He said: “The trouble is long grass encourages people to throw their rubbish into it.”
Coun Bruce Hinder said that as talks with local National Trust managers achieved little, the council should write to the trust’s “top brass.”
The council agreed to write to the director general to seek her help in getting the village spruced up.

Two stories about the fantastic gold cup:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3019034.stm
From the BBC website:

A rare gold cup from the Bronze Age has been secured for display by the British Museum.
It is only the second example of its type to come from the UK, with just five cups of this type known across the whole of Europe.
Found in Ringlemere, east Kent, in 2001, the cup has helped provide further evidence of the extensive trading networks that covered Europe during the Bronze Age.
It was “virtually reconstructed” using an endoscope, radiography and x-rays following scientific examination of the cup at the British Museum.
The artefact dates from between 1700 and 1500 BC – the same era as Stonehenge – and reveals a higher level of workmanship than was previously thought possible for this time.
A team of archaeologists has been working on the site where the cup was found, and discovered a previously unsuspected funeral site from the early Bronze Age.
This is how the cup is thought to have originally looked
However the assumption that the cup was dislodged by modern ploughing from a grave remains to be proven.
It was acquired for the museum through funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, The National Art Collections Fund and Friends of the British Museum.
The Ringlemere Cup will be on display in the London museum’s Round Reading Room from Thursday and will feature on BBC Two series Hidden Treasures, which is being shown in the autumn.

And the Guardian’s
at education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,9830,985303,00.html

British Museum’s cup runs over

Maev Kennedy, arts and heritage correspondent
Thursday June 26, 2003
The Guardian

The Ringlemere Cup, a masterpiece of prehistoric gold found in a Kent field 18 months ago, has been bought by the British Museum for £270,000 and will be the star of a spectacular touring exhibition.
The cup is still crumpled, mangled by ploughing which had flattened the burial mound where it was hidden around 1600BC.
However, a 3D computer reconstruction has revealed its sensuous beauty. It is taller and more shapely than the archaeologists assumed, with a narrow waist.
The Ringlemere Cup is one of only five such artefacts found in Europe. They are believed to have been intended for practical use, beaten from single sheets of gold. The cup was found in 2001 by Cliff Bradshaw, an amateur metal-detector enthusiast. He will share the money paid by the museum with the landowner.
The cup has been described as a find which rewrites history. Yesterday the British Museum’s director, Neil MacGregor, described it as “a remarkable birthday present” for the museum’s 250th anniversary.