jimit

A new book on the geometry of Stonehenge and the author seems to have simplified the setting out of the stones, Aubrey Holes etc using techniques available at the time.
Experimental archaeology was used at a site in Oxfordshire to check out the feasibility of the theories.
It seems to be a well researched and sober account.

timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/court_and_social/article4003818.ece

independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/stonehenge-builders-had-geometry-skills-to-rival-pythagoras-834313.html

Jim.

P.S. I have to declare an interest. A picture I took at the Winter Solstice appears on the front cover and on page 258.

themodernantiquarian.com/post/42545/images/stonehenge.html

The bodies of two new-born infants have been found in northern Austria at a site which dates them to between 27 to 40,000 years old. DNA testing might be possible and may confirm if they were twins.
The bodies had been wrapped in, probably, an animal hide, covered in ochre,decorated with ivory beads and protected by the shoulderblade of a woolly mammoth,propped up by pieces of tusk.

Fuller story here... newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8063

Workers digging a new rubbish tip at Walpole nr Bridgewater have found the remains of an ancient causeway and fish weir. Archaeologist Richard Brunning has provisionally dated them to 4.500 BCE.

More here...

A 2.34 million year old site in Kenya has shown that early human species were skilled stone knappers. They chose their rocks carefully and discarded those which, after a couple of trial strikes, were unsuitable.

Full story here... newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18624944.200

In an archaeological dig in Saxony, a male, clay figurine was found and called the “Adonis von Zschernitz” A month later, pieces of a corresponding female figure was found and re-constructed.
At first it was suggested that they were taking part in a ritualistic dance but the researchers have, un-prudishly, concluded that they were having sex “doggy fashion”.........
Full story here.... guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,2763,1451509,00.html

Robert Turner, who farms hundreds of acres around Stonehenge, is slowly returning many of them to the original sheep-cropped grass. Surprisingly, he has to reduce the fertility of the land to achieve this.

More here... guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,1447159,00.html

There is controversy in Germany as to whether the Bronze Age Nebra Disc is as old as it is claimed. Professor Schauer of Ravensburg University believes that it was made by “shamans from Siberia and is only two or three hundred years old”.

Full story here... guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,2763,1427599,00.html

Carved from the trunk of a woolly mammoth, made in two pieces glued together, archeologists are unsure whether the flute was used for recreational or religious purposes.

More here.... guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1375665,00.html

Neolithic villagers brewed alcohol as far back as 7.000BCE.
More here.. newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996759

This seems to be a solution to dating stone tools etc for which other methods are unreliable or impossible to use.

today.uci.edu/news/release_detail.asp?key=1123

It appears that the Neanderthal people were unable to cope with the increasingly cold weather despite migrating south and were supplanted by a more technologically flexible group, our ancestors.

Full story newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994586

Traces of a Retsina type wine have been identified in ceramic vessels. The added resin would have preserved the wine better.

Full article from The Independent, 28 Dec. 03

news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medical/story.jsp?story=476468

30,000 years ago the Siberian Arctic was cool and dry and the abundant game was hunted by the early settlers.

guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1114908,00.html

The origins of human artistry are being pushed even further into the past.

sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=00083C99-D691-1FE0-969183414B7F0000

It seems that early clearance of forests for agriculture released huge amounts of CO2 and kick-started the warming process. The author also puts forward a possible reason for the “Mini Ice Age” before the 1700s.

newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994464

Whilst constructing a reservoir at Testwood just outside Southampton, Southern Water uncovered the remains of a Bronze Age bridge.

wessexarch.co.uk/projects/hampshire/testwood/index.html