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Skara Brae site graffiti removed
Experts have successfully removed all traces of graffiti which had been daubed onto the ancient Skara Brae settlement on Orkney.
Poultices made up of a solvent and paper pulp were applied to the graffiti and left to take effect.
This removed much of the marker, but two further poultices with a different combination of solvents were then added to remove the remaining residue.
Story here
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2nd September 2007, Connect Festival Guitar Stage.
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Edinburgh Castle's 'lost history' unearthed
from BBC website
Archaeologists have discovered traces of ancient remains at Edinburgh Castle during preparation work for the construction of a new visitor centre.
Experts said borehole samples revealed debris dating from before the Iron Age, more than 2,000 years ago.
Historic Scotland's Peter Yeoman said the finds were "truly invaluable" because they helped to explain the site's "lost history".
Edinburgh Castle is one of Scotland's top tourist attractions.
Mr Yeoman, a senior archaeologist with the castle's owners Historic Scotland, said that it was certain that the front of the area where the castle now stands was encircled by two massive ditches as long ago as the Iron Age.
Inside the ditches are layers of remains including pottery and food debris built up over several centuries.
Edinburgh Castle stands high above the city centre on top of an extinct volcanic plug.
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Towers point to ancient Sun cult
The oldest solar observatory in the Americas has been found, suggesting the existence of early, sophisticated Sun cults, scientists report.
It comprises of a group of 2,300-year-old structures, known as the Thirteen Towers, which are found in the Chankillo archaeological site, Peru.
The towers span the annual rising and setting arcs of the Sun, providing a solar calendar to mark special dates.
The story on the beeb
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Heavy going - he's not joking!
We took the path up from the gate at the eastern end of the plantation. It's a slog of about 1.5 miles uphill, but decent underfoot. Until you get to the top!
The area at the top of Windy Edge is boggy and (as you would expect) covered with hidden treestumps and branches. Normal instincts to use the hillocks as dry stepping stones became scuppered when in fact they were rotten chunks of wood!
That said, there was some lovely moss and lichen action, if that's your thing.
The cairns were very, very interesting. We thought at first they were one rediculously long Long Cairn, as the piles of stones were close together to a length of about 100 metres!
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Digging Dog's Archaeological Find
A dog proved to be a canine Indiana Jones by finding a stone axe head dating back thousands of years in Aberdeenshire.
Rowan the inquisitive black labrador unearthed the Neolithic find at the Drum Estate.
She dropped it on owner Alec Gordon's foot and he took it for examination, with early analysis estimating it as perhaps 6,000 years old.
Mr Gordon said: "I wonder if she knew it was something special."
Mr Gordon was on a woodland walk with his dogs when Rowan made the unusual find.
He told BBC Scotland: "I was walking through the wood and we arrived at a spot where we normally stop. One of them dropped a stone which she'd been carrying.
"I took it back to Drum Castle and saw it had edges".
"I gave it to the local National Trust for Scotland (NTS) archaeologist who almost immediately confirmed that it was Neolithic, 4-6,000 years old, and pretty special."
Experts say the axe head is thousands of years old
Shannon Fraser, regional archaeologist for NTS in the north east of Scotland, said: "I think it's really exciting because we have not had finds from Drum Estate from this period."
She said of Rowan: "I think she should become my honorary assistant".
Mr Duncan said of his dog: "I wonder if she knew it was something special because when she dropped it she dropped it on my foot".
"It's not every day you get an axe dropped on your foot."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/6216618.stm
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Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow 25-11-06
Sadly it's been chalked, but displayed well next to a collection of axes, arrowheads and Aberdeenshire Balls.
The museum doesn't say where it was from just who donated it (Ludovic Mann in 1955) but it is the same stone as recorded on BRAC as being Greenland 3.
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This stone which is regarded as one the finest pieces of rock art to survive in Cumbria, is now on display in Tullie House Museum, Carlisle. Also on display are the carved stones from Old Parks.
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