moss

NEW archaeological evidence has suggested that an ancient stone monument near Davidstow was used for moonlit rituals during the Bronze Age, and could top Stonehenge for being the ‘most decorated stone in southern Britain’.

The Cornwall Archaeological Society has found new evidence, suggesting that the Hendraburnick ‘Quoit’, situated near Davidstow, was used for moonlit rituals or ceremonies during the late Neolithic and bronze age period.

The work conducted on Hendraburnick Quoit, was funded and carried out by the Cornwall Archaeological Society and led by Dr Andy Jones, an archaeologist from the Cornwall Archaeological Unit, and Penzance-based Tom Goskar, an archaeologist with a specialism of using digital technologies to find new evidence within artefacts from the past.
Speaking about the new evidence, Dr Jones told the Post: “We’re really pleased. It’s something we’ve known about for quite a long time, but it’s really, really good — a remarkable find.
“It (the Hendraburnick Quoit markings) is a unique find. There are lots of decorated monuments in the UK, but for southern Britain, it’s very remarkable.”

And so forth...

camelford-today.co.uk/article.cfm?id=108583&headline=Is%20stone%20most%20decorated%20in%20southern%20Britain?&sectionIs=news&searchyear=2017

AN archaeological investigation of an eroding mound on the island of Rousay in Orkney dig is revealing extensive settlement.

But there is a battle against time to find the whole truth hidden under the ground at Swandro as the sea continues to eat away at the land.

The dig is being led by the University of a Bradford and Orkney College UHI, and the ancient settlement was discovered by Dr Julie Bond in 2010.

She had spotted a few odd stones only just visible among the pebbles. Since then, the excavation has been changing the understanding of this site.

The tops of stones partly buried by the boulder beach turned out to be set uprights forming part of a prehistoric building around the high tide mark.

Although the tops of the stones are worn and battered by the sea, the beach has partly protected the deposits. Animal bone and pottery were recovered, finds suggesting an Iron Age context.

continued...

scotsman.com/regions/inverness-highlands-islands/orkney-archaeological-dig-is-a-battle-between-time-and-tide-1-4514267

“Neolithic markings carved into a stone in Orkney that were missed for years by archaeologists have been discovered by chance.
The faintly incised “butterfly-like” motifs were revealed on Tuesday as sunlight lit up the rock at the “right moment, at the right angle”.
Experts believe the marks were deliberately made to be delicate and to catch light at certain times of day.
The find was made during excavations at Ness of Brogdar.
The incisions are so faint they do not show up in photographs taken so far of the stone.
The block formed part of wall of a structure at the dig site. It has since been moved to safe location.”

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-40653877

Dig diary date;

nessofbrodgar.co.uk/dig-diary-tuesday-july-18-2017/

Preserving an ‘at risk’ ancient monument in Weston-super-Mare is a priority for Historic England and a volunteer group, who hope teaching schoolchildren about its importance will ensure it is looked after for generations to come.

thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/importance-of-at-risk-hill-fort-promoted-to-ensure-it-can-be-preserved-1-5021355

“Barker and Jenks discovered prehistoric burial mounds and cremations, slots for standing stones and two rows of Neolithic post holes and a ditch, known as a cursus, which they interpreted as a processional way. It was aligned east to west, extending towards the current church building.

“The current church appears to have incorporated and deliberately built over late Neolithic/early Bronze Age remains. The 15-inch section of post we found was sticking up into the Medieval foundations,” said Janey Green, of Baskerville Archaeological Services.

“It is an incredibly complex site and appears to have been used and re-used for religious purposes for over 4,000 years. It is well known that Christians liked to build churches over pagan sites.

“More work needs to be done but early interpretations indicate that it is the earliest known sacred site in Britain that is still in use today.”

Read more at shropshirestar.com/news/local-hubs/2017/05/18/dig-finds-oldest-sacred-site-in-the-uk/#3jeResuJxr0OjCLo.99

“The issue is whether Stonehenge exists to provide a tourist experience, or whether it is something more significant, both historically and spiritually,” he says. “It has stood there for 4,500 years. And up to now, no one’s thought of injecting enormous quantities of concrete into the landscape and permanently disfiguring it.”

theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/apr/25/stonehenge-tunnel-desecration-prehistoric-traffic-jams

The Ancient Brits loved their wheels. Indeed they seem to have been so attached to their sports-car-style chariots that they may even have thought they could use them to get to the next world.

Academic knowledge about these elegant high status prehistoric British vehicles is now set to increase significantly, following the discovery of an ancient Briton buried inside his chariot in East Yorkshire.

independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/iron-age-chariot-horse-yorkshire-archaeology-significant-find-half-a-century-buried-together-a7659091.html

“It will be intriguing to know whether any remains of the 2,500 year hillfort are evident or did the castle obliterate it all? We think there must have been more buildings within the castle walls but we’ll have to wait and see whether there are any hints of their remains.”

dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/underground-castle-archaeological-search-underway-12790723

An ‘outstanding’ ancient monument in Weston-super-Mare has been placed ‘at risk’ by Historic England after falling victim to antisocial behaviour.

The Iron Age Worlebury hill fort, in Weston Woods, is thought to have been created some 700 years before the Romans arrived in Britain as a form of defence.

Historic England says it is an ‘outstanding example’ of its type and is also unusual, as few of these forts were created along the coast.

It has previously been listed by Historic England as being in a ‘vulnerable’ condition, but it has now been re-registered as ‘at risk’ after people camped nearby and moved parts of the structure.

A Historic England spokesman said: “Historic England made a recent visit to the hill fort in response to concerns from volunteers working on the site.....

continued.....

thewestonmercury.co.uk/news/antisocial_behaviour_means_ancient_iron_age_worlebury_hill_fort_is_now_at_risk_1_4840121

AN undisturbed stone circle which has been buried in the peat since its abandonment in prehistory has been lovingly excavated.

Sittaford Stone Circle, discovered in 2008 by Alan Endacott, a local amateur archaeologist, appeared to have remained undisturbed. It was revealed by the actions of peat cutters in more recent centuries and then a moorland fire in 2008 enabled Alan to spot some of the stones poking out of the surface.
A stone circle which has remained undisturbed is highly unusual. Many of Dartmoor’s stone circles have been subjected to various degrees of disturbance, ranging from ‘mining’ of the sites for stone, to investigation by antiquarians and early archaeologists.

Dartmoor National Park Authority archaeologist Lee Bray said: ‘This lack of disturbance is one of the facts that makes the site special. That this hasn’t happened at Sittaford — as far as we know — makes the site of national significance as it has the potential to shed light on stone circles which is unclouded by the activities of intervening periods.’
The monument itself is located about 300m south west of Sittaford Tor at over 520m elevation, on the summit of the ridge separating the catchments of the North Teign and East Dart. It consists of 30 stones, all of which are currently recumbent, arranged in a circle with a diameter of in excess of 30m.....

tavistock-today.co.uk/article.cfm?id=416866&headline=Dartmoor%20stone%20circle%20undisturbed%20for%20hundreds%20of%20years%20being%20excavated&sectionIs=news&searchyear=2016

Analysis of an axe that is more than 9,000 years old, found at Ireland’s earliest burial site, in Co Limerick, has shed light on the ancient burial practices of our hunter-gatherer ancestors.

Archaeologists believe the highly-polished stone axe, known as an adze, was made especially for the funeral of a very important person, whose remains were cremated and then buried at the site.

Microscopic analysis has revealed the shale tool, believed to be the earliest fully polished adze in Europe, was only used for a short time, and then deliberately blunted.

Situated on the banks of the river Shannon at Hermitage, Castleconnell, the burial site, dating back to between 7,530 and 7,320 BC, is twice as old as Newgrange.......

irishtimes.com/news/science/a-9-000-year-old-axe-sheds-light-on-burial-practices-1.2852585

3,000-year-old complete pressed flower is among the “absolutely jaw-dropping” late bronze age finds unearthed in Lancashire.

The thistle flower appears to have been deliberately placed inside the hollow end of an axe handle and buried with other weapons, jewellery and ornaments, many in virtually pristine condition. Other axe handles in the hoard had been filled with hazelnuts, as part of a ritual offering.

Dr Ben Roberts, a lecturer at Durham University and the British Museum’s former curator of European bronze age collections, described the pressed flower as unique for a votive offering of its time.

theguardian.com/science/2016/sep/30/pristine-pressed-flower-among-jaw-dropping-bronze-age-finds

A 6,000-YEAR-OLD PREHISTORIC BURIAL MONUMENT HAS BEEN UNCOVERED NORTHEAST OF CIRENCESTER IN THE COTSWOLDS BY ARCHAEOLOGISTS FROM BOURNEMOUTH UNIVERSITY.

Believed to be around 1,000 years older than Stonehenge, the massive mound 60m long by 15m wide, was carefully built of soil and stone by the first farmers living in the area around 4000 BC. It provided a resting place for the dead and a symbol of identity for the living.

The barrow was first noticed about ten years ago and has since been studied through a wide range of geophysical surveys and evaluations that confirmed its identification. In the summer of 2016 proper excavations began with a team of around 80 students, graduates and archaeologists from across the world working to explore the stonework of the mound and define possible chambers inside the structure that might contain burials. Traditionally, up to 50 men, women and children were buried in such monuments over a period of several centuries, long before the discovery of metal working....

heritagedaily.com/2016/09/bu-archaeologists-uncover-6000-year-old-long-barrow-in-the-cotswolds/112792

A huge outer earthwork, stretching across 1.2 kilometres of the beautiful hilltop of Belle Tout on top of the Seven Sisters cliff, was probably part of an early Bronze Age settlement. Archaeologists are about to get to work on a coastal site they describe as a mystery in their field, with their plans including laser scans, environmental scanning and analysis of microscopic snails which can only exist in certain habitats.

They don’t know when the hilltop enclosure was built, and their previous discoveries in the area have ranged from prehistoric flintwork to early Bronze Age Beaker pottery. “We don’t know for sure how much we’ve lost over the last 6,000 years due to coastal erosion,” says Tom Dommett, the National Trust Archaeologist and key man on the Seven Sisters Archaeology Project, underlining the urgency of the latest work....

culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art561281-seven-sisters-birling-gap-bronze-age

further information.... nationaltrust.org.uk/birling-gap-and-the-seven-sisters/features/amazing-archaeology-at-birling-gap

Remarkable new archaeological discoveries are beginning to suggest that Stonehenge was built at a time of particularly intense religious and political rivalry.

Just two miles north-east of the World Heritage site, at an important archaeological complex known as Durrington Walls, archaeologists have just discovered what appears to have been a vast 500-metre diameter circle of giant timber posts. The find is of international significance.

continued....

independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/revealed-remarkable-ancient-structure-found-just-two-miles-from-stonehenge-a7190476.html

Our shortlisted entry for the awards was based on excavations carried out by AOC Archaeology in 2015, and again in June 2016, which unearthed a unique discovery in Galloway that promises to revolutionise our understanding of the Scottish South Western Iron Age.

Last year, archaeologists began excavating one of numerous roundhouses sited on a boggy island at this unique Iron Age settlement near Whithorn, uncovering a massive hearth mound which had been built and rebuilt and flooring which still preserved leaf litter and woven panels of hazel wattle, all preserved thanks to the waterlogged conditions.

cont.......

culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art560037-thumbpots-and-roundhouses-unravelling-the-mysteries-of-the-scottish-iron-age-with-the-Whithorn-Trust

One winter some 3,000 years ago, a development of highly desirable houses was built on stilts over a tributary of the river Nene in Cambridgeshire, by people whose wealth and lifestyle would still have seemed enviable to medieval peasants. Then six months later it was all over.

Disaster overwhelmed the people and they fled, leaving their clothing and jewellery, tools and furniture, their last meals abandoned in the cooking pots as they tumbled through the burning wicker floors into the water below. Nobody ever came back to retrieve the tonnes of expertly carpentered timbers and the masses of valuable possessions lying in shallow water, which over the centuries all sank together, hidden and preserved by the oozy silt......

theguardian.com/science/2016/jul/14/uks-best-bronze-age-site-must-farm-dig-ends-analyis-continue-years

Drive west from Orkney’s capital, Kirkwall, and then head north on the narrow B9055 and you will reach a single stone monolith that guards the entrance to a spit of land known as the Ness of Brodgar. The promontory separates the island’s two largest bodies of freshwater, the Loch of Stenness and the Loch of Harray. At their furthest edges, the lochs’ peaty brown water laps against fields and hills that form a natural amphitheatre; a landscape peppered with giant rings of stone, chambered cairns, ancient villages and other archaeological riches.

This is the heartland of the Neolithic North, a bleak, mysterious place that has made Orkney a magnet for archaeologists, historians and other researchers.

For decades they have tramped the island measuring and ex- cavating its great Stone Age sites. The land was surveyed, mapped and known until a recent chance discovery revealed that for all their attention, scientists had completely overlooked a Neolithic treasure that utterly eclipses all others on Orkney – and in the rest of Europe.....

theguardian.com/science/2012/oct/06/orkney-temple-centre-ancient-britain

The dig has just started.

A panoramic view with a ‘panono’ ball camera
orkneyjar.com/archaeology/nessofbrodgar/2016/07/dig-diary-extra-tuesday-july-5-2016/

Archaeologists are returning to a prehistoric settlement beneath the sea off the Isle of Wight this week. Gary Momber, of DigVentures, says the race is on to save evidence of the skilled craftspeople who first occupied Britain..........

culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art556558-gary-momber-digventures-isle-wight-solent

It is an archaeological conundrum that has baffled generations of experts.

Just how did prehistoric Britons manage to transport the huge bluestones of Stonehenge some 140 miles from the Presili Mountains in Wales to their final home on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire.

The answer is surprisingly simple. The feat really isn’t as hard as everyone imagined......

and so on,

telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/05/23/stonehenge-wasnt-so-hard-to-build-after-all-archaeologists-disco/

When a prehistoric people built a large settlement in the Burren up to 3,000 years ago, why did they choose a mountain-top with no running water?
Was it the closest point to a sky god, or was the location selected for some type of ancient gathering or “Dáil”?
“Truly one of the most enigmatic places in Irish prehistory” is how NUI Galway (NUIG) archaeologist Dr Stefan Bergh describes the exposed summit of Turlough Hill in northeast Clare.

Continued.....

irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/mystery-surrounds-burren-settlement-excavated-by-archaeologists-1.2629951

From the summit of the Great Orme, the landscape looks as peaceful as it is striking – all rolling green hills and farmland stretching out to the blue Irish Sea.

But the headland that rises over Llandudno, Wales has a secret, one that lay buried for thousands of years.
More than five miles (8km) of tunnels run beneath the hill’s surface. Spreading across nine different levels and reaching 230 feet (70m) deep, some are so narrow that only children would be small enough to access them.
These are the tunnels of a copper mine: one that was first dug out some 3,800 years ago and that, within a couple of centuries, was the largest in Britain.

Continues.....

bbc.com/earth/story/20160420-the-ancient-copper-mines-dug-by-bronze-age-children

The tradition of building cairns and wind breaks in the Yorkshire Dales has begun to put the area’s history at risk according to the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA).
Robert White, Senior Conservation Officer for the YDNPA, says the rocks walkers are using are sometimes being taken from ancient sites including burial mounds, which has led to problems at a number of historically-important sites within the National Park, including Beamsley Beacon near Bolton Abbey.” .
“During the Bronze Age, some 4,500 years ago, a large stone mound was built there, probably to mark the burial place of a local chieftain and to act as a territorial boundary marker,” explained Robert.
“Much of this cairn, which is now about 11m in diameter, still survives but in recent years it has suffered a lot of disturbance due to people using stones from it to make modern cairns and wind breaks. Another smaller historic cairn lies further along the ridge at Old Pike and that has also lost some of its stones.”

And so it goes on.....

culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art66905

Update on an archaeological dig at Pocklington....

Almost 2,000 years after being buried, the remarkably well-preserved remains of 150 skeletons and their personal possessions have been discovered in a small market town at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds.

The remains of the burial ground that contained skeletons of people from the middle-iron age Arras culture in Pocklington, east Yorkshire is being hailed as one of the largest and most significant iron age findings of recent times.

Some of the 75 square barrows – burial chambers – contained personal possessions such as jewellery and weapons. Archaeologists have also discovered a skeleton with a shield.

It is believed the site dates to the iron age, which in Britain lasted from 800BC until the time of the Roman conquest, which started in AD43.

cont...

theguardian.com/science/2016/mar/17/hugely-important-iron-age-remains-found-yorkshire-site

Stone Age Britons may have developed a prehistoric secret code.

Mysterious markings engraved on an 11,000 year old pendant found in Yorkshire suggest that the area’s ancient Mesolithic inhabitants used a system of long and short lines to represent events or objects in numerical form.

The markings appear to have been inscribed on the pendant in a deliberately faint way – and archaeologists suspect that that may have been in order to render many of them almost invisible when not being examined closely.

The site they were discovered on – at Star Carr in the Vale of Pickering – was used for ritual activities – probably ceremonial dances performed by prehistoric shamans.

continued.....

independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/stone-age-britons-may-have-had-prehistoric-secret-code-a6896596.html

“To take fragments from Carn Menyn is to violate a part of our heritage which has been valued for over 4,000 years” Geoffrey Wainwright

A quarry which scientists have recently identified as being the source of Stonehenge’s famous rocks is being plundered at a “terrifying rate” by thieves selling them on eBay for £8, tourism bosses say.
Preseli bluestone can only be found on the Preseli Hills which runs the spine of Pembrokeshire, West Wales.
The stones were cut from rock and transported 160 miles to Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain to form the iconic circle around 5,000 years ago still stands today.

telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/12164042/Stonehenge-tourist-bosses-demand-visitors-stop-chipping-stones-and-selling-them-on-eBay.html

A complete Bronze Age wheel believed to be the largest and earliest of its kind found in the UK has been unearthed.
The 3,000-year-old artefact was found at a site dubbed “Britain’s Pompeii”, at Must Farm in Cambridgeshire.
Archaeologists have described the find – made close to the country’s “best-preserved Bronze Age dwellings” – as “unprecedented”.
Still containing its hub, the 3ft-diameter (one metre) wooden wheel dates from about 1,100 to 800 BC.
The wheel was found close to the largest of one of the roundhouses found at the settlement last month.

More on the Bronze Age wheel discovery
Its discovery “demonstrates the inhabitants of this watery landscape’s links to the dry land beyond the river”, David Gibson from Cambridge Archaeological Unit, which is leading the excavation, said.

More.....

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-35598578

Summary of the Bill’s provisions

To give more effective protection to listed buildings and scheduled monuments

Extension of the definition of a scheduled monument
The Welsh Ministers will be able to recognise and protect any nationally important sites that provide evidence of past human activity.

Amendments to the criminal offences and defences for damage to scheduled monuments
The Bill will make it easier to bring cases of unlawful damage or destruction of scheduled monuments to prosecution by limiting the defence of ignorance of a monument’s status or location. The accused will have to be able to show that all reasonable steps had been taken to find out if a scheduled monument would be harmed or destroyed by their actions.

Powers of entry for the archaeological investigation of ancient monuments in danger of damage or destruction
If an ancient monument is at immediate risk of damage or destruction, the Welsh Ministers will be able to authorise archaeological excavations without the owner’s consent. This new power, which will help to rescue valuable information about Welsh history, will only be used in exceptional cases.

Introduction of enforcement and temporary stop notices for scheduled monuments
Temporary stop notices will give the Welsh Ministers powers to put an immediate halt to unauthorised works or other damage to scheduled monuments. They will be able to use complementary enforcement notices to order repairs to monuments or the fulfilment of scheduled monument consent conditions without going to court.

heritageofwalesnews.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/a-bill-to-make-history-legislation-to-100216.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+HeritageOfWalesNews+(Heritage+of+Wales+News)

A GOVERNMENT service which champions England’s heritage has condemned a scheme to site a 960-panel solar farm near the most important ancient site between Stonehenge and the Orkney Islands.

Historic England said the small-scale renewable energy scheme at East Tanfield, near Ripon, could harm the neighbouring Thornborough Henge Scheduled Monument complex, which featured ritual structures, massive circular ditches and banks dating back 4,000 years to the Bronze Age.

North Yorkshire County Council archaeologist Lucie Hawkins has called for the application to be withdrawn, stating she was disappointed the plan had been submitted to Hambleton District Council without any assessment of the impact on the historic environment.

Development consultants Arrowsmith Associates said Richard Alton, the owner of Rushwood Hall, once the seat of the Nussey baronetcy and home to Teesside steelworks artist Viva Talbot, was seeking to provide energy for the crop services business based at the hall and a number of cottages.

A spokesman for the firm said the application site, 500 metres from the henges and medieval village, was not close enough to either of these to have any impact on them.
He added the solar panels would be completely screened by trees and their impact on the landscape, which also includes East Tanfield deserted medieval village, would be negligible.

He said: “What public views would exist would be seen in the context of an ever increasing acceptance that such sites are part of the modern rural landscape, as supported by government policy.”

Objecting to the scheme, Historic England said the solar panels would represent “a distinctly modern intervention” in a sensitive landscape of regional, national and international historical significance, with the henge complex being “one of the pre-eminent prehistoric landscape complexes in Britain”.

Its ancient monuments inspector Keith Emerick said: “The henges are part of a ritual landscape that extends beyond the surrounding wetlands to Catterick in the north and south to Ferrybridge.

“Only four henge sites in the British Isles are larger, all in Wiltshire and Dorset, and nowhere else are there three closely-spaced and identical henge monuments. The northernmost henge is believed to be the best-preserved henge monument in the country.”

Mr Emerick said part of the site’s importance was that it was located within a bowl, which had a lack of “overtly modern intrusion”.

Proposals to screen the site, he said, a regional hub in the social, economic and religious life of many widely dispersed groups in the Neolithic era, were temporary and changeable.

thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/14026375.Solar_farm_sparks_fears_for__Stonehenge_of_the_North_/

Picked up from the ‘Stone Pages’ Good news it seems.

Plans for a wind turbine close to Northumberland’s answer to Stonehenge have been thrown out by the government.

The proposal less than two miles from the 4,000-year-old Duddo Stone Circle has been rejected by minister for communities and local government Greg Clark.

The decision follows a lengthy planning battle which saw the government opt not to defend a planning inspector’s decision to give the turbine the go-ahead in the High Court, following a protest led by a cross-party group of North East peers and the Bishop of Newcastle.

Continued...

chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/duddo-stone-circle-wind-turbine-10192385

ARCHAEOLOGISTS IN ORKNEY HAVE UNCOVERED THE REMAINS OF OVER 30 BUILDINGS DATING FROM AROUND 4000 BC TO 1000 BC, TOGETHER WITH FIELD SYSTEMS, MIDDENS AND CEMETERIES.

The find includes a very rare Bronze Age building which experts believed could have been a sauna or steam house, which may have been built for ritual purposes.

EASE Archaeology recently made the exciting discovery on the periphery of the prehistoric Links of Noltland, on the island of Westray in Orkney, next to where the famous ‘Westray Wife’ was found in 2009, which is believed to be the earliest depiction of a human face in Britain.

Continues.....

heritagedaily.com/2015/09/archaeologists-uncover-bronze-age-sauna-house-in-orkney/108454

Standing stones found buried near Stonehenge could be the “largest” intact prehistoric monument ever built in Britain, archaeologists believe.
Using ground-penetrating radar, some 100 stones were found at the Durrington Walls “superhenge”, a later bank built close to Stonehenge.

The Stonehenge Living Landscapes team has been researching the ancient monument site in a five-year project.

Finding the stones was “fantastically lucky”, researchers said.
The stones may have originally measured up to 4.5m (14ft) in height and had been pushed over the edge of Durrington Walls.

The site, which is thought to have been built about 4,500 years ago, is about 1.8 miles (3km) from Stonehenge, Wiltshire.

The stones were found on the edge of the Durrington Walls “henge”, or bank, an area which had not yet been studied by researchers.
Lead researcher, Vince Gaffney said the stones were “lost to archaeology” but found thanks to modern technology.

National Trust archaeologist Dr Nick Snashall said: “In the field that lies to the south we know there’s a standing stone which is now the only standing stone, now fallen, that you can go up to and touch in the whole of the Stonehenge landscape,” he said.
“It’s called the Cuckoo Stone.

“If there are stones beneath the bank... they’re probably looking at stones of pretty much the same size as the Cuckoo Stone.”

Dr Snashall added there was a “sense” of one area set aside for the living and another for the dead at Durrington Walls – and that had changed over time.
The findings are being announced later on the first day of the British Science Festival being held at the University of Bradford.

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-34156673

Our ancient Irish ancestors carved images of an ancient eclipse into giant stones over 5,000 years ago, on November 30, 3340 BC to be exact. This is the oldest known recorded solar eclipse in history.

The illustrations are found on the Stone Age “Cairn L,” on Carbane West, at Loughcrew, outside Kells, in County Meath. The landscape of rolling hills is littered with Neolithic monuments. Some say that originally there were at least 40 to 50 monuments, but others say the figure was more like 100.

“Cairn L” received a mention in Astronomy Ireland’s article: “Irish Recorded Oldest Known Eclipse 5355 Years Ago.” They write that the Irish Neolithic astronomer priests recorded the events on three stones relating to the eclipse, as seen from that location.

Continued....

irishcentral.com/roots/history/Ancient-Irish-recorded-worlds-first-eclipse-5355-years-ago.html

Archaeologists believe they may have found the remains of a house where people who built Avebury stone circle may have lived.

The three-week Between the Monuments project is researching the daily lives of Neolithic and Bronze Age residents at the Wiltshire site.

The dig is being led by The National Trust and Southampton and Leicester University archaeologists.

The National Trust said if it is a house they will have “hit the jackpot”.

Spokesman Dr Nick Snashall said: “I could count the number of middle Neolithic houses that have been found on the fingers of one hand.

“This site dates from a time when people are just starting to build the earliest parts of Avebury’s earthworks, so we could be looking at the home and workplace of the people who saw that happening.”

Continued.....

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-33686240

Ancient Mediterranean cultures thought nothing of splicing different animals together to form fantastical mythical beasts, such as the half-lion, half-goat chimera or the half-lion, half-eagle griffin.

Until now, however, ancient Britons were not credited with such imagination. That is all about to change following the discovery of a series of animal skeletons near Winterborne Kingston in Dorset, which raises the possibility that Britain’s ancient Celtic population had hybrid-animal monster myths similar to those of the ancient Greeks, Mesopotamians and Egyptians.

Continued.....

independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/news/the-boneyard-of-the-bizarre-that-rewrites-our-celtic-past-to-include-hybridanimal-monster-myths-10381965.html

Stonehenge sun-disc from the dawn of history goes on display in Wiltshire for summer solstice

Wiltshire Museum will exhibit a gold ‘Stonehenge sun-disc’, which may have been worn on clothing or a head-dress
Marking this year’s summer solstice an early Bronze Age sun-disc, one of the earliest metal objects found in Britain, has gone on display for the first time at Wiltshire Museum.

Archaeologists believe the disc was forged in about 2,400 BC, soon after the great sarsen stones were put up at Stonehenge. It is thought it was worn on clothing to represent the sun.

The sun-disc, one of only six such finds, was discovered in a burial mound at Monkton Farleigh, just 20 miles from Stonehenge.

It was found during excavations by Guy Underwood in 1947 along with a pottery beaker, flint arrowheads and fragments of the skeleton of an aWe have the best Bronze Age collections in Britain and we are delighted to be able to display this incredibly rare sun-disk through the generosity of the donors,” said David Dawson, Museum Director.

Preserved by Dr Denis Whitehead since its discovery, the sun-disc was seen by the museum’s archaeologists the first time was when he brought it to the opening of the Prehistory Galleries in 2013.

It joins and unparallelled collection of Bronze Age treasures at the Museum dating to the time of Stonehenge and worn by people who worshiped inside the stone circle. Chief among them are the famous golden Bush Barrow treasures found in the Normanton Down Barrows less than a mile from Stonehenge.

The sun-disc is a thin embossed sheet of gold with a cross at the centre, surrounded by a circle. Between the lines of both the cross and the circle are fine dots which glint in sunlight.

Pierced by two holes, it is thought the disc, which is the size of a two pence piece and not much thicker than aluminium cooking foil, could have been sewn to a piece of clothing or a head-dress.

Until recently it had been presumed that early Bronze Age gold may have come from Ireland, but thanks to new scientific techniques developed at Southampton University evidence suggests the gold may have originated from Cornwall.

Presented to the museum in memory of Dr Whitehead, it has now been cleaned by the Wiltshire Council Conservation Service and placed on display in time for this year’s mid-summer solstice.

culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art529786-stonehenge-sun-disc-from-the-dawn-of-history-goes-on-display-in-wiltshire-for-summer-solstice

Volunteers from Northumberland National Park have seen the culmination of many years of work as major conservation started this week to repair the crumbling ramparts of Harehaugh Hillfort in Coquetdale.

Harehaugh Hillfort was built by Iron Age people 2,500 years ago and the essential conservation work now underway will see the hillfort finally removed from the Heritage at Risk register.
he work to save the hillfort is a direct result of more than 20 years of research, excavation and monitoring by archaeologists from Newcastle University that has been funded by Northumberland National Park Authority, Historic England and Natural England.

National Park volunteers and staff have been helping to fill 2,000 sandbags with organic topsoil to restore the profile of the badly-eroded sections of rampart.

A layer of wire mesh will be laid over and across the sandbags and buried beneath a fresh layer of soil and organic grass seed to discourage burrowing animals from returning.

The repair work will utilise 60 tonnes of organic soil and the number of hessian sandbags used equals approximately one sandbag for each year of the hillfort’s life.

continued on the following link.....

northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/local-news/volunteers-shore-up-crumbling-ramparts-of-landmark-northumberland-hillfort-1-7296165

David Keys in the Independent article....

New archaeological research is revealing that south-west Britain was the scene of a prehistoric gold rush.

A detailed analysis of some of Western Europe’s most beautiful gold artefacts suggests that Cornwall was a miniature Klondyke in the Early Bronze Age.

Geological estimates now indicate that up to 200 kilos of gold, worth in modern terms almost £5 million, was extracted in the Early Bronze Age from Cornwall and West Devon’s rivers – mainly between the 22nd and 17th centuries BC.

New archaeological and metallurgical research suggests that substantial amounts were exported to Ireland, with smaller quantities probably also going to France. It also suggests that the elites of Stonehenge almost certainly likewise obtained their gold from the south-west peninsula, as may the rulers of north-west Wales, who took to wearing capes made of solid gold.

Continued......

independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/news/cornwall-was-scene-of-prehistoric-gold-rush-says-new-research-10298343.html

A chunk of the Great Orme, the imposing limestone headland on the North Wales coast which is home to Britain’s largest prehistoric mine and a herd of Kashmiri goats acquired from Queen Victoria, has been secured by the National Trust.

The £1m purchase of a large farm on the promontory overlooking the resort of Llandudno is the latest acquisition by the Trust’s 50-year-old Neptune campaign to protect special areas of coastline under threat of development.

The 140-acre Parc Farm will now be managed to promote the Orme’s status as one of Britain’s most important botanical sites as well as an area rich in archaeology, including the underground workings of the biggest Bronze Age copper mine in the UK.

The purchase means that the Trust has now secured 574 miles of coastline in England, Wales and Northern Ireland since the Neptune campaign was begun half a century ago in May 1965.

independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/national-trust-spends-1m-to-secure-precious-archaeological-site-on-north-wales-coast-10274796.html

A new law to protect historical monuments and buildings in Wales aims to make it more difficult for those who damage them to escape prosecution.
It comes after 119 cases of damage to sites between 2006 and 2012 resulted in only one successful prosecution.
The Historic Environment (Wales) Bill will give ministers powers to make owners who damage monuments undertake repairs.
Councils can also take action to stop decay by recovering urgent work costs.
In 2013, a stretch of the 1,200-year-old Offa’s Dyke, on privately owned land between Chirk and Llangollen, was found flattened....

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-32587349

This is good news and hopefully extends to prehistoric monuments..

Calderstones park is hosting an archaeological dig to uncover Liverpool’s buried history and possibly the remnants of the prehistoric scousers.

The south Liverpool park is playing host to a series of heritage activities until May 8 as part of the Connect Calderstones project by The Reader Organisation.

Two of the three trenches which have been dug are near the historic mansion house and have been placed there as they are the most likely to uncover historic evidence.

The third trench is further away closer to the actual neolithic Calderstones. The hope is that this trench will date back closer to the stone age and prehistoric era.

Richard MacDonald, from The Reader Organisation, said: “As the park has never been built on there could be anything under our feet. We may even find evidence of the first humans to live in this area – relics of the earliest scousers!”

After just three days of the dig, which is open to the public, and a foot of top soil there is evidence of life from 50-100 years ago as well as the unearthing of pottery which is 200 years old.

Richard said: “This is hands on for locals who love getting involved in their history.”

There are no professional archaeologists at the dig and it is the first time Calderstones has been accessible to the public for an excavation such as this.

Richard said: “Diggers are from the local community and volunteers, without these the dig would not be possible.”

Through ‘The Big Dig Blog’ at caldies.big.org.uk up to the minute information about the dig can be found as it happens.

Richard said: “The Calderstones are of national importance and this dig is an exciting opportunity for people in the local area to get involved in a community dig and support The Reader’s plans for the future.”

More info on following link....

liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/calderstones-archaeological-project-aims-dig-9142301

Note; The Calderstones are elsewhere and not near this amateur dig.

It has been a place of pilgrimage for many centuries and a tourist attraction probably since Roman times.

But a new exhibition opening at Stonehenge on Friday tells the fascinating story of how the monument developed from a crumbling curiosity in Victorian times to one of the world’s most visited sites, drawing in more than 1 million people a year.

Over the past 15 years, the archeologist, broadcaster and writer, Julian Richards, has collected hundreds of books, souvenirs, postcards and pictures related to the prehistoric monument.

His “Stonehengiana” – as he terms it – ranges from lurid pink pottery adorned with a picture of the great circle to the earliest guidebooks with lovely black and white illustrations but some, frankly, odd conclusions about the history of the site.

The exhibition, called Wish You Were Here, also reveals how 20th century advertisers used the image of Stonehenge to sell everything from cars to beer and the fascination rock bands and comic writers have with the ancient stones.........

Keep reading on the link below...

theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/apr/30/from-druidical-erection-to-spinal-tap-a-history-of-stonehenge-as-tourist-site

Archaeologists say dozens of square barrows found in an East Yorkshire market town contained the skeletons and goods of people from the Arras Culture, living in the region in the Middle Iron Age between the 1st century BC and the Roman invasion.

A set of excavations at Burnby Lane, in Pocklington, have investigated 16 barrows and revealed a further ten during construction works to create housing.

“We already know that the area has prehistoric heritage, so we’re very interested to discover what these findings could reveal about prehistoric society and, of course, what we can learn about our ancestors,” says Paula Ware, of MAP Archaeology Practice.

Continued....
culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art522244-skeletons-and-jewellery-in-square-barrows-come-from-iron-age-east-yorkshire-tribe-say-archaeologists

More information about the Parisi tribe here...

pocklingtonpost.co.uk/news/local/your-article-burial-ground-of-international-importance-1-7172344

The Late Bronze Age hoard of two ‘lock’ gold rings were discovered in the Community of Rosset. The wearer would’ve been a person of wealth and status within Late Bronze Age Society, between 10000 and 800BC.

In terms of their use, archaeologists aren’t certain whether they were used as ear-rings or worn to gather locks of hair, as the name suggests.

In Wales, lock-rings have previously been found at Gaerwen, Anglesey, the Great Orme, Conwy and Newport, Pembrokeshire.

This largely coastal pattern hints at possible trading and communication links between Late Bronze Age communities living in Wales and Ireland....

itv.com/news/wales/2015-03-26/ancient-gold-artefacts-uncovered-in-north-wales/

Further information...

museumwales.ac.uk/news/?article_id=903

Archeologists are probing a Neolithic henge in the middle of Aghagallon which they believe dates back more than 4,500 years. It the reason why Aghagallon has its name and now the Standing Stone is to be given its proper place in history.

Aghagallon, translated from Gaelic means Field of the Standing Stone, and it was just a few years ago that its true significance was uncovered when they discovered the giant ringed site.

For many years it was unclear where this standing stone might be, however when the local community association made plans to extend its building on the Aghalee Road, it was discovered that they were right beside the standing stone.

The ringed site which is in the townland of Derrynaseer was designated as a scheduled historic monument in 2003.

It is formed by a large earthen bank which encloses a domed area some 180m in diameter and is clearly visible on Google Earth.
read on.....

lurganmail.co.uk/news/local-news/huge-ringed-fort-is-thought-to-date-back-4-500-years-to-neolithic-times-and-is-one-of-only-eight-left-in-northern-ireland-1-6601818

RETIRED GARDA is likely to have “removed and disturbed human remains” when he damaged a Bronze Age burial mound in County Wicklow, a court has heard.
Tony (also known as Thomas) Hand, aged 69, had denied interfering with the national monument at Carrig, Blessington by taking stones from the protected site on the night of 4 May, 2011.
However following a week-long trial at Bray Circuit Court, he was convicted yesterday of criminal damage to the prehistoric stone circle.

Continued;
thejournal.ie/garda-monument-remains-1911185-Jan2015/?fb_ref=Default

There are two sites of this name, Desmene 1 and 2, so it could be either....

Jacky Nowakowski, the Lead Archaeologist with the Cornwall Archaeological Unit, on the amazing restoration of the Carwynnen Quoit megalith.

The chamber belongs to a class of portal dolmens
“When the three granite uprights and the massive capstone collapsed in the 1960s earth tremor, they created a heap of stones which protected the ground beneath.

During the ensuing 50 years of land clearance, more large stones were heaped up onto the pile. These continued to ensure that the original area of the monument chamber was protected from later damage by ploughing.

The floor of the monument, an intact stone pavement, is made up of a narrow strip of compacted small stones which formed a hard-standing surface arranged in a doughnut-like circuit.

This embraced the central part, made up of slightly larger stones pressed firmly into the soil beneath.

More than 2,000 finds were made in our 2012 test pits and Big Dig trench, covering a wide variety of objects dating to all ages.

The main discovery was the partial survival of a remarkable stone pavement on the footprint of the original Neolithic monument, made up of small stones mainly of granite with some quartz pieces covering an area of approximately 5.5m² under topsoil.......

And there is much more on this community spirited archaeological excavation.....

culture24.org.uk//history-and-heritage/archaeology/art512813-more-than-a-pile-of-stones-the-archaeological-quest%20at-a-burial-chamber-in-neolithic-cornwall

Article by Ben Miller.

A planning application to provide more parking spaces and resurface the overflow car park at Stonehenge is to go before the local authority.

English Heritage said the work would create about 25 additional coach parking spaces and ensure high volumes of visitors can park in wet weather.

People had complained of inadequate transport facilities at the site when a new £27m visitor centre opened in 2014.

A shuttle bus scheme had proven unable to cope with the influx of visitors.

English Heritage said that over the course of the year it had looked at areas of the visitor experience that “need to be improved” and is now “taking steps to address them”.........

More to be found here: bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-30708526

An excellent analysis by Kate Fielden(CPRE) in the Ecologist on that fraught subject of the tunnel by Stonehenge.

The government’s plans to tunnel the A303 under the Stonehenge World Heritage Site has one grievous flaw, writes Kate Fielden. The tunnel is too short, so huge portals and graded junctions at both ends would lie entirely within the WHS causing huge damage to landscape and wipe out archaeological remains...

See the article at:

theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2670978/stonehenge_world_heritage_site_at_risk_from_a303_tunnel_plans.html

Archaeologists in Jersey find solid gold torc hidden in Celtic coin hoard
By Richard Moss

A Celtic coin hoard discovered on Jersey has been offering up its secrets and astounding archaeologists with a series of golden treasure finds.

For the last two weeks, the Jersey Heritage hoard conservation team have been excavating in an area known to contain gold jewellery and late last week, one end of a solid gold torc was uncovered.

The find comes on the back of several finds within the hoard including two other solid gold torcs, one gold plated and one of an unknown alloy, along with a silver brooch and a crushed sheet gold tube. But the latest discovery is considerably larger than anything previously unearthed on the island.

A large, rigid neck ring, archaeologist say the torc has a massive decorative ‘terminal’, which is where it was probably locked closed around the owner’s neck. The terminal is formed from two solid gold wheels, each about 4cm across and 1cm wide.

So far, 10cm of the curved gold collar has been uncovered and it is not yet known how complete it is.

“It’s an incredible time here,” said Neil Mahrer, Jersey Museum Conservator. “Every hour or so we are finding a new gold object.

“We did see some gold jewellery on the surface of the hoard, but since we’ve started looking at this shoe-box sized area, we’ve uncovered a total of six torcs, five of which are gold and one which we believe to be gold-plated. This is the only one that we think is whole, though.”

The extent of the torc’s wholeness will be discovered in the next few weeks as the coins currently hiding it will be painstakingly recorded and removed.

Dr Andrew Fitzpatrick, an Iron Age jewellery expert who has been involved in studying jewellery found in other Jersey hoards has been assisting with the interpretation. He has already identified comparable features in examples found in 2nd century BC hoards at Bergien, Belgium and Niederzier, Germany.

A small stone has also been uncovered, possibly of local granite. Archaeologists say it may be no more than a pebble in the field that fell into the treasure pit during the burial, but, as it is an odd shape and size, its purpose will be investigated.

At the end of the clearing period the torc will be scanned in place to record its position to fractions of a millimetre before being removed, probably along with some of the other jewellery surrounding it.

culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art508530-archaeologists-in-jersey-find-solid-gold-torc-hidden-in-celtic-coin-hoard