Television historian speak out for Oswestry hillfort
Historian and television presenter, Professor Michael Wood, has expressed serious concern over plans to build houses within the historic landscape of Old Oswestry hillfort.
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In a letter of objection he wrote: "I have followed with concern the proposed developments. The Iron Age hillfort of Old Oswestry is generally agreed to be the finest site of its kind in the Welsh Borders. Any development that threatens its setting, as this self-evidently does, in my view, therefore, should be refused.”
The popular historian said Oswestry’s northern gateway around the hillfort was an extraordinarily interesting - and rare - example of a medieval sacred landscape, which still awaited detailed research and survey. This, he said was is in addition to the area’s multi-phase heritage interest ranging from pre-Iron Age to WW1 military archaeology.
https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/local-hubs/oswestry/2019/07/30/television-historian-speak-out-for-oswestry-hillfort/
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'Stunning' decorated Neolithic stone discovered in Orkney
Archaeologists have uncovered what they describe as a "stunning example" of Neolithic decorate stone in Orkney.
The notch-marked slab was discovered at Ness of Brodgar, the location of a well-preserved and sophisticated complex of stone buildings.
The site was built and occupied by people more than 5,000 years ago.
Archaeological excavations began at Ness of Brodgar more than 15 years ago and the site covers an area of about six acres (2.5 ha)....
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-49030379
http://www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/
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Steps to ancient hillfort well in Aberdeenshire uncovered
Archaeologists have revealed the steps to an ancient hillfort's well in Aberdeenshire.
The site on Mither Tap, a summit on Bennachie, a hill near Inverurie, was first recorded in the 1800s before being covered over.
University of Aberdeen's Northern Picts project said its excavation meant the steps could been seen for the first time in more than 200 years.
Archaeologists believe the steps could be 1,000 years old,
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-48675964
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Mythical ' Sunken Kingdom' of Wales rises again
A prehistoric forest which was buried under water and sand more than 4,500 years ago and inspired a local legend has been uncovered on a Welsh beach.
The forest near the village of Borth, Ceredigion, Mid Wales, used to stretch for up to three miles along the shore between Ynys-las and Borth but eventually was buried under layers of peat, sand and saltwater.
The eerie remains of these ancient trees under Borth's beach have led to the local legend of the mythical Sunken Kingdom of Wales, called Cantre'r Gwaelod.
Folklore has it that Cantre’r Gwaelod, or the Sunken Hundred, was a once-fertile land and township stretching for 20 miles, but was lost beneath the waves in a mythical age.
According to tales passed down through the ages, disaster struck and Cantre’r Gwaelod was lost to floods when Mererid, the priestess of a fairy well, apparently neglected her duties and allowed the well to overflow. Some say that on a quiet day, they can hear the bells of the drowned church of Cantre’r Gwaelod.
Now the remains of the forest's trees have been exposed more clearly than ever by low tides and high winds from Storm Hannah.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7057361/Petrified-forest-Bronze-Age-emerged-Welsh-beach.html
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Missing part of Stonehenge returned 60 years on
A metre-long core from inside the prehistoric stone was removed during archaeological excavations in 1958.
No one knew where it was until Robert Phillips, 89, who was involved in those works, decided to return it.
English Heritage, which looks after Stonehenge, hopes the sample might now help establish where the stones originally came from.
In 1958 archaeologists raised an entire fallen trilithon - a set of three large stones, consisting of two that would have stood upright with the third placed horizontally across the top.
During the works, cracks were found in one of the vertical stones and in order to reinforce it, cores were drilled through the stone and metal rods inserted.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-48190588
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Neolithic dog reveals tales behind Orkney's monuments
The head of a dog that lived on Orkney 4,500 years ago has been recreated in what experts believe is the world’s first canine forensic reconstruction.
The dog had been domesticated in the Neolithic era on the Scottish island archipelago, but still carried wolf-like characteristics, standing about the size of a large collie, according to Historic Environment Scotland (HES) which jointly commissioned the reconstruction with the National Museum of Scotland.
It was reconstructed by a forensic artist – using techniques similar to those by crime scene investigators – from one of 24 dog skulls that were excavated by archaeologists in Cuween Hill, a delicate passage tomb on Orkney’s Mainland, and which have been radiocarbon-dated to 2,500BC.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/apr/13/neolithic-dog-reveals-tales-behind-orkney-monuments
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The gateway to hell? Hundreds of anti-witch marks found in Midlands cave
Medieval vandalism?
If there is a gateway to hell, a portal from the underworld used by demons and witches to wreak their evil havoc on humanity, then it could be in a small east Midlands cave handy for both the M1 and A60.
Heritage experts have revealed what is thought to be the biggest concentration of apotropaic marks, or symbols to ward off evil or misfortune, ever found in the UK.
The markings, at Creswell Crags, a limestone gorge on the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire border, include hundreds of letters, symbols and patterns carved, at a time when belief in witchcraft was widespread. The scale and variety of the marks made on the limestone walls and ceiling of a cave which has at its centre a deep, dark, hole, is unprecedented....
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/feb/15/nottinghamshire-cave-carvings-marks-scare-witches
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Ancient Carved 'Drums' Give Exact Stonehenge Measurements, Say Archaeologists
A set of highly decorated chalk cylinders, carved in Britain more than 4,000 years ago and known as the Folkton drums, could be ancient replicas of measuring devices used for laying out prehistoric monuments like Stonehenge, archaeologists say...
https://www.livescience.com/64603-ancient-carved-drums-measure-stonehenge.html
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Ancient platform 'damaged' during Stonehenge tunnel work
Archaeologists have accused Highways England of accidentally drilling a large hole through a 6,000-year-old structure near Stonehenge during preparatory work for a tunnel.
The drilling, which is alleged to have taken place at Blick Mead, around a mile and a half from the world-famous neolithic ring of stones, has enraged archaeologists, who say engineers have dug a three-metre-deep hole (10ft) through a man-made platform of flint and animal bone.
Highways England have said they are not aware of any damage to archaeological layers on the site caused by their work and will meet with the archaeological team on Thursday, led by David Jacques, a senior research fellow at the University of Buckingham.......
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/dec/06/ancient-platform-damaged-during-stonehenge-tunnel-work
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Pembrokeshire treasure hunter unearths Celtic chariot
A metal detectorist has found what is thought to be the first Celtic chariot burial to be uncovered in Wales.
The burial ritual was reserved for high-ranking chiefs who would be interred complete with their chariot, horses, tack and even weapons.
Mike Smith believes his find may point to a huge undiscovered Iron Age settlement nearby.
National Museum Wales describes the finds as "significant and exciting".
The actual location in south Pembrokeshire is being kept secret while archaeologists prepare for a major dig next year.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-46294000
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Scotland’s oldest heritage sites at risk from rising seas
Off the north coast of Scotland, Orkney’s soft green landscapes hold a trove of things from everyday life before history was written.
More than 3,000 archaeological sites — among them standing stone circles, Norse halls and a Neolithic tomb graffitied by Vikings — have endured for millenniums, scattered across the roughly 70 islands that make up the Orkney archipelago.
At Skara Brae, one of Europe’s best-preserved Stone Age villages, kitchens built around 3180 BC are fitted with hearths and cupboards, bedsteads and doors that could be bolted shut.
Today, in forays to remote spits of land, people are working to save some of these places for posterity from the climate changes accelerated by human activity.
About half of Orkney’s 3,000 sites, many built before Stonehenge or the pyramids, are under threat from those changes, according to the county archaeologist. Some are already being washed away.
Since 1970, Orkney beaches have eroded twice as fast as in the previous century. Others that had been stable are now shrinking. Rains, falling heavier and more often, are dissolving the crusts of soil and sand packs that protect remnants of civilizations.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/scotland-s-oldest-heritage-sites-at-risk-from-rising-seas
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Archaeologists Find 2,000-Year-Old Wooden Bowl, plus hair
The Iron Age artifacts were sealed in a subterranean chamber of the Cairns Broch, a tower-like stone structure.
uring the Iron Age, the Cairns Broch—a tower-like stone building of monumental proportions—dominated the landscape of Windwick Bay, a rocky cove in the Scottish archipelago of Orkney. Equal parts house, fort and status symbol, the broch stood at the center of an ancient settlement until some point between the later 1st and mid-2nd century A.D., when it was sealed and subsequently abandoned.
Read more:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-find-2000-year-old-wooden-bowl-strands-hair-northern-scotland-180969713/
And also, if you can get through the adverts at the Independent, there is this with a video...
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/2000-year-old-bowl-underground-chamber-orkney-scotland-archaeology-a8447421.html
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Prehistoric stone hunt under way in Devon salt marsh
A team of archaeologists is braving horse flies, spiky vegetation and murky ditches to hunt for mysterious standing stones lost beneath a West Country salt marsh.
The Yelland stone row at Isley Marsh disappeared beneath a thick blanket of silt after the closure of a power station changed the flow of sediment in the Taw and Torridge estuary in north Devon in the 1980s.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/jun/27/prehistoric-stone-hunt-under-way-in-devon-salt-marsh
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Prehistoric roundhouse excavated at Tore near Inverness
The remains of an ancient roundhouse have been uncovered by archaeologists in the Highlands.
The prehistoric property was excavated ahead of the construction of a new business park at Mullan's Wood at Tore, near Inverness.
Archaeologists said the roundhouse may have been built in the Iron Age 2,000 years ago, or earlier.
The excavation area has been reinstated and the site will be protected during the future building work.
Environmental samples taken during the fieldwork has the potential to provide material for dating the site.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-44398322
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Ash from destructive hill fort fire 'preserved in peat'
Archaeologists believe they have found, preserved in peat, charcoal from a fire that destroyed an ancient hillfort.
Dun Deardail was built about 2,500 years ago on a prominent knoll on Sgorr Chalum, a hill overlooking the River Nevis in Glen Nevis.
Charcoal found in surrounding peatbog has been analysed.
Four "significant fire events" were identified as layers of charcoal or soot. One, from around 310BC, is thought to be the fort's burning.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-43813824
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Ramsey Island: New survey finds 'Bronze Age' site
The laser scan of Ramsey Island uncovered a "hidden" landscape thought to date back to the Bronze Age.
The survey, taken from the air, has also seen a detailed 3D model of the two mile-long beauty spot made for the first time.
Experts say the data could also be used to see if climate change affects the environment on the island.
Royal Commission archaeologist Dan Hunt described the findings as "incredible".
He added: "It has presented us with a stunning view of the island in enormous detail."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-43534578
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Housebuilder uncovers Iron Age chamber on Lewis
A 2,000-year-old underground chamber has been uncovered during work to build a house on the Isle of Lewis.
The Iron Age souterrain was revealed during the digging of the foundations for the property in Ness.
Local archaeologists, husband and wife team Chris and Rachel Barrowman, are recording the souterrain.
Dr Barrowman said theories on the purpose of the stone-lined, flat stone-roofed structures included storing food.
continued...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-42988416
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Archaeologists may have found architects' camp for Stonehenge
A team of archaeologists believe they may have discovered a spot where some of the architects of Stonehenge gathered and camped.
The team have been investigating a causewayed enclosure – these are thought to be ancient meeting places or centres of trade – on army land at Larkhill close to Stonehenge.
They found an alignment of posts that matches the orientation of the circle at Stonehenge, leading to the theory that Larkhill could have been some sort of blueprint for the temple.
Si Cleggett, of Wessex Archaeology, conceded it was possible to suggest that any evidence of prehistoric settlement could be connected to the creation of Stonehenge.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/feb/02/archaeologists-architects-camp-stonehenge-larkhill
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