Bones found at Stonehenge belonged to people from Wales
Tests show 5,000-year-old remains found at the world heritage site came from more than 100 miles away in west Wales
Maev Kennedy
The bones of people buried at Stonehenge, who died and were cremated about 5,000 years ago, have given up their secrets: like the bluestones, which form part of the famous prehistoric monument, they came from west Wales, near the Preseli Hills where the stones were quarried.
The remains of at least 10 of 25 individuals, whose brittle charred bones were buried at the monument, showed that they did not spend their lives on the Wessex chalk downland, but came from more than 100 miles away. Examination of the remains showed they were consistent with a region that includes west Wales, the most likely origin of at least some of these people.
Although the team, led by scientists from the University of Oxford with colleagues in Paris and Brussels, cannot prove that the remains are of people who actually built the monument, the earliest cremation dates are described as “tantalisingly” close to the date when the bluestones were brought into the earlier ditch and bank monument to form the first stone circle.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/aug/02/revealed-stonehenge-buried-welsh?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
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‘The find of a lifetime': Megalithic passage tomb dating back 5,500 years found in Co Meath
To date, two burial chambers have been discovered within the western part of the main passage.
A MEGALITHIC PASSAGE tomb cemetery dating back some 5,500 years has been unearthed beside Dowth Hall in Co Meath.
The discovery is within the Brú na Bóinne heritage site. The excavation is being carried out by agri-technology company Devenish in partnership with UCD’s School of Archaeology.
More: http://www.thejournal.ie/megalithic-passage-tomb-meath-4130419-Jul2018/
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Recent drought led to archaeological discovery of circular enclosure near Newgrange
Anthony Murphy, founder of Mythical Ireland, made the discovery when flying drones in the Brú na Bóinne area yesterday evening.
A LARGE CIRCULAR enclosure, or henge, has been revealed near the UNESCO World Heritage Site close to Newgrange in Co Meath.
Anthony Murphy, founder of Mythical Ireland, made the discovery when flying drones in the Brú na Bóinne area yesterday evening with photographer Ken Williams.
More: http://www.thejournal.ie/newgrange-mythical-ireland-4123238-Jul2018/
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Locals unearth 'significant' prehistoric hoard of gold bands in Donegal
Experts from the National Museum have begun an investigation into the exciting discovery of four prehistoric gold arm bands they believe date back to the Bronze Age.
The amazingly intact ornaments were found buried together several feet underground at an undisclosed location in Co Donegal earlier this week.
Maeve Sikora, keeper of Irish antiquities at the National Museum of Ireland, credited local Donegal residents for finding the treasures and immediately reporting them to officials at the Donegal County Museum, who in turn alerted them to the find yesterday.
"These people were so helpful and quick to report it," she said.
More:
https://m.independent.ie/irish-news/locals-unearth-significant-prehistoric-hoard-of-gold-bands-in-donegal-37058447.html
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Save Knock Iveagh!
We all want to believe that the places and heritage we love will be protected by somebody else for our children to enjoy. Some really important places in the UK benefit from protection by law and are supposed to be kept safe by our government bodies for the benefit of everyone. One such place is the ancient Neolithic burial site on the hill at Knock Iveagh. Although the burial site (cairn) is older than the pyramids and should be treated as a gem in the crown of beautiful Co Down, right now unfortunately it looks like somebody has dropped the ball because it is under terrible threat. Our public bodies have the power to save the hill and it is up to us to make sure they do so. That is why we are asking for your contribution to this important fight. Legal advice costs money, but this is a fight we can and must win.
https://www.gofundme.com/saveknockiveagh
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Illegal metal detectors damage 3,000-year-old wooden road
Illegal metal detectors have caused irreparable damage to a prehistoric road in the Midlands with Ireland's leading heritage charity calling on the Government to intervene to save the road.
An Taisce: The National Trust for Ireland has written to the Heritage Minister Heather Humphreys to request that the oakwood-built roadway, located on Mayne Bog in Coole, Co. Westmeath, be protected fully by the laws of the State.
Its Antiquities and Monuments committee has criticised the Minister for "standing idly by" and wants a licensed metal detector survey carried out along the route.
Dr Mark Clinton of An Taisce said that the area is of international importance and should be placed on the Record of Monuments and Places (RMP) list. Much of the 647-metre, 3,000-year-old wooden track has been dug up by workmen cutting peat.
More: http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/illegal-metal-detectors-damage-3000yearold-wooden-road-35780708.html
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Spanish archaeologists discover cave art to rival country's best
Paleolithic-era drawings found in Axturra cave are in ‘Champions League’ of cave art sites, team leader says
Spanish archaeologists say they have discovered an exceptional set of Paleolithic-era cave drawings that could rank among the best in a country that already boasts some of the world’s most important cave art.
Chief site archaeologist Diego Garate said that an estimated 70 drawings were found on ledges 300m (1,000 ft) underground in the Atxurra cave in the northern Basque region. He described the site as being in “the Champions League” of cave art and among the top 10 sites in Europe. The engravings and paintings feature horses, buffalo, goats and deer, dating back 12,500-14,500 years.
More: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/may/27/spanish-archaeologists-discover-cave-art-axturra-paleolithic
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Megalithic Art Discovered at the Hellfire Club
Sitting partially exposed in the hollow of the strange mound behind the Hellfire Club, a dark lump of igneous rock served as a handy border to many bonfires over the centuries. However, those who enjoyed the warmth of the fire while lying up against the comfortably curved bank of the mound may not have realised that the mound they rested upon was the remains of an ancient tomb, and that plain looking dark stone was carved with symbols and designs that are over 5,000 years old.
The discovery of the artwork was the result of incredible serendipity. The surface of the stone has been damaged by fires and weathering, so the artwork is almost completely imperceptible to the naked eye. Had we dug our trenches anywhere else on site we would not have discovered it, and had we excavated during the summer, the higher flatter sunlight may not have revealed the faint trace of the artwork.
As the stone was sitting in a disturbed modern layer of material relating to picnics and parties, it was outside of its original context. We removed it quite early in the dig, though due to the many fires that had been lit upon it, it fractured into four large fragments as we began to lift it from the trench. As we did not originally notice anything particularly unusual about the stone, we (with some difficulty) lifted it out of the trench and set it on the side, so it would be close at hand for when we began to backfill the trenches.
More here: http://www.abartaheritage.ie/megalithic-art-discovered-at-the-hellfire-club/
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Investigation into Brittas Bay dolmen damage
Damage to an ancient dolmen in Brittas Bay has been reported to the gardaí and the National Monument Service.
The megalithic tomb named the Castletimon Dolmen dates back close to 4,000 years and is a protected monument.
Part of the structure appears to have been knocked down, while stones and earth have been pulled away.
Steven Brennan of the Brittas Bay Tourism Association said the destruction of the Dolmen has caused widespread local anger.
'I was pretty shocked when I first saw the damage. People are very annoyed. It's a very historic area and needs to be treated with the respect it deserves.
'People are embarrassed by this incident. It's one of Wicklow's oldest human structures and is one of only four on the east coast of Ireland.'
The whole area is of significant historical importance with a number of standing stones, cairns, a fourth century Ogham stone and a recently newly discovered standing stone. There is also a sixth century monastery nearby which was second in importance only to Glendalough.
More:
http://www.independent.ie/regionals/wicklowpeople/news/investigation-into-brittas-bay-dolmen-damage-34563576.html
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Slaughter at the bridge: Uncovering a colossal Bronze Age battle
By Andrew Curry
Mar. 24, 2016 , 9:30 AM
About 3200 years ago, two armies clashed at a river crossing near the Baltic Sea. The confrontation can’t be found in any history books—the written word didn’t become common in these parts for another 2000 years—but this was no skirmish between local clans. Thousands of warriors came together in a brutal struggle, perhaps fought on a single day, using weapons crafted from wood, flint, and bronze, a metal that was then the height of military technology.
Struggling to find solid footing on the banks of the Tollense River, a narrow ribbon of water that flows through the marshes of northern Germany toward the Baltic Sea, the armies fought hand-to-hand, maiming and killing with war clubs, spears, swords, and knives. Bronze- and flint-tipped arrows were loosed at close range, piercing skulls and lodging deep into the bones of young men. Horses belonging to high-ranking warriors crumpled into the muck, fatally speared. Not everyone stood their ground in the melee: Some warriors broke and ran, and were struck down from behind.
When the fighting was through, hundreds lay dead, littering the swampy valley. Some bodies were stripped of their valuables and left bobbing in shallow ponds; others sank to the bottom, protected from plundering by a meter or two of water. Peat slowly settled over the bones. Within centuries, the entire battle was forgotten.
More: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/slaughter-bridge-uncovering-colossal-bronze-age-battle?utm_source=sciencemagazine&utm_medium=facebook-text&utm_campaign=bronzeagebattle-3174
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Bear bone discovery pushes back date of human existence in Ireland by 2,500 years
Scientists were astounded when tests showed the fragment, from a butchered brown bear, confirmed that humans were active in Ireland 2,500 years earlier than previously suspected.
The fragment was stored in a cardboard box in the National Museum for over 100 years but had only been subjected to detailed forensic tests over the past two years.
The incredible discovery by Dr Marion Dowd and Dr Ruth Carden will now re-write Ireland’s settlement history with the bone indicating that humans were hunting in Ireland in 10,500BC – some 2,500 years earlier that previously thought.
Amazingly, the bear bone was discovered in Clare back in 1903 but was left for over a century in a storage box in the National Museum without being forensically tested.
Dr Dowd of IT Sligo and Dr Carden of the National Museum decided to examine the bear bone and subject it to radiocarbon dating.
More: http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/bear-bone-discovery-pushes-back-date-of-human-existence-in-ireland-by-2500-years-34556770.html
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Tomb thought to be more than 5,000 years old discovered
Site on Sligo/Leitrim border may not have been found until now due to mountain setting
A hilltop tomb recently discovered close to the edge of Tievebaun mountain on the Sligo/Leitrim border may be more than 5,000 years old , according to the archaeologist who found it.
Michael Gibbons said a series of discoveries in this area – including animal enclosures, field systems, and booley settlements – suggests that there are layers of history spanning the Neolithic period, the iron age, the bronze age and the post medieval period on these uplands.
Mr Gibbons, who discovered other tombs in this area a decade ago, said that the hilltop tomb, which was a sacred site up to 3,500 BC, was probably not discovered before now because of its dramatic setting on the edge of the mountain.
More: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/science/tomb-thought-to-be-more-than-5-000-years-old-discovered-1.2422061
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Bronze Age road in Midlands turned into potting compost
‘Scandal’ that oak road on Mayne Bog, dating to 1200-820 BC, not surveyed or preserved
The Midland bogs have always been places of mystery – vistas of burnt umber that every so often unearth prehistoric time capsules: vats of bog butter, golden hoards, the mummified remains of sacrificial corpses.
In Longford, the Iron Age road unearthed at Corlea Bog has become the county’s prime tourism attraction, with massive oak planks wide enough for two chariots to pass side by side. In 2005, the discovery of a grander and far longer oak road at Mayne Bog in Coole, Co Westmeath, was a cause of great excitement. The National Monuments Service established that it was no mere trackway, measuring up to 6m in width, and dating to 1200-820 BC – a 1,000 years older than Corlea.
Westland Horticulture, extracting peat from the site at the time, were expected to cease work immediately but the National Monuments Service did not issue a preservation order, nor record it in the Register of Historic Monuments.
More:
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/bronze-age-road-in-midlands-turned-into-potting-compost-1.2368920
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Taxi-driving, graphic artist with a penchant for high hills and low boulders. Currently residing in Tallaght where I can escape to the wildernesses of Wicklow within 10 minutes.
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