A series of events are taking place this year to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Ridgeway being designated a National Trail. These kicked off last Friday with an event at the Sanctuary, Avebury WHS .... plus a walk from Avebury and back.
tjj
theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/dec/07/stonehenge-exhibition-british-museum
The aim of the exhibition is to set Stonehenge into the context of an era during which there was great social and technological change. It will include the Nebra sky disc on loan from Halle Museum in Germany.
I visited this rather lovely exhibition yesterday – lots of quite old paintings of Stonehenge and Avebury plus other aspects the Wiltshire landscape, such as the white horses, which make Wiltshire a unique county.
Definitely worth a visit – very quiet when I visited but booking ahead is advised. Ends 30th August 2021.
Man thrown down steep bank after altercation with off-road drivers in Wiltshire
Rogue 4x4 drivers a hazard at Avebury again.
Police are appealing for witnesses following the incident, which took place on a byway near Avebury.
At around 3.30pm on Sunday January 24 a man in his 50s – out walking with his family – was verbally and physically assaulted by another man belonging to a group of off-road drivers.
Following an altercation with the group, the victim was thrown down a steep bank and forced into a puddle; both he and his family were then verbally abused by members of the group. Fortunately, the victim was not seriously injured. The assault took place on the top of the byway which runs from Avebury Trusloe to the trees by Windmill Hill. Police are now hunting for a man they believe is responsible. He is described as white, in his mid-late 20s, 5ft 10ins tall, of heavy build with light brown hair, a goatee beard and moustache.
It’s believed he was driving a Land Rover with customised wheels. There were other vehicles involved, some of which did not have registrations plates. However, police believe that one of the registration plates contained the numbers 141 and letters BRM. PC Angela Holden said: “Despite the remote location we are asking if anyone out for a walk or run in this part of rural Wiltshire heard or saw anything suspicious during this afternoon.
“Perhaps you saw a convoy of off-road vehicles in the area or recognise the descriptions given.
“Please contact us on 101, quoting crime reference number 54210008149, if you can help.”
You can also report anonymously via Crime
stoppers on 0800 555 111.
......
England’s Rock Art (ERA) website to close
The Scottish Rock Art Project have issued the following statement on their Facebook page:
Today we have had the astonishing news that the England’s Rock Art (ERA) website is going to be closed down on 15 January, with no warning or explanation. Those of you that are familiar with the ERA website archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/era/
will know that, since its launch in 2008, has been the key source of detailed information and images of rock art in England. These detailed records were compiled by trained community teams during the Northumberland and Durham Rock Art Project (NADRAP) and Carved Stones Investigation: Rombalds Moor, and built on the pioneering work of Stan Beckensall and many others, including the Ilkley Archaeology Group and Paul and Barbara Brown. The ERA website also incorporates the digital Beckensall Archive, produced by Aron Mazel of Newcastle University. With the closure of the website, this wealth of information will no longer be publicly accessible.
Let us know what you think, and we’ll keep you posted!
It will come as no surprise – car parks, Red Lion and all facilities will be closed and over the Solstice. For anyone wanting a solitary walk, the 49 bus from Swindon and Devizes is still running a 2 hourly service (face masks and hand sanitizer not supplied).
heritageaction.wordpress.com/2020/05/18/avebury-closed-for-summer-solstice/
Also applies to Stonehenge.
... Rogue 4x4 drivers are blamed.
AVEBURY is leading the charge to get damaged byways fixed and protected.
Routes around the village, and the nearby ancient historic site of Windmill Hill are now so badly damaged that they have become impassable.
Rogue 4 x 4 enthusiasts – some who travel from as far afield as Germany to drive some of Wiltshire’s 695km of by ways – are being blamed for the damage.
The campaign is being supported by the countryside charity CPRE. Anne Henshaw, the Wiltshire representative said:
“I am trying to form a charity/community not for profit group of parishes and other interested parties to set up something similar to the Cotswold Warden scheme,” she said.
This could see some of the byways closed to traffic at certain times of the year to protect them from heavy traffic use.
Stephen Stacey, chairman of Avebury Parish Council said:
“These by ways are for everyone’s use, but the actions of a few selfish people have made them inaccessible.
“We would like interested parties like ramblers, horse and bike riders and other local authorities to work together, and perhaps work with Wiltshire Council to see if we can come up with a solution between us.”
Some of the byways are so badly damaged that tree roots are exposed, and the ruts are more than two feet deep in places.
Solutions, he said, could include a volunteer force using council equipment and materials to make repairs as he says cut backs at Wiltshire Council are to blame for the disrepair.
Contd.
The results are now in! Did the Bronze Age gold, found in a burial close to Stonehenge, came from Britain, Ireland or Brittany.
Located close to Stonehenge, Bush Barrow is Britain’s richest Bronze Age burial. The most remarkable discovery was a gold-studded dagger pommel, set with thousands of microscopic gold studs thinner than a human hair. Using a recently developed scientific technique, Dr Chris Standish of Southampton University, has identified the most likely source of the gold used to make this amazing object – answering a question that has puzzled archaeologists for decades?
Dr Standish has developed a metallurgical technique that analyses the proportions of different isotopes within the lead impurities in the gold. These proportions were compared with information about gold from known sources in Ireland, Cornwall, Wales and Brittany. A single gold stud was used for the analysis using X-ray Fluorescence – a non-destructive technique.
The blade of the Bush Barrow dagger is of a type found in both Brittany and Britain and gold-studded pommels have been found on both sides of the English Channel. Some archaeologists have thought that the dagger pommel was made in Brittany as more have been found in Brittany but the craft skills needed to make the dagger pommel are higher than used in any other goldwork in either Britain or France at this early date.
The dagger was buried with a Chieftain who died in about 1950BC at a time when Stonehenge was at the centre of an internationally important ceremonial landscape – the sarsen stone trilithons were erected in about 2,500BC and the bluestones from Wales were placed in their final positions at the site in about 1,600BC before Stonehenge finally went out of use in about 1,500BC.
Analysis undertaken 30 years ago of gold objects from burials in the Stonehenge landscape suggested that the gold used came from Ireland. Analysis by Dr Standish of gold objects found in Ireland has shown that many are made of gold from Cornwall (see this article in the Independent by David Keys) and gold from Cornwall was also used in the famous Nebra Sky Disk found in Germany and displayed at the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle (see this article about the analysis of the Sky Disk).
Recent graffiti depicting the Extinction Rebellion logo which has appeared in West Kennet Long Barrow has been condemned by the Swindon Branch of ER.
“The bodies of an estimated 60 people from the Bronze Age have been found during an archaeological dig on land in Templeogue where former Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave lived.
The land, which is earmarked for housing development, is also believed to have evidence of Iron Age occupation and a ring fort and is being looked on as a very significant historical find.
Last week Independent.ie reported how the excavations being carried out on the land were a mystery to locals since work began last October.
South Dublin County Council would not comment on the dig, and local councillors could not get answers to their questions on the project.
But sources have now revealed that the site, on the Scholarstown Road close to Knocklyon, is of major significance.
“It is believed this was a Bronze Age burial site, and that people from the Iron Age used the site as a shrine or place of some sort of place of gathering,” the source said.
Evidence of a ring fort was also uncovered by archaeologists, the source added.
The Bronze Age in Ireland lasted from about 2000BC to 500BC. The Iron Age followed, lasting until around 400AD.Former Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave lived in a humble bungalow called Beech Park on the 16 acres of prime residential zoned land until his death in 2017 at the age of 97 .... ”
salisburymuseum.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/hoards-hidden-history-ancient-britain
In partnership with the British Museum
Hoards: a Hidden History of Ancient Britain.
Salisbury Museum – until Jan 5th 2019
“In partnership with the British Museum, this exhibition traces the story of hoarding from Bronze Age weapons discovered in the river Thames and the first Iron Age coin hoards, through to hoards buried after the collapse of Roman rule in Britain and in more recent times. It will showcase recent discoveries of hoards reported by finders and archaeologists through the Treasure Act and brings together objects from the British Museum and Salisbury Museum, including the spectacular Ipswich Iron Age gold torcs and new prehistoric and Roman finds from Wessex.”
Why have ancient people placed precious objects underwater or in the ground? Were they accidentally lost or stolen, discarded as worthless, saved for recycling, hidden for safekeeping, or offered up to the gods? The archaeological evidence may point to different explanations for the burial of these hoards. Come and find out what careful study of these finds has revealed about the past.”
– Saw this today, definitely worth a trip to the historic city of Salisbury.
See British Museum link below for other dates and venues later in 2019, including Ulster Museum, Buxton Museum, IoW and Peterborough.
britishmuseum.org/about_us/tours_and_loans/uk_loans_and_tours/current_tours_and_loans/hoards.aspx
rte.ie/news/2018/0704/976284-bear-skull/
“New analysis of the skull of a brown bear discovered in Aillwee Cave in Co Clare over four decades ago has found that it is more than 10,400 years old.
The study by researchers at IT Sligo also made the surprising finding that a collection of other bones found with the bear skull include those of a second bear dated to the late Neolithic period, 4,600 years ago.
The discovery was made using radiocarbon dating during the re-analysis of more than 450 bones originally collected from the cave system in Co Clare.
The Early Mesolithic or Stone Age bones were first found when the cave was being developed as a tourist attraction in 1976.
The research was led by Dr Marion Dowd, Lecturer in Prehistoric Archaeology at the Centre of Environmental Research Innovation and Sustainability (CERIS), at IT Sligo.
An Post’s Ninth Definitive Stamp Series, A History of Ireland in 100 Objects, a selection, began life as an original series by Fintan O’Toole of The Irish Times. Over time, the stamp series will feature many of the objects from the fully illustrated hardback book of the series, A History of Ireland in 100 Objects. Starting with the issue of the first 12 stamps and continuing over five years to when the final stamps are issued, you’ll discover more and more about our island’s long history from c.5000BC to the early 21st century.
This news item appeared in Saturday’s Times and was passed to me today. Regret Times online link is only available by subscription so will have to make do with this one.
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5116637/Jersey-calls-return-dolmen-stones-Oxfordshire.html
Jersey calls for the return of its ‘Elgin Marbles’ monument that was taken and rebuilt in Oxfordshire as a governor’s retirement gift
- The dolmen stones were discovered in 1785 near the Jersey capital St Helier
- Monument was uprooted and taken to Oxfordshire estate of retiring governor
- Templecombe House in Henley-on-Thames which is on the market for £7million
- It has given the residents of Jersey a new hope that they could buy back the stones and return them to the island
One local man named Neil Holmes is planning to raise £8million through an online crowdfunder in a bid to purchase the estate.
He said: ‘The aim of this is to buy the property that the neolithic Jersey dolmen currently resides on, repatriate the dolmen, then resell the estate.‘
The stones were one of dozens of dolmens placed across the island which were shrouded in legend and thought to be ‘the home of sprites and fairies’.
But many were broken up for building materials in the 17th and 18th century amid waning interest in the mythology surrounding the stunning monuments, according to local history experts.
General Conway was persuaded by his cousin – author Horace Walpole – to pay for the transport of his gift.
Note: There have been several previous attempts to reclaim the dolmen and the issue was raised in the House of Commons as far back as 1928.
rte.ie/news/munster/2017/0925/907390-megalithic/
A hillwalker in west Kerry has made a stunning discovery which connects a 4,000-year-old tomb with the equinox. The megalithic tomb, known as the Giant’s Grave, is situated in the valley of Loch an Dúin on the eastern side of the Conor Pass.
Ancient rock art can be found within the tomb, including a cup and circle near the head of the tomb.
For the past 14 years Daithí Ó Conaill, a retired school principal, has visited the site during the winter and summer solstice hoping to make a connection between the tomb and the sun.
He has now discovered that the wedge tomb is actually aligned to the setting sun of the equinox, which last occurred on Friday 22 September.
As the sun sets directly into a ‘V’ shaped valley in the distant Brandon mountain range, a shaft of light enters the wedge tomb, illuminating the chamber and the rock art at the head of the tomb. The event can be witnessed at sunset for a number of days either side of the equinox.
Archaeologist Míchéal Ó Coiléain who has carried out extensive surveys in Loch an Dúin said it was a stunning discovery, providing a fine example of the engineering brilliance demonstrated by the people who constructed it.
“Daithí’s discovery is wonderful and it goes to show that people living 4000 years ago are aware of movements of the sun. They are agricultural communities, so to know when the longest days of the year, the shortest, and when the equinoxes fall is so important. To construct such a perfectly positioned monument required remarkable expertise and knowledge.”
The Equinox occurs twice a year when the plane of the Earth’s equator passes directly through the centre of the Sun’s disc. During an equinox, night and day are approximately the same duration.
scotsman.com/news/the-return-of-the-2-500-year-old-ballachulish-goddess-1-4542330
The 2,500-year-old Ballachulish Goddess has “returned” to the Highland lochside where she was found after the Iron Age figure was recreated by a team of archaeologists. The life-size carving, which dates to around 600BC, was discovered face down in Highland peat by workmen in 1880 .....
elpais.com/elpais/2017/05/12/inenglish/1494584904_820305.html
“Death caught up with Elba on a Spanish hillside 9,300 years ago. She is thought to have been following her herd of aurochs, an extinct breed of large cattle, along an ancestral trail that is now a paved road. In fact, it is the same road that Google suggests as the best route between the localities of O Courel and Pedrafita do Cebreiro, in Galicia’s Lugo province, in northwestern Spain.
Her herd was made up of three aurochs: an enormous male with massive horns and two younger specimens. It might have been early spring or early winter, and the ground was covered by a blanket of snow thin enough to make for easy walking, yet thick enough to conceal some of the geographical features lying beneath.
As a result, she did not see the hole that had opened up in the earth. All four of them fell into the gap created by the collapse of the roof of a cave known today as Cova do Uro, or Aurochs’ Cave in the regional Galician language .... ”
heritagedaily.com/2017/07/archaeologists-unearth-ancient-origins-new-forest-town/115980
A high-tech survey at Buckland Rings Iron Age hillfort in Lymington has revealed evidence of 2,000 year old roundhouses within the fort’s ramparts.
The geophysical survey was led by the New Forest National Park Authority with local volunteers and students from Bournemouth University.
Up to seven prehistoric dwellings were identified, which would have once housed a community of hunters and farmers that would grow into the modern Lymington. Trading throughout Britain and across the sea, these ancient ancestors would have lived in round wooden buildings caked in a soil-based mixture.
Continued ....
As expected UNESCO award World Heritage status to the Lake District.
Predictably perhaps, the National Trust has purchased the historic URC Chapel which stands within the Avebury Stone Circle. They are inviting people to come along in the afternoon and early evening (up to 7.00pm) on 5th July to share their views about its future use.
salisburymuseum.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/british-art-ancient-landscapes
On currently until Sunday, September 3, 2017
Booking: No booking required.
Cost: Normal admission charges apply.
“The British landscape has been a continual inspiration to artists across the centuries and particularly the landscapes shaped and marked by our distant ancestors. The megaliths, stone circles and chalk-cut hill figures that survive from Neolithic and Bronze Age times have stimulated many artists to make a response. In this major new exhibition curated by Professor Sam Smiles, these unique artistic responses have been brought together to create a new discussion. Featuring the work of some of the greatest names in British art from the last 250 years, see John Constable, JMW Turner, Eric Ravilious, John Piper, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Paul Nash, Richard Long, Derek Jarman and more, as their work records and reflects on some of our most treasured ancient landscapes.”
I had a look at the catalogue yesterday which is available at the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes. The word catalogue does not do it justice – a very beautiful book to own, though at £25 not cheap. Several of the artworks owned by Wiltshire Museum are in the exhibition, including David Inshaw.
Not my patch by a great distance but am following Kilmartin Museum on FB and was pleased to read their following statement:
“We are delighted to announced we have reached and EXCEEDED our £10,000 goal for our Coll Hoard Conservation campaign! A huge huge thank you to everyone who donated, shared and in any way helped us to achieve this. Rewards and official thank yous will be issued soon. This is extremely exciting as now these fantastic artefacts can be sent to the Scottish Conservation Studio in Edinburgh to be conserved properly. We’ve already raised £905 over the amount needed, and our campaign does run until tomorrow morning so we have decided any extra money we make will go towards preserving an early Christian cross slab fragment which comes from a ruined Chapel in Kilmartin Glen. If this is something you are interested in supporting you can still donate at:”
crowdfunder.co.uk/coll-hoard-conservation
An art exhibition at the Richard Jefferies Museum, Marlborough Road, Swindon SN3 6AA features a portrait of Julian Cope by the Avebury Stones – artist as yet unknown.
Exhibition is called ‘Weird Wiltshire’ – celebrating the “myth, magic and mystery of Wiltshire” in art form.
swindonopenstudios.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/weird-wiltshire-exhibition.html?spref=fb
From 1st – 29th April. Entry Free.
Opening times vary so, if planning a visit please call 01793-466571 or see web-site:
richardjefferiessociety.co.uk/RJmuseum.html
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust have made the following announcement:
“It is with much regret that we must cancel the 2017 Sarsen Trail and Neolithic Marathon.
Unfortunately there is now going to be a major military exercise on Salisbury Plain with live firing. As a result we will be unable to access the Plain or Old Carter Barracks at Bulford (the finish) on 30th April, the planned date of our Sarsen Trail and Neolithic Marathon.
We have overcome many challenges in the 29 years of running this event but after looking at alternatives including changing the date and route, none of these options are viable.
To find out more information, how to claim a refund or how to donate your entry fee please call 01380 829084.”
As helpfully pointed out by thesweetcheat on TMA Forum, there have been some seemingly sudden changes to the 49 bus service from Swindon Bus Station to Avebury.
Anyone planning a bus trip to Avebury from Sunday 2nd April 2017, they now only run every two hours. Here are the times:
From Swindon Bus Station: 08.15, 10.15, 12.15, 14.15, 16.15, 18.15
Return from Avebury: 09.34, 11.34, 13.34, 15.34, 17.34, 19.34 (leaving Devizes at 11 minutes past the hour – every two hours).
theguardian.com/science/2017/feb/28/detectorists-strike-iron-age-gold-staffordshire-field
“Two metal detecting friends have found a hoard of superb Iron Age gold jewellery after returning to a Staffordshire field where they previously found nothing and became so bored that they gave up the hobby and turned to fishing for 20 years.
The four Iron Age gold torcs – three collars and a bracelet-sized piece, including two made of twisted gold wire, two with trumpet shaped finials and one with beautiful Celtic ornament – are of international importance.
The pieces were made in present-day Germany or France, possibly in the third or fourth century BC and, according to Julia Farley of the British Museum, are some of the oldest examples of Iron Age gold, and of Celtic ornament, ever found in Britain. They could have arrived through trade or on the neck and arms of an extremely wealthy immigrant ....”
“A number of organisations, including Peterborough City Council, Vivacity, the British Museum and The University of Cambridge, are in discussions about how best to display the discoveries found at Must Farm and Flag Fen.
Last January the world’s media was amazed by the archeological dig at Must Farm, near Whittlesey, which saw ancient round houses preserved in the clay. The discovery has been described as ‘the Pompei of the Fens’ because of the way the finds had been preserved, and what they told archeologists about life in the Fens 3,000 years ago. Wooden roundhouses, which were destroyed by a fire thousands of years ago, where uncovered, as were tools, bones and even pots still containing food. Journalists and historians from across the world descended on the Must Farm Quarry to see the operation to recover the finds. A report looking at the possibility of creating a National Bronze Age museum for the city had been prepared in 2014, with the discoveries at Flag Fen being at the heart of the plans – but now the report is being looked at again, to take into account the new discoveries. ”
Read more at: peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/national-bronze-age-museum-could-be-built-in-city-1-7794984
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-35322444
Amesbury Museum and Heritage Trust posted the above news link on FB this morning with the following statement:
“Two years ago today, the government lost its credibility here when, in a moment of pre election spin it pledged that a tunnel should be ploughed through the Stonehenge landscape so that public can no longer slow traffic down to see them, so that people in the West Country will vote for them and reap huge! benefits from saving 30 mins traffic delays on a Friday afternoon, Saturday morning and Bank holidays and so that over the coming century arguably one of the most significant Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age landscape in Europe if not the World will be desecrated and our past consigned to the past. Once a concrete structure replaces a cubic kilometre of chalk there is no return, the chalk lands and natural aquifers will be altered, water flows will change and unless maintained for perpetuity, once the tunnel comes to the end of its 125yr life design, it will become the biggest man made headache for future generations to deal with. If by some pure act of vandalism the Government manage to continue to deliver this outrageous ill conceived scheme, they and those who support it will be named, published and go down in history as the vandals who destroyed Stonehenge and Britain’s heritage.
The Trust will continue to support a southern bypass reroute that provides a sustainable long term solution for South Wiltshire, the living, as well as the dead. This alternative solution would do what the tunnel won’t do and open up fully the Stonehenge Landscape without destroying it. We hope when a public consultation is eventually launched, common sense prevails and credibility is restored.”
It was a centre of Gaelic monasticism for four centuries and the home of St Columba. But now the site of what is believed to be a prehistoric village has been found on the island of Iona. The “exciting” discovery is close to the site of the isle’s primary school.
Pottery, flints and other prehistoric materials found during the archaeological dig could take its history back more than 2,500 years.
The items unearthed, and believed to be five times older than the settlement of St Columba’s time in 563 AD, were made during excavation works for the building of an extension to the island’s primary school.
The island is best known for its monastery founded by the monk Columba, also known as Colm Cille, who had been exiled from his native Ireland as a result of his involvement in the Battle of Cul Dreimhne. But now a new find on the holy island has excited archaeologists from across Scotland and throughout the world.
An archaeological team have discovered two different periods of building on top of the original village mound of more than 1,000 years, and a previously unknown extension to the medieval vallum, or wall, has all been found in a shallow ditch next to the school.
The extent of the wall may rewrite experts’ understanding of the way in which the community on the island in 600 and 700 AD worked together.
The archaeological work has been carried out by Dr Clare Ellis of Argyll Archaeology Ltd.
She said: ‘It seems very likely that the turf bank and ditch are early medieval in date, perhaps 7th or 8th century, and may represent the remains of an unknown monastic boundary, while the underlying soils appear likely to date from the late Bronze Age or Iron Age.
‘What is most exciting to me is that the lines of the property that exist now are very similar to the property lines that existed more than 2,000 years ago.”
pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/highlands/1002459/prehistoric-village-found-on-iona/
wiltshiremuseum.org.uk/news/index.php?Action=8&id=174&page=0
I visited this exhibition in Devizes Museum yesterday – it wasn’t an exhibition in the regular sense as, although the items were numbered, they were interspersed among the museum’s excellent permanent collection. There were some surprises – a bowl from West Kennet Long Barrow, the Roundway Down Archer (neither of which I had seen before).
It seems to be a county wide project so worth checking the other museums too.
An ancient and obscured piece of limestone has long guarded Cannon Street. It’s called simply London Stone (never ‘the’ London Stone). It might be a Roman milestone or druidic monument. Nobody knows. Very few people ever notice the venerable rock, which has long languished in a woefully unworthy niche opposite the station.
From this Friday, the mysterious artefact will finally get some attention when it goes on show as part of the the Museum of London’s War, Plague & Fire gallery.
London Stone was once much larger and more prominently positioned. The monument is mentioned in Shakespeare, and was first referenced in the 12th century. It is undoubtedly much older, and has been incorporated in the foundation myths of our city.
Display at the museum will finally bring London Stone back into public awareness after its long slumber. It will remain at the museum while work is carried out to rebuild its existing home.
The stone is shifting to the museum for temporary display, while its existing home is knocked down and rebuilt.
See London Stone at the Museum of London from Friday 13 May 2016. Entrance is free.
Great news! Scientist Mary Somerville too.
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-36111759
Robert Macfarlane, writer and Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, welcomed the choice of Ms Shepherd for the £5 note.
He said: “It is thrilling to see Nan Shepherd celebrated and commemorated in this way.
“Nan was a blazingly brilliant writer, a true original whose novels, poems and non-fiction broke new ground in Scottish literature, and her influence lives on powerfully today.”
insidewiltshire.co.uk/5000-years-of-history-unearthed-at-site-for-new-army-homes/
“The archaeological work that uncovered these exciting remains was undertaken as part of the normal planning process and we are pleased that, as a result, it has been agreed some of the most significant archaeology will be preserved within the planned open space. The remains date from the prehistoric to the modern periods and add new chapters to the story of Bulford. These finds are a great example of the fantastic range of archaeology that lies unseen under our county waiting to be rediscovered, and how sustainable development can help to tell us more about our past.”
A further phase of excavation is planned to examine the two prehistoric monuments beside which the Saxon cemetery was established. These appear to consist of Early Bronze Age round barrows that may have earlier, Neolithic origins. They are likely to be granted scheduled monument protection by Historic England and will be preserved in situ in a part of the site that will remain undeveloped. Neolithic pits outside the monuments contained decorated ‘Grooved Ware’ pottery, stone and flint axes, a finely made disc-shaped flint knife, a chalk bowl, and the bones of red deer, roe deer and aurochs (extinct wild cattle).
BOOZE will be banned from summer solstice celebrations at Stonehenge, English Heritage has confirmed.
And drivers will have to fork out £15 to park at the Stones, in a bid to reduce the number of cars at the event.
When the plans were unveiled in February it led to a “pay to pray policy” accusation from senior druid King Arthur Pendragon.
Bosses at Stonehenge say the reason behind introducing a £15 parking charge is encourage more people to car share and use public transport.
They also believe that banning alcohol will “reduce the risk to those attending and to the monument itself”. Drinking will not be allowed anywhere in the monument field.
Part of the reasons for the changes is the increase in numbers to Stonehenge for the summer solstice. In 2000, approximately 10,000 people attended while in 2014, the figure was close to 40,000. That same year, the stones were vandalised during both the summer and winter solstice celebrations.
Money raised from the new charges would go towards supporting £60,000 a year cost of maintaining the visitor centre car park. Kate Davies, Stonehenge’s General Manager, said: “Over the last 15 years we have seen a huge increase in the number of people celebrating the summer solstice at Stonehenge. We have limited parking facilities and we believe the parking charge will encourage more people to car share or travel by bus.
“We’ve also seen more drunken and disrespectful behaviour. Something has to be done or we risk losing what makes solstice at Stonehenge so special.
“These changes will help us to better look after both those attending the solstice and the ancient monument itself.
“Since we proposed these changes, we’ve had a lot of support from the public and from across all the different groups who help to organise the solstice celebrations.”
English Heritage also said it was mindful of how alcohol was used by some druids during ceremonial practice and would be consulting with the community on how moderate use of ritual alcohol.
English Heritage has commissioned a carving into the rocks at Tintagel. As this is the News Section I will refrain from expressing a personal view.
english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/search-news/merlin-carving-tintagel
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-35523757
“A Bronze Age cremation burial has been discovered near Stonehenge after being accidentally dug up by a badger. Objects found in a burial mound at Netheravon, Wiltshire, include a bronze saw, an archer’s wrist guard, a copper chisel and cremated human remains.
Experts believe the burial may have been that of an archer or a person who made archery equipment.
The artefacts date back to 2,200-2,000BC, senior archaeologist Richard Osgood, of the MOD, said.”
These will be displayed in the Wiltshire Museum at Devizes later in the year.
English Heritage look set to ban alcohol and charge for parking at future Summer and Winter Solstice Gatherings.
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-35500528
Revellers at Stonehenge could face a ban on alcohol and parking charges at this year’s solstice celebrations. English Heritage, which manages the ancient site, wants to introduce “significant changes” in response to “repeated and consistent” feedback. Stonehenge manager Kate Davies, said an alcohol ban would “help everyone to have a better experience of solstice”.
But senior druid, King Arthur Pendragon, said English Heritage was “looking for confrontation”.
In December, large crowds gathered at the ancient monument in Wiltshire to watch the sunrise and mark the winter solstice.
And an estimated 23,000 people descended on the site to celebrate the summer solstice last June.
Despite it being illegal to damage the monument, last year the Heritage Journal wanted revellers banned from getting close to the stones in a bid to prevent the “annual vandalism”.
A beautiful winter’s day, the fairground ride of Christmas over – sigh of relief for another year. So today ventured out to Avebury to walk over to West Kennett Long Barrow. Having heard it was open to the public again, wanted to see the improvements. The ground levels inside the barrow have been raised slightly and covered with a sandy gravel. The unsightly sky-light has been sealed and replaced with two port holes in the middle and at the end of the barrow. I bumped into an old friend over there (as you do) who told me the plan was for water to drain out through a small gap in the entrance stones.
Just at the moment the walk up to the barrow is very muddy as a vehicle has churned the rubber meshing.
The National Trust has written to the Portman Hunt amid claims its horses and hounds damaged Hambledon Hill, one of the finest examples of an iron age hill fort in Dorset. It is claimed the hunt left the recognised bridleway and came across the hill during a half term hunt last month.
National Trust volunteer Jerry Broadway, who believes this is the second time the hunt has damaged the hill fort, added: “After leaving the bridleway the hunt scattered livestock which were panicked by the hounds who were completely out of control.
“On this occasion extensive damage was done by the horses to the hill generally, and most worryingly the Neolithic Longbarrow which is over 3,000 years old. They have now twice been guilty of blatant and wilful damage to a scheduled ancient monument. What, I wonder will it take to make them actually take real notice?”
Meanwhile, National Trust West & North Dorset general manager Helen Mann confirmed complaints had been received that a hunt crossed Hambledon Hill. She said: “It appears that the hunt, while crossing the hill on a bridleway, left the track to round up some dogs which had got out of control.
“Hambledon Hill is a remarkable and important site for both wildlife and archaeology and we have written to the hunt to remind them that they must stay on the bridleway when crossing the hill. Any horses being ridden off the bridleway risk damage and erosion to the fragile Iron Age ramparts which give the hill its distinctive appearance.”
Hambledon Hill was acquired by the National Trust last year. Built over 2,000 years ago, the massive earthwork defences lay over one of the most significant early Neolithic landscapes in Western Europe, dating back almost 6,000 years, and is a place half of British butterfly species call home.
The Portman Hunt was unavailable for comment.
West Kennett Long Barrow is currently closed for conservation work. The entrance is fenced off while a small team of what looked like three people work on the drainage and 1950s concrete skylight. I was over there earlier today and spoke to someone who said he was an archaeology-engineer. The work, being carried out with care and precision, has been jointly commissioned by NT and EH.
A very strong plastic webbing ‘road’ has been laid up to the barrow and a portacabin is up there behind the fencing.
archaeology.org/news/3822-151022-mesolithic-skye-nutshells
Hazelnut shells have been uncovered at a Mesolithic site on the Isle of Skye by archaeologists from the University of the Highlands and Islands, members of the Staffin Community Trust, schoolchildren, and volunteers. “We have found lots of fragments of charred hazelnut shells in the lower soil samples. They are the ideal thing to date as they have a short life span and were a Mesolithic favorite,” archaeologist Dan Lee told BBC News. The team also recovered flints and a piece of bone that may have been used as a toggle or a bead.
irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/ancient-burial-site-discovered-in-kerry-697015.html
Excavations of what is thought to be the oldest surviving structure in Kerry have uncovered a burial site which dates back almost 6,000 years.
The dolmen or portal tomb at Killaclohane, Milltown is the oldest such structure still intact anywhere in Kerry according to the county archaeologist, Michael Connolly.
The tomb, on a site between Milltown and Castlemaine, dates from around 3,800 BC and had never been excavated before.
A team of archaeologists recently undertook conservation works to ensure that the capstone on the tomb – which had slipped off its supporting portal stones – would not fall completely and irreparably damage the two upright pillars.
Excavations of what is thought to be the oldest surviving structure in Kerry have uncovered a burial site which dates back almost 6,000 years.
According to archaeologist Michael Connolly “during the excavations, the cremated remains of at least two people were discovered along with a number of arrowheads, scrapers, neolithic pottery and a flint javelin head”.
The precise dating of those objects may take several months but they are believed to be from the early Neolithic period. The discovery suggests that one of the earliest settlements in the county was in the Milltown area when people began to farm and develop ties to the land. Connolly has described the discovery as “very important”.
irisharchaeology.ie/2015/08/the-destruction-of-a-3000-year-old-bog-roadway-in-co-westmeath/
“While Irish heritage is being celebrated and promoted this week, the destruction of a major archaeological monument, a major timber-built road of European significance at Mayne Bog, Coole, County Westmeath is continuing.
Although the National Monuments Service (NMS, the responsibility of Minister Heather Humphreys) has known since 2005 about the existence of the monument, they have failed to act to preserve it.
The road or Togher was discovered in 2005 and was reported by a concerned local resident, rather than the landowner or the industrial peat company Westland Horticulture who are extracting compost from the site.
The National Monuments Service subsequently instigated the excavation of a few meters of the 657m long roadway, which established that:
The monument was a substantial transversely laid plank built roadway. It was no mere trackway, it measured from 4.3m to 6m in width. The recorded length of the road was 675m, but it was seen to extend beyond both recorded limits.
A carbon 14 date of 1200-820 BC was obtained from the timbers, making it a remarkable structure of Bronze Age date, 1000 years older than the celebrated Corlea Bog roadway in neighbouring County Longford.
The excavators recommended further archaeological work but this was never acted upon. What did happen was that peat extraction work continued unabated. What is worse is that the monument was never even properly listed or given any legal protection ...”
(Contd.)
Jim Leary’s team at Marden Henge have found a Bronze Age burial of a child. Gender not known yet but child wearing amber beads.
I don’t know whether Rupert Soskin posts here any more (if he does come on to discuss this I will delete this entry). I’ve just read this on the Facebook “Standing with Stones” page and, having not long since visited Bryn Celli Ddu, found it Very Interesting indeed.
Below is Rupert’s FB post:
“Hi folks, Rupert here.
I thought it important to share this as many of you have expressed an interest. I was contacted last night on Twitter by Ffion Reynolds who had been to Bryn Celli Ddu with a geologist who identified the ‘tree’ pillar as blueschist – i.e rock, not fossil.
Now, the interesting thing about blueschist is that it is a metamorphic rock which only forms in extremely particular circumstances, best explained by this quote from the United States Geological Survey’s website:
...................................
For many years geologists have been able to relate individual facies to the pressure and temperature conditions of metamorphism.
But they had no satisfactory explanation for the geologic processes that form metamorphic rocks, that is, until the theory of plate tectonics emerged.
One good example is this relatively rare metamorphic rock called “blue schist.”
Experimental work had shown that the minerals in blue schist form only under very unusual metamorphic conditions.
These conditions are a pressure range equivalent to a depth of 15 to 30 kilometers in the crust and a very cool temperature, only 200 to 400 degrees centigrade.
That’s the approximate cooking temperature of a kitchen oven or toaster.
At a depth of 15 to 30 kilometers, however, the temperature is normally about twice as hot, 500 to 750 degrees centigrade.
So the only way that rocks can be metamorphosed to blue schist facies , is to be quickly shoved down to those extreme depths and then rapidly brought back up before the rocks have time to heat up completely.
And that’s exactly what happens where two tectonic plates are colliding in a subduction zone.
In fact, blue schist bearing rocks normally occur in long linear zones that mark ancient plate subduction boundaries.
..................................
One of the principal reasons I clung to the fossil theory was the cylindrical tree-trunk shape which had clearly not been cut, despite all previous descriptions of it being ‘carefully worked’.
The formation of blueschist could allow a seam of cooling rock to literally roll up between the tectonic plates rather like a piece of seaside rock.
This leaves us with two, rather lovely points:
One: The builders of Bryn Celli Ddu would know no difference, it was still a magical stone tree.
And Two: Metamorphic rock does not form in conveniently sized pieces. There must be more.”
phys.org/news/2015-06-exploring-ancient-life-vale-pewsey.html
The Vale of Pewsey is not only rich in Neolithic archaeology. It is home to a variety of other fascinating historical monuments from various periods in history, including Roman settlements, a deserted medieval village and post-medieval water meadows. A suite of other investigations along the River Avon will explore the vital role of the Vale’s environment throughout history.
Dr Leary continued: “One of the many wonderful opportunities this excavation presents is to reveal the secret of the Vale itself. Communities throughout time settled and thrived there – a key aim of the dig is to further our understanding of how the use of the landscape evolved – from prehistory to history.”
Duncan Wilson, Historic England Chief Executive, added: “Bigger than Avebury, ten times the size of Stonehenge and half way between the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Sites, comparatively little is known about this fascinating and ancient landscape. The work will help Historic England focus on identifying sites for protection and improved management, as well as adding a new dimension to our understanding of this important archaeological environment.”
The Vale of Pewsey excavation also marks the start of the new University of Reading Archaeology Field School. Previously run at the world-famous Roman town site of Silchester, the Field School will see archaeology students and enthusiasts from Reading and across the globe join the excavation.
The six week dig runs from 15th June to 25th July. Visitors are welcome to see the excavation in progress every day, except Fridays, between 10:00am and 5pm. Groups must book in advance
Steve Marshall will be giving a talk on springs, rivers & the Avebury monuments in Swindon!
Friday 26th Sept, 7.30pm, Swindon Museum & Art Gallery, Bath Road.
Museum Friends £3.50, Non-members £4.50
“How cool is this” – BBC Points West publish a photo of President Obama strolling around Stonehenge this evening.
On Facebook under Points West.
In August’s edition of Current Archaeology, Jim Leary talks about his theory first aired in ‘The Story of Silbury Hill’. Did our ancestors build Silbury to mark the source of the Thames. I’ve always liked this theory.
1-50 of 116 news postsNext page