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Stony Littleton
Tufa found in the wellow valley
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Whilst trawling the web today, came across an article in PAST http://www.ucl.ac.uk/prehistoric/, referring to some work done last year. Tufa had been found in the valley bottom, or valley sides, adjacent to the Wellow Brook, to quote " continuous tufa formation through the valley which seems to have formed during the the Mesolithic and perhaps neolithic period" , (think its the action of water and calcium carbonate).
What makes it interesting is that small late mesolithic/early N. pits were found, having items including flint, stone, ball of tufa, and also fossils in one pit. Well as Stoney littleton is just further down the valley and has not only a fossilized ammonite, but another stones with fossil adjacent, plus David Milners picture, it begs the question did fossils form part of the symbolic representation of the people who settled here, or were they just pretty stones or decorative?
The tufa is also seen as maybe something symbolic, the pits follow the line of the tufa deposition, and the excavators put forward the theory that the area surrounding the tufa would have appeared white, maybe making a "magical"landscape.
Jodie Lewis by the way has written an interesting article on the B/A votive offerings down the swallett holes on the Mendips, and probably here the religious ritual relates to the underground River Axe, seen in full Tolkienesque glory at Wookey Hole....


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moss
Posted by moss
3rd August 2005ce
17:36

4 replies:

Re: Tufa found in the wellow valley (juamei)
I'm so sorry.... (Nat)
Re: Tufa /Neolithic Mendip (Jodie)
Re: Tufa found in the wellow valley (daveyravey)

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