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Dig into the past at the 23rd Festival of Archaeology! 13-28 July 2013
Co-ordinated by the Council for British Archaeology, the Festival offers over 1,000 events nationwide, organised by museums, heritage organisations, national and country parks, universities, local societies, and community archaeologists.
For details of events in your region go to http://www.archaeologyfestival.org.uk/
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Stonehenge & Avebury World Heritage Sites, a talk by Rachel Foster
Thursday 5th September 2013 2.15 pm
Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre, Cocklebury Road, Chippenham SN15 3QN
An insight into two of the richest archaeological sites in the country. This talk will help you explore these ancient landscapes and celebrate their contribution to our understanding of our prehistoric ancestors. Limited 30 people
Admission £3.50 (concessions £2.50). Spaces are limited so please buy your ticket in advance. Telephone 01249 705500 or visit our Help Desk at the History Centre. (Payment by credit/debit card or cheque available for the purchase of 2 or more tickets).
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Archaeology and Conservation Fair - Sunday 14th July
Wiltshire & Swindon History Centre, Cocklebury Road, Chippenham SN15 3QN
Ever wondered what the county archaeology team based in the History Centre does?
Curious to take a tour of the Conservation Labs upstairs?
Maybe you would like to find out about recent excavations, hoards and the work of local archaeology field units?
The Archaeology and Conservation Fair on Sunday 14th July at the History Centre is a fantastic FREE event with stands from 20 local archaeological organisations and a programme of free 10 minute talks that will tell you all about archaeology in the county.
Open from 11am to 4pm, the fair includes stands from Wiltshire's museums, Wessex archaeology, the National Trust and English Heritage. There will be plenty to interest visitors of all ages, including information on courses, volunteering, and fieldwork. Younger visitors will enjoy making their own Stonehenge, trying out a sandpit dig, handling a range of real objects and finding out about the Young Archaeologists clubs running in Wiltshire and Swindon. The ten minute talks' programme will run throughout the day and includes talks on the First World War project, Finding the Forgotten, the conservation of a large Romano-British pot found in Highworth, recent surveys, excavations and the discovery of 2 important early iron age hoards. Please see the full talks programme for times of individual talks. Tours of the conservation labs will run all day and you can visit the county archaeology service to find out about their work and see the Historic Environment Register demonstrated.
For further information on this event see the History Centre events page
http://www.wshc.eu/home/events.html
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Unusual Places in Switerland
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French website with page on Lutry showing plans and details of stones
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If you ever find yourself cruising around the western end of Lake Geneva, why not heave to, and check out the stones at Lutry. Chances are that you'll be doing your cruising in a motorcar, which for this particular prehistoric site is a real paradox. Before any roads or tracks were used, the way the original builders wanted you to see the site was from the lake, but if it wasn't for the motorcar, nobody in the present time would have seen the site at all.
The stones, which date from the Middle Neolithic (ca. 4500-4000 BC), were partially destroyed by a flood and buried under a landslide from the river Lutrive which runs into the lake a couple of hundred meters to the west. The site had been undisturbed for millennia until discovered when the area was being developed for a car park. The stones were carefully excavated and re-erected on the present site in 1986. I had a look around but I could not see any indication to mark were their original position within the modern car park, unlike the post holes in the car park at Stonehenge.
There are now twenty three stones, which seem to form two parts. The first part is made up of twelve standing stones forming a straight line running east to west and this section contains the largest stones. The second section comprises smaller stones ranging from eighty to twenty centimetres in height which form a slight curve. As the stones were partially destroyed, there may have been a mirror of this smaller section on the eastern side.
All the stones are very thin making the stelae very slender. They all show signs of being shaped too, their rounded tops may have been formed to symbolize a head. The fourth stone from the east, on the second row has various engravings. The top has chevrons cut into it which have been interpreted as hair, lower down are five rings, interpreted as female breasts elements and finally at the bottom is a male element shaped like a bottle opener. This stone has been reproduced and takes pride of place in a glass case a little further away in the Simplon passage of the main shopping area. These markings could easily be nothing more than graffiti, carved by a bored adolescent long after the site had been abandoned and passed into ruin.
In some ways the Lutry menhirs are typical of a lot of the Swiss megalithic sites, but their discovery and restoration is unique. Where as most ancient sites have been persevered in some form or another by successive generations of farmers or towns people, the megalithic sites of Switzerland were completely abandoned in the mass exodus and scorched earth policy adopted by the Helvetians and their neighbouring tribes in 58 B.C.
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Showing 1-50 of 1,695 posts. Most recent first | Next 50
Hail and Welcome
Chance was born in Ratae in the year of the Rat, and grew up in the territory of the Corieltauvi. Now living days walk west of Wale-dich (Avebury), on the border between the Atrebates, the Durotriges and the Dobunni.
Practical experience of excavation on Neolithic, Bronze-age, Roman sites.
Enjoys exploring on bicycle, with wild camp provisions along Roman roads and ancient Celtic tracks. Interested in the various tribes, how they divided their land, their agricultural calendar, their common beliefs and ritual systems. Often attends the tribal meetings held at Avebury and Stonehenge.
Contact - Chippychance on UTube
http://www.youtube.com/chippychance
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