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Since Toby Driver gives it a spotlight in his recent book I guess I really had to...

“Stonehenge always demands attention and sometime it sucks a bit of the oxygen out of the room when it comes to prehistory. Nevertheless, when the opportunity arose last year (thanks to Jennifer Wexler at English Heritage) to film inside the stones, we leapt at the chance. We’ve been so grateful to be able to use the time to create our homage to the latter of the two bookends of the Göbekli Tepe to Stonehenge Project. We hope you enjoy it.”

A well preserved cist upon northern Cefn Moel...

A walk to the ‘Bwlch Cairn’... and on to Pen-yr-Heol Las, via Ffynnon Las.

One of the most inaccessible sites away from the estuaries and in the interior of the country (North of Ourense), it was only after our second attempt through dense vegetation that I was finally able to penetrate into its secluded, almost hidden, location, even though it had been on my wish list for years. The name Burnt Oak was given to it because there was a dead oak behind it. Access may be closed as we speak, again (even though that is a given, as the vast majority of Gallaecian rock art sites are quite hard to get to, due to the extremely accidented terrain and dense vegetation in all seasons). The long hour I spent at this stone was timeless, and time became space in the silence of the countryside. The designs also possess that sort of Daliesque beauty to them, and they seem to drop down the rock, languidly.

A rather big piece of quartz was also found behind the site, suggesting (I’d like to think) its possible use as an implement in the past. Time undoubtedly carries on, relentlessly, but certain things never change. And these places have remained unvisited or forgotten for millennia, so the quartz bit could have been half-buried there in the ground (where I got it) for as long as it was since it was used for the last time. It is not the first time that I have found bits of quartz in my expeditions, although they are also commonly found in all other prehistoric sites. In Gallaecian and North Iberian folklore, quartz still has magical properties and can be seen in walls, roofs or fences as a sign of protection against evil, witches or thunderstorms.

The first time I explored the area around the site (a hillock) and could not access this magnificent rock art panel, I discovered a few other great designs further north, higher on a tor, only to find out that about half of them had already been (unofficially) registered by other rock art enthusiasts about a decade before.

Such is the erratic state of archaeological research here due to the obscene carelessness shown by the authorities (only interested when political publicity and Big Cash are involved – see the the open-air museum at Campo Lameiro as an example of this). Elsewhere, most of the other 4,000 Atlantic / Gallaecian-style panels (a lot of which are as gorgeous and mind-blowing as this one) remain unknown, hidden to view, or surrounded by almost impenetrable vegetation or vast areas of modern forestry land which now cover almost all of the country, but which is far more profitable for the short-sighted authorities than the country’s hidden but excellent prehistoric heritage. Many rock art sites receive no light now, making them difficult to be appreciated by potential visitors. And the rural activities of the countryside are a thing of the past now, due to depopulation. In the past, the sheep, the cattle and the wild horses would have kept this area clean.

For the archaeologists, keeping the panels hidden is also better (and cheaper) than exposing them – there are just far too many of them and they might get damaged... or would only be of niche interest to a certain type of British travellers, anyway! It rains so much here, that once an area is cleaned, it takes only a few weeks for it to get covered up again.

The other more obscure reason is that the rock art of Galicia and N. Portugal is also quite distinctive and unique to Atlantic Iberia alone (and the British Isles), thus not appealing to conservative authorities wary of other nationalist, independentist parties which, throughout history, have always been keen to differentiate ‘Celtic’ Galicia from the rest of Iberia (and regard the current statehood within the Spanish country as an ‘occupation’ or ‘colonisation’) – in the same way that the Scots would frown at outsiders calling them English – and that has always created conflict with the pro-Spain parties in the country, which are quite happy not to bring this unique sign of identity or differentiation to the light. And in any case, in common with other parts of the world, these parties are never too interested in the arts, culture or heritage. Too much and too complex for their brains.

Having approached via Mud Lane.... incidentally, there’s a Slade Farm near The Mam C... I’m happy to say this low-lying hillfort is “Dyna-mite”.

Taking in the FOUR cross banks of this superb cliff fort....

The approach to arguably one of the finest cliff forts in the UK... Careful, now.

In this episode, the Time Team Expedition Crew—Lawrence, Naomi, Derek, Hilde, and a small group of volunteers—head to Farley Moor, Derbyshire, just outside the Peak District National Park. This rugged landscape of gritstone moors is rich in prehistoric monuments, from henges and ring cairns to stone circles, but the team’s focus is a single, enigmatic standing stone. Could it be a remnant of a larger, lost, Bronze Age monument?

Well, it would be rude not to drop in having spent some more quality time at Tinkinswood, right?

A round of melody with ‘All The King’s Moogs’ – a short film of The King’s Men stone circle (c.2,500 BC) at The Rollright Stones, Oxfordshire. Music performed on a Minimoog Model D.

Call this visit a belated Christmas present from old St. Nick lodged just up the road. Apparently.

42 years after my last vist to Pendine... I’m back. And this time it’s, er, archaeological...

Experience is a wonderful thing, so they say. So, this time I do it right. Just about.

As hors d’oeuvres go, they don’t come much better than this. I re-visit the cliff fort perched above the enigmatic ‘Goat’s Hole’...

Film and Music by Matthew Shaw.
Filmed at Imbolc 2025

In this video, we are covering the recorded history of Carreg Samson, going back over 200 years to discover how this site has changed, what has been found during excavations and what it may have once looked like.

Video showing the amazing chalk drum from Burton Agnes. The archaeologist who discovered it is interviewed, and you see the drum on display next to its cousins the Folkton Drums. It was found in the grave of three children (the three drums were in the grave of one child). Carbon dating of the site has enabled a more accurate date for the Folkton Drums too.

I dive deep into the lives of the neolithic farmers who built the the Callanish stone circles complex

This is the footage I took and used for 3 projects, so feel free to enjoy or use in your own videos [with a credit]
I have been frustrated that I often needed a short clip but none were available – the good thing is I did make the trip but if you can’t it save carbon miles. This sister channel of mine features stock copyright footage

This is part geology, part monumental – although Stonehenge is featured the sarsen stone and geology of rocks at Avebury and Stonehenge and the ‘quarry’ are featured in this video.
As a kid visiting Avebury I asked “where do the rocks come from?” because as everyone knows there are no mountains in southern England, and I eventually decided to find out when passions of ancient history and geology coincided.

This video covers Portugal to Brittany to the UK and Ireland, but has to go somewhere and Brittany is a good place to start.
Inspired by the Modern Antiquarian I wanted to apply it to chronology and many sources are not clear on the evolution of monuments – so here’s my attempt.

Let’s take a walk down ‘Avenue Moog’ – a short film and psychedelic stroll down West Kennet Avenue (c.2,200 BC), music performed on a Minimoog Model D.

Beyond the mountain ranges across the ancient borders of Gallaecia, but still in an area within her cultural influence, the two magnificent altar stones of Filiel are two massive twin stones with 3 Bronze Age labyrinths each (one of which is also full of cups) just below a tor of epic physical (and spiritual) proportions.

Their position in the middle of nowhere makes these two appear like flat altars looking towards the mountain of Telenus (one solstice sunrise with another peak in the same mountain range has already been spotted).

The stones were only discovered little more than a decade or so ago. The mountain Telenus was considered the ancient god of the area, and a later Romano-native dedication to it has been found, also suggesting possible connections to ancient god Teutates.

The freezing winter cold and the feeling of being watched by roaming wolves is not too evident in the video. The walk in the winter dark back to the nearest road felt endless.