telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/08/15/scibronze115.xml
The discovery of the middle-aged man’s remains and burial casket, or cisk, was made by an amateur archaeologist, Trevor Renals, as walked on Constantine island (near Harlyn)
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom – Aug 15, 2008
Concerns as Iron Age Fort Goes on Market – From This is Cornwall, 11:00 – 15th November 2004
An Iron Age hill fort is due to go under the hammer next month – to the delight of entrepreneurs but the concern of historians and locals. Lindsey Kennedy reports
Historians and a school have raised concerns about the sale of an historic hill fort in Penzance, which is to be put up for auction next month. Historians and a school have raised concerns about the sale of an historic hill fort in Penzance, which is to be put up for auction next month.
Lescudjack Hill Fort, the area’s largest Iron Age settlement, is for sale through Fulfords Estate Agents in Penzance, with a guide price of £28,000.
The estate agent said there had been “a lot of interest” in the site.
The area of land off Pendennis Road, Penzance, extends to around one hectare or 2.5 acres – and has breathtaking views over Penzance to Mount’s Bay and the Mousehole Peninsula.
In the sale particulars, the estate agents suggest the land is suitable for “general amenity, equestrian or perhaps parking on the quarry area to the south-east” subject to planning permission.
The historic site will be put up for auction on December 2 at the Novotel, Marsh Mills, Plymouth, unless previously sold,
Ian Addicoat, a local author and historian, is among those expressing concern about the pending sale.
He said: “Clearly it is imperative that such an historic and important site is maintained and preserved correctly”.
“I think if there were any plans to develop such an important site there would be an outcry, and I would be very surprised if the planners would allow it”.
He said the site was currently overgrown, adding: “I hope whoever takes it on appreciates its history and considers allowing it to be used as an amenity”.
“I’m not sure the public is aware of its significance. They probably think it’s a field with a nice view. But historians are certainly aware of what it represents”.
Historian and writer Craig Weatherhill, who mentions the hill fort in his book Belerion, said it dated back to around 300BC.
“It is extremely important to Penzance and over the decades it’s been treated pretty shamefully”, he said.
Hill forts were fortified settlements which began to appear in upland areas, especially in southern England.
They were often massive, complicated structures with surrounding ramparts and ditches. Some of them served as small towns and administrative centres, as well as fortifications at times of conflict.
Although the Penzance hill fort is overgrown, the site has never been properly explored and could reveal many archaeological secrets.
Mr Weatherhill added: “Some 15 to 20 years ago there was a proposal to do a hefty excavation but it came to nothing. It has never really been dug properly”.
“I would be delighted if local historical groups are successful, because they would have the well-being of the site at heart”.
Nikki Owen, headteacher of Penzance Infants School, which is close to the ancient site, said the news of the sale was “very disappointing”.
Two years ago children from the school gave some serious consideration to what they would like to see happen to the old Lescudjack Hill Fort site.
The children made the site their summer project and set about gathering names on a petition calling on the local councils to carry out some improvements.
Some 30 children from Year Two visited the then Mayor of Penzance, Ruth Simpson, and presented her with a 500-name petition calling for the site to be refurbished.
“It took us some time to track down the owner of the site, who turns out to be somebody in Newlyn,” Mrs Owen said.
“It is very disappointing that it is being sold off.
“I only hope that any future owner will develop it as a public amenity and show its historic significance.”
09:30 – 14 October 2004
Evidence of prehistoric activity dating back to the Neolithic era has been discovered on land in Scarcewater, near St Stephen, where work on a china clay tip is to begin shortly. Archaeologists from Cornwall County Council’s Historic Environment Service have been uncovering the early history of the area and will present their findings during an invitation-only open day for interested groups and local schools later this month.
The team is working closely with china clay company Imerys, which is funding the project and assisting with the removal of modern layers from the site.
During the excavations, finds and features have been uncovered which appear to represent four stages of prehistoric activity – Neolithic, early bronze age, middle bronze age and the later bronze/iron ages.
Previous fieldwork carried out by the HES revealed a long history of ceremonial and settlement activity at Scarcewater spanning five millennia.
Senior archaeologist Andy Jones said: “The excavations at Scarcewater are the largest archaeological excavations to be undertaken in the county and are providing a fantastic opportunity to investigate shifting prehistoric settlement patterns over several millennia.”
Imerys community and public relations manager Ivor Bowditch said: “The company is always conscious of its responsibility to preserve or record historic data which unfolds as the industry itself develops.
“Not in all cases can preservation be made due to the nature of the extractive business, but, as in the case of Scarcewater, we were able to fund professional, archaeological work to retrieve important data and record for posterity the finds of such an excavation.”
l Anyone interested can contact Andy Jones from the HES on 01872 323691 or email [email protected]
From BBC Devon:
A Bronze Age pot goes on display on Monday at Barnstaple’s museum.
Archaeologists discovered the vessel on a farm in Parracombe last year, where it was carefully dug up and preserved.
Now the pot can be seen by the public while historical experts investigate if there is further evidence of life around the area.
BBC Devon
Garden makeover programmes are being blamed for an increase in the theft of ancient artefacts from Dartmoor.
Electronic tags are being used to help protect valuable stone crosses and troughs in the area.
Officials from the Dartmoor National Park Authority say the popularity of TV garden series could be triggering more thefts.
New security measures follow a recent attempt to remove a granite cross.
Jane Marchand, an archaeologist with the park authority, said: “Unfortunately we have lost a number of artefacts and there has been a recent attempt to remove a cross from the moor.
“It is hard to say who is to blame, but I think it’s an interest in garden ornaments from TV gardening shows.
“If you look through auction sales they very often have granite objects for sale.”
The new measures will mean any stolen artefacts can be traced using an electronic scanner.
A microchip, about the size of a grain of rice, is inserted into the granite so it is invisible.
Ms Marchand said: “I think it’s very sad that we have to do this.
“I can’t understand how anyone could think of removing these things.
“But there is some strange irony that we are using the latest technology to help protect these very ancient artefacts.”
RESCUE – The British Archaeological Trust
Gloucester Archaeology Unit is threatened with closure. Gloucester City council are currently considering a number of ways to save money for next year, and the Archaeology Unit is a prime target.
Alex Hunt of the CBA reports that the proposal is apparently to cut the field unit section. According to the local Unison branch 5 out of 7 staff will go and the service will be reduced, relocated and refocused on providing purely planning advice and monitoring. The council plans to make a decision on the proposal on 16th October, so there is only a relatively short time in which to lobby them.
Not only is the unit a valuable service and an integral part of preserving Gloucester’s unique heritage, but closing it would save the council very little, only £28,000 in fact which is less than half of what the unit would have made in profit had it not been stopped from tendering for work.
Anybody who has ever dealt with the unit knows what an important role its staff play in protecting the archaeological remains of Gloucester city but also the incredible amount of ‘educational extras’ such as the yearly field school, events and work experience placements which will be lost.
Supporter Rebecca Briscoe, says ‘personally had it not been for the huge part the unit had to play in my archaeological awakening I would not be heading off to one of the top universities in the country to study archaeology at the beginning of this term. The presence of a unit so near to where I live and work was instrumental in the amount of works experience I and many budding archaeologists like me have gained. The incredible staff, whom I cannot praise enough, are too valuable a resource of experience and expertise to be discarded because of budget mismanagement by the city council.
In light of this anyone who feels strongly about this matter should write to
Kevin Stevens, Leader, or Paul Smith, Managing Director,
Gloucester City Council, The Docks, Gloucester, GL1 2EP,
or the local paper The Citizen
Torc discovery rivals Snettisham hoard
An Iron Age torc unearthed in a Norfolk field this summer has been hailed as an exceptional find on a par with the famed Snettisham hoard.
Norfolk Museums Service expert Dr John Davies said the item dated back to the Iceni tribe, probably a generation before Iceni leader Boudicca lived.
He said: “It is indeed a very fine example. It compares with some of the very finest examples that have turned up at Snettisham.
“It’s a very exceptional find, a delightful find in many respects because it’s aesthetically beautiful.
“The number we have of these isn’t vast, so every one that turns up is important.”
Dr Davies said he would love to see the artefact, which was found by farmer Owen Carter in July and declared treasure by a coroner last week, on display in the Castle Museum, Norwich.
“It would be lovely for people to come and see and appreciate the magnificent craftsmanship of the people of the time,” he said.
“We would be interested in acquiring it if we possibly can. It’s something we would love to put into our Boudicca gallery.”
But the museums service will have to wait for the torc to be valued and then look into applying for funding.
A report by Dr JD Hill of the British Museum revealed that the item, which was made between 200 and 50 BC , survived more than 2000 years intact before suffering recent minor damage from agricultural machinery.
He added that it was similar to the “Snettisham Great Torc, but lacking the elaborate La Tene or Early Celtic design”.
Dr Davies said the electrum torc would have belonged to a prestigious figure in Iron Age Norfolk and Boudicca would have worn similar jewellery.
“It would a badge denoting how prestigious they were, belonging to a tribal chief for example,” he said.
“We can tell they were someone very important in the society because of the value, craft and care that was spent on them.
“It adds to our understanding of the great wealth possessed in west Norfolk at that time, which suggests it was a very important area.”
Dramatic Scenes On North Cornish Coast
50 tonnes of headland soil moved
Trevelgue Head (Porth Island) was closed to public access earlier this week to enable an airlift of material to repair an ancient Bronze Age barrow on the island near Newquay.
Despite strong winds and heavy rain, on Wednesday 29th October, staff from Restormel Borough Council, in partnership with the County Council’s Historic Environment Service, co-ordinated an airlift of 50 tones of headland soil by 771 Naval Air Squadron Culdrose.
The repair became necessary to overcome the effect of natural erosion as well as the wear and tear of the many visitors who come to enjoy the spectacular coastal views. Transporting the quantity of material across the narrow footbridge by hand would have been impossible without the help of the Navy.
Cllr Michael Burley, portfolio holder for Tourism & Leisure at the Borough Council commented: “This barrow is one of a number along the North Coast near Newquay showing the importance of this whole area in the Bronze Age. We are extremely grateful that 771 Naval Air Squadron were able to assist us in repairing this prestigious site.”
Twenty-two staff from Restormel’s Parks Service, together with support from the BTCV (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers) braved the atrocious weather to help with the unloading and distribution of the soil. Despite the conditions everyone pulled together in a good team effort, pleased to be involved in an important and exciting project.
Now that the soil has been deposited on the headland, a small team from Restormel will be carrying out conservation works on the Barrow and nearby footpaths in early November.
This project is the latest in an ongoing programme of work to preserve the archaeology and fabric of the Headland. A management plan drawn up in 1999 by English Nature identified a number of issues, including the need to repair to ramparts of Iron Age cliff castle, which made Trevelgue one of the most heavily defended headlands in Cornwall. In 2001 and 2002 damage to the cliff castle’s ramparts was repaired while the new footpath and steps were laid through the ramparts.
Further work on the island is planned, but staff are hoping for better weather next time! For further information or pictures, please contact Dick Cole, Archaeologist for Cornwall County Council or Andrew Pidgen Parks & Amenities Manager Restormel Borough Council.
October 22, 2003: cornwall24.co.uk/news/
Archaeologists from Cornwall County Council’s Environment and Heritage Service have begun a three-week excavation to investigate an ancient fogou at Higher Boden, near Manaccan on the Lizard, which was recently discovered by a local farmer.
Fogous were last in the headlines in 1996 when Channel Four’s Time Team devoted a programme to these puzzling Cornish monuments.
Named after the Cornish word meaning ‘cave’, fogous are remarkable prehistoric monuments consisting of a stone-lined passage roofed with massive capstones. Many also have side tunnels dug into the natural subsoil and a few have evidence of circular underground chambers.
They are found only in the extreme west of Cornwall, mainly on the Land’s End and Lizard peninsulas, and were always built within and beneath settlement sites. Evidence shows that they were built more than 2,000 years ago ago during the later Iron Age (400BC to AD43) and have similarities with underground monuments known as ‘souterrains’, which are broadly contemporary but are found in other parts of Britain and Ireland.
Charlie Johns, county council senior archaeologist and project manager, said: “Nobody knows exactly what fogous were built for. The three most popular theories are that they were refuges in times of trouble, cellars for storing food and livestock or that they served a religious or ritual function – perhaps it was a combination of all three. This is an amazing and extremely rare discovery.”
There are only eleven other definite or probable fogous in Cornwall, only two of which have been excavated in recent years – Carn Euny, near Sancreed, in 1978, and Halliggye, near Trelowarren, in the early 1980s – although these revealed little evidence as to the function of fogous.
This latest excavation is sponsored by English Heritage, which has provided specialist support for the project.
Site visits and tours will be conducted by county council and Royal Cornwall Museum staff. Students from Truro College, local volunteers and the Cornwall Archaeological Society have been assisting with the work.
All about fogous
A fogou, or underground tunnel, has been documented at Boden since the early 19th century, when it was viewed and recorded by Polwhele, the vicar of Manaccan and St Anthony. The reports of later writers (Cornish 1906, Henderson 1912 and 1916) appear to “embellish Polwhele’s original report without reference to any further field observations” (Linford 1998, 188).
The site lies on a southerly slope near the summit of a gentle hill, some 300 metres to the west of the Boden Vean settlement (SW 7685 2405) itself one kilometre south of Manaccan village on the Lizard peninsula. The below-ground remains have been part uncovered following two separate incidents in 1991 and 1996, while discussions with local residents have shown that the fogou had previously been exposed 75-80 years ago.
There are only 11 other known definite or probable fogous: Boleigh, Carn Euny, Castallack, Chysauster, Halligye, Higher Bodinar, Lower Boscaswell, Pendeen, Porthmeor, Treveneague, Trewardreva, and 20 or so possible ones. Of these, only two have been excavated in recent years – Carn Euny (Christie 1978) and Halligye in 1982
In the interim note on Halligye, Bill Startin pointed out that “despite revealing quite a lot of information about the Halligye site, these limited excavations have revealed little further evidence as to the function of fogous”.
This walk may be more interesting to geologists but looks interesting....
The walk starts at the spring which rises from below the Upper Greensand. A huge quarry on the eastern side of Giant Hill, in the Lower and Middle Chalk, provided building stone for Cerne and probably other villages. The walk goes over the top of the hill, which is covered in a thick deposit of Clay with Flints. The valleys at Minterne Parva and Upcerne are also on the Greensand.
The main building stones in Cerne Abbas are the Lower and Middle Chalk and Lower Purbeck limestone from the Ridgeway quarries. The Lower Chalk may be identified by its gritty texture, with the occasional dark grain of glauconite. The Middle Chalk has been used in huge blocks in the medieval North Barn (now Beauvoir Court). The Lower Purbeck, a white laminated limestone, has been used in several buildings in the main street, and for the Hospice.
Cost £1.50 per person
Report from www.thisisdevon.co.uk website
09:00 – 10 July 2003
Beachgoers have been advised to think before they sunbathe or walk under cliffs, following the appearance of a crack in the Golden Cap, near Charmouth in Dorset. Chris Pamplin, earth sciences adviser for the world heritage team which looks after the Jurassic Coastline, said: “There is indeed a pinnacle of rock teetering on the brink of falling. It will fall, but the timing is anybody’s guess. It is of little danger to the general public using either Seatown or Charmouth beaches and would only pose a threat to walkers going around the base of the cliff at low tide.
“However this is a very obvious lump of rock. All beach users, wherever they are, be it Dorset, Devon, Cornwall or any other part of our coast should be aware that rocks can fall with no notice from any of our cliffs.”
Cornish newspaper “The West Briton” expands on the recent news about Gun Rith Menhir
The restoration process has been carefully planned to ensure that the area is safe for visitors and to make it look exactly as it did before the accident – even down to replacing it with a lean.
Ann Preston-Jones, senior archaeologist at the historic environment service said: “We wanted to make sure that although the stone was going to be built back into the hedge, it would remain as visible as it had been before.
“However, as the stone had almost no foundation and a 15 degree lean, it had become very unstable.
“The only way to make it safe without a base would have been to place it completely upright and to bury it so deep that it would have appeared very much shorter and become rapidly overgrown by trees and shrubs.
“We therefore came to the conclusion that it would be best to stand the stone up in a base as it is something that we have done before for medieval crosses.
“We felt that, in this case, it could be justified because, with the support of a base, most of the height of the menhir can be above the ground and it will be safe for it to lean slightly.”
read the full story
thisiscornwall.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=79373&command=displayContent&sourceNode=78925&contentPK=6209041
“brand new panoramic plate” erected by “Cornish Heritage” now totally obliterates the ancient stone that is associated with the barrow on the summit of Caste an Dinas.
To see the stone as it was...
themodernantiquarian.com/image.php?image_id=15532
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/2994828.stm
A cluster of rare flint tools unearthed at Norwich City’s football ground could date back 12,000.
Archaeologists have found flint artefacts on the site of a new stand at the club’s Carrow Road ground.
Experts believe the tools could be from the Upper Palaeolithic era.
Archaeologists have found a sand island surrounded by peat which extends under the riverside ground.
David Adams, project manager from Norfolk Archaeological Unit, said the clusters of flint tools found in this area were left by Mesolithic people from around 10,000 years ago, but experts said they could be 12,000 years old, from 10,000 BC.
The tools were left by nomadic hunter-gatherers who would have used them to catch prey in the river valley such as reindeer when this glacial period was cold and harsh.
Mr Adams said the discoveries were rare, adding: “It’s a very exciting find. It’s older than we were hoping to find.
“Within Norfolk it is certainly very important and will probably be of national interest.”
The archaeologists stressed their six-week dig would be finishing two weeks ahead of schedule.
dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20030224/stonehenge.html
Discovery News
Stonehenge Up Close
Feb. 28, 2003 —The design of Stonehenge, the 4,800-year-old monument in southwestern England, was based on female sexual anatomy, according to a paper in the current Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.
The theory could explain why the ancients constructed Stonehenge and similar monuments throughout the United Kingdom.
Anthony Perks, a professor emeritus of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of British Colombia in Vancouver, and a doctor at the university’s Women’s Hospital, first thought of Stonehenge’s connection to women after noticing how some of the stones were smooth, while others were left rough.
“It must have taken enormous effort to smooth the stones,” Perks, co-author of the journal paper, told Discovery News.
Thinking how estrogen causes a woman’s skin to be smoother than a man’s, the observation led Perks to further analyze the monument in anatomical terms.
He noticed how the inner stone trilithons were arranged in a more elliptical, or egg-shaped, pattern than a true circle. Comparing the layout with the shape of female sexual organs showed surprising parallels.
Perks believes the labia majora could be represented by the outer stone circle and possibly the outer mound, with the inner circle serving as the labia minora, the altar stone as the clitoris and the empty geometric center outlined by bluestones representing the birth canal.
In support of the theory, the body of a sacrificial child was found buried at the center of the circles at nearby Woodhenge, suggesting both monuments followed similar layouts. Perks even speculates a child’s body might lie buried at the center of Stonehenge.
Unlike other mounds in the U.K., very few burials are located around Stonehenge.
“I believe it was meant to be a place of life, not death,” said Perks, who thinks Stonehenge overall represents an Earth Mother goddess.
He explained that both western Neolithic cultures and the early Celts believed in such a goddess. Hundreds of figurines representing the idea of an Earth Mother, he said, have been found in Europe. They were created at a time when mortality at birth was high, suggesting Stonehenge could have been used for fertility ceremonies, which may have linked human birth to the birth of plants and animals upon which the people depended.
John David North, professor of philosophy emeritus at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, outlines another theory in his book “Stonehenge: A New Interpretation of Prehistoric Man and the Cosmos.” North believes the stones in the monument have precise alignments to stars in the cosmos and that Stonehenge served as an astronomical observatory and a celestial map.
While Perks acknowledges the celestial link, he views it in a different light.
“At Stonehenge you see an arc of sky together with Earth on that open Salisbury Plain,” Perks said. “It is as though Father Sun is meeting Earth Mother in an equal way at a place looking towards the future.”
edp24.co.uk/content/News/story.asp?datetime=11+Feb+2003+20%
A new exhibition charting the incredible story of Norfolk’s Seahenge is set to hit the road this summer.
Archaeologists are putting together a travelling exhibition, focussing on the Iron Age monument’s discovery and its controversial removal from the beach at Holme, near Hunstanton.
Brian Ayers, Norfolk’s archaeology and environment officer, said it would be launched in Holme in May or June.
“It will be a mobile display we can take to other locations in North West Norfolk,” he added.
“It will be talking about the history of the excavation and what this has told us about the technology of that time.”
The timber circle, which was uncovered by the tides in early 1999, was hailed as one of the most important archaeological discoveries for decades.
But there were angry protests over the decision to remove the 4000-year-old relic from the beach.
The 55 timber posts which made up the circle and its central tree stump are currently being conserved at Flag Fen, near Peterborough.
When the preservation process is complete, in two years’ time, archaeologists hope it will be put on display somewhere along the stretch of coastline where it was found.
Axe marks gave new insights into the tools used during the period. Electronic scans showed 38 different axe heads were used to shape the timbers – at a time when metal technology had only just arrived on our shores.
The marks – believed to be the earliest tool marks found in Britain – show the society that inhabited the wild North West Norfolk coastline was far more advanced than was previously thought.
Cornish newspaper “The Cornish Guardian” reported on 30 January 2003
A major archaeological project has been set in motion on Bodmin Moor ... over 150 years after the event which triggered it.
In 1837, workmen searching for stone to use in building unearthed the 3,000 year-old Rillaton Cup, which proved to be one of Cornwall’s most spectacular historic finds.
The solid gold object, standing just 8cm high, was found in a burial cairn near Minions. Underlining its significance, the cup was recently voted one of Britain’s top ten treasures by experts at the British Museum.
Interest in it was re-ignited by the discovery of a similar cup at Ringlemere in Kent a year ago.
Now the Cornwall Archaeological Unit, English Heritage and the British Museum are planning the first-ever comprehensive study of the site.
Jacky Nowakowski, a senior achaeologist with the Cornish unit, said the project was still being developed but had already created a lot of interest and excitement.
“What we want to do is study the whole of the landscape,” she said. “There are a lot of upstanding prehistoric remains in that area and the key thing we want to look at is the significance of the Rillaton barrow in relation to that landscape and how it has developed over time.”
The first phase of the project, which could start this summer, would involve an assessment of the landscape around Rillaton to identify potential excavation sites.
The next two years would see extensive fieldwork followed by a further two years of analysis resulting in the publication of findings.
One of the key sites, said Ms Nowakowski, was likely to be Stowe’s Hill, on which the naturally-formed Cheeswring stands.
“There are two neolothic enclosures, one smaller which is defined by stonework which is still visible, and one larger which contains the remains of roundhouses,” she said.
“What we hope to do is find dating evidence from those sites and try to understand the development of the area over the next 1,000 years in which we built the Hurlers ceremonial monument and the Rillaton burial monument.”
In a television programme aired on New Year’s Day, the cup was named as the tenth most important discovery ever made in Britain.
Made from a single piece of beaten gold, it was discovered by workmen in a stone-lined vault along with human remains, a sword, bronze dagger, glass beads and flint arrowheads.
It is thought the round-bottomed cup – a symbol of huge wealth and power – may have been made for a tribal chief or leader and then buried with them in the specially constructed barrow.
The online version of this article can be found at....
thisiscornwall.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=85071&command=displayContent&sourceNode=85070&contentPK=3874915
King Arthur is planning a dramatic return to his native North Cornwall next year – by standing for election to the newly-established Camelot ward of the district council!
Members of the council decided to name the ward, which includes Michaelstow, St Teath and Tintagel, “Camelot” after a review of boundaries completed earlier this year.
Now Arthur Pendragon (right), the self-styled King of the Britons, from Farnborough in Hants, has announced that he is considering standing as one of the two councillors who will represent the new ward.
“I’d love to become King of Camelot again,” he said. “It’s something I’m certainly considering.”
The former Hell’s Angel, soldier and gardener who changed his name by Deed Poll, is under no illusions about returning to his former glories at the Round Table.
“I don’t imagine that any of the councillors are called Lancelot or Galahad, but it’s worth fighting for anyway!”
He added that if he was elected and managed to become the council’s leader he would think about moving the council’s headquarters to Tintagel.
Annie Moore, spokesman for NCDC, said the council welcomed anything which raised the profile of local government elections.
“Obviously Mr Pendragon will have to meet the residency criteria to stand as a local councillor,” she said.
A 3,000 year-old gold cup found on Bodmin Moor – and once used by King George V as a handy pot for his collar studs – has been named as one of Britain’s top ten treasures.
The Bronze Age Rillaton cup was discovered by workmen in 1837 in a burial cairn near Minions.
Searching for stone they stumbled across a vault, or cist, in which they found human remains, the gold cup, a sword, dagger and glass beads.
Such was the importance of the find that experts at the British Museum have now classified it as the 10th most important historical find ever made.
Jacky Nowakowski, a senior archaeologist with the Cornwall Archaeological Unit, said: “The Rillaton Cup is very important because it is a unique object and since the discovery of the Ringlemere Cup in Kent just over a year ago, interest has been renewed in it.
After the workmen’s surprise discovery the artefacts were sent as Duchy treasure trove to William IV, who reigned from 1831 to 1837.
Despite their significance, they then fell into obscurity among the royal possessions, only to be picked out by King George V in the early 20th century as a handy container for his collar-studs.
It remained in that service until shortly after the King’s death, at which point its true identity and importance were re-established and it was placed in the British Museum.
Little is known about how the round-bottomed cup, which stands just 8cms high, was buried or where the gold was mined.
But what is clear is that the valuable item was interred with someone of great wealth and power.
Jacky said: “It was a great period of monument building, the early stages of Stone Henge were constructed in the Bronze Age and a lot of investment was made in building large barrows, stone circles and henges.
“In Cornwall, exactly the same thing was going on and people were using these monuments to make a statement about their position.”
Over the next three months the Ringlemere Cup is on temporary display alongside the Rillaton Cup while the British Museum raises funds to acquire it.
Earliest House In Scotland Found At Lafarge’s Dunbar Cement Works Quarry.
Archaeologists undertaking advanced investigations for Lafarge Cement UK on the site of the next area of mineral reserves to be worked in the quarry to the north of its cement works at Dunbar, in East Lothian have uncovered evidence of possibly one of the earliest ‘houses’ in Scotland.
John Gooder, senior project officer with AOC Archaeology Group, has managed the project. He said:
“What we have unearthed here is evidence of a Mesolithic family of hunter-gatherers who roamed the Scottish landscape between 8,000 and 4,000 BC. It’s a very exciting find. Structures of this period are extremely rare, and there are only a handful of comparable examples in the British Isles and this is the only example so far found in Scotland.
A major conservation project by Wiltshire County Council and two Wiltshire museums to preserve over 100 Bronze Age pots has reached the halfway point.
More than a hundred pots were discovered near Stonehenge, Avebury and other historical sites across Wiltshire by the Victorian archaeology pioneers, Sir Richard Colt Hoare, William Cunnington and General Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt Rivers.
More with pictures at....
24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh/ART14495.html
poole-libdem.fsnet.co.uk/Wards/Bourne_Valley/bourne_valley.htm
One of the worries about the move of Branksome Library was the future of the Branksome Stone. The Branksome Stone is a neolithic relic that has been housed in the grounds of the library for a number of years and is the oldest known item in the history of Poole. Thanks to concerned residents, Poole Council and the East Dorset Housing Association, the new owners of the site, this important artefact from the past will remain available to the people of Poole.
news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=5513829
Proposals to divert through a tunnel the busy road currently running alongside Stonehenge were today welcomed by archaeologists.
Archaeologist and broadcaster Julian Richards, who was at the World Heritage Site this afternoon to hear more about the plans, said today’s announcement was extremely welcome news.
“This is a great step forward. We can put Stonehenge back into a more natural setting so people can appreciate what a wonderful site it is.
“You can stand here today and hear the traffic all around you – hopefully that will all change.”
Chris Jones, leading the project for the Highways Agency, said it was a “historic day for the stones”.
Environmental issues were a primary concern when considering the options and a bored tunnel would help to make sure the archaeology was undisturbed, he said.
“It is restoring the landscape to its particular historic context,” he added.
Professor John Barrett, head of the department of archaeology and prehistory at Sheffield University, said the option chosen was better than alternatives of a tunnel cut from above or a highly expensive, longer bored tunnel.
“Stonehenge and its landscape allow us to encounter something of the mystery and power of the prehistoric world. This proposal opens the way for a far greater appreciation of that world,” he added.
Arts minister Tessa Blackstone welcomed today’s announcement, saying: “It will ensure Stonehenge is reunited with its surrounding monuments in their natural downland landscape setting, protect the site from heavy traffic and make possible the construction of a world class visitor centre.”
Sir Neil Cossons, chairman of English Heritage which runs the site, said: “Today’s news is a monumental moment in Stonehenge’s 5,000 year history.
“It means that Stonehenge gets the dignified setting it so justly deserves, the roads are made safer and the core area of the World Heritage Site landscape is reunited.”
English Heritage, the National Trust, the Highways Agency and local authorities are now expected to work on the tunnel’s detailed design before publication of Draft Orders in the Spring
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2279227.stm
A huge Roman iron factory has been unearthed at a remote spot on the southern edge of Exmoor.
Scientists believe the site near Brayford would have supplied markets right across the Roman Empire.
Archaeologists have found furnaces and equipment buried which would have been used to smelt hundreds of tonnes of iron nearly 2,000 years ago.
Preparations are being made to carry out further excavations.
Was it being operated by the Roman imperial army or being run by a local entrepreneur?
Dr Gill Juleff
A team of 20 students and staff from the University of Exeter’s archaeology department, plus local volunteers, have been carrying out the dig.
The team has dug a trench over 10 feet (3 metres) deep across a platform and through a heap of discarded iron slag.
The trench has revealed the scale of iron production on the site.
Pottery fragments found within the trench have also indicated that much of the activity at the site took place during the second and third centuries AD.
Supplying markets
Excavation director Dr Gill Juleff said: “One of the questions the team will be addressing is if the Roman army were overseeing and directing iron production.
“Was it being operated by the Roman imperial army or being run by a local entrepreneur, supplying iron to markets throughout the Roman Empire?
“Certainly the amount of metal produced here was far greater than would have been needed locally.”
The four-year project is being funded by English Heritage and run by the Exmoor National Park Authority, the University of Exeter and the National Trust.
A prehistoric prince with gold ear-rings has been found near Stonehenge a few yards away from the richest early Bronze Age burial in Britain.
Earlier this year, archaeologists found an aristocratic warrior, also with gold ear-rings, on Salisbury Plain and speculated that he may have been an ancient king of Stonehenge.
The body was laid to rest 4,300 years ago during the construction of the monument, along with stone arrow heads and slate wristguards that protected the arm from the recoil of the bow. Archaeologists named him the Amesbury Archer.
see the full story at.......
guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,722701,00.html
Maev Kennedy, arts and heritage correspondent
Monday May 27, 2002
The Guardian
A time capsule from the stone age, described by English Heritage chief archaeologist David Miles as unique in Britain and of international importance, is threatened by a combination of changing sea levels, dredging and trawling, and the wakes of boats and ferries crossing the Solent straits between the Hampshire coast and the Isle of Wight – as well as the effects of the weekend’s gales.
Parts of the site lost six inches of protective silt and peat this winter alone.
On the sea bed, which was dry land until 6,000BC, prehistoric stone tools still lie where they were made or dropped, among the roots of giant oak trees. The first finds, including flint arrows and knives, recently brought up by archaeologist divers, are so perfectly preserved they look like modern replicas.
The first excavators were blue lobsters, which archaeologists gradually realised were kicking out ancient man made stone tools, as they dug themselves into the muddy seabed.
Tree roots and branches have come up with the marks of stone tools. Finds of organic material, including timber, leather, and animal and possibly human remains, are confidently expected, preserved in the deep layers of silt and peat.
Further surveying and excavation work planned by the Hampshire and Wight Trust for Maritime Archaeology has become a giant piece of rescue archaeology, as material is laid bare by every tide: once exposed to air, any organic material starts decaying instantly.
Archaeologists had believed all trace of human habitation had been swept away in the inundation which created the Isle of Wight. Recent discoveries prove that the land flooded more gradually, as the sea broke in through the sand bars protecting the salt marshes. However, the flooding was fast enough to force the rapid abandonment of habitation sites, flint working sites, and killing sites where prey species were trapped, slaughtered and butchered for thousands of years: the date of the finds ranges from stone hand axes 30,000 years old, to the flint tools made by the last inhabitants before the water broke through.
On the Isle of Wight, county archaeologists Frank Basford and Rebecca Loading are patrolling hundreds of endangered sites in the inter-tidal zones, recording and recovering artefacts which include ancient causeways and fish traps, and a tangle of Roman rope in the mud of a modern harbour.
More modern objects from countless shipwrecks are also at risk. Recent finds include a syringe from the medicine chest of a 17th century ship’s surgeon, for injecting mercury into the urethra of any luckless sailor who had contracted syphilis.
English Heritage will be monitoring and grant aiding the work, as an Act of Parliament, which becomes law on July 1, extends its powers to cover maritime archaeology.
British Archaeology news
Issue 64, April 2002.
An early Bronze Age timber circle containing an inner ring of totem poles set around a deep, sacred pool is thought to have once stood at the head of the Kilmartin Valley in Argyll, site of one of Scotland’s richest concentrations of prehistoric ritual monuments.
Post-excavation analysis of the pits and postholes found when the site was excavated in the 1990s (BA November 1997) has concluded that the timber circle was far more unusual than was initially thought. The circle stood on a terrace overlooking the valley; and at its heart was a large hollow nearly 7 metres wide and 2 metres deep. Now full of peat, the hollow must have contained standing water over a long period of time.
Around this pool was an inner ring of post-holes, thought to have once held totems. At the base of one was a cremation burial under a stone. From the outer ring of 30 oak posts, some 47 metres in diameter, a timber-lined processional avenue appears to have snaked down to the valley floor.
Clare Ellis, in charge of post-excavation at the Edinburgh firm AOC Archaeology, said the pool was likely to have been a ‘votive pool’ – a phenomenon thought to be unparalleled at any other known stone or timber circle in Britain. No metalwork was found in the pool, but offerings of ‘organic materials’ such as sacrificial animals could have been made, from which no evidence has survived. Traces of wood in the pool may have belonged to a fence.
In and around the timber circle were six contemporary cyst burials. In one, a woman in her 20s or 30s was buried with a decorated food vessel. The decoration on the pot had been created by pressing a fingernail repeatedly into the wet clay.
Traces of much earlier monuments were also found underlying the circle. One end of an early Neolithic cursus – a ritual procession monument – was uncovered at the edge of the terrace, a place with a magnificent view across the Kilmartin Valley. The massive structure, some 45 metres wide, was defined not by banks and ditches but by hundreds of close-set oak posts. By the time the circle was built some 1,500 years later, these posts had no doubt disappeared; but the memory of the sacred importance of the site had probably survived. Also found were a number of late Mesolithic cooking pits containing charcoal dated to about 4,500 BC, perhaps marking the site of an overnight camp.
Surviving monuments in the Kilmartin Valley include a ‘linear cemetery’ of Bronze Age cairns, several standing stones, a stone circle and numerous elaborate rock art panels.
Wednesday, 2 January, 2002, 13:06 GMT
Trust defends Tor work
The National Trust has defended a decision to use concrete for a new footpath to the top of Glastonbury Tor, Somerset.
More than £300,000 has been found to pay for the restorations at the Tor.
Huge visitor numbers have led to erosion on the existing route up the hill – the Isle of Avalon of ancient legend.
But conservationists say the path should be re-laid with wood chippings, not concrete.
news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/england/newsid_1738000/1738766.stm
Stonehenge hopes for deep road tunnel
By Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent
THE Government will consider making a road tunnel near Stonehenge much deeper than originally planned to avoid damaging neolithic and Bronze Age remains.
The Highways Agency, which manages England’s trunk roads, has admitted that its previous proposal to excavate and then cover a 1.2-mile ditch only 200 yards from the stones could damage burial mounds and medieval field boundaries in the area. Ministers pledged three years ago to bury the A303, the heavily congested holiday route to Devon, where it passes the World Heritage Site. In 1989 the Commons Public Accounts Committee described Stonehenge’s traffic-snarled setting as a national disgrace.
Stonehenge lies between the A303 and the A344, close to the junction of the two roads. Under the plan for the site, the A344 would be closed, the visitor centre relocated out of sight of the stones and the A303 turned into a dual carriageway.
The “cut and cover” tunnelling method was chosen because it was estimated to be £20 million cheaper than boring a much deeper tunnel. Under the original plan, engineering works so near to the standing stones would have blighted the area for three years. However, the Highways Agency has now agreed to reconsider the costs and benefits of boring the tunnel and has asked the contractors Costain and Balfour Beatty to produce a report by July.
“It would be cheaper to do a ‘cut and cover’ but there is an issue over the extra environmental gain from a bored tunnel,” Ed Bradley, the Highway Agency’s project manager, said. He added that evidence was emerging that bored tunnels were cheaper than originally thought, and that the extra cost was likely to be closer to £10 million than £20 million.
However, the Highways Agency is resisting pressure from heritage and environmental groups to make the tunnel twice as long as planned because this could double the overall cost of £125 million for the seven-mile project.
Kate Fielden, an archaeologist advising the Council for the Protection of Rural England, said that a “cut and cover” tunnel could destroy a group of burial mounds at the western entrance to the tunnel. She said: “‘Cut and cover’ would change the landscape right beside Stonehenge. A bored tunnel would be better but the one currently proposed is far too short.”
Ms Fielden said that Stonehenge was a national treasure, but the Government wanted to do a cheap deal for a new dual carriageway even if it meant damaging two thirds of the historical area around the stones.
A public inquiry into the scheme is likely to be held next year and construction could start in 2005, with the tunnel and new Winterbourne Stoke bypass opening in 2008.
thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-258161,00.html
Turf war over Byers’ white horse
politics.guardian.co.uk/localgovernment/story/0,9061,675788,00.html
A white horse, 100 metres high, is to be carved into the chalk downs at Folkestone to greet Channel tunnel users because Stephen Byers, the transport secretary, believes it will “boost local pride”.
Objections by environment groups, including the government’s advisers English Nature, were brushed aside because Mr Byers considers the horse would have an emotional and symbolic value for the town.
A 2,000-year-old sword and an ancient mirror are to be returned to the islands where a farmer found them.
He was working with a tractor in a potato field on the Isles of Scilly, off Cornwall, when he uncovered a burial site.
see the story
news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/england/newsid_1858000/1858788.stm
The following story was reported at..
unison.ie/corkman/stories.php3?ca=40&si=673169&issue_id=6727
A KILNAMARTYRA farmer got a little more than he bargained for when he discovered two underground tunnels last week whilst making a gallop to train his greyhounds.
The tunnels situated directly beside a ditch are over a meter in height and particularly well preserved.
“I was told the tunnels were over 1,500 years old. I plan to make the tunnels safe and leave them there for future generations.
“I have marked the tunnels into a map and the Archeologists are sending me out a plaque to erect near the tunnels,” said John.
Ursula Egan, of the Cork Archeological Survey group, which is based in University College Cork, visited the site.
Ms Egan described the tunnels as ‘souterrains‚, the French word for an underground chamber.
“They are in a remarkable condition and probably date back to the time of Saint Patrick making them about 1,500 years old.
Daily Telegraph Obituaries
(Filed: 22/12/2001)
AUBREY BAILEY, who has died aged 89, was perhaps best known for the work he directed at Stonehenge between 1958 and 1964
The work involved re-erecting, in their original position, stones that had fallen or become dislodged within recorded history – the earliest record dating from 1690.
The main “Trilithon” stones, weighing some 45 tons, had to be encased in a further 15 tons of steel so they could be lifted into position. To do this, one of Britain’s largest cranes – designed to lift aircraft – was borrowed from the Ministry of Defence. Bailey’s work at Stonehenge brought him to public attention and he was amused to receive a letter from an admirer in America addressed simply to “Mr Stonehenge, London”. The nickname stuck for many years.
Thomas Aubrey Bailey was born on January 20 1912 at Hanley, Staffordshire.
In 1953 he was promoted head of the Ancient Monuments branch, with a staff of 1,400. Boundlessly enthusiastic, he led by example, and combined his love of motoring (he owned a series of Armstrong Siddeleys) with his work by travelling to the 300 ancient monuments in his care as often as he could.