Stone Pages - Archaeo News (England)

Fire scorches ancient Neolithic stones in Kent

Thu, 13 Jan 2022 15:20:51 +0100

Deep in the Kent (UK) countryside is an ancient wood known locally as Walderslade Wood. This area is rich in Stone Age artefacts (over 25 sites within a 4.5 km radius), such as Lordswood Barrow and Sarsen Stones, Impton Lane Stones and Aylesford Megalithic Long Barrow. The woods in question contain a group of sarsen stones which may be the remains of either a burial chamber or a stone circle, dating back to 4,500 BCE.
Local resident, Dr Tom Shelley, was walking through the woods with his wife recently, when he noticed that some of the stones appeared to show signs of scorch marks.
Dr Shelley had a theory as to how this occurred and is quoted as saying "I don't know who would do something like this, but I suspect pagans performing some kind of earth ritual. Fallen trees had also been dragged into position to start the fire, so it was definitely started deliberately".
A similar group of stones nearby, at a place called Kit's Coty (sometimes known as The Countless Stones), had also been in danger of damage and so a protective barrier fence had been installed.
The Parish Council of Boxley, where Walderslade Woods are located, is seriously considering erecting similar railings to protect these stones. Dr Shelley went on to add "Personally I don't care what religion people follow, I would just ask them not to damage ancient artefacts and not to start fires in woodland".

Edited from Kent Online (6 January 2022)

Stonehenge Exhibition at the British Museum

Tue, 11 Jan 2022 07:43:50 +0100

The UK's first major exhibition focusing on the story of Stonehenge opens next month at the British Museum in London, promising to place the monument in its wider social, cultural, environmental, and technological context. Displays will feature more than 430 artefacts from 35 institutions around western Europe, including new discoveries from the Stonehenge landscape and other key sites.
Starting in the Mesolithic, exhibits will explore religious ideas, astronomical concepts, and solar imagery. Among the attractions are elements of the 4,000-year-old Bronze Age Seahenge timber circle, conical gold hats from France and Germany, artefacts interred with the Amesbury Archer, and the first UK appearance of the Nebra Sky Disc.
The World of Stonehenge opens Thursday 17 February through Sunday 17 July 2022.

Edited from Current Archaeology-The Past (4 January 2022)

Iron age hillfort for sale in England

Tue, 11 Jan 2022 07:38:33 +0100

Hillforts are among the most striking monuments in northern Europe, built and occupied from about 900 to 100 BCE, when societies were defined by tribal territories. About 250 kilometres west-southwest of London, within the Blackdown Hills 'Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty', Hembury is considered the finest prehistoric hillfort in Devonshire. Built on the site of an earlier Neolithic causewayed enclosure, on a south-facing heathland promontory 40 metres above the surrounding plateau, the small multi-vallate Iron Age fort is currently under offer by Savills for a guide price of £100,000. The sale includes approximately 15.7 hectares.
The fort is protected on three sides by steep natural slopes, and preserves well-defined perimeter defences. People from the massive hillfort of Maiden Castle, about 70 kilometres to the east-southeast, apparently occupied the site around 50 BCE, and the Roman army was in possession by the middle of the 1st century CE.
Many artefacts discovered during excavations in the 1930s and 1980s are on display in the Royal Albert Museum in nearby Exeter. More recently a Geophysics survey was carried out by Bournemouth University in preparation more extensive survey at a later date.

Edited from Hembury Fort, Savills, Devon Online (20 October 2021), Country Life (22 October 2021), InEntertainment (26 December 2021)

200,000-year-old 'mammoth graveyard' found in Britain

Thu, 06 Jan 2022 11:09:07 +0100

Archaeologists in Britain have uncovered the largest mammoth 'graveyard' that showed the skeletal remains of five mammoths, an infant, two juveniles, and two adults. These five mammoths died during the last ice age close to Swindon where they were found next to stone tools crafted by Neanderthals that included a hand axe and smaller flint tools known as scrapers.
"Finding mammoth bones is always extraordinary, but finding ones that are so old and well preserved, and in such close proximity to Neanderthal stone tools is exceptional," Lisa Westcott Wilkins, the co-founder of DigVentures, said in a statement.
The site was originally discovered by Sally and Neville Hollingworth, two amateur fossil hunters, who discovered the graveyard and Neanderthal tools. Apart from the mammoth bones, other remnants were uncovered such as beetle wings, freshwater snail shells.
The site is dated to between 220,000 and 210,000 years ago, placing it towards the end of an interglacial period when Neanderthals were present in Britain. As the ice age ended, the Neanderthals moved further south.
"The findings have enormous value for understanding the human occupation of Britain, and the delicate environmental evidence recovered will also help us understand it in the context of past climate change," Duncan Wilson, the chief executive of Historic England, a British historical preservation body, said in a statement. "Through these finds and the research that will follow, we look forward to further light being shed on life in Britain 200,000 years ago."

Edited from BBC News, Live Science (19 December 2021)

DNA reveals large-scale migrations into Bronze Age Britain

Tue, 04 Jan 2022 17:00:38 +0100

The Middle to Late Bronze Age was a time when settled farming communities expanded across southern Britain, and metal ores essential for producing bronze moved along extensive trade networks. Two major new studies based on the examination of DNA from 793 ancient individuals trace the movement of people into southern Britain during the Bronze Age, offering fresh insights into ancient habits of dairy consumption, and significantly strengthening the case for the appearance of Celtic languages in Britain in the Bronze Age.
The largest genome-wide studies to date involving ancient humans show that people moving into southern Britain around 1300 to 800 BCE were responsible for around half the genetic ancestry of subsequent populations.
Modern English populations inherit more DNA from early European farmers than from the people who lived in England about 4,000 years ago. Combined DNA and archaeological evidence suggests that the genetic structure of the population changed through sustained contacts between mainland Britain and Europe over several centuries, and became thoroughly mixed into the population by 1000 to 875 BCE.
The data also indicate population movements between different parts of continental Europe, confirming that the Late Bronze Age was a period of intense and prolonged contacts between many diverse communities.

Edited from Eurasia Review (23 December 2021), PhysORG (26 December 2021)

Iron Age settlement found in Malvern Hills

Sun, 02 Jan 2022 09:38:36 +0100

An Iron Age settlement dating from around 2,250 years ago was recently discovered on the site of a planned new roundabout near Upton-upon-Severn, about 180 kilometres northwest of London. First spotted on aerial photos, initial investigation revealed Middle Iron Age pottery, and an unusually large ditched enclosure. Only the area being disturbed by construction was fully excavated, revealing about a third of the enclosure. The remainder is under a ploughed field near the northeast edge of town.
The surrounding ditch had an entrance gap to the east with large gate posts on either side. Within was a waterhole, a small enclosure, and field boundaries. Pottery confirmed that the site had been occupied sometime between 300 and 100 BCE. Analysis of the finds continues, with many theories proposed about how and why the site would have operated - one suggesting a distribution centre for cereal grain.

Edited from Worcestershire City Council (21 December 2021), BBC News (22 December 2021)

Family tree revealed in 5,700-year-old tomb

Sat, 01 Jan 2022 18:40:57 +0100

A research team has examined DNA of bones and teeth from a Neolithic tomb about 140 kilometres west-northwest of London. Results show 27 of the 35 individuals were biological relatives from five continuous generations of a single extended family. The majority were descended from four women who all had children with the same man.
Of the Cotswold-Severn type, the Hazleton North long barrow was built around 3700-3600 BCE, some 100 years after cattle domestication and cereal cultivation had been introduced from continental Europe, and 700 years before construction started on Stonehenge.
Completely excavated from 1979 to 1982, the tomb had two separate entrances, each leading to an L-shaped chamber. Whether individuals were buried in the north or south chamber initially depended on the first-generation woman from whom they were descended, suggesting these first-generation women were socially significant. Men were generally buried with their father and brothers, implying that descent was patrilineal. Males who we would call stepsons were adopted into the lineage. While two of the daughters of the lineage who died in childhood were buried in the tomb, the absence of adult daughters indicates their remains may have been placed either in the tombs of their partners or elsewhere. The architectural layout of other Neolithic tombs might reflect how kinship operated in comparable groups.

Edited from University of York, The Guardian (22 December 2021)

The great Durrington ring

Thu, 23 Dec 2021 12:47:59 +0100

Explored in a recent Channel 5 television documentary titled 'Stonehenge: The New Revelations', a new study proves the roughly 2 kilometre diameter ring of pits discovered last year surrounding the Neolithic site of Durrington Walls were human-made. Dug into the landscape almost 4,500 years ago at the end of the Neolithic period, the "Great Durrington Ring" may be the world's largest Neolithic monument, and the very last in Britain. Durrington Walls sits precisely at its centre, about 2.5 kilometres northeast of Stonehenge.
All the pits are similar, about 10 metres across and 5 metres deep. Archaeologist and study leader Professor Vince Gaffney and his team examined 9 of some 20 surviving pits, declaring them the largest prehistoric structure found in Britain. Tests date the pits to around 2400 BCE, and show they were used from the late Neolithic until the middle Bronze Age, long after the monumental building phases of Stonehenge. Then they were left to fill naturally.
Extracting soil samples from deep within the pits, Gaffney's team was able to date the chalk, soil, bones, and other animal remains to the period coinciding with the construction of the enclosed Durrington Walls 'superhenge'. Previous studies at Durrington Walls have revealed ancient house structures, suggesting the people who first lived there would have been involved with the erection of Stonehenge's sarsen stones 500 years after that monument's initial formation.

Edited from The Guardian (23 November 2021), Express (11 December 2021), Sci News (22 June 2020)

Neolithic pits near Stonehenge were human-made

Thu, 16 Dec 2021 09:01:27 +0100

Originally described as being a natural occurrence, new findings have proven that the series of deep pits discovered near Stone Henge were man made. Together these pits form a circle spanning 2 km (1.2 miles) and form the largest prehistoric structure in Britain.
One interpretation put forward by archaeologists is that it formed a boundary, guiding people to a sacred site, such as the Durrington Walls, among Britain's largest henge monuments, is located in the center of this circle.
Prof Vincent Gaffney, of Bradford University, an archaeologist who headed the team that made the discovery, said science had proved that this was indeed a huge neolithic monument. "Some of the debate about the discovery and Stonehenge seemed bonkers to me," he said.
While not all the cirlces had survived, nine of the pits were analyzed scientifically. "We've now looked at nearly half of them and they're all the same. So effectively this really does say this is one enormous structure. It may have evolved from a natural feature, but we haven't located that. So it's the largest prehistoric structure found in Britain."
This new evidence also shines light on that the prehistoric people of Britain could count and track hundreds of paces to measure out these pits. The pits can now also be found using special remote sensing technology and then dated using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), which can date the last time the soils were exposed to sunlight. The tests were conducted by Dr Tim Kinnaird, of the school of earth and environmental sciences at the University of St Andrews, who said: "These proved beyond doubt that the pits date to around 2400 BCE."
Gaffney, who has studied Stonehenge for 20 years, said: "There's a real revolution in dating technology happening with OSL. You date the sediments directly. Traditional dating relies on us finding a bit of bone or charcoal and then we date that. We don't date the soil. OSL does that."

Edited from The Guardian (23 November 2021), Mail Online (24 November 2021)

Stonehenge builders' eating habits explored

Wed, 15 Dec 2021 17:02:14 +0100

Recent evidence shows that seasonally foraged sweet and savory snacks were part of the winter diet of inhabitants of the nearby ancient settlement of Durrington Walls, a large henge monument about 3 kilometres east-northeast of Stonehenge where the stone circle builders may have lived. Archaeologists with the Stonehenge Riverside Project uncovered clues that Neolithic people were collecting and cooking hazelnuts, crab apples, sloes, and other fruits. Charred plant remains suggest they might have followed recipes to preserve the food. Nuts and fruit may have been cooked with meat fats to make something like pemmican - a staple of indigenous peoples of North America which continues to fuel peoples who require energy-dense foods, such as explorers in harsh arctic and mountain conditions.
Two types of stones make up the colossal Stonehenge monument: the larger and more local sarsens - up to 9 metres tall and 22.6 metric tons on average - and the smaller bluestones up to 4.5 metric tons brought from quarries 290 kilometres away. When construction was underway between 4,000 and 5,000 years ago, around 2500 BCE, moving such enormous stones would have been a daunting task. In 2016 a group of university students dragged a sled carrying a 0.9 metric ton stone block over wooden tracks, with an average hauling speed of about 1.6 kilometres per hour. Moving the slab required just 10 students - fewer than expected - which meant the construction work on Stonehenge might have progressed faster than previously thought.

Edited from The Guardian, BBC News (1 December 2021), LiveScience (2 December 2021)

Bronze Age hoards found on Hertfordshire farm

Wed, 15 Dec 2021 17:00:24 +0100

About 200 artefacts have been unearthed after two Bronze Age hoards were found by metal detectorists. A 13-year-old girl on her third detecting trip uncovered 20 pieces from an eventual total of about 65 items, including an assortment of incomplete pieces such as socketed axe heads, winged axe heads, cake ingots and blade fragments dating from about 1300 BCE in a field near Royston, around 65 kilometres north of London. Other detectorists on the same organised trip identified a second potential deposit nearby. Archaeologists were immediately called to excavate the two sites the following day.
The hoards could be related, and both are being treated as potential treasure. All the finds have been sent to the British Museum for expert examination. The museum manages archaeological finds made by the public through its Portable Antiquities Scheme.
The caches date to the Middle Bronze Age. In accordance with the 1996 Treasure Act, a museum may decide to the purchase the artefacts after they've been assessed and valued. If offered any money for the hoard, the young metal detectorist plans to split the proceeds with the field's owner.

Edited from Smithsonian Magazine (29 November 2021), BBC News (1 December 2021)

5,000-year-old engraved chalk plaques found near Stonehenge

Sun, 05 Dec 2021 09:19:53 +0100

Analysis of four ancient chalk plaques from the Stonehenge area places the plaques in the early part of the 3rd millennium BCE, revealing previously unseen artistic elements.
Discovered around Stonehenge between 1968 and 2017 within 5 kilometres of one another, the plaques are among the most spectacular examples of Prehistoric engraved chalk in Britain.
The most spectacular examples of prehistoric engraved chalk involve a small number of portable objects - principally the three Folkton Drums from North Yorkshire, and two square plaques from the Late Neolithic "Chalk Plaque Pit" near Amesbury, Wiltshire. In addition, two more fragmentary chalk plaques are now known from the Stonehenge area: a broken example from Butterfield Down, Amesbury, and another from Bulford, only 7 kilometres from Stonehenge.
Dr Bob Davis, former Senior Project Officer at Wessex Archaeology, says "The Chalk Plaque Pit, discovered in 1968, was one of the most important discoveries of Late Neolithic chalk art in Britain, and over the last five decades we have seen additional plaques discovered from the Stonehenge region which have aided the study. Previously, the chalk plaques were documented using hand-drawn illustrations and were difficult to reconstruct due to erosion. However, the advancement of revolutionary technology has made it possible to understand previously unseen features of the plaques, which help us to understand the creative process of these prehistoric artists."
Multiple photographs taken with light projected from different directions produce varying highlights and shadows, highlighting the predominately geometric designs on each plaque, demonstrating deliberate, staged composition, execution, and detail.
Dr Matt Leivers, an archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology, says "One of the most interesting results of this new study is the way in which the application of modern technology to ancient artifacts has allowed us not only a better understanding of the working methods of the Neolithic artists, but also a rare glimpse into their motivations and mindsets."
The study hints that the adoption of these artistic styles may have been integrated into elements of existing Middle Neolithic culture. Engraved chalk objects can be traced throughout the Neolithic period, however the concentration of this distinctive composition during the Late Neolithic period may mark it as a truly golden age for chalk art in Britain.
Dr Phil Harding, study co-author, famed Time Team television programme cast member, and an archaeologist at Wessex Archaeology, adds that "Engraved chalk plaques were an important cultural marker in the Neolithic period. Utilizing the advancement of photographic techniques, it is possible to suggest that Neolithic artists used objects known to them in the real world as inspiration for their artistic expression, for example, in the representation of twisted cord which formed part of the design on Plaque 1."

Edited from Wessex Archaeology (04 November 2021)

The future for England's Rock Art website

Sat, 23 Jan 2021 16:13:53 +0100

The England Rock Art (ERA) website was originally launched in summer 2008 as a project to catalogue carvings in the Northumberland region. Since then it has been added to, principally with records from the Beckensall archive previously stored with Newcastle University.
The website in its current form is being shut down on January 15th 2021. The site has a core interest group, and efforts are under way to ensure the database is archived, maintained, and publicly accessible. In this case, and because the resource was already held by the Archaeology Data Service (ADS), the data are secure and will be made publicly accessible as soon as possible. The data will be better curated, and access broadened. Raw data will be built upon to develop the archive into an ADS Special Collection which replicates the database and map-based experiences. The work is being done as a staff training exercise, so timescale for completion is less certain but an advanced interface could be ready in 2021.

Edited from Archaeology Data Service (6 January 2021)

Remains of Iron Age village discovered in Essex

Sat, 23 Jan 2021 16:12:29 +0100

The remains of an Iron Age village has been found at Tye Green, about 70 kilometres northeast of London. Fieldwork suggests the site was important in the late Iron Age and early Roman periods.
The site has a large defensive enclosure dug in the late 1st century BCE, with 17 roundhouses and 17 semi-circular shapes which could have been windbreaks. Smaller semi-circular structures are also associated with hearths. The depth of the roundhouse gullies suggests the buildings were up to 15 metres in diameter. Archaeologists say the enclosure had an avenue-like entrance aligned with the central roundhouse. Other structures are similar to medieval granary stores.
Among other finds was an area with large amounts of animal bone and oyster shell, and votive offerings with a possible link to the Cult of Mercury, Roman god of communication and commerce. Artefacts discovered include more than 100 brooches ranging from the 1st century BCE to 3rd century CE, 10 Iron Age coins, Roman coins, hairpins, beads, finger rings, and a copper alloy cockerel figurine.
The settlement was expanded but some time during the later 1st century CE a number of the larger roundhouses burned and the main enclosure was cleared. Oxford Archaeology researchers say this could be evidence for reprisals following the Boudiccan uprising, or simply the settlement devolving into nearby villas and smaller farmsteads.

Edited from Dunmow Broadcast (2 January 2021)

Iron Age man first known case of tuberculosis in Britain

Sat, 26 Dec 2020 19:56:25 +0100

Archaeological excavations at Tarrant Hinton, Dorset, between 1967 and 1985 uncovered a variety of evidence for settlement between the Iron Age and the Roman period. Possibly the most significant discovery was the skeleton of an Iron Age man whose spine displayed signs of tuberculosis (TB). The man died between 400 and 230 BCE - the earliest case of TB found in Britain.
In a new study, chemical analysis of the man's bones and teeth show he arrived in Dorset as a child around age eight from an area of carboniferous limestone outside Britain - possibly southern or western Ireland, the Atlantic coast of southwest France, or the Cantabrian Mountains of northern Spain.
Strontium isotopes show he was living on the southern British chalklands between the ages of eight to fourteen. Carbon and nitrogen isotopes indicate the man ate a mixed diet consisting of plants grown on chalkland, and got his protein from cattle and sheep - a less varied diet than other Iron Age people as there was no evidence of fish or pig.
James Webb, Acting Museum Director, says the man lived in a small farming settlement, was between 30 and 40 years old when he died, and must have been in considerable pain, suggesting his community must have cared for him.
Dr Simon Mays, Human Skeletal Biologist for Historic England says DNA evidence confirms the man contracted the disease from another person rather than from infected meat or milk, and says "finds of diseased skeletons in Continental Europe tell us that tuberculosis was present there for thousands of years before our Tarrant Hinton man was born."

Edited from University of Southampton (6 November 2020)