Stone Pages - Archaeo News (Great Britain)

Iron Age bracelet to stay in Yorkshire museum after appeal

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 10:29:36 +0100

A bracelet which was the first Iron Age gold jewellery ever found in the North of England will remain in the public realm after £25,000 has been raised to secure its future. The bracelet, or torc, was found near Towton in North Yorkshire by metal detectorists in May 2010. A second solid gold bracelet was found close by a year later, and the Yorkshire Museum in York (England) launched an appeal in November to keep both torcs. It is thought the torcs belonged to an extremely wealthy, possibly royal, member of the Brigantes tribe, which ruled much of North Yorkshire during the Iron Age.
Assistant curator of archaeology, Natalie McCaul, confirmed the £25,000 target had been reached for the first bracelet ahead of a deadline. But she stressed up to £35,000 still needs to be raised to ensure the second torc does not go up for auction, when it could be bought by a private collector. She added: "We have been overwhelmed by the support of the public and local trusts following the appeal and we would like to thank everyone who has donated. Because of their generosity the first Iron Age gold jewellery found in the North will stay permanently in the North for people to enjoy."
Donations were received from the Patricia & Donald Shepherd Charitable Trust, the Yorkshire Philosophical Society and individuals and businesses. The first torc will remain at the museum. The second will go to London for an inquest to determine its exact value, which could take a year.

Edited from Yorkshire Post (3 February 2012)

Prehistoric stone row discovered in Wales

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:43:21 +0100

Sandy Gerrard, a former English Heritage designation officer for 20 years, reported the discovery of an ancient stone row on the site of a proposed wind farm in Wales. It seems that the row at the Mynydd y Betws wind farm development went unnoticed by archaeologists researching the site prior to work starting.
There are two roads scheduled to cross the stone row but work has now stopped in the area around the row pending clarification by archaeologists working for Cambrian Renewable Energy Limited, the company building the wind farm.
"There are currently three scheduled monuments on Bancbryn and we decided to head straight there. Within moments we had identified several sites including a number of stoney mounds, a few hollows, a line of pits with associated banks and leading into and returning out from the fenced off area - a line of stones. In amongst these archaeological features but significantly not actually touching any of them were the scars of archaeological trenches indicating that excavation had indeed happened but appeared to have missed all the visible archaeology," said Mr Gerrard. "Our visit confirmed there were indeed archaeological remains and we are confident that future work will demonstrate that they are of some importance," he added.
Mr Gerrard said that the stone row is probably the most important of the features found and as it is associated with over 30 cairns, some of which are kerbed, it seems to form the focus of an incredibly important ceremonial landscape where the form of space between the numerous earthwork and built elements are as integral and important as the earthworks themselves. Mr Gerrard has spent much of his archaeological working life on Dartmoor and he believes the form of the newly discovered stone row is so identical to the same rows in England as to suggest a definite and tangible link between these people. The small size of the stones reflects what was available and even on Dartmoor some of the rows are formed by similar sized stones.
GPS measurements allowed experts to trace the stone row for 700m. The row is aligned south west to north east which is the most common alignment for South West England rows. Many of the stones peep through the peat and many more are probably lurking below.
"The discovery of this exciting monument has been tempered by the realisation that it is being cut into three parts by the new roads and the feeling that if it had been known about before it could have perhaps been saved in its entirety," said Gerrard. "The site is delicate and the huge diggers which have been trundling across it have already caused irreparable damage. It is to be hoped that the row will survive its amputation and outlast its temporary ignominy. To this end I have asked Cadw to schedule the monument as a matter of priority to ensure that any straying diggers do not complete the destruction," he concluded.

Edited from Heritage Action News (26 and 29 January 2012)

Neanderthals and their contemporaries engineered stone tools

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:26:37 +0100

New published research from anthropologists at the University of Kent (UK) has scientifically supported for the first time the long held theory that early human ancestors across Africa, Western Asia and Europe engineered their stone tools.
For over a century, anthropologists have debated the significance of a group of stone age artefacts manufactured by at least three prehistoric hominin species, including Neanderthals. These artefacts, collectively known as 'Levallois', were manufactured across Europe, Western Asia and Africa as early as 300,000 years ago.
Levallois artefacts are flaked stone tools described by archaeologists as 'prepared cores', shaped in a deliberate manner such that only after such specialised preparation could a prehistoric flint knapper remove a distinctive 'Levallois flake'. Levallois flakes have long been suspected to be intentionally sought by prehistoric hominins for unique standardised properties of size and shape.
Now, a experimental study in which a modern-day flint knapper replicated hundreds of Levallois artefacts supports the notion that Levallois flakes were indeed engineered. By combining experimental archaeology with morphometrics (the study of form) and statistical analysis, the Kent researchers have proved that Levallois flakes removed from these types of prepared cores are significantly more standardised than the flakes produced incidentally during Levallois core shaping, called 'debitage flakes'. Importantly, they also identified the specific properties of Levallois flakes that would have made them preferable.
Dr Metin Eren, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University's School of Anthropology and Conservation, and the flint knapper who crafted the tools, said: "The more we learn about the stone tool-making of the Neanderthals and their contemporaries, the more elegant it becomes. The sophistication evident in their tool-making suggests cognitive abilities more similar to our own than not."
Dr Stephen Lycett, Senior Lecturer in Human Evolution and the researcher who conducted the laboratory analysis, explains: "Amongst a variety of choices these tools are 'superflakes'. They are not so thin that they are ineffective but they are not so thick that they could not be re-sharpened effectively or be unduly heavy to carry, which would have been important to hominins such as the Neanderthals".

University of Kent, Mail Online (24 January 2012)

Haematite to colour ancient stones found in Scotland

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:59:29 +0100

Archaeologists working on prehistoric sites at Daer on Lowther Hills, an extensive area of hill country in the Southern Uplands of Scotland, are discovering further sites within a forestry plantation.
For the first time Biggar Archaeological Group has found colouring substances, used by hunter-gatherers over 6000 years ago. "Haematite was rubbed on stones to give a bright maroon coloured powder which makes good paint," explained group leader Tam Ward. "How it was used at Daer is not known but in Denmark, where graves are often found, the skeletons are covered in this stuff. The overlap between the hunters and the first farmers has also been found and is causing some excitement."

Edited from Lanark Gazette (22 January 2011)

Stonehenge tunnel idea resurrected

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:18:47 +0100

The idea of building a tunnel under Stonehenge has been resurrected by a consortium of council leaders from across the South West of England. Wiltshire was among the authorities represented at a summit meeting to discuss A303 improvements, organised by Somerset County Council last week. They discussed ways to raise the £1 billion needed to widen the remaining single lane sections of the road between Wiltshire and Devon.
The tunnel, which would have cost more than £500 million at the last count, is one of five separate schemes they believe are needed. Somerset's leader Ken Maddock believes there is scope to seek new funding in the light of Chancellor George Osborne's autumn statement, which said that pension funds could be used to fund up to £20 billion of infrastructure schemes. He said: "This is a fabulous opportunity to put a joint bid together that will bring huge benefits to the whole of the West Country." The 2.1km tunnel plans were shelved in 2007 after the government said the soaring cost was not justified.

Edited from Salisbury Journal (17 January 2012)

Bronze Age boat to take to Cornish waters after 4,000 years

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:20:53 +0100

Between 1937 and 1963 the remains of three Bronze Age ships were found on the foreshore of the river Humber, on the east coast of England. Now a professor from Exeter University (UK), Robert Van de Noort, has teamed up with a professional boat builder to re-create one of the ships. Bronze Age tools will be used to create a 16 metre boat out of oak planks, stitched with yew stems.
Professor Van de Noort is quoted as saying "Because none of the boats have ever been found as complete this project will seek to understand, how they were constructed, how to steer such a long boat, measure how fast it can go, understand how the crew used paddles (as sails were not evident) and how watertight it is."
The boat will be constructed at the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth, Cornwall and will form part of its '2012 BC Cornwall and the Sea in the Bronze Age' exhibition.

Edited from Western Morning News (14 January 2012)

Ancient bones discovered on Milton Keynes building site

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:40:09 +0100

A set of bones which could be thousands of years old has been discovered on a building site in Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire, England). The human remains were uncovered by a digger driver at the Taylor Wimpey development in Oakridge Park.
Forensic archaeologists established that the remains were not of recent origin. An investigation will now determine whether the site in Heathley Chase is of historical significance. The bones are now in secure storage after being recovered and handed over to Milton Keynes Council.
The council's Senior Archeological Officer, Nick Crank, said that at the moment the only certainty was that the skeleton was beyond the age that the police would be interested in them, but it is 'highly possible' that they were much older. "Recovered during the excavations was a portion of lower jaw and the teeth on that show the extreme wear that we're used to seeing in archaeological contexts when people had a much courser diet, so they could be anything up to several thousand years old," he said.
He also revealed the council hoped to have further archaeological investigations carried out in the vicinity to see if there were any more remains or artefacts to be discovered. "There is no graveyard known within that site, it could quite well be just an isolated burial," he said. "I think it's too early to get too excited about this but once further investigations have been concluded and we've perhaps dated them scientifically or come up with some artefacts to go with the grave then we will really be able to understand its full context."

Edited from BBC News (12 January 2012)

5,000-year-old pottery found on Scottish island

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:38:36 +0100

Last year, fishermen, beachcombers, divers and islanders in the Western Isles of Scotland were asked for information on where archaeologists might find ancient sites along shorelines. The project involves the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), WA Coastal and Marine, Historic Scotland and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.
The experts are now working on confirming, dating and analysing the sites and relics they were alerted to, along with aerial photographs of the locations. Finds included Neolithic pottery found by a diver in Loch an Duna, on Lewis. A previously unknown complex of fish traps and evidence of occupation south of Lochboisdale on South Uist have also been found.
Dr Jonathan Benjamin, of WA Coastal and Marine, said local knowledge was key to the first major study of the Western Isles' marine archaeology. He said: "As full-time archaeologists we don't have the benefit of observing the shoreline between the low and high tides, day in and day out, year after year. That's why we're relying on the knowledge of people who live and work on or near the sea, and who might have noticed something out of the ordinary, either in a fishing net, or at an especially low tide. We're also explaining to people the sorts of things that we're interested in, because they may have seen or noticed things in the past, but disregarded them as not important."
The Western Isles have been giving up their ancient secrets in recent centuries. Udal, a site on North Uist, has evidence of occupation for every age from the Neolithic to the 20th Century

Edited from BBC News (12 January 2012)

Yorkshire appeal to save Iron Age Torcs

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 10:43:11 +0100

Two gold bracelets found near Tadcaster have been declared the first Iron Age gold jewellery ever found in the north of England. The torcs were found within metres of each other on separate occasions nearly a year apart, by metal detectorists Andrew Green and Shaun Scott. Both are made entirely of gold. The first has been dated to 100-70 BCE, while the second could be older still. They are similar in appearance, with the main body made up of two wires, twisted together. The Yorkshire Museum is appealing to the public to raise 60,000 pounds to make sure they both stay in Yorkshire.
Similar bracelets have been found in Britain - mainly in Norfolk, which was home to the Iceni tribe. Until now the furthest north torcs had been found was in Nottinghamshire. The torcs are very similar in appearance to those in the Snettisham Hoard in Norfolk, raising the possibility that the bracelets were spoils of war, a gift, or used in trade.
The site and the nature of the finds has also intrigued experts, with torcs previously found in hoards rather than just single pieces. There is also no history of them being found in water, suggesting they may have washed away from an original burial site. Both will be on show at the Yorkshire Museum until 31 January. The Museum needs 24,000 pounds by that date to make sure the first stays in Yorkshire.

Edited from Yorkshire Museum, Culture24, The Press (11 January 2012)

Stonehenge enters the 21st Century

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 11:42:17 +0100

Two new 21st Century inventions are helping us to understand and visit the wonders of Stonehenge from the comfort of our own homes. 'Google Under-the-Earth' is an extension of the well known 'Google Earth' and adds archaeological layers to the base levels. 'Seeing beneath Stonehenge' has been developed as part of the Stonehenge Riverside Project, using data gather by the combined team from the Universities of Sheffield, Manchester, Bristol, Southampton and London. The project has been funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council and the software can be downloaded at blogs.bournemouth.ac.uk/seeing-beneath-stonehenge and requires the base 'Google Earth' software installation as well.
Do not have a PC and want to explore Stonehenge on the move? Then fear not. The University of Huddersfield (UK) and the web developers Ribui have developed an iPhone App called the 'Stonehenge Experience'. This app has really gone to town with voiceover commentaries, enhanced reality and even views of the henge when it was complete. Rupert Till, the modeller of the app and a senior lecturer at the University of Huddersfield, is quoted as saying "Creating the sound of Stonehenge as it was when it was first built was a really interesting challenge. When put together with the Ribui app it makes for an absorbing immersive experience and allows people to see and hear Stonehenge as it was 5000 years ago". The app is available for download from the App Store (2.39.Euros, 1.99 UKP, 2.99 USD)

Edited from Bournemouth University (December 2011), New scientist (20 Dec 2011), Salisbury Journal (22 Dec 2011)

Yorkshire's ancient sites threatened by hikers and bikers

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 19:36:07 +0100

Ancient burial mounds and monuments dating back to the Bronze Age in Yorkshire's national parks (England) are at risk of being lost forever amid a surge in popularity in walking and mountain biking. National park chiefs have warned that a worrying ignorance has seen the monuments disturbed by ramblers, and there have been instances of mountain bikers using ancient burial mounds as impromptu jumps
There are 839 scheduled monuments within the confines of the North York Moors National Park; among them are standing stones and burial mounds, and around a fifth of those within the national park have been given a high 'at risk' rating. The North York Moors National Park Authority's senior archaeological conservation officer, Graham Lee, said anyone caught damaging scheduled monuments could, in theory, face a criminal prosecution.
One of the biggest problems is people taking stones from the ancient sites to build up piles, or cairns, nearby. There have also been cases where burial mounds near bridleways have been ridden over by mountain bikers unaware of the historical importance of the raised ground on their revised route. Mr Lee said: "We have been attempting for many years to highlight the importance of the scheduled monuments in the national park, but people are simply not aware of what they are disturbing. They are unwittingly responsible for an awful lot of damage, and the issue is proving to be an extremely hard nut to crack. We are getting more and more people into the national park who are taking up walking and mountain biking, which is obviously great news and exactly what we want to encourage. But there is an ignorance about the countryside with many of these people."
The North York Moors National Park Authority has joined forces with English Heritage to protect the scheduled ancient monuments in the area. A management scheme to carry out vital restoration work to dozens of the monuments which began in 2009 has now been extended until 2015 after another £100,000 in funding has been secured.
Leading walking and mountain bike organisations have stressed that every effort is being made to ensure their members are fully aware of the need to preserve the countryside and its ancient heritage. Mark McClure, chairman of the UK branch of the International Mountain Biking Association, said: "We would always urge mountain bikers to stick to the designated tracks to avoid causing any damage, especially to scheduled monuments."

Edited from Ripon Gazette (7 January 2012)

Ancient burial chamber on Dartmoor restored

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 14:17:04 +0100

A prehistoric monument on Dartmoor (Devon, England) has been restored to its previous condition after a stone that had been removed for laboratory analysis was returned.
Beads, worked leather and cremated human remains have been discovered in a cist, or burial chamber/chest, at Whitehorse hill after it was removed by Dartmoor National Park Authority's archaeology and conservation works teams. There are roughly 200 cists on Dartmoor, all hidden in the ground or inserted into barrows.
The Whitehorse hill cist is unique as it is the only known example set within a peat mound. It was first discovered 10 years ago when one of the side stones fell out of the peat mound. Over time, the peat has slowly eroded away revealing more of the cist and its contents.
After several failed attempts to protect it as a scheduled monument, Dartmoor National Park Authority and English Heritage decided to excavate it in order to recover any surviving archaeological and environmental information before it was lost. One of the stones that was excavated from Dartmoor has now been safely returned, while the contents of the cist remain a subject of scientific study at Wiltshire Conservation Service laboratory in Chippenham.

Edited from This is South Devon (27 December 2011)

Closure of A344 road near Stonehenge to go ahead

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:23:09 +0100

Plans to close a main road running past Stonehenge are to go ahead. English Heritage wants to stop traffic from travelling close to the stones and 'restore the dignity' of the World Heritage Site by closing the A344.
The road from the A303 at Stonehenge Bottom to west of the visitor centre has already been approved for closure. Now, following a public inquiry, Wiltshire Council has approved an independent inspector's report to close the remaining section of road.
In June 2010 the council granted planning permission for a new visitors centre at Airman's Corner, 1.5 miles (2km) west of Stonehenge. And in November, roads minister Mike Penning approved plans to close an 879m (2,884ft) section of the A344 from its junction with the A303 at Stonehenge Bottom with a stopping up order.
Now the council has approved a traffic regulation order (TRO) for the remainder of the A344 to Airman's Corner. But proposals to close a number of byways around the ancient monument were refused.

Edited from BBC News (30 December 2011)

Tides reveal ancient footprints in northwest England

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:21:52 +0100

Prehistoric human footprints, thought to date back thousands of years, have been discovered on Crosby beach (Merseyside, England) after a series of high tides.
Members of the public are now being asked to help monitor the coastal prints, in Crosby and Formby, as part of the Sefton Coast Landscape Partnership Scheme. Project officer Fiona Sunners said: "Two parallel tracks, approximately five metres long, were exposed and archaeologists are confident they are genuine and probably of the same broad date as those at Formby."
Erosion of sand on the beach at Formby - about 5km north of Crosby - revealed layers of mud and sediment, laid down and covered in the late Neolithic/early Bronze Age. These sediments often contain the footprints of humans and animals, most commonly aurochs, from that period.
"The tracks have been analysed by Gordon Roberts, an expert in historic footprints, who believes they were made by three well-built adult males, possibly around 6ft tall, and whose stature indicates a protein rich diet," Sunners said. "Perhaps they could be Mesolithic man - dating them to more than 4,000 years ago. With constant tidal movement, the footprints could be buried by sand very quickly so it is important that the footprints are recorded and the site monitored regularly. We are looking for volunteers as part of the Landscape Partnership Scheme to help undertake this task, both at Formby and now at Crosby." she added.
If you want to get involved in the 'Archaeology Volunteers' project or find out more about the Sefton Coast Landscape Partnership Scheme, telephone 0151-934 2964 - or you can email landscape.partnership@sefton.gov.uk. Alternatively you can visit www.seftonsnaturalcoast.com or www.facebook.com/seftoncoast.

Edited from Crosby Herald (29 December 2011)

Standing stone re-erected in North Yorkshire

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:19:32 +0100

Wade's Stone South, a prehistoric standing stone, once again stands proud on the North Yorkshire Moors (England) thanks to help from Tees Archaeology. The two metre high stone toppled over, it is thought, due to centuries of cultivation around the monument reducing the level of the surrounding ground
The proximity of another standing stone also known as Wade's Stone (North) has led many to believe that the two mark the grave of the giant who is behind many local stories.
Wade's Causeway, which crosses Wheeldale Moor in the National Park, was built by the giant Wade so that his wife Bell could milk her cows and the iconic Hole of Horcum was apparently formed during an argument between the two, when Wade scooped up a handful of earth to throw at Bell, creating Blakey Topping - a nearby hill - in the process.
The stone was re-erected with funding from the North York Moors National Park Authority's monument management scheme, a partnership between the Authority and English Heritage to reduce the 'At Risk' status of scheduled monuments and improve their management. With the approval of the landowner, the North York Moors National Park Authority commissioned Tees Archaeology to record and then reinstate the fallen stone. Tees Archaeology carefully excavated what little was left of the original socket hole and then extended its depth to provide an adequate trench into which to set the re-erected stone.
Graham Lee, the National Park Authority's Senior Archaeological Conservation Officer, said: "The standing stones and crosses dotted across the North York Moors are part of the area's charm. They make our ancestors seem almost tangible and are probably some of the most photographed objects in the National Park. The sheer size of some of these stones adds to the mystery of how they got here and what they were for - it's therefore not surprising that local legends have sprung up around many of them."
There is no public access to Wade's Stone but it can be easily viewed from the A174 near East Barnby Outdoor Education Centre.

Edited from Heritage and History (15 November 2011)