Stone Pages - Archaeo News (Wales)

2,000 pieces of plastic found at Iron Age site in Wales

Thu, 07 Jan 2021 20:06:45 +0100

Castell Henllys is the site of an Iron Age village in the Welsh Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. It was once home to a wealthy family that included a community of up to 100 people who worked together to produce food and materials 2,000 years ago. The site includes four reconstructed roundhouses, which are circular structures with conical roofs made of wood and straw. Archaeologists and researchers rebuilt these structures using the same materials villagers would have used during the Iron Age.
After standing for nearly 30 years each and being visited by countless tourists and about 6,000 school children per year, the sites of the roundhouses provided a unique opportunity for researchers. What began as an experiment to understand how building materials decay and degrade over time turned into something else when the researchers uncovered a wealth of plastic - 2,000 plastic items to be exact.
Although the historic site is well maintained and cleaned, small plastic remnants of activity by visitors - children routinely eating lunches in one of the structures - were able to hide beneath benches in dark corners of the roundhouses. Among the plastic fragments were utensils, bottle caps, straws, straw wrappers, plastic bags, plastic food wrap, candy wrappers and even apple stickers.
"The amount of plastic litter was a surprise," said Professor Harold Mytum, lead researcher and professor of archaeology at the University of Liverpool. "The plastic creates an archaeological signature of our time (the Anthropocene), but one which is environmentally damaging," Mytum said.
The team said the discoveries would help uncover how and where plastic waste accumulates, to reduce the amount incorporated in the ground. They are also working with Pembrokeshire Coast National Park to help educate the public and raise awareness over environmental concerns that might be raised by something so simple as a school packed lunch. But Mytum also said he hoped the Plastic Age did not last millennia, like the Iron Age. "With many initiatives now pushing to switch from disposable plastic and plasticised items, this may be a narrow, but archaeologically distinctive chronological horizon," he added.

Edited from University of Liverpool, CNN World, CNN WorldBBC News (7 January 2021)

Damage to prehistoric burial mound in Wales

Tue, 21 Jan 2020 19:54:37 +0100

Welsh police are investigating 'appalling damage' at a Bronze Age burial mound which dates back 3,000-4,000 years. Gwent Police Rural Crime Team said the destruction was caused by off-road vehicles and said immediate prevention measures were being put in place. The Woodland Trust shared pictures of its Wentwood site, near Newport, where tyre tracks covered the monument.
Site manager Rob Davies said damage has been 'an ongoing problem'. "A feature that is around 3,000-4,000 years old has been damaged within a few minutes," he added. "This is a Bronze Age burial mound, a scheduled ancient monument, and the damage caused is therefore a criminal offence."
Mr Davies went on: "There has, unfortunately been an on-going problem with damage to this and similar features within Wentwood. The Trust has been spending around £1,500 a year to try to keep vehicles way from them, and following this damage, we will be undertaking further work."
The Woodland Trust said that Wentwood forms part of the largest block of ancient woodland in Wales, with a number of Bronze Age burial mounds on its ridge tops.

Edited from BBC News (7 January 2020)

4,000-year-old burial revealed on Anglesey

Thu, 22 Aug 2019 10:58:32 +0100

Archaeologists have excavated a 4,000-year-old burial mound on Anglesey in northwest Wales.
Overlooking the Irish Sea, Anglesey is dotted with numerous Neolithic and Bronze Age stone monuments. The most famous is the 5,000-year-old passage tomb of Bryn Celli Ddu (roughly,'brin kethlee dee - 'the mound in the dark grove'), which has an entrance passage that aligns with the rising midsummer sun. It was archaeologically excavated in 1928 and 1929, and later reconstructed. Modern archaeologists have turned their attention to a burial mound about 50 metres from the famous passage tomb, in the expectation that today's scientific techniques will reveal new details about the people who built it.
University of Cardiff archaeologist Ffion Reynolds has led excavations at Bryn Celli Ddu for the past four years, and her team will complete a fifth year of excavations at the site which includes the burial mound. Reynolds, who also works for the Welsh heritage agency Cadw, says tests will help determine whether any human remains are present.
Distinctive pieces of Bronze Age pottery and flint tools were found during the latest excavations, which indicate the burial mound was built around 1,000 years later than the Neolithic passage tomb.
Reynolds says evidence from sites like Bryn Celli Ddu shows that ancient monuments were often used for ceremonial purposes by later peoples. At Bryn Celli Ddu, archaeological evidence now suggests that the original tomb was started in the Neolithic period, about 5,000 years ago, and added to over the centuries.
Geophysical surveys and excavations also revealed much older structures and artifacts buried at different locations around the Bryn Celli Ddu tomb, including a circle of Neolithic pits, pieces of Neolithic pottery, and the remains of a stone ax.

Edited from LiveScience (28 June 2019)

Did the people buried at Stonehenge come from Wales?

Mon, 10 Sep 2018 19:30:18 +0100

Recent analysis of cremated human remains excavated from Stonehenge has shown that some of the individuals buried at the Neolithic monument may have spent some of their lives in western Britain, or even west Wales, the same region where the Stonehenge bluestones are believed to have come from.
During William Hawley's excavations of the famous monument between 1919 and 1926, up to 58 individual cremations were unearthed. These were subsequently reinterred in a single pit, which was re-excavated in 2008. At least 25 individuals were identified from the recovered remains and all were radiocarbon dated to between 3180-2965 and 2565-2380 BCE. This places the burials in the earlier stages of the monument's construction, a period when cremation was a common funerary practice in Britain.
Now, samples from these remains have also been subjected to isotope analysis, to find out more about where the individuals came from. Strontium isotopes provide information on a person's whereabouts in the last decade or so before death, and remain preserved even in cremated bone.
The results of the isotope analysis showed that 15 individuals had ratios consistent with the chalky geology found at Stonehenge, and for at least 15km in any direction from the monument. This suggests that in the years leading up to their deaths, they most likely obtained much of their diet from (and therefore probably lived in) the local area. The other ten individuals, though, yielded significantly different results. Three had isotope ratios that were so dissimilar to the Stonehenge area that they are unlikely to have obtained any of their diet from the region. Instead, their isotope values point to older lithologies more in keeping with parts of Devon and Wales, particularly western Wales. The other seven had isotope values in between the two, possibly reflecting a diet that came from both west Wales and Wessex.
These results lend further credence to the idea that during the Neolithic there was a strong connection between west Wales and Salisbury Plain, which included the movement of both materials and people.

Edited from Current Archaeology (3 September 2018)

Ancient history being remembered in a new Welsh school

Sun, 11 Feb 2018 20:15:46 +0100

The area of South Wales previously known as West Glamorgan and now forming the administrative area of Neath Port Talbot, is rich in ancient archaeology and history. So it may come as no surprise that when Neath Port Talbot Council ran a competition amongst local primary schools, to come up with a name for the new 420 pupil primary school being built in Briton Ferry, the name chosen reflected that heritage.
There were 98 entries in the competition and the name that was chosen was Ysgol (school) Carreg Hir (Long Stone). Carreg Hir is actually a 2.8 metre high menhir, made of Pennant sandstone, which happens to be located within the school grounds.
This standing stone dates back to the Bronze Age and is a Scheduled Monument. Although it has been placed on a concrete plinth it is believed that it is still in its original location although that has not been proven. The surrounding area, although not excavated, is believed to contain intact burial and ritual deposits as the stone was believed to be associated with prehistoric funerary rituals.
The new head teacher, Lesley Hynes, is quoted as saying "All the pupils within the three primary schools had the opportunity to be involved in this process and the school council used their voting rights to express their preference. We are all very pleased with the final name and are eagerly awaiting for the next phase of development of our new school".

Edited from NeathPortTalbotBoroughCouncil (9 January 2018)

New app to help preserve British and Irish rock art

Wed, 20 Dec 2017 14:44:27 +0100

Citizen scientists can help protect some of the world's most ancient rock art using a new mobile app designed by researchers at Newcastle University.
Using the smartphone's GPS, the app locates the site of the rock art in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and allows users to report on its condition and any potential threats, such as damage from vehicles or livestock, encroaching development, climate change and pollution.
Scientists and heritage practitioners at Newcastle University and Queen's University Belfast developed the data fields with input from members of the public and people who have responsibility for the caring for rock art.
Doctor Aron Mazel, Reader in Heritage Studies at Newcastle University says: "Previously, any reporting was done on paper and that's not always practical when you're in the middle of the countryside and there's a heavy wind. Almost everyone has a smartphone with them at all times, so creating an app was the obvious way to solve the problem."
Once uploaded, the reports are distributed to the University's project team, via the dedicated "Heritage and Science: Working Together in the CARE of Rock Art" project portal, and directly to heritage officials in the areas where the art is located. If there is no mobile phone signal, reports can be saved and uploaded when a connection is again established.
Doctor Myra Giesen, a Visiting Fellow at Newcastle University, says: "What's nice about the app is that as well as flagging up any immediate concerns, it also gives us a baseline. This means we'll be able to monitor how the rock art is doing over a period of years."
Mark Turner, Senior Research Software Engineer at Newcastle University, adds: "It's very satisfying to see our skills being used to enhance the safeguarding of ancient heritage resources."
The app is free to download and use. Search for "Rock Art CARE" on the Apple AppStore and Google Play, and visit the CARE project website to learn more about the project.

Edited from Newcastle University Press Office (23 November 2017)

Mysterious stone tools unearthed at Welsh Bronze Age site

Sat, 04 Nov 2017 17:42:44 +0100

Amateur archaeologists excavating a Bronze Age site in Wales have discovered a cache of unusual stone tools unlike any that have been found before. The tools appear to have been deposited deliberately - perhaps ceremonially - in what would have been a stream around 4,500 years ago, according to the researchers.
Around 20 of the roughly triangular stone hand tools, of various sizes, were found at the excavation site in the Clwydian Range, a series of hills in Denbighshire in northeast Wales, by the Clwydian Range Archaeological Group (CRAG) during four weeks of excavations in July and August.
"I've not seen anything like them before, and I've talked to a number of colleagues who've never seen anything like them," said Ian Brooks, an archaeologist employed as a consultant by CRAG. The tools were made from a hard limestone found locally, but not in the immediate area of the excavation. "They are rough slabs of the limestone, which have been shaped to produce one pointed end," he said.
The tools vary in size, between 2 inches (50 millimeters) long to about 8.6 inches (220 mm) long. "But they all have this characteristic point at one end, which has then been battered - you've got pitting and distinctive damage on the end, so they've been heavily used," Brooks said.
The purpose of the tools is unknown, and future work by the archaeological team would include examining the utensils in more detail. But, it's possible that the tools were used for chipping ornamental designs onto rock surfaces, he said. "One of the things that you do get in the Bronze Age is the decoration of natural boulders and rock faces, producing things like cut marks and rings and suchlike," Brooks said. "The point on these things would be about the right sort of size for pecking that sort of design."
Brooks explained that all of the mysterious stone tools were found at the bottom of what would have been a stream around 4,500 years ago, on a plateau northeast of the Moel Arthur hill fort. Brooks thinks the site where the tools were found could be more than 1,000 years older than the hill fort itself, based on carbon dating of stones from an 'burnt mound', located beside the former streambed, that dates to between 2456 to 2583 BCE.
The limestone tools did not seem directly related to the activity at the burnt mound, but they appeared to have been deposited on purpose at a particular spot nearby, in what would have been a running stream at the time, he said. Geophysical surveys, funded by CRAG in 2011 and 2012, indicated that the plateau near the burnt mound and the ancient stream may have included a small settlement of roundhouses, a typical style of dwelling in Bronze Age Britain.

Edited from LiveScience (5 October 2017)

Neolithic tomb in Wales stars in new CGI film

Wed, 14 Jun 2017 12:03:15 +0100

Work has been completed on an innovative film that will bring to life one of the most evocative archaeological sites in Britain. Bryon Celli Ddu is a 5,000-year-old passage grave on Ynys Mon (Anglesey), in the extreme northwest of Wales, and the only known site in Wales where the sun casts a beam of light into the monument on the summer solstice, which occurs this year on Wednesday June 21st.
Part of the Bryn Celli Ddu landscape project, the film shows how the site may have looked during the Neolithic period, and sheds light on the newly-discovered rock art panels and the Bronze Age cairn which surrounds the monument.
Using computer generated imagery, a range of three-dimensional models, and laser scanning techniques, the film reconstructs the monument, as well as eleven rock art panels which stood in the immediate landscape thousands of years ago.
The animation allows viewers to 'see' the site development from the Mesolithic through to its late Neolithic heyday, viewing the chamber, the passage, and the original setting of the famous pattern stone.
Dr Ffion Reynolds, Heritage and Arts Manager for Cadw, the history and environment service of the Welsh government, says the reconstruction is based on data, documentary evidence and archaeological discoveries.
Special events are planned to mark the beginning of the project's third season of excavation. On Friday June 16th, stargazers are invited to bring telescopes or binoculars to the site, and on Saturday June 17th an open day celebrates the Neolithic period in Wales, including live tours of the monument and the open archaeological trenches, flint knapping demonstrations, and hands-on pottery making, with the full summer schedule on their website: gov.wales/cadw

Edited from Tinkinswood Archaeology (9 June 2017)

Possible henge discovered around an ancient Welsh burial chamber

Wed, 08 Mar 2017 12:13:24 +0100

A team of archaeologists, led by a researcher from the University of Bristol, has uncovered the remains of a possible Stonehenge-type prehistoric earthwork monument in a field in Pembrokeshire (Wales).
Members of the Welsh Rock art Organisation have been investigating the area around the Neolithic burial chamber known as Trellyffaint, dating back at least 6,000 years and in the care of Welsh heritage agency Cadw.
The site comprises two stone chambers - one of which is relatively intact. Each chamber is set within the remains of an earthen cairn or mound which, due to ploughing regimes over the centuries, have been slowly uncovered. On the capstone that covers the south-eastern chamber are at least 50 engraved cupmarks, that make this site one of only nine Neolithic burial-ritual monuments in Wales with prehistoric rock art.
Dr George Nash, lead project director from the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Bristol and his team have conducted a series of non-intrusive surveys in and around the monument. These included a magnetometry study which covered 80 square metres around the monument and a detailed earthwork survey of the monument itself.
The geophysical survey uncovered a number of anomalies which are considered to be more than likely buried prehistoric features. Dr Nash said: "To the south and southwest of the stone chamber and appearing to run underneath the southern section of the Trellyffaint mound are two clear circular anomalies. It is regarded that this feature may possibly be a henge (otherwise referred to as a hengiform) measuring around 12 metres in diameter. It is not clear if this feature possesses an accompanying ditch, however, a circular anomaly extends around this feature, again we are unclear of the relationship (if any) with the smaller circle - only excavation will tell."
Other subsurface features of a probable later prehistoric date occur around the Trellyffaint monument. Dr Nash said: "The next stage of the project will include targeted excavation over recognised anomalies identified from the magnetometry survey. Before we do this, we will be widening the geophysics area and apply resistivity as well further magnetometry over a wider area."
This fieldwork will take place between April 21 and 23. For details on how to get involved, visit the Welsh Rock Art Organisation's Facebook page.

Edited from University of Bristol PR (24 February 2017)

Royal Mail pays homage to Ancient Britain

Mon, 23 Jan 2017 17:32:28 +0100

The Royal Mail in the UK has been issuing series of special stamps for over 50 years, starting in 1965 with Sir Winston Churchill.
Their current series is dedicated to Ancient Britain. It is a series of 8 stamps of varying denominations, each depicting either an actual famous artefact or a site, from across the Neolithic & Mesolithic Eras, Bronze and Iron Ages, with modern graphic additions to place them in context. For example, an Iron Age shield, known as the Battersea Shield after the location where it was found, is shown as being held by an Iron Age warrior.
Other artefacts depicted are the Star Carr Headdress, Drumbest Horns and the Mold Cape, all shown as they would have been worn. The sites depicted show the Grimes Graves Flint Mines, Avebury Stone Circles, Maiden Castle Hill Fort and Skara Brae village, all being given some graphical treatment to bring them to life. Whilst being legally useable the stamps are not intended for general postal use but more as a presentation pack for collectors.

Edited from Royal Mail (December 2016), Norvic Philatelics (21 Dec 2016)

Early Neolithic houses found at site in Wales

Fri, 16 Dec 2016 17:14:59 +0100

Previous work at Llanfaethlu, on Anglesey, in the extreme northwest of Wales, uncovered three 6000-year-old Early Neolithic houses, two of which were almost twice the size of other examples found in the area. A large 5500-year-old Middle Neolithic pit group containing highly decorated pottery was also excavated. Recent discoveries at the site include a fourth Early Neolithic house and extensive archaeological remains which extend the Prehistoric settlement into the Early Bronze age, about 4000 years ago. Settlements of this type were unknown in the area - prior to the discoveries at Llanfaethlu only three single Neolithic buildings had been discovered in North Wales.
Two partial sets of human remains have also been found at the site. Human remains are incredibly rare outside of megalithic tombs in this area as bone seldom survives in North Wales. Several teeth hold details of where the person grew up, and information about diet. Further analysis will show what the people of Llanfaethlu were eating 6000 years ago and whether they grew up in North Wales.
Most Prehistoric sites in North Wales yield only small numbers of artefacts, but at least 6,000 artefacts have been found at this site, including a wide range of pottery styles from the Neolithic and Bronze Age and over 2,500 flint and stone artefacts, such as complete stone axes, a leaf shaped arrow head, serrated blades, and beautiful flakes of rock crystal. Much of the stone from which artefacts were made had come from as far away as the Peak District, and over the sea in Ireland.
Catherine Rees of Archaeology said "It is no understatement to say that Llanfaethlu is one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of the last 50 years and it is clearly of international significance. It provides the potential to examine Welsh history over millennia, examining the changing culture and land use. This site will place Wales and Anglesey at the forefront of the current archaeological discourse and Llanfaethlu will undoubtedly become a "type site" in the study of Prehistory".

Edited from Daily Post (4 December 2016), Past Horizons (5 December 2016)

Well preserved pottery found inside Gwynedd quarry dig

Mon, 07 Nov 2016 12:20:32 +0100

Archaeologists working in a Gwynedd quarry (Wales) discovered an ancient cemetery containing some of the best preserved Bronze Age pottery ever found in the area. The team from Brython Archaeology were working in the Cefn Graianog Quarry at Llanllyfni, near Caernarfon, on behalf of site operators. During their work at the sand and gravel quarry they were surprised to come across a Bronze Age cemetery but even more shocked to discover what was lying inside two graves.
Iwan Parry, for Brython Archaeology, said: "The quarry has been operating since the 1970s, and we know the area has been occupied since the Bronze Age thanks to previous discoveries. So we know there is a lot of archaeology in the area, but to discover a cemetery was totally unexpected, and the artefacts inside the graves were an even bigger surprise."
The team uncovered two graves created from pits lined with stone slabs - one smaller one and another larger adult sized grave, which contained two pots known as beakers. "They are a specific kind of pot dating from the end of the Neolithic Age and the start of the Bronze Age, making them about 4,000 years old," said Iwan. "The smaller pot was damaged and has been painstakingly reconstructed by conservation staff at Cardiff University, but the larger pot was completely intact. "It was so well preserved that it could easily have been a reproduction made a few days ago rather than something that's been in the ground for over 4,000 years, and the beakers are some of the earliest examples ever found in this part of North Wales."
As well as the pots, the team discovered pits containing charcoal and pottery which are also believed to date back to the Bronze Age, and the treasures uncovered will be passed on to STORIEL - the Gwynedd Museum and Art Gallery in Bangor.

Edited from Daily Post (31 October 2016)

Astronomy shown to be set in ancient stone monuments

Tue, 30 Aug 2016 17:20:43 +0100

Research has for the first time statistically proven that the earliest standing stone monuments of Britain were oriented with the Sun and Moon. The study details the use of innovative 2D and 3D technology to test the patterns of alignment.
Project leader and University of Adelaide Visiting Research Fellow Dr Gail Higginbottom, says: "Nobody before this has ever statistically determined that a single stone circle was constructed with astronomical phenomena in mind - it was all supposition."
Examining the oldest great stone circles built in Scotland - Callanish, on the Isle of Lewis, and Stenness, Isle of Orkney - the researchers found a great concentration of alignments towards the Sun and Moon at different times of their cycles, and 2000 years later, much simpler monuments were still being built in Scotland that had at least one of the same astronomical alignments found at the great circles.
The researchers discovered a complex relationship between the alignment of the stones, the surrounding landscape and horizon, and the movements of the Sun and the Moon across that landscape.
Dr Higginbottom explains that: "This research is finally proof that the ancient Britons connected the Earth to the sky with their earliest standing stones, and that this practice continued in the same way for 2000 years."
At about half of the sites the northern horizon is relatively higher and closer, and the summer solstice Sun rises out of the highest peak in the north. At the other half it is the exact opposite - higher and closer southern horizon, out of which rises the winter solstice Sun.
Dr Higginbottom concludes: "These people chose to erect these great stones very precisely within the landscape and in relation to the astronomy they knew. They invested a tremendous amount of effort and work to do so. It tells us about their strong connection with their environment, and how important it must have been to them, for their culture and for their culture's survival."

Edited from EurekaAlert!, ScienceDaily (17 August 2016)

Seminar explores the importance of ancient hillfort in Wales

Fri, 12 Feb 2016 13:05:41 +0100

Heritage experts will examine the complex role of Old Oswestry's landscape through the ages at a forthcoming seminar dedicated to one of Britain's most spectacular and impressive early Iron Age hill forts in the Welsh Marches near Oswestry in north west Shropshire.
Entitled 'A Wider Understanding of Old Oswestry and its Setting', this is the second seminar organised by campaign group HOOOH as it continues to fight development targeting the hillfort's ancient landscape. Speakers include hillfort and prehistory specialist, Dr Rachel Pope of the University of Liverpool, who will make the case that the setting of hillforts should now be recognised as a heritage protection concern.
Prehistoric finds in North Shropshire, as reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), are the focus of Peter Reavill's presentation as he discusses what they reveal of the County's wider archaeological landscape. Hillfort researcher, David Matthews, will provide analysis of the intervisible links and tribal connections between Old Oswestry and the hillforts of the Northern Marches. Heritage planning expert, Tim Malim, will examine how location, ancient routes and trading links helped define the importance of Old Oswestry in the Medieval period. Folktales and legends of the landscape come under the scrutiny of archaeologist, Caroline Malim, as she asks whether archaeology can unlock the truth or fiction behind them.
Free to attend, the day-long seminar takes place on February 13 from 10am to 4.15pm in Oswestry's Memorial Hall in Smithfield Street. It forms the keynote to a weekend of activities devoted to Old Oswestry running February 13 and 14, culminating with a hillfort hug on Valentine's Sunday. Space is limited, so pre-registration is essential at www.eventbrite.co.uk

Source: HOOOH PR (1 February 2016)

Prehistoric shepherd's hut found in Wales through Google Earth

Thu, 31 Dec 2015 10:29:38 +0100

Remains of an ancient shepherd's hut dating from the Bronze Age have been discovered in a Blaenau Gwent valley (Wales). The prehistoric hut was discovered on a private farm at the top of the Cwmcelyn valley, near Blaina, and is the first Bronze Age hut to be found in Blaenau Gwent.
Ian Fewings, a member of Aberystruth History and Archaeology Society, was browsing Google Earth looking for signs of a First World War firing range when he said something else caught his eye: he spotted a round circle on private land and went to visit the site with local historian Frank Olding.
"We got permission from the land owner to go and take a look. Frank said he can't be sure but he thought it was a Bronze Age circle. We got a second opinion, we had an archaeologist come across and she confirmed it."
The site is a circular platform cut into the side of the hill and would once have been a small house home to prehistoric shepherds or farmers. It is believed the farmers would have used the huts in summer when they brought their sheep and cattle onto the top of the hills for summer grazing.
Mr Fewings said the owner of the land, Anthony Price, knew the site was there but had been told it was from where sheep feeders were put on the ground. And Mr Price also found some flint on the site dating from the Neolithic.
The history and archaeology society have now put a funding bid into the Heritage Lottery Fund to survey all the archaeological sites in the valley and are waiting to hear back. "If we get the grant from HLF, we will be able to survey and excavate some of the important archaeological sites lurking in this forgotten landscape," Mr Fewings said.

Edited from South Wales Argus (31 December 2015)