A modern obelisk may overshadow a Neolithic henge
Eden District Council (England) has backed a plan to mark the millennium with a 30-tonne granite memorial designed to last for at least another 1,000 years. However, as said by one of the councillors, it would be "cultural vandalism" to place a Christian monument at the proposed site: a field containing the Neolithic Mayburgh henge at Eamont Bridge, near Penrith.
The 17,500 U.K. Pounds memorial has been devised by the organisers of next summer's millennium festival, part of which will be held at the Henge, and it will be dedicated during the event. It will be made out of a solid block of Shap granite, standing 12ft and weighing 25 to 30 tonnes.
The organisers say the memorial will last at least another 1,000 years and will be inscribed with symbols and inscriptions highlighting the Christian significance of the millennium.
The festival company will pay half the cost and once it is wound up, Eden Council will take over ownership of the memorial.
To help saving the integrity of Mayburgh henge, please e-mail, write or fax to express your concern and ask for information to these people:
* English Heritage, 23 Saville Row, London W1X 1AB England
EH chief archaeologist: David Miles
Jocelyn Stevens' secretary: June.prunty@english-heritage.org.uk
fax (+44) 0171 973 3330
* Eden District Council: Anne Marie Chapel
fax (+44) 01768 890 732.
* Eden Arts: edenarts@aol.com
Nick Jones: Arts development officer
Barbara Slack: Rural projects officer
Sue Allan: Millennium Projects.
* Canon Markham: Bishop of Carlisle, Bishop Ian Harland
Fax (+44) 016974 76550
Sources: Cumberland News (6 August 99), Stones Mailing List, Andy Burnham (16 August 1999)
Remains of iceman discovered in Canadian glacier
The discovery of a well-preserved iceman frozen in a melting Canadian glacier has sent a thunderbolt of excitement through the archeological world.
Officials said tools and clothing associated with the preserved body indicate the man died in a fall before Europeans arrived in the region. But they stressed it was too early to give an accurate estimate on the age of the remains.
Extensive trading contact between Europeans and Indians in this region of Canada only began in the late 1700s, but people have lived in the region for at least 10,000 years, archaeologist believe.
The remains were found in early August by three teachers hunting for sheep at a glacier in Tatchenshini-Alsek Park, which is located in extreme northwestern British Columbia not far from the Yukon and Alaska borders. Preliminary evidence indicated the remains were those of a man who died from a fall into a glacier crevasse. Because of the ice, the victim's soft tissue, such as skin and muscles were still preserved. The receding ice also revealed his simple possessions: a fur cloak, a broad-brimmed hat, a walking stick, a spear and a leather pouch filled with fish and edible leaves for a meal he never consumed.
Although intact ancient bodies have been found in the Alps, Andes, Siberia and Arctic Canada, this discovery is the first of its kind in the western Canadian mountains, officials said. It definitely appears precontact, definitely before Europeans reached this part of the world, and definitely an extremely rare find, perhaps one of the most important ever in northern Canada, said Knut Fladmark, professor of archeology at British Columbia's Simon Fraser University.
Officials said study of the remains will be conducted differently from that on a body of an ancient shepherd found in 1991 in a glacier on the Italy-Austria border, because the study work must take into account Indian cultural concerns. Those concerns were reflected in the way pictures taken at the scene were released to the news media. Tribal officials asked authorities not to make public pictures of the remains.
Scientists say the frozen remains of a prehistoric man in a Canadian glacier is a rare and intriguing discovery, but may not be old enough to help resolve the intensifying debate over how people arrived in North America.
Sources: CBS (25 August 99), Reuters (24 August 99)
Development threatens English prehistoric sites
Planning permissions granted nearly half a century ago will allow the obliteration of a large part of south-west Dartmoor (England) to make way for a "super-quarry" and huge waste tips. The landscape under threat includes several archaeological monuments. Amongst them are a stone circle, three stone rows, several cairn cemeteries, prehistoric round houses, enclosures and field systems.
Much of the ground has yet to be systematically surveyed and it is likely that the monuments currently recorded represent only a fraction of the existing archaeological remains.
The quarrying companies will go ahead unless concerned individuals act now by encouraging government agencies to intervene and forcing modification of the plans under Review of Old Mineral Permissions.
Here are some ways you can help:
* Tell as many people as you can. Copy and email this message to people who may be interested in helping the campaign. Put the word out on mailing lists and internet sites.
* Write to: Rt. Hon. John Prescott, Secretary of State for the Environment, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, Eland House, Bressenden Place, London SW1E 5DU, England
* Join/send a donation to the Dartmoor Preservation Association, China Clay Campaign, Old Duchy hotel, FREEPOST (PY687), Yelverton, PL20 6ZZ, England
E-mail: members@dartmoor-preservation-assoc.org.uk
Sources: Britarch Mailing List (18 August 99), Stones Mailing List, Andy Burnham (8 September 99)
Miami circle: debate over its origin
A prominent Florida archaeologist is resurrecting an alternate theory to explain the origin of the Miami Circle. Maybe, he says, it's not a historically valuable stone carving. Maybe it was created by runoff from a modern septic tank.
Writing in the current issue of Archaeology Magazine, archaeologist Jerald Milanich explored a possibility raised by several observers after the 38-foot-wide Circle was discovered last year in downtown Miami.
He noted that a concrete septic tank, connected to a building erected in 1950, was found inside the Circle's southern arc. The Circle was unearthed last year on a 2.2-acre site along the Miami River next to Brickell Avenue.
Perhaps the Circle was formed in modern times by chemical runoff from that septic tank or was intentionally carved to enhance septic tank drainage, said Milanich, curator of archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
I intend to remain skeptical until sufficient evidence is collected to prove that the Miami Circle was built by Native Americans one or two thousand years ago and is not a 20th Century artifact, Milanich wrote near the end of the four-page article.
But many archaeologists and geologists said the evidence already exists and is being ignored by Milanich. They said the Circle almost certainly was created by the now-extinct Tequesta tribe.
We've already refuted this business about the septic tank and now we have to do it again, on a national level, said archaeologist Robert Carr, the circle's project director and recently retired director of the Miami Dade Historic Preservation Division. What he ignores are the facts he's been presented with. Among Carr's key points, worth mentioning is the fact that the holes that comprise the Circle are rectangular in shape and thus could not have been formed by natural processes. In addition, markings inside the holes have been associated with tools used by the Tequesta. Besides, ancient artifacts and deposits were discovered inside the holes, so the holes must pre-date the ancient material found within.
Source: Miami Herald (3 September 99)
4,000-year-old grave uncovered in Northern Ireland
Archaeologists exploring a site in Northern Ireland have uncovered a 4,000-year-old grave as well as ancient artefacts. The grave was discovered during an excavation in the ruins of Newtownstewart Castle in County Tyrone by the government sponsored archaeological team. It was found beneath the concrete floor of a shop which up until recently stood at the front of the castle.
Excavation director Ruairi O'Baoill was surprised to make the discovery. We were expecting to uncover evidence about life here some 400 years ago, not about death 4,000 years ago, he said.
The ashes of what archaeologists believe were two people were discovered in the grave, described by the experts as a "cist". Cist graves are described as small square pits which are lined with stone slabs and covered by a capstone. The charred remains, divided into two chambers, were piled beside ceramic pots. It is thought that the remains are that of a husband and wife.
The preservation is outstanding given the fact that they have been in the ground for more than four-and-a-half thousand years. The food bowls in particular are in amazing condition. They would have been placed in the chambers to provide the deceased with a farewell meal before they passed into the afterlife. explained O'Baoill, who added We will be able to tell not only the age and sex of the individuals, but possibly their dietary habits.
The archaeological team believe more graves could be found nearby. One possibility we have to consider is that this cist may not be alone, said Mr O'Baoill. As well as being a fine Plantation building, Newtownstewart Castle may also become known as the site of a Bronze Age cemetery.
Sources: BBC News, Belfast Telegraph (17 August 99)
Exciting new discoveries at Avebury
The discovery of a lost "avenue" of slabs at the Avebury stone circle may rewrite the history of the prominent prehistoric site, archeologists said. The large gray stones were discovered under a farmer's field near the site in southern England.
Experts believe the stones form a causeway linking the famous stone circle to the Beckhampton burial site, about a mile to the southwest. The discovery supports theories that the Avebury stones did not stand alone, but were connected to other ceremonial sites. The existence of the causeway linking the stone circle with the burial site has been debated since the 1720s, when antiquarian William Stukeley wrote of the existence of the "Beckhampton Avenue." Stukeley's theory was dismissed by many as guesswork.
Archeologists discovered a first avenue leading to nearby West Kennet from Avebury many years ago. But archaeologists were excited about the new causeway, discovered by a 15-person team from universities at Southampton and Leicester in England, and at Newport in Wales. This clearly shows that the whole complex was built in stages, said David Wheatley, a director of the dig. We will have to redraw the map of the complex and re-evaluate the development of the area, which clearly grew over a long period of time.
British archaeologists have also made another discovery at the very same site. They uncovered evidence of deep holes thought to have supported large oak poles near the stone circle. The team uncovered the foundations of the timber structure at Avebury's Sanctuary. There were two concentric stone circles here which were destroyed in the 18th Century.
In the centre of where these would have been, giant post holes have been found. They are up to six feet deep and could have supported wooden pillars up to 17ft high. Six to eight rings appear to have existed.
One theory is that they were supports for a ritual building but they are much thicker and closer together than would have been needed to hold up a roof. The archaeologists believe they are more likely to have formed a free-standing "woodhenge". They think there may have been nearly 40 similar wooden structures in the ancient kingdom of Wessex, some of them much bigger.
Sources: Associated Press (1 September 99), BBC News (31 August 99)
