Bronze Age barrow for sale in Cornwall
One of the largest Bronze Age barrows in Cornwall (England), consisting of a double ring of stones enclosing an elevated area about a metre in height, has been put on the market for £150,000. The barrow was discovered two years ago by musician Nick Potter when he bought the land from relatives. “I realised there was something there, because you could see stone peeping out from the gorse, but when I looked more closely, I realized there was something special,” he says.
Steve Hartgroves, principle archaeologist for Cornwall County Council’s Historic Environment Services, believes the barrow was built as the resting place for a very wealthy and important person, perhaps the local tribal clan chief. However, the site is unlikely to hold anything of historic value now, he added, as it has been raided, and the moorland soil is so acidic that it would have destroyed any bones left behind.
The barrow dwells on protected moorland in the West Penwith peninsula, which has been officially designated one of only 10 environmentally sensitive areas in the UK. According to Potter, the site is being “scheduled by English Heritage, a process that provides protection for monument and ruins, making it an offense for anyone to damage or alter the barrow any further.
Purchase of the barrow will include 1.6 hectares (4 acres) of moorland, which cannot be built or farmed on. Hartgroves, however, is quick to also point out the superb views: “There’s a lovely ambiance, the smell of wild flowers, miles from any roads, no one in sight. If I had lots of money I might just think of buying it so I could walk up there and sit.”
Further details about the barrow and an offer form can be obtained from http://www.cornish-barrow.co.uk.
Source: The Observer (15 June 2003)
Was Arthur's Stone an ancient clock?
Arthur’s Stone, one of Wales’s best-known landmarks, has become the focus of a recent theory that it may have been one of the world’s first clocks. Researchers are working on the theory that the 25-ft boulder, which sits on top of a series of smaller stones at Cefn Bryn in the middle of Gower, may have been hauled into place by ancient Britons to aid them in knowing when to sow and when to harvest.
According to Howard Middleton-Jones, of the University of Wales, Swansea’s archaeology department, “An astronomy researcher at the university, Paul Bessette, has been working on the site for years and has discovered evidence to suggest ancient Celts were well versed in astronomical alignments. By using the procession of the heavens and the movement of the stars in relation to the fixed stone, they may have been able to predict the exact timing of the seasons, sunset and sunrises.”
In investigating a contrasting theory, some researchers spent this past weekend flying over the stone in a helicopter in search of evidence that natural movement during the last Ice Age deposited Arthur’s Stone on Gower.
If it is found that Arthur’s Stone, also known as Maen Ceti, was indeed put in place by human hands for use as a giant clock, it will disprove one of its oldest legends—that it is the original stone from which King Arthur withdrew his sword to prove his right to be king.
Source: The Western Mail (16 June 2003)
Remains of child found in Yorkshire Dales ring cairn
The bones of a child, believed to have been aged four, have been found in the ring cairn at Kettlewell in the Yorkshire Dales (England). The discovery was made last week by Leeds University archaeologists, and it is the second skeleton to be unearthed at the site, the remains of the first child having been discovered last year in a stone-lined hollow—one of eight sets in the ring cairn.
Roger Martlew, a Leeds University archaeologist lecturer who unearthed the skeletons along with a team of students, said, “It is extremely significant because it’s the first time that a site of this kind has been excavated in the Yorkshire Dales and there’s a lot of evidence to be analysed. In terms of dates the site could be a lot older than we thought.”
Following this latest find, it is now believed the site could date back 4,000 years—a thousand years earlier than previously thought. Along with the remains were found a hairpin and pebbles, both placed deliberately close to the body’s head and feet. Dr Martlew had not expected to find the skeletons of children as it was unusual for Bronze Age ring cairns to be actual burial sites, rather than ceremonial sites.
“We can only speculate the reasons for them being there”, Dr Martlew said. “They could have been the children of the local chieftain and there’s some evidence of disease in the first skeleton and there may be some connection. But we can’t rule out sacrifice. I think these burials were made for very significant reasons.”
The discoveries come at the end of a two-year project that started out as a field survey of the area.
Source: Yorkshire Today (11 June 2003)
