Ancient carvings on Burntisland's Binn Hill
Ancient stone carvings found on Burntisland's Binn Hill (Scotland) have excited major interest among archaeologists. As a result they look likely to be designated a scheduled ancient monument, given the same status as national treasures such as Edinburgh Castle. And local enthusiasts hope it could prompt a fresh archaeological survey of the whole area, believing more discoveries could be waiting.
The object of such excitement is a set of rock carvings thought to be about 4,000 years old and of a design rare in Scotland and almost unique in Fife. Fife Council Archaeologist Douglas Speirs enthused: "It's fantastic and truly amazing. The carvings are what is called a cup and ring design on a large boulder, with a spiral carved out on a nearby rockface. They are about 4,000 years old. We know of examples of this style mainly from Perthshire and Argyll, and even there they are rare, so to find one here in Fife is hugely important."
The find has also excited Historic Scotland, which is set to declare the site a scheduled ancient monument, giving it the maximum legal protection from development or other damage. The discovery was a tale in itself. Local men Colin Kilgour and Jock Moyes, who shared an interest in archaeology, came across a picture of cup and ring-marked stones at an exhibition. "It was then we realised we had seen these markings before," explained Colin. "When we were kids we used to play on the Binn Hill, and I remembered finding patterns just like that when we were building a gang hut. We went back and, sure enough, the carvings were still there. We knew what the markings were, but had never imagined they would be so important.''
Source: Fife On-Line (10 July 2003)
Neolithic tool found at Swindon
A flint tool dating back more than 6,000 years has been discovered at Swindon's (England) buried Roman complex. The 13-strong team of English Heritage experts uncovered the Neolithic tool during a five-week investigation at the Groundwell Ridge site. Experts believe the flint, which has been fashioned into a scraping tool, was created some time between 4,500 BCe and 2,500 BCe.
Project director Pete Wilson said: "The flint looks like it has been shaped into a tool. One edge has been sharpened. Although it's not quite a blade, it would have been sharp enough to cut things such as meat. It was found about halfway up the slope."
Source: Evening Advertiser, This is Swindon (17 July 2003)
Stonehenge parking fees tests
New charges are being trialled at Stonehenge: tourists will now have to pay to park and have a look at the famous stones. This was previously free. English Heritage is introducing charges of £2 per car and £10 per coach. The fee is being introduced in a week-long experiment.
Most visitors will not be affected, say English Heritage, because the charge will be deducted from the £5 entrance ticket. The organisation said it expected as many as 5,000 visitors on a peak summer weekend, and that the car park only has space for a limited number of vehicles.
Source: BBC News (13 July 2003)
School children visit Neolithic project
More than 150 of the Isle of Man's (United Kingdom) school children experienced one of the most important Neolithic sites in the British Isles when they visited the Billown Neolithic Landscape Project. Students were shown around the excavation work done by Bournemouth University in conjunction with Manx National Heritage.
Excavations this year have covered the final part of the field. They have revealed a Neolithic ditch filled with broken pottery and worked flint, some more cobbled pathways similar to the Bronze Age farmyard found last season and an Iron Age ring-ditch forming the foundation of a circle of closely-set posts. Another complex of pits filled with burnt material from domestic hearths and metalworking has also been found.
Excavations at Billown began in 1995 after fieldwalker Robert Farrar discovered 30 pieces of worked flint, three projectile points and two scrapers in the field. Every summer since then, students have conducted intensive excavation of the site. The site is on land quarried by Colas Holdings (IOM) Ltd and the company's plans to quarry in the area gave MNH a unique opportunity to excavate, said field archaeologist Andy Johnson. With co-operation from Colas, the whole area has given a vivid picture of life in the Island some 5,000 years ago.
"People were coming here for 1,500 years digging pits," said Professor Tim Darvill, professor of archaeology at Bournemouth University. "They'd be coming here for a few days, it was an ephemeral thing. There was an enclosure around the space, we found that. Some of the pits go down two to three metres. It was hollow in the pits. One of the very distinctive Manx things was to take a ceramic pot, its mouth level with the surface of the ground, perhaps they were communicating with the spirits of the ground, we do not fully understand what we believe."
At the centre of the site is a very obvious circle of stones with solid impressions where the wooden roof posts went – in the middle is a darkened patch of soil where the clay oven and its hearth sat. This is the impression of one of five or six round-houses, from around 1,200 BCe. Professor Darvill was surprised to find an enclosure so far north west in Europe and the site helped him create a picture of Neolithic man in the Island and its relationship with communities in the Irish Sea basin.
Mr Johnson said excavation this year had confirmed "that a wide range of activities has taken place on the site for several thousand years during prehistoric times".
Source: Isle of Man Online (12 July 2003)
Stone age axe found in Lomonds
Michael Kelly, a local film-maker, was scouting locations at the foot of the Lomond Hills (Scotland) when he stumbled upon the rare example of Fife's stone age past. Kelly spotted the piece in a field which had just been prepared for planting. He said: "It was just lying on the ground. I don't know if it was dug up by the plough, or if it's been there for years waiting for someone to come along and find it."
Fife Council archaeologist Douglas Speirs said the find was significant. "These things are exceptionally rare and this is of particularly high quality. It's likely that this particular axe was a high-status object and might have been ceremonial in its use; but there's also a possibility that it was imported. There's a crop growing in the field at the present time, but when it's ploughed we may find further evidence."
It's long been known that the area that became Glenrothes was inhabited by people in ancient times, and the Balfarg and Balbirnie stone circles are regarded as nationally important monuments. But the axehead is thought to pre-date even those. It will now go to Edinburgh for further examination by experts and will eventually be offered to museums.
Source: Fife On-Line (17 July 2003)
