9-year-old unearths prehistoric arrow
On August 4 Alastair Dunn, aged nine, turned up at Castle Howard, Yorkshire (England) for an archaeological activity session. In one move he rewrote the site's history book by 3,500 years. Alastair discovered what Castle Howard's archaeological team have identified as a 4000-year-old Neolithic flint arrowhead, the oldest artefact discovered at the stately home to date.
"What a great find for a young child to discover on their first stab at being an archaeologist," exclaimed David Fallon, Castle Howard archaeologist. "This discovery will encourage the whole team to hunt out further exciting finds as we continue to search out more of Castle Howard's history."
Taking part in the stately home's 'Get Dirty on the Dig' activity, Alastair was washing finds and sieving soil from ongoing excavations at the site. He found a small piece of flint and showed it to a very surprised on-site archaeologist, who was able to identify it as Neolithic. At a dig established to search for the lost medieval village of Henderskelfe, demolished to make way for Castle Howard in 1699, all previous finds have only dated as far back as 500 years.
Head of Visitor Services, Richard Kemp explained how the dig is all about encouraging the public not only to learn about archaeology, but to have a go at it. "I've always known the value of an archaeological excavation as the ultimate visitor attraction - they change every time you go and it isn't just what you find, it's the process behind it."
Since Alastair's discovery, archaeologists have unearthed a number of Neolithic scrapers, which would have been used to skin dead animals.
Source: 24 Hour Museum News (6 August 2003)
Reports on archaeological finds in UAE released
Reports on UAE archaeological studies and discoveries were released in an international seminar held at the British Museum in London last month. The annual seminar on Arabian Studies was held from July 17 to 19.
The focus of the UAE papers was on a complete report on the Golf Club site at Abu Dhabi International Airport, by Peter Hellyer, Executive Director of Abu Dhabi Islands Survey (Adias), and Dr Mark Beech, Adias Field Archaeologist. The site at Abu Dhabi Airport was first discovered in February 1995. Adias made a systematic surface collection of pottery, lithics and other finds during July 1995. According to the paper, investigations suggest sporadic occupation from the Hafit period (3100-2700 BC) with maximum settlements during the second half of the third millennium BC.
Heiko Kallweit, Honorary Research Fellow at Freiburg University in Germany, presented his paper Lithics from the Emirates - New Finds from the Abu Dhabi Airport Site. He examined, in his paper, the new lithic finds so far not reported from the Gulf region. It also re-examines the finds from previous excavations at the site. "Additionally, new diagnostic stone tools were recorded during recent field work. Crescent shaped microliths are reported from two different sub-sites (ADA 1 and ADA 7) of the Abu Dhabi Airport site. They seem to be similar with the finds of the Tihama, Saudi Arabia. The microliths are likely to be part of a Bronze Age technology."
Source: Gulf News (4 August 2003)
Ancient well uncovered in Israel
Archaeologists have uncovered an 8,000-year-old well, one of the oldest in the world, in the north of Israel. Archaeologists Yossi Garfinkel of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem says the well, discovered at the foot of the Golan Heights, is made of basalt and is 4.5 meters deep and 0.5 metres wide.
It was found on the site of a well-known Neolithic settlement, near the Kibbutz of Sha'ar Ha Golan, south of the Sea of Galilee and not far from the Jordanian border. Dozens of ancient stylised clay statues, many of women, have been discovered on the site in the past 50 years. Mr Garfinkel says the well is one of the three oldest in the world. A 9,000-year-old well was discovered in Cyprus, while another thought to be 500 years younger was found at Atlit, on Israel's northern coast.
Source: ABC News (4 August 2003)
Seahenge could go on display in 2005
Seahenge could go on public display for the first time in the summer of 2005. The future of the 4000-year-old Bronze Age timber circle has been the subject of fierce debate since its controversial excavation from the beach at Holme, near Hunstanton (England), in 1999.
County councillors have now decided the internationally-important find should form the focal point of a £800,000 redevelopment of Lynn Museum at King's Lynn. Norfolk's museums and archaeology service is making a bid for Lottery cash towards the scheme and, if all goes to plan, work could start towards the end of next year. English Heritage is in the process of choosing a specialist firm to carry out the conservation of the structure, which is being kept at the Flag Fen Bronze Age site near Peterborough.
Originally, it was thought that only a third or about 20 of the timber posts could be included in the display, but there are now plans to accommodate more than half of them. "The smaller timber posts should be conserved by the middle of 2005," said Norfolk Archaeological Unit's archaeology and environment officer, Brian Ayers. "We always knew the larger central tree was far too big to do by then – nobody in the world has conserved anything as big as that. It's going to take a lot longer, so at the moment we are discussing a replica for the tree, which will go on display until it can be replaced by the original."
The role of Seahenge in the new-look museum, which is expected to re-open to visitors around mid-summer, 2005, was explained to a public meeting at Holme Village Hall. "There were a lot of folk who would like to see the whole thing on display, but there was a general consensus that it was a move forward – we did stress it could be put on full display at a later date," said Mr Ayers. "It does get it on display back in West Norfolk, within a stable environment and, importantly, within one which is already a focus for activity. It should be good."
Source: EDP24 News (5 August 2003)
Prehistoric Scottish artefacts on display
A new exhibition is showcasing prehistoric artefacts that have not been seen in public in West Lothian for over 5000 years. Monuments in a Landscape Objects from Cairnpapple was officially opened in Broxburn Library (Scotland) last week. The display show artefacts on loan from the National Museums of Scotland (NMS), some of which have never been on public view in West Lothian since they were discovered.
Councillor Bert Gamble, West Lothian Council spokesman on Arts and Culture, said: "It's a history that's never been shown before, and it raises the cultural profile of West Lothian."
The display has been organised by West Lothian Council Museums Service, in partnership with the Archaeology Department of the NMS and Historic Scotland. Some of the objects on show will go to the Cairnpapple Hill visitor centre after the exhibition.
Cairnpapple is recognised as one of Scotland's most important prehistoric sites. The hill was used as a funeral site at various times, beginning from the neolithic period around 2800 BC, through the Bronze and early Iron Ages, to early Christian times around 400 AD. The Objects from Cairnpapple exhibition runs until November 8, in Broxburn Library, West Main Street, during library opening hours.
Source: West Lothian Courier (4 August 2003)
