Ancient burial mounds found in England
An independent archaeological dig in a Cheshire hamlet, near the Welsh border, has emerged as one of Britain's most important excavations. Experts working on farmland alongside the Duke of Westminster's Eaton estate at Poulton, south of Chester (England), have discovered evidence of human activity dating back 9,000 years. They have unearthed five Bronze Age burial mounds, two Roman buildings and a medieval chapel and cemetery, unique in the UK. The series of remarkable discoveries was made during excavations to find the lost Abbey of Poulton which once stood on the site near Pulford.
For the past eight years archaeologist Mike Emery and his team of volunteers have unearthed the evidence. Mr Emery, who works alongside a team of 20 students from Liverpool and Nottingham Universities, said: "The discoveries we have made in that short time are remarkable. Everybody knows that Chester was an important part of the Roman Empire, but now we know there were thriving communities here many thousands of years before the city was settled."
Computer scanning of the prehistoric mounds, will give a guide to how many cremated remains are on the site. Cheshire Police are also supporting the project and sharing information with the dig team. Mike's team has also been showing them how the shape of the landscape can help spot potential burial grounds.
Mr Emery added "When I first came here in 1995 I had no idea the scale of this project would be so huge. This dig will be my only job for the next 20 years."
Source: Daily Post (20 August 2003)
Family go back to Bronze Age at Flag Fen
A family has stepped back in time to experience life at the city's Bronze Age site. Six members of the Pogmore family are spending a week living in a Bronze Age roundhouse. The experiment, organised by Carlton Television, is taking place at the Flag Fen Bronze Age visitor's centre, Peterborough (England).
The Pogmores, from Nottingham, are dad Phil (38), mum Vickie (35), Keeley (19), Gavin (17), Phil (15), Claire (14), and 12-year-old twins Steven and Brendan. They are living and sleeping in a roundhouse typical of the age. No contact with the outside world is permitted. And they have to get by without any 21st century conveniences.
Their task is to try and live as close to how a real Bronze Age family would have lived 4,000 years ago. They will have to build another roundhouse on the Flag Fen site and make tools from the time. The family beat off competition from 30 others to take part in the experiment. They are banned from speaking to the press or knowing anything about the outside world until they are "released" on Friday.
Elin Styles, operations manager at the site, said: "They're not allowed any modern luxuries that we take for granted, like pizza or mobile phones. They have to cook over a real fire, sleep on a bed of straw and wear traditional Bronze Age costumes." Mrs Styles also said: "Judging by their laughter, I think they're having a really good time doing it."
Source: Peterborough Now, The Evening Telegraph (20 August 2003)
Bronze Age village uncovered in highway dig in Israel
An archeological excavation ahead of advancing highway construction crews in southern Israel turned up an 8,000-year-old Bronze Age settlement. Contractors working on a new trans-Israel highway asked the authority to carry out an exploratory dig at Ptora, in the archeologically rich region east of the town of Kiryat Gat, before earthmovers started ripping into the ground.
The authority said remnants found at the 1.75-acre Ptora site showed that its Bronze Age inhabitants engaged in agriculture, copper production and the making of ceramics, and that they occupied the settlement continuously until about 3,000 BCe
Source: Ha'Aretz, Associated Press (20 August 2003)
Irish bypass site yields prehistorical findings
The site of the planned Dundalk bypass (Ireland) has yielded archaeological treasures dating back thousands of years. The Irish Archaelogical Consultancy is digging beneath the proposed route of the Dundalk western bypass which, when completed, would complete a network of high-quality road stretching from Dublin to the border.
Archaeologists have uncovered settlements from the Neolithic (3,000-2,000 BCe) and Bronze Age (1,400-700 BCe) as well as more recent findings such as disused railways. There are 30 sites of excavation on the construction zone and these have so far yielded the remains of several ring forts, enclosures and burial grounds.
Niall Roycroft, archaeological project mananger, said: "We have removed and recorded most of the materials on the sites and expect to be finished within a couple of months. We have found a couple of ring forts and early Medieval enclosures with burial grounds within the area which is available to dig on and we have found places where prehistoric people would have lived."
Mr Roycroft said the work was being carried out on the 80-hectare site prior to construction of the bypass next year. Areas of archaelogical importance were identified last June in Gornard, Co Longford, but there have been no recent finds in Louth.
Source: Belfast Telegraph (19 August 2003)
