From the 24 Hour Museum
Archaeologists from Durham University will be returning to a London borough site where a 19th century historian once found flint tools and animal bones.
This time, however, the latest sonic drilling equipment will be used to take samples from the earth, for the ongoing Ancient Human Occupation of Britain II project (AHOB).
Initial drillings were carried out at Holmscroft Open Space in September 2007 by the archaeologists, who are looking at human occupation of the country right from the first people who lived here about 700,000 years ago, up to the end of the last Ice Age, roughly 8,800 years ago.
AHOBII, Ancient Britain in its European Context, entails the re-analysis of old artefacts held in museum collections as well as fieldwork to refine dates and provide more accurate reconstructions of past environments.
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By Peter Gleeson
A 'beautiful' Bronze Age axe and a number of ancient burial grounds have been unearthed near Roscrea during the construction of the new Dublin-Limerick motorway in the area.
The bronze axe was found in Camblin, south of Roscrea. Archaeologists say the find dates to the later Bronze Age and appears to have been hidden in a shallow pit and never recovered by the person who concealed it.
On a second site in Camblin a medieval iron 'bearded' axe was discovered while two Bronze Age enclosed settlements with two ancient houses were found near the N62 Templemore Road.
Three ringforts were also found at Camblin. One of them included a small cemetery dating to the 6th to 7th Century. Archaeologists say the cemetery would have been in use before the Bishops of Roscrea had formalised human burial into consecrated churchyards.
'Burials were all in the Christian manner, although some of the bodies seem to have been more casually interred, such as one where the legs were bent to fit into a small grave The burials included people of all ages and it is likely the site was used for several hundred years,' according to the archaeological report on the motorway route commissioned by the National Roads Authority.
The report said the concentration of ancient sites discovered near the present N62 Templemore Road at Camblin reflected the location of the ancient Roscrea to Cashel routeway.
PLANNED repairs to the central heating of a church have uncovered remains suggesting it may have been used as a place of worship in prehistoric times.
Archaeologists now believe the medieval church of St Michaels and All Angels, in Houghton-le-Spring, Wearside, is on the site of earlier places of worship, possibly dating from the Neolithic period.
Old burial grounds have been unearthed during work by the Archaeology Practice, but it has also revealed foundations of previous churches on the site.
Stones uncovered beneath the church floor are thought to have been part of a Roman building, while there is also evidence of prehistoric activity in the area.
Peter Ryder has led the three-man team carrying out excavations before a major refurbishment, which will include replacing the central heating system and restoration of much of the stonework.
He said the site appears to have been a place of worship long before the existing medieval church was built.
"It's thought the first church here was late Saxon or early Norman, but there's strong evidence of a prehistoric ritual site.
"We've found big boulders, and during earlier work under the church yard, there was a line of stones, which is clearly a significant archaeological feature.
"The boulders are probably prehistoric and there are large blocks of stone from an early structure, which could be Roman.
"I have never seen them in a medieval structure, although a sarcophagus, a stone tomb with a lid, which looks Roman was found under the church yard."
