Round in circles - new Stonehenge consultation

From the 24 Hour Museum.

English Heritage are to launch a three-month public consultation on the future of Stonehenge to get feedback on two proposed initiatives for the future management of the World Heritage site.

Beginning in the middle of July 2008, the consultation will coincide with the unveiling of revised plans for the site by Lord Bruce Lockhart, Chairman of English Heritage. The plans include environmental improvements, alternative proposals for the roads near Stonehenge and options for the location of the new visitor facilities.

These will be on display at Antrobus House, Amesbury; the Society of Antiquaries, London and Wyndham House, Salisbury. The consultation materials can also be downloaded from July 15 from the Stonehenge Consultation Website.

This site will also carry feedback links so that people can state their views on the new plans once the consultation period opens.

The need to revise the Management Plan came about after the government scrapped a multi-million pound scheme to dig a tunnel to house the nearby A303 in December 2007, saying it was “not the best use of taxpayers’ money.”

English Heritage, as the Government’s statutory advisor on all matters relating to the historic environment, has been given the task of coming up with alternative startegies. Meanwhile, the ministers for Culture and Transport will chair a new Stonehenge Project Board to oversee the Management Plan review and the environmental improvements.

The public can learn more about the revisions to the Management Plan and other proposals for the site at the following times and locations:

July 17 – 18 1 pm – 6 pm and July 19 10 am – 5 pm at Antrobus House, 39 Salisbury Road, Amesbury, Wiltshire.

July 24 – 26 10 am – 5 pm at Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, Piccadilly London.

July 28 – October 17 at Whyndham House, 68 The Close, Salisbury during office hours but by prior arrangement by calling 01722 343830.

Full story here.

Excavation at the Ring of Brodgar on Orkney

From the Courier.

By Sigurd Towrie - OrkneyJar.com

One of Western Europe’s most impressive prehistoric sites and the third largest stone circle in the British Isles—Orkney’s Ring of Brodgar—is the subject of a major archaeological project to start next week.

A month-long programme will be undertaken by a 15-strong team of archaeologists and scientists from Orkney College, the University of The Highlands and Islands, Manchester University, Stirling University and The Scottish Universities Environment Reactor Centre.

Their aim will be to gather information which will enable a much better understanding of the nature of this iconic site.

A Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Property in the Care of the Scottish Government through Historic Scotland, the stone circle is part of ‘The Heart of Neolithic Orkney’ World Heritage Site, inscribed by UNESCO in 1999.

Very little is actually known about this amazing ancient site, including its exact age and purpose.

The last important archaeological studies undertaken on it were in the early 1970s by Professor Lord Colin Renfrew.

Since then, significant developments have taken place in analytical techniques such as dating.

It is therefore hoped the new investigations to retrieve datable material and examine archaeological and palaeo-environmental material, will reveal facts about the Ring of Brodgar and help its mysteries to be unravelled.

The project will involve the re-excavation and extension of trenches dug in 1973.

Geophysical surveys will also be undertaken to investigate the location of standing stones and other features within the circle. Dr Jane Downes of the archaeology department, Orkney College, UHI, and Dr Colin Richards of Manchester University are the project directors who will lead the programme of fieldwork and subsequent analysis of its findings.

Dr Downes said, “Because so little is known about the Ring of Brodgar, a series of assumptions have taken the place of archaeological data.

“The interpretation of what is arguably the most spectacular stone circle in Scotland is therefore incomplete and unclear.”

He added, “The advanced new techniques now at our disposal mean that this time our investigations should establish when the Ring of Brodgar was built and help us learn a great deal more about it.”

Dr Richards said, “At present, even the number of stones in the original circle is uncertain.

“The position of at least 40 can be identified, but there are spaces for 20 more.

“Our investigations will therefore also focus on the architecture of this fascinating ancient site.”

Full story here.

British Museum's best year - 6 million visitors in 2007 - 08

From the Guardian.

The British Museum has had its most successful year since it started counting visitors - and probably since its foundation in 1753. In the financial year 2007-08, a record 6 million people came through the doors, including 35,000 who visited on a single day to celebrate the Chinese new year.

The museum's director, Neil MacGregor, said: "We had to shut the main gates on Great Russell Street to prevent more people from coming in. It was the first time we did that since the Chartist riots of 1848 - although on that occasion the staff were actually on the roof, armed with stones."

The 6.049 million total number of visitors - up by more than a million on the previous year - means that the museum beat Tate Modern to become the most visited cultural attraction in the UK.

It is a measure of this success that MacGregor was headhunted to become director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, following the announcement of the retirement of Philippe de Montebello, in January.

However, MacGregor, 62, announced yesterday that he had signed a contract to run the British Museum for a further five years. This will take his tenure up to the Olympic year of 2012 - and means he should see through the redevelopment of the north-west corner of the museum into new galleries for large temporary exhibitions.

"I had conversations with the Met," he said, "but on the basis that I was going to stay here. I had conversations with them about what their future plans might be - but not as a candidate. I made that clear from the start."

MacGregor said his desire to stay at the helm of the museum came from the idea that "the opportunities and challenges for a world collection in London are limitless - greater than anywhere else in the world. There are very few other places, if anywhere, that you can look at 20th century American prints, and ancient Chinese art, and statues of Hadrian, in one building. And the Met is not a public museum - whereas the British Museum is a public institution and the public museums of London have always been free to everyone."

Other successes have included the touring of exhibitions to Dubai and, currently, a show about the ancient Olympic games in Shanghai, which is attracting up to 5,000 visitors a day. That exhibition will also tour to Hong Kong, where it will be seen during the Beijing games. But the biggest single success was the First Emperor exhibition, with its sculptures from the terracotta army, which brought 850,000 people to Bloomsbury, the most for an exhibition there since Tutankhamun attracted 1.7 million in 1972.

MacGregor announced the final instalments of a group of exhibitions designed to examine the nature of empire and power. The first was the terracotta army exhibition; the second is the forthcoming Hadrian show, which opens this month.

The quartet is to be completed, announced MacGregor, by an exhibition about Shah Abbas, the great 16th- to 17th-century ruler of Persia who combined personal brutality (killing and blinding his sons) with an unparalleled religious tolerance. The final of the four, for autumn 2009, will look at Moctezuma, and the collision of his successful and expanding Aztec empire with Europeans in the early 16th century.

Excitement is already building around Hadrian: Empire and Conflict, which opens on July 24, and has sold 10,000 advance tickets. The exhibition will include some sensational new finds, such as a monumental stone head of the emperor excavated in Sagalassos, Turkey, last year. The head has never before been seen in public, even in Turkey, and is being exhibited in London only after what the curator, Thorsten Opper, described as "complex negotiations.

"You can probably still smell the soil on it," he said.

The exhibition will also aim to debunk various received ideas about the Spaniard, who ruled the Roman empire when it stretched from the Scottish lowlands to the Persian Gulf, and from the Atlantic to the Euphrates.

Hadrian's Wall, it will be suggested, was probably far from a tool of peace and stability, as has often been assumed. Instead, Opper likened it to Israel's "security barrier" on the West Bank. "There is no real evidence that it was to keep the Scots out; more likely an active tool of suppression, dividing the tribes. We have been brought up to imagine it was the bad guys north of the wall and the good guys south - but it was the same people on either side," he said.

Opper said Hadrian's reign was suffused with parallels to our own times. "He left an immense legacy for us all, even if we are not aware of it. His first act was to withdraw his overstretched army from Iraq - which goes to show Roman history isn't remote, and isn't done and dusted."

Hadrian's immediate predecessor, Trajan, had conquered the Parthian empire, which included modern Iraq. According to Opper: "When Trajan reached Basra, he made speeches about how it was a shame he couldn't carry on into India like Alexander the Great. But while he was making these statements, there was already an insurgency."

Full story here.

Wessex Archaeology discover Neolithic period house

From Wessex Archaeology.

Archaeologists have found the site of one of England’s oldest houses. The Stone Age house at Horton, close to Windsor Castle, is thought by experts to be well over 5,000 years old.

The single story house at Horton was rectangular, some 10 metres long by 5 metres wide. Dr Alistair Barclay of Wessex Archaeology said ‘this house is not big by today’s standards. But it was a dramatically different from the tents that people had been living in before.’

The walls of the house were probably made of split logs and the pitched roof would have been of reeds or grass. Two partition walls either side of a central passage divided the house into two. These walls could have supported an upper story or attic in parts of the house.

There would not have been a chimney. Smoke would have seeped out through the roof which was high enough to avoid catching fire from sparks flying from the fire.

Other finds of Neolithic date near to Horton include a burial site and a ritual processional way known as a cursus that stretched for 2.5 miles. Because of their size, these burial and ritual sites have been easier for archaeologists to find.

In contrast only about a dozen Neolithic or Stone Age houses are known from England and the Horton house is one of the most complete examples yet found. Pending radiocarbon dating, the house is thought to date to about the 37th century BC. Pieces of pottery and flint tools from the house and some nearby pits are consistent with this dating.

Dr Barclay added ‘we used to think of the Neolithic as the time when people started to farm. The evidence we now have, shows that hunting and gathering wild foods was still important. Crops were grown, but on a small scale. We can also see that cattle, pig and sheep were herded. It may be that in the river valleys, clearings for grazing came to be used for growing crops.’

Andy Spencer of CEMEX, who are paying for the dig, said ‘we have just installed a high-tech ready mix concrete plant and overhead there are planes taking off and landing at Heathrow. But what these Stone Age people built all that time ago using just stone tools and natural materials is really impressive. They were innovators too.’

Find out about our other discoveries at Horton.

Full story here.

National Archaeology Week - Stonehenge Spectacular

From Wessex Archaeology.

National Archaeology Week 2008 is almost upon us and this year it comprises a whole nine days of events beginning on the 12th July.

This annual event is organised nationally by the Council for British Archaeology and aims to give everyone the opportunity to learn about the heritage that is all around us by becoming involved in archaeology. Come and join Wessex Archaeology as we celebrate National Archaeology Day at Salisbury Museum and explore our prehistoric past.

Entrance to the museum is free on the 12th July and there are a host of family friendly activities to get involved in.

You can watch displays of flint knapping and bronze casting; build ‘Stonehenge’ on the back lawn with Julian Richards or recreate the face of a Bronze Age person. Why not try your hand at metal detecting or visit Wessex Archaeology’s Time Travelling by Water stand to explore some submerged finds using diving equipment. In the lecture hall we will be exploring the methods archaeologists use to explore our past and inviting you to have a go at becoming an archaeologist yourself!

You can bring your mystery artefacts along to be examined by Wiltshire’s Finds Liaison OfficerInspired by Stonehenge exhibition. and see if you can guess what some of her mystery objects are. Whilst you’re visiting, why not view the museum’s displays including the newly opened

This event is brought to you by Salisbury Museum, Wessex Archaeology, The National Trust, Salisbury Cathedral and Wiltshire County Council’s Conservation Lab who have joined forces to create this Stonehenge Spectacular!

Entrance to the museum on National Archaeology Day is free and the museum is located opposite the cathedral cloisters, in the Cathedral Close. The museum will be open from 10am till 4pm and we look forward to seeing you on what promises to be a spectacular day.

For more information on National Archaeology Week and other activities that will be happening across the country this July, visit the CBA’s National Archaeology Week website.

Full story here.

Animal remains at Rotherwas Ribbon site

From the Hereford Times.

THE remains of animals burnt at extreme temperatures have been confirmed among finds from the Rotherwas Ribbon, the 4,000-year-old archaeological site uncovered by roadbuilding work near Hereford last year.

An initial assessment report prepared for Herefordshire Council and out this week suggests the Ribbon was some sort of ceremonial site, and one of many that early man etched into the surrounding landscape.

Recently, archaeologists working on the southern fringes of Rotherwas found a fire cracked stone surface similar to the Ribbon and links to burnt material like flint and pottery.

Specialist post-excavation assessments of the Ribbon saw that the badly weathered bones of cattle, pigs, dogs, cows and probably sheep showed evidence of burning at more than 800 degrees celsius. A human finger was also found.

Radiocarbon tests are now under way to define the Ribbon’s dates. Right now, the feature is thought to be at least 4,000-years-old, putting it in the Neolithic or Early Bronze ages when farming first became a mainstay of local life.

Flint tools found at the site include finely flaked scrapers for wood working and meat preparation, and “strike-a-lights” to produce sparks against iron pyrites.

The latter struck the assessors as particularly unusual as such strikes were usually kept among personal items and not casually discarded.

Of the 143 pieces of flint found, many also showed evidence of burning and breakage – again, unusual compared to flint found on similar sites.

The report concludes that the Ribbon was a “special monument” hosting ceremonial activity and may be one of several in that area.

Councillor John Jarvis, Herefordshire Council’s cabinet member for environment, said the findings of the report were “very exciting” and work would now begin on the Ribbon’s “unanswered questions” like its actual extent.

Full story here.

Caesarian invasion date refined

From BBC News.

Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain in 55BC could not have occurred on the dates stated in most history books, a team of astronomers has claimed.

The traditional view is that Caesar landed in Britain on 26-27 August, but researchers from Texas State University say this cannot be right.

Dr Donald Olson, an expert on tides, says that the English Channel was flowing the wrong way on these dates.

An invasion of the south coast at Deal on August 22-23 is favoured instead.

The claims appear in the latest issue of Sky & Telescope magazine.

Caesar came to Britain with 100 warships and two legions comprising 10,000 men. But as he approached Dover's white cliffs, spear-wielding Celtic warriors lined up along the ridge, prompting the Roman leader to look for a better landing spot.

He ordered his fleet to move along the coast, and after travelling about seven miles they came to "an open and flat shore".

What has been a matter of some debate is whether Caesar sailed left or right and when exactly his armada landed.

Astronomical solution

Caesar mentioned strong tides, a full Moon and an ocean current. The astronomers Edmund Halley and George Airy previously used this information to try to solve the problem. But they disagreed with each other's conclusions.

Dr Olson identified August 2007 as a rare opportunity to investigate the question of when Caesar landed.

During this month, complex tidal factors involving the Moon and Sun would unfold in a near-perfect replay of those in August of 55 BC. So the researchers conducted an expedition to the south coast of England in order to investigate their idea.

On the day which corresponded closely to the traditional date for the invasion, Dr Olson carried out a basic experiment - dropping an apple into the sea off Deal pier at roughly the time of afternoon when Caesar described the fleet moving.

The apple floated south-west towards Dover, suggesting that the Roman fleet could not have travelled up to Deal from Dover on that day.

"The English Channel was flowing the wrong way," said Dr Olson.

Caesar's account led the researchers to focus on a possible invasion date a few days earlier.

On the day corresponding to the revised date of 22-23 August, the team chartered a sightseeing boat and took GPS readings to determine how the boat was drifting.

They found the boat was floating north-east towards Deal.

The Texas team's revised date gives Caesar the ocean current he needed to manoeuvre right, proceed seven miles, and land with a falling tide near present-day Deal.

This is the beach preferred by most historians but rejected by tide experts in the past. A modified reading of Caesar's reference to the "night of a full Moon" also leads to the August 22-23 date, Dr Olson claimed.

"The scientists were right about the tidal streams and so were the historians about the landing site," he explained.

Full story here.

M3 intimidation claims - archaeologists threatened

From the Irish Times.

Archaeologists 'used to destroy heritage'

CHARLIE TAYLOR

Archaeologists working on excavations on the controversial M3 motorway feared they would be "sacked, blacklisted or bullied out of their profession" for not supporting the building of the chosen route, it was claimed today.

Speaking at a debate on the motorway near Tara at the sixth World Archaeological Congress (WAC-6) at UCD, Maggie Ronayne, a lecturer at the Department of Archaeology at NUI, Galway, said that pressure was put on site directors and field teams by archaeologists employed by the National Roads Authority (NRA).

"Lip service was paid to archaeology but archaeologists were used to destroy our heritage," said Ms Ronayne.

"From the point of view of archaeology, the route chosen by the NRA was the least desirable and other routes were not properly considered because they were not profitable for developers."

Ms Ronayne, who recently claimed that reports submitted to the NRA had been altered, said that the building of the motorway posed serious ethical questions for archaeologists worldwide. She said she would be asking congress to pass a resolution calling for the re-routing of the M3.

Ms Ronayne also said that the Minister for the Environment's decision to support the nomination of the Hill of Tara as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) world heritage site, given the construction of the motorway, could have serious implications for other sites worldwide and could be to the detriment of the local community.

A number of organisations including the National Roads Authority, campaign group, TaraWatch alongside the Department of the Environment's chief archaeologist, Brian Duffy, spoke at the debate.

While many speakers expressed their opposition to the motorway, it was acknowledged that there had been benefits associated with it, including the discovery of a number of archaeological finds such as the Lismullen monument.

According to Mary Deevy, a senior archaeologist with the NRA, approximately €30 million has been spent on archaeology research related to the Hill of Tara since work began on the motorway.

Defending the chosen route, Ms Deevy said that the route preferred by archaeologists would have had a "massive impact on surrounding communities" with three times as many houses affected.

Discussing the archaeological impact from the building of the motorway, chief archaeologist, Brian Duffy said that it was impossible to consider building a major road anywhere in the country without it having an impact.
Also speaking,

Laura Grealish of TaraWatch, called on the congress to pass a resolution demanding a stop to work on the M3 in its present route."

It would send out a very strong message were the congress to do that," said Ms Grealish.

"It wouldn't be legally binding but it would send out a powerful message. I think it would make Ireland the embarrassment of the global archaeological community."

© 2008 ireland.com

Full story here.

Iron Age settlement found at Shadoxhurst, nr. Ashford, Kent

From BBC NEWS.

The remains of an Iron Age settlement have been uncovered by workers preparing to lay a water pipe in Kent.

Evidence of a roundhouse, five buried cremation urns and a large amount of pottery was discovered at Shadoxhurst, near Ashford.

Construction on the final section of a South East Water pipeline between Bewl Reservoir, Sussex, and Ashford has been halted to allow further investigations.

Archaeologists will now record and preserve the ancient finds.

They estimate the roundhouse would have been about 10m in diameter with timber supports. The walls and roof would have been made with wattle and daub.

'Rich history'

The period known as the Iron Age took place in Britain between about 750BC and about AD40.

Tim Allen, from Kent Archaeological Projects, said: "Although the east of Kent has a rich Iron Age history there has been little evidence previously in this area of the Weald.

"We are grateful to South East Water for the seriousness they take when it comes to our archaeological heritage and their efforts to advance our knowledge of the history of the county."

Engineering manager Paul Clifford said: "This exciting find has emerged during the initial pipeline excavation work, and after we carried out extensive archaeology surveys of the entire route before construction.

"On large schemes such as this we take the extra precaution of having archaeologists working alongside our contractors to ensure that if we do find anything of historical significance, then we can halt work for further investigations.

"That ensures we can continue to protect and record our ancient heritage."

Full story here.

Explorator 11.10

Explorator 11.10