AN EXCITING discovery of an enormous system of ancient tracks trodden by medieval man has been made on a Purbeck heath.
Trackways probably in use between the 13th and 18th centuries have come to light on the RSPB’s Stoborough Heath and they cover an area almost a mile long.
Created over decades by carts, sledges or stage coaches crossing sloping country in wet weather, the churned mud is eventually washed away, creating a sunken lane, also known as a holloway.
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Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Lost Roman city opens up for public viewing
HUNDREDS of visitors saw how Roman history is being unearthed at a special open weekend in Caerleon.
The Argus reported at the beginning of this month how a lost Roman city was uncovered in the Priory Field site after researchers from Cardiff University found a huge complex of buildings.
Students detected walls below the ground in fields outside the fortress outlining a series of huge buildings between the amphitheatre and the River Usk, in an area experts thought was largely unoccupied during the Roman era.
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The Argus reported at the beginning of this month how a lost Roman city was uncovered in the Priory Field site after researchers from Cardiff University found a huge complex of buildings.
Students detected walls below the ground in fields outside the fortress outlining a series of huge buildings between the amphitheatre and the River Usk, in an area experts thought was largely unoccupied during the Roman era.
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Tortoise banquet: Remains of the oldest feast found
In a cave 12,000 years ago, a group of people settled down to a dinner that has rarely been matched: 71 tortoises that had been roasted in their shells.
The discovery of the shells shows that feasting occurred 2500 years earlier than previously thought, at a critical stage in the transition from hunter-gathering to settled farming.
The remains of the feast were found in Hilazon Tachtit cave in Israel by Natalie Munro of the University of Connecticut in Storrs and Leore Grosman of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. It is a burial ground that contains the bones of 28 people.
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The discovery of the shells shows that feasting occurred 2500 years earlier than previously thought, at a critical stage in the transition from hunter-gathering to settled farming.
The remains of the feast were found in Hilazon Tachtit cave in Israel by Natalie Munro of the University of Connecticut in Storrs and Leore Grosman of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. It is a burial ground that contains the bones of 28 people.
Read the rest of this article...
Medieval England to be featured in two BBC shows
Television viewers in the United Kingdom will have the chance to watch two new history programmes that feature medieval England. The BBC will start airing a new six-part series, Churches: How to Read Them, on September 1st on BBC Four. Presented by author Richard Taylor, it will examine how imagery, symbols and architecture of English parish churches have inspired, moved and enraged people down the centuries.
Churches: How to Read Them is about understanding just what we see in a British church – how the different styles of churches throughout the country reflect changing ideas of God, salvation, living and dying. Visiting some of England’s finest parish churches, Richard’s journey will be full of stories and contemporary accounts, touched with his insight, humour and sense of wonder at what he sees and interprets.
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Churches: How to Read Them is about understanding just what we see in a British church – how the different styles of churches throughout the country reflect changing ideas of God, salvation, living and dying. Visiting some of England’s finest parish churches, Richard’s journey will be full of stories and contemporary accounts, touched with his insight, humour and sense of wonder at what he sees and interprets.
Read the rest of this article...
Archaeology's Interactive Dig
Field Notes 2010: Week 1
The 2010 season is about to start! According to our current plan, we will investigate three areas. Two in the Central Building and one at the Venetian cheese dairy. The geomagnetic prospection carried out three years ago had revealed more rooms at the north and west side of the Ceramics Workshop complex. In a previous season this area had been re-investigated and fragments of a structure resembling a kiln were revealed. Our goal is to continue this investigation, to reveal the buried walls and possibly to determine if these structures are outbuildings to the workshop or if they had another use. The other area which will be investigated is the so-called Area 3 from the previous year, where we found the stone walls identified by the geomagnetic prospection. The purpose of the excavation at this part is to move deeper in these rooms (see Field Notes 2009: Weeks 3 & 4) and understand their use. The excavation at the cheese dairy is to investigate probable Mycenaean remains which were initially identified in 1989, when Mycenaean pottery and walls were found after the restoration of the dairy. The geomagnetic prospection in 2007 revealed rectangular structures, and as a consequence, our goal this season is to determine if these buildings were houses or had another use.
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The 2010 season is about to start! According to our current plan, we will investigate three areas. Two in the Central Building and one at the Venetian cheese dairy. The geomagnetic prospection carried out three years ago had revealed more rooms at the north and west side of the Ceramics Workshop complex. In a previous season this area had been re-investigated and fragments of a structure resembling a kiln were revealed. Our goal is to continue this investigation, to reveal the buried walls and possibly to determine if these structures are outbuildings to the workshop or if they had another use. The other area which will be investigated is the so-called Area 3 from the previous year, where we found the stone walls identified by the geomagnetic prospection. The purpose of the excavation at this part is to move deeper in these rooms (see Field Notes 2009: Weeks 3 & 4) and understand their use. The excavation at the cheese dairy is to investigate probable Mycenaean remains which were initially identified in 1989, when Mycenaean pottery and walls were found after the restoration of the dairy. The geomagnetic prospection in 2007 revealed rectangular structures, and as a consequence, our goal this season is to determine if these buildings were houses or had another use.
Read the rest of this article...
Monday, August 30, 2010
Medieval Festival at Herstmonceux Castle takes place this weekend
The Medieval Festival at Herstmonceux Castle, which is taking place this weekend in the English county of East Sussex, is expected to draw its biggest-ever attendance this year. Last year over 30,000 visitors flocked through the gates at the three-day Festival, already the largest of its kind in Northern Europe.
This year, the Festival has been enlarged and expanded and includes more performers, artists and attractions than ever before. The unique mix of entertainment and hospitality is set for a record number of visitors joining in the medieval fun.
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This year, the Festival has been enlarged and expanded and includes more performers, artists and attractions than ever before. The unique mix of entertainment and hospitality is set for a record number of visitors joining in the medieval fun.
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The Society for the Public Understanding of the Middle Ages
Interest in the Middle Ages seems to be stronger than ever – movies like Kingdom of Heaven and novels such as Pillars of the Earth draw millions of fans, while medieval festivals and museums featuring artifacts from the Vikings, Anglo-Saxons and other medieval societies get tens of thousands of visitors. Scholars have in recent years been examining this interest in all things medieval, and earlier this year an organization was formed to bring them together.
The Society for the Public Understanding of the Middle Ages was founded this spring during the International Congress on Medieval Studies. The society aims to focus on how the general public views the Middle Ages through various media, an to interact with authors, filmakers, festival organizers, etc, who help shape the image of medieval society in the contemporary world.
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The Society for the Public Understanding of the Middle Ages was founded this spring during the International Congress on Medieval Studies. The society aims to focus on how the general public views the Middle Ages through various media, an to interact with authors, filmakers, festival organizers, etc, who help shape the image of medieval society in the contemporary world.
Read the rest of this article...
Dry early summer turns 2010 into a vintage year for archaeology
Dry weeks in early summer have already made 2010 a vintage year for archaeology, English Heritage said yesterday. The conditions allowed hundreds of cropmark sites – created when crops grow at a different rate over buried features – to be seen from the air. A Roman camp near Bradford Abbas, Dorset, was found after three sides appeared in parched barley fields. The lightly built defensive enclosure would have provided basic protection for Roman soldiers while on manoeuvres in the first century AD and is one of only four discovered in the south west of England, English Heritage said.
The dry conditions also allowed well known sites to be photographed in greater detail. Newton Kyme, near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, was shown to be home not only to a 2,000-year-old Roman fort but also to a larger defence built in AD290. Stone walls up to three metres thick and a ditch 15 metres wide were revealed by an image taken from a Cessna light aircraft
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The dry conditions also allowed well known sites to be photographed in greater detail. Newton Kyme, near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, was shown to be home not only to a 2,000-year-old Roman fort but also to a larger defence built in AD290. Stone walls up to three metres thick and a ditch 15 metres wide were revealed by an image taken from a Cessna light aircraft
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Dry weather reveals secrets of ancient sites in North Yorkshire
SIGNS of ancient civilisations in North Yorkshire have been uncovered in amazing detail thanks to the dry early summer weather.
Hundreds of cropmark sites from Neolithic long barrows to Second World War military remains have been recorded from the air by English Heritage.
The sites photographed included one at Newton Kyme, near Tadcaster. Dating back nearly 2,000 years the rectangular Roman fort is known to have an earth and timber bastion, but aerial survey this summer revealed a stronger defence built in 290 AD covering seven hectares, with stone walls up to three metres thick and a ditch 15 metres wide.
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Hundreds of cropmark sites from Neolithic long barrows to Second World War military remains have been recorded from the air by English Heritage.
The sites photographed included one at Newton Kyme, near Tadcaster. Dating back nearly 2,000 years the rectangular Roman fort is known to have an earth and timber bastion, but aerial survey this summer revealed a stronger defence built in 290 AD covering seven hectares, with stone walls up to three metres thick and a ditch 15 metres wide.
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Sacred spring found in Stratonikeia ancient city in Turkey
Archeologists have discovered a sacred spring in an ancient city in western Turkey.
The head of the excavation team, Professor Ahmet Tirpan, told reporters on Friday that they had unearthed a sacred spring, providing water to the sacred fountain" in the ancient city of Stratonikeia in Yatagan town of the western province of Mugla.
The archaic city of Stratonikeia was established in the 3rd century BC. The acropolis of the city is at the top of a mountain in the south.
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The head of the excavation team, Professor Ahmet Tirpan, told reporters on Friday that they had unearthed a sacred spring, providing water to the sacred fountain" in the ancient city of Stratonikeia in Yatagan town of the western province of Mugla.
The archaic city of Stratonikeia was established in the 3rd century BC. The acropolis of the city is at the top of a mountain in the south.
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Sunday, August 29, 2010
Long lost Viking gateway found near Schleswig
Archaeologists have found a legendary 1,200-year-old gateway to the massive wall the Vikings built to defend themselves against their rivals the Saxons, according to a Friday media report.
Records of such a gateway existed, but archaeologists were due Friday to announce they had found the actual site, news magazine Der Spiegel reported. The team described the find as a ''sensation.''
The discovery, near the town of Schleswig in Germany's far north near the Danish border, reinforces the view that the Vikings were more than plunderers and pillagers, and that they also built and traded.
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Records of such a gateway existed, but archaeologists were due Friday to announce they had found the actual site, news magazine Der Spiegel reported. The team described the find as a ''sensation.''
The discovery, near the town of Schleswig in Germany's far north near the Danish border, reinforces the view that the Vikings were more than plunderers and pillagers, and that they also built and traded.
Read the rest of this article...
Bronze Age henge discovered in Hertfordshire field could be human cremation burial site
"The previous field that we looked at was the core of a Medieval village,” says Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews, reflecting with some affection on his team’s previous digs in the lucrative archaeological terrain of Letchworth.
“There was a lovely series of earthworks in that field. The roads went out of use in the 18th century, so we assumed it was simply abandonment. We were quite shocked to discover that the last building on the site had been pulled down in the 13th century, which was even pre-Black Death.”
Admitting to being “one of those people who’s fortunate enough to be doing what they’d always dreamt of doing as a child”, the North Herts Archaeology Officer has had a busier time than usual this week thanks to the discovery of a 50-metre Bronze Age henge at Stapleton’s Field in Norton.
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“There was a lovely series of earthworks in that field. The roads went out of use in the 18th century, so we assumed it was simply abandonment. We were quite shocked to discover that the last building on the site had been pulled down in the 13th century, which was even pre-Black Death.”
Admitting to being “one of those people who’s fortunate enough to be doing what they’d always dreamt of doing as a child”, the North Herts Archaeology Officer has had a busier time than usual this week thanks to the discovery of a 50-metre Bronze Age henge at Stapleton’s Field in Norton.
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Fascinating finds at Caistor Roman dig
The dig at Caistor St Edmund
They have been excavating for just a week, but already members of an archaeological team at a Roman town on the outskirts of Norwich have found “huge quantities” of artefacts.
A thousand visitors have been to see the dig at Caistor St Edmund in its first week and the excavation, the first inside the walls for 75 years, is uncovering more about how people in the town lived and worked.
The volume of writing implements being discovered shows that it was a thriving administrative centre, while the range of remains of animals unearthed makes archaeologists think that animals were being butchered within the town walls.
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They have been excavating for just a week, but already members of an archaeological team at a Roman town on the outskirts of Norwich have found “huge quantities” of artefacts.
A thousand visitors have been to see the dig at Caistor St Edmund in its first week and the excavation, the first inside the walls for 75 years, is uncovering more about how people in the town lived and worked.
The volume of writing implements being discovered shows that it was a thriving administrative centre, while the range of remains of animals unearthed makes archaeologists think that animals were being butchered within the town walls.
Read the rest of this article...
Revealed: the Roman Ninth Legion's guilty secret
New research reveals that the so-called crack troops of Rome were in fact guilty of crimes against fashion
They have been the subject of innumerable romantic books and films, including the forthcoming epic, The Eagle of the Ninth, directed by Kevin Macdonald. But new evidence this week has revealed that life for a soldier in the Roman Ninth Legion had a more mundane side. A newly excavated site near Healam Bridge fort, North Yorkshire, a military outpost used by the Ninth, has shown soldiers there had their own industrial estate nearby to provide them with clothes, pottery and other equipment.
The Ninth was formed in 65BC and fought in Hispania and Gaul before taking part in Claudius's invasion of Britain in AD43. The legion then helped maintain the Roman empire's grip of Britain although it suffered a serious defeat during Boudicca's rebellion in AD61.
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They have been the subject of innumerable romantic books and films, including the forthcoming epic, The Eagle of the Ninth, directed by Kevin Macdonald. But new evidence this week has revealed that life for a soldier in the Roman Ninth Legion had a more mundane side. A newly excavated site near Healam Bridge fort, North Yorkshire, a military outpost used by the Ninth, has shown soldiers there had their own industrial estate nearby to provide them with clothes, pottery and other equipment.
The Ninth was formed in 65BC and fought in Hispania and Gaul before taking part in Claudius's invasion of Britain in AD43. The legion then helped maintain the Roman empire's grip of Britain although it suffered a serious defeat during Boudicca's rebellion in AD61.
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Acoustic archaeology: The secret sounds of Stonehenge
Just after sunrise on a misty spring morning last year, my fellow acoustician at the University of Salford, Bruno Fazenda, and Rupert Till of the University of Huddersfield, UK, could be found wandering around Stonehenge popping balloons. This was not some bizarre pagan ritual. It was a serious attempt to capture the "impulse response" of the ancient southern English stone circle, and with it perhaps start to determine how Stonehenge might have sounded to our ancestors.
An impulse response characterises all the paths taken by the sound between its source – in this case a popping balloon – and a microphone positioned a few metres away. It is simply a plot of the sound pressure at the microphone in the seconds after the pop. The first, strongest peak on the plot represents the sound that travelled directly from the source to the microphone. Later, smaller peaks indicate the arrival of reflections off the stones. The recording and plot shows the impulse response Bruno and Rupert measured with a microphone positioned at the centre of Stonehenge and a popping balloon at the edge of the circle
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An impulse response characterises all the paths taken by the sound between its source – in this case a popping balloon – and a microphone positioned a few metres away. It is simply a plot of the sound pressure at the microphone in the seconds after the pop. The first, strongest peak on the plot represents the sound that travelled directly from the source to the microphone. Later, smaller peaks indicate the arrival of reflections off the stones. The recording and plot shows the impulse response Bruno and Rupert measured with a microphone positioned at the centre of Stonehenge and a popping balloon at the edge of the circle
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Archaeologist’s concern over village housing plan
A COUNTY archaeologist says plans to build ten homes on a medieval site in Teesdale should be refused because there hasn’t been an in-depth study of the land.
Raymond Collinson, the owner of Mickleton Engineering, wants to build the properties on the firm’s former site at Belgrave House Yard, in Mickleton.
The company has moved to new premises in Middleton-in-Teesdale and its disused Mickleton warehouse would be demolished to make way for the homes.
A Durham County Council archaeologist said the site could hold clues to medieval life in the area.
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Raymond Collinson, the owner of Mickleton Engineering, wants to build the properties on the firm’s former site at Belgrave House Yard, in Mickleton.
The company has moved to new premises in Middleton-in-Teesdale and its disused Mickleton warehouse would be demolished to make way for the homes.
A Durham County Council archaeologist said the site could hold clues to medieval life in the area.
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Prehistoric ‘Iceman’ Gets Ceremonial Twist
A prehistoric man whose naturally mummified body was discovered frozen in the Italian Alps may have been toted up the mountain by his comrades, a new study suggests.
Click here to find out more!
The Iceman, also nicknamed Ötzi, lived between 5,350 and 5,100 years ago as part of a genetically distinct European population (SN Online: 10/30/08). Hikers noticed the Iceman poking out of a glacier in 1991.
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Click here to find out more!
The Iceman, also nicknamed Ötzi, lived between 5,350 and 5,100 years ago as part of a genetically distinct European population (SN Online: 10/30/08). Hikers noticed the Iceman poking out of a glacier in 1991.
Read the rest of this article...
Eine neue Mammutfundstelle im Kanton Aargau
Sprengungsarbeiten beim Steinbruch der Firma Jura Cement in Wildegg (Kanton Aargau) förderten in einem bisher nicht dafür bekannten Gebiet Knochen und Stosszähnereste von Mammuts zu Tage.
Nach Sprengungsarbeiten zur Materialgewinnung im Steinbruch der Firma Jura Cement hat der zuständige Sprengmeister Knochenreste, einen Zahn und Elfenbeinbruchstücke entdeckt, die auf Grund der Grösse und Fundlage einen Mammut vermuten liessen. Darüber hinaus waren an der gesprengten Wand noch fünf kreisförmige Strukturen sichtbar, die auf weitere Reste von Stosszähnen hindeuteten.
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Nach Sprengungsarbeiten zur Materialgewinnung im Steinbruch der Firma Jura Cement hat der zuständige Sprengmeister Knochenreste, einen Zahn und Elfenbeinbruchstücke entdeckt, die auf Grund der Grösse und Fundlage einen Mammut vermuten liessen. Darüber hinaus waren an der gesprengten Wand noch fünf kreisförmige Strukturen sichtbar, die auf weitere Reste von Stosszähnen hindeuteten.
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Friday, August 27, 2010
Archeologists Find Gateway to the Viking Empire
For a century, archeologists have been looking for a gate through a wall built by the Vikings in northern Europe. This summer, it was found. Researchers now believe the extensive barrier was built to protect an important trading route.
Their attacks out of nowhere in rapid longboats have led many to call Vikings the inventors of the Blitzkrieg. "Like wild hornets," reads an ancient description, the Vikings would plunder monasteries and entire cities from Ireland to Spain. The fact that the Vikings, who have since found their place as droll comic book characters, were also avid masons is slightly less well known.
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Their attacks out of nowhere in rapid longboats have led many to call Vikings the inventors of the Blitzkrieg. "Like wild hornets," reads an ancient description, the Vikings would plunder monasteries and entire cities from Ireland to Spain. The fact that the Vikings, who have since found their place as droll comic book characters, were also avid masons is slightly less well known.
Read the rest of this article...
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Greek Archaeologists Claim They Discovered Odysseus' Palace
Greek archaeologists have claimed they have found the palace of Odysseus during excavations on the Ithaca island in the Ionian Sea.
On Tuesday, the archaeologist, Thanasis Papadopulos, who has been leading the excavation team on Odysseus' home island for 16 years, said that he knew the right place of the remains since 2006.
“We found the ruins of a three-level palace with a staircase carved into the rock,” Papadopulos said, adding that they also found a well, dating back to 13th century BC, when the Trojan War is believed to have taken place.
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On Tuesday, the archaeologist, Thanasis Papadopulos, who has been leading the excavation team on Odysseus' home island for 16 years, said that he knew the right place of the remains since 2006.
“We found the ruins of a three-level palace with a staircase carved into the rock,” Papadopulos said, adding that they also found a well, dating back to 13th century BC, when the Trojan War is believed to have taken place.
Read the rest of this article...
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