Stonehenge and the Ice Age
How much do we know about Stonehenge? Less than we think. And what has Stonehenge got to do with the Ice Age? More than we might think. This blog is mostly devoted to the problems of where the Stonehenge bluestones came from, and how they got from their source areas to the monument. Now and then I will muse on related Stonehenge topics which have an Ice Age dimension...
Some of the ideas discussed in this blog are published in my new book called "The Stonehenge Bluestones" -- available by post and through good bookshops everywhere. Bad bookshops might not have it....
To order, click HERE
Monday 14 October 2024
The Nevern Estuary anomaly
Sunday 6 October 2024
The return of the Phantom Quarrymen
I'm picking up on various social media comments and messages from mountain walkers that while some of the MPP team were digging September holes into the ground near the hamlet of Crosswell, the phantom quarrymen were also hard at work up in the rarified atmosphere of Mynydd Preseli, hunting for Neolithic quarries.
Richard Bevins was at Rhosyfelin earlier in the year, doing some TV filming and maybe collecting more samples, but otherwise there seem to have been no new excavations there.
There are rumours of work going on at Cerrig Marchogion and maybe other sites including Cerrig Lladron, but the main focus this year seems to have been Carn Ddu Fach, not far from Carn Alw and Foel Drygarn. These sites are all flagged up as being of interest in earlier publications -- referred to initially as "possible" sources for bluestone monoliths after very modest rock sampling programmes and Xray studies in the field.
Bevins, R. E., Pearce, N. J. G., & Ixer, R. A. (2021). Revisiting the provenance of the Stonehenge bluestones: Refining the provenance of the Group 2 non-spotted dolerites using rare earth element geochemistry. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 38, Article 103083. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2021.103083Richard E.Bevins, Nick J.G.Pearce, Mike Parker Pearson, Rob A.Ixer
Identification of the source of dolerites used at the Waun Mawn stone circle in the Mynydd Preseli, west Wales and implications for the proposed link with Stonehenge
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
Volume 45, October 2022, 103556
Prof Tim Darvill
I was saddened to hear about the passing, on 5th October, of Prof Tim Darvill. Another victim of cancer, after a short illness, at the age of 66.
Tim was of course one of the leading archaeologists of his day, with a wide range of interests and an impressive publications list. He spent most of his academic career in the University of Bournemouth. His work on Stonehenge and the bluestones was of course well known, and in West Wales his extensive chapter on "Neolithic and Bronze Age Pembrokeshire" written with Geoff Wainwright and published in Vol 1 of the Pembrokeshire County History (2016) was and is hugely influential.
I disagreed with some of his ideas and agreed with others, and occasionally we exchanged messages and opinions. I always found him polite and reasonable in his responses to my ideas, and he was kind enough to offer and provide help in the analysis of the Newall Boulder stored in Salisbury Museum. Some of the data which he provided were incorporated into my article published in Quaternary Science Journal in June of this year.
To his credit, Tim recognized and acknowledged disputes in his field of interest, and was happy to cite the work of those with whom he disagreed. Not everybody does that......... He was one of the few archaeologists who was prepared to go on the record, in print, to express his concern about the elaborate narrative woven by Parker Pearson and his team around the Pembrokeshire bluestones.
https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2022/11/darvill-on-waun-mawn-myth.html
Tim's 2022 article was important, not least in demonstrating that I was not alone in having serious doubts about the reliability of the evidence and the spectacular claims made in recent years by Parker Pearson, Ixer, Bevins and others.
May he rest in peace.
Thursday 3 October 2024
MPP, Bluestone Brewery, 2024
The focus is now elsewhere in Preseli, notably at Crosswell, where several ring features or embanked enclosures can be seen on satellite images. There are also subtle mounds worth investigating. The suggestion seems to be that these features are mostly from the Bronze Age and later -- but that there may be Neolithic traces beneath. That would not be surprising, given that there are abundant Neolithic traces in the wider landscape, as recorded over many years of research by other archaeologists.
On the geological front, there is a suggestion that the geologists (Ixer and Bevins) are looking at natural outcrops and boulder blockfields around the ridge where a match for the volcanic characteristics of some bluestones and fragments has been found. That would not be surprising either -- although the idea of spot provenancing and the discovery of more "quarrying sites" looks increasingly absurd.
Sunday 29 September 2024
Banc Llwydlos Ancient Village
See this listing:
https://coflein.gov.uk/media/86/748/dat21_03.pdf
Surely it MUST be excavated?
Friday 27 September 2024
Myth making and national trauma
I have picked up on the fact that there was a great need, in Britain at that time, for reassurance and for a demonstration of the fact that Britain was a place of ancient wisdom and high civilization -- and having to cope with barbarians and the forces of darkness in various parts of the world. The trauma of the Great War was still in everybody's minds. The aspirations of the British Empire were of course never far away either....
Two authors who have found expression for this are David Keys and Stephen Briggs. David Keys, in the article copied above (from The Independent, 22nd April 1990), said: "But then came the Great War, twilight of Empire, and the supremacy of man. Out went natural explanations as to how Stonehenge's monoliths arrived on Salisbury Plain. In came a theory that made prehistoric engineers look, in their own Stone Age sort of way, every bit as capable as the ancient Egyptians............. The idea that the monument was constructed by ignorant savages directed by engineers from some superior civilisation struck a chord with 20th century Britons who lamented the passing of Empire, but cherished what they perceived to be Britain's civilizing role in the world."
Stephen Briggs, in an unpublished paper called "Preseli, Stonehenge and the Welsh Bronze Age", said this: "Because archaeology in the post-War years (ie after 1918) demanded our forebears to have been intrepid and sophisticated, and since it could be demonstrated that a bunch of schoolboys were able to devise a method to move the stones, therefore if it were possible, therefore it was probable........."
... and then this: ".........British prehistory has been anxious to own an important proof of early human prowess, but instead of being satisfied with the achievement represented by the erection of the stones at Stonehenge, we have cast Neolithic and Bronze Age man in our own mould, as a man of extensive geographical knowledge, a man of taste and one who left behind remains from which his political systems and trading routes could easily be traced."
That all feeds in very neatly to my comments about the lack of scrutiny of Thomas's ideas, and also into my post about the romance of the venturesome traders.
Thursday 26 September 2024
The Lake House meteorite - in the news again
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The record:
Lake House 51°8.98’N, 1°48.60’W
England, United Kingdom
Found: Early 20th century
Classification: Ordinary chondrite (H5)
History: Lake House is a large Elizabethan country house dating from 1578 located in the village of Lake in the county of Wiltshire, England. Photographic evidence demonstrates that the meteorite was located on the top step at the main entrance to Lake House at least as early as the first decade of the twentieth century. Robert Hutchison (Curator of meteorites, NHM) was notified of the existence of the meteorite in a letter from Robin Bailey dated 13 Nov 1991. A note written on a copy of this letter in Robert Hutchison’s hand writing and initialed "RH" and dated 16 Sept 1991 reads: "probably a chondrite Ol +Px +Ct …? metal with Ni …sulphides". Mr Bailey was unaware of a detailed history of the meteorite, which he described as being collected by his grandfather.
Physical characteristics: The single remaining mass can be recognized as the major portion of a larger meteorite. The existing fragment, measuring 55 × 38 × 35 cm, is dark brown, extremely weathered and deeply fractured, consistent with being exposed to the elements for a long period of time.
Petrography: Distinct chondrules are present, but these tend to have poorly defined boundaries. Porphyritic types predominate, but barred olivine and radial pyroxene textured chondrules are also common. Chondrule mesostasis is recrystallized, with grain sizes generally below 50 μm. The sample is cut by a network of veins, up to 2 mm thick, filled with secondary weathering products.
Geochemistry: The oxygen isotope composition of the meteorite was measured (after washing in EATG to remove weathering products) δ17O = 1.99 ± 0.05 (1σ); δ18O = 2.76 ± 0.09 (1σ); Δ17O = 0.55 ± 0.01 (1σ) (n=2) which is in the accepted range for H chondrites.
Classification: In thin section the sample is a heavily weathered (W5), moderately shocked (S4), equilibrated ordinary chondrite (H5).
Specimens: The owners of the main mass have agreed to loan it on a long term basis to the local county museum in Salisbury, where it will be on display to the general public. A 1 kg representative mass will remain at OU as the type specimen for research purposes.
https://www.lpi.usra.edu/meteor/metbull.php?code=56144
https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2013/04/scientific-note-on-lake-house-meteorite.html
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/253308918_The_Meteorite_from_Lake_House
https://www.science.org/content/article/mystery-meteorite-house-sting
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From a BBC News write-up
"It's very unusual to find a meteorite this big in Britain," Prof Colin Pillinger said."They are very unstable, they contain a lot of metallic iron which oxidises and the meteorite falls to pieces.
"So the only logical explanation of how such a big meteorite may have survived being on Earth for 30,000 years is that it fell on or near a glacier and was in a deep freeze for 20,000 years."
Professor Pillinger, famed for his work on the Beagle II Mars explorer, said he believed the low-humidity and freezing conditions would have protected the rock from weathering.
"Then along came some druids, scavenging on Salisbury Plain for strange or interesting stones, and it was picked up and used in a chalk mound," he said.
"And the 'reducing environment' of chalk - the anaerobic environment - would have prevented the iron from oxidising."
The giant fragment of asteroid is then thought to have been unearthed by a previous occupant of Lake House, who is known to have excavated several nearby burial mounds.
"He was an archaeologist and was digging every barrow up in sight trying to find treasure," said Professor Pillinger.
"And we think he got it out of a barrow and added it to his collection."
The meteorite, known as a common chondrite, is due to go on display at the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum in autumn.
Adrian Green, the museum's director, said there was still "a lot of debate" about how the rock came to be on the doorstep of Lake House.
"But it's not uncommon for exotic rocks to be built into burial mounds," he added.
"And it's still covered in chalk which is the bedrock of the landscape.
"And it's colossal - it would take four people to lift it - and it's not aesthetically pleasing, so common sense dictates that this has not been shipped from abroad at ridiculous cost and significant effort, but that it came from the UK."