Alice in Wonderland

The "Digging for Britain" series, to be shown in 4 episodes (it started on 19 August) is being made by 360 Productions for BBC2.  Looks as if the Prehistory programme was shown on 26 August -- produced and directed by Serena Davies.  Did anybody see it?  Must check if it can be got at via iPlayer.......  all complaints directly to the BBC please!


Anyway, below I have added a few comments to that absurd BBC press release, which has -- predictably -- now found its way onto websites all over the world, demonstrating to people everywhere what a bunch of idiots we are in the UK.

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1 September 2011

Tomb found at Stonehenge quarry site
By Louise Ord
Assistant producer, Digging for Britain

The prehistoric stone circle of Stonehenge has mystified architects and historians for generations (That bit I agree with)

The remains of the original builders of Stonehenge could have been unearthed by an excavation at a site in Wales. (That is an extraordinarily wild supposition that goes well beyond the realms of journalistic licence -- it is sheer fantasy.)

The Carn Menyn site in the Preseli Hills is where the initial bluestones used to construct the first stone phase of the henge were quarried in 2300BC. (That is sheer fantasy too -- there is no quarry, and there is no evidence as to which of the stones used at Stonehenge were the "initial" ones used.)

Organic material from a tomb there will be radiocarbon dated. (Good -- and I assume the dates will confirm a Neolithic age.  So what will that prove?  Nothing -- other than that this site is Neolithic, like hundreds of other sites in West Wales.)

Archaeologists believe this could prove a more conclusive link between the site and Stonehenge.  (Nonsense -- it will do nothing of the sort.)

The remains of a ceremonial monument were found with a bank and ditch that appear to have a pair of standing stones embedded. (I'd like to see the evidence for this -- and of course "standing stones" were used all the time, in the creation of passage graves and other Neolithic tomb sites.)

The bluestones at the earliest phase of Stonehenge - also set in pairs - give a direct architectural link from the iconic site to this newly discovered henge-like monument in Wales.  (Nothing but wild fantasy.)

The central site had already been disturbed so archaeologists chose to excavate around the edges.
The tomb, which is a passage cairn - a style typical of Neolithic burial monument - was placed over this henge. (I would like to see the actual evidence for that.)

The link between the Welsh site and Stonehenge was first suggested by the geologist Herbert Thomas in 1923.  (He first suggested the link in 1908 -- but that's a small point.)

This was confirmed in 2008 when permission was granted to excavate inside the stone circle for the first time in about 50 years. (Nonsense -- the 2008 excavations did nothing of the sort.  The OU team in 1989-1990 confirmed that many of the Stonehenge bluestones were from the Preseli region -- but from many different locations.)

The bluestones had been transported from the hills over 150 miles to the plain in Wiltshire to create Stonehenge, the best known of all Britain's prehistoric monuments.  (Sheer fantasy -- there has never been a scrap of evidence to support that contention.)

Two of the leading experts on Stonehenge, Prof Geoff Wainwright and Prof Timothy Darvill, have been leading the project. (We won't get into a debate about what makes somebody into an "expert" and how much respect he or she should be accorded)

They are now excavating at the site of a robbed out Neolithic tomb, built right next to the original quarry. (What does this mean?  Which original quarry?  There is no quarry.)

They knew that the tomb had been disturbed previously, so rather than excavate inside, they placed their small trench along its outer edge. Prof Darvill said: "It's a little piece of keyhole surgery into an important monument, but it has actually lived up to our expectations perfectly."

There are many springs in the area, which may have been associated with ritual healing in prehistoric times, and also the reason why these particular stones were quarried for another monument so far away.  (This is also sheer fantasy -- which is why the previous TV programme involving Profs Darvill and Wainwright attracted such ridicule.  There are many springs almost everywhere.)

Prof Wainwright said: "The important thing is that we have a ceremonial monument here that is earlier than the passage grave.  (Let's see the colour of the evidence)

"We have obviously got a very important person who may have been responsible for the impetus for these stones to be transported.  (Obviously?! Typical of the fantasies in which Prof W indulges from time to time...)

"It can be compared directly with the first Stonehenge, so for the first time we have a direct link between Carn Menyn - where the bluestones came from - and Stonehenge, in the form of this ceremonial monument."  (If there really is a ceremonial monument or small henge-like feature older than a Neolithic burial, that might be interesting, but it would still have nothing to do with Stonehenge.  We can have an interesting discussion about when the first henges and earthworks were built -- but what has any of that got to do with Stonehenge?)