Many readers have apparently not realised that in association with the paper on Rhosyfelin, published in December 2015, we also published a glossary and photo gallery showing all of the features assumed by the archaeologists to have been man-made. We appended notes explaining why these features should NOT be considered to have anything to do with Neolithic quarrying activities.
I am increasingly struck by the fact that if we had not examined and photographed this dig site, while work was in progress, there would be nothing on the record in the way of evidence to contradict the fantastical interpretations of a group of archaeologists who were hell-bent on finding a quarry. Neither would there be any basis on which the question the interpretations of this site as published by Parker Pearson et al in December 2015. That was all down to a chance set of circumstances. First, there was open access to the site, adjacent to a public footpath. Second, a group of us were rather interested in this site and were more than a little worried about the high-profile "spin" that came from MPP and others. Third, we lived close enough to the site to visit it frequently, in spite of the fact that the diggers never invited us to take a look.
I hope that the scientific community is grateful to us for services rendered.
But it's a scary thought. How many other archaeological digs are opened up and then filled in again in conditions of great secrecy, without any independent scrutiny ever being brought to bear on the so-called "evidence" presented by the diggers themselves, and on the conclusions drawn?
Supplementary Information: Photo Gallery
Brian John, Dyfed Elis-Gruffydd and John Downes.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286927485_Photo_Gallery
The paper itself:
OBSERVATIONS ON THE SUPPOSED “NEOLITHIC BLUESTONE QUARRY” AT
CRAIG RHOSYFELIN, PEMBROKESHIRE".
Archaeology in Wales 54, pp 139-148. (Publication 14th December 2015)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286775899_OBSERVATIONS_ON_THE_SUPPOSED_NEOLITHIC_BLUESTONE_QUARRY_AT_CRAIG_RHOSYFELIN_PEMBROKESHIRE
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