Courtesy of Bluestone Brewery, just up the road, the interim report from MPP et al on the 2018 dig is now in the public domain. He confirms that there will be no dig this year, but expresses the hope that the diggers will be back in 2020. Here we go again.........
I'm a bit pushed for time at the moment, but here is a link for those who want to take a look. My initial impression is that MPP is as determined as ever to ignore the fact that much of his bluestone quarrying / Stonehenge / Waun Mawn evidence is hotly disputed. We have looked at these irregular indentations in the ground before, in earlier posts, and one has to admire the sheer effrontery of these guys in claiming without a shadow of a doubt that they are stone holes or sockets that once held monoliths! I wonder if any other archaeologists have looked at them, and agreed? Anyway, enjoy, and I shall come back to this in more detail in due course.
https://www.bluestonebrewing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Waun-Mawn-2018-interim-report-lite.pdf
By the way, MPP is giving his annual jolly brewery talk early this year, as it happens on my birthday, 27th July. Happily I shall be away, doing a spot of quiet kayaking in the Stockholm Archipelago.
9 comments:
Figure 7. The great stone circles of Great Britain......... where did you get this from, Brian? Is this yet another sleight of hand by master magician, MPP? I've been to quite a few of the stone circles on the map, e.g. in Scotland, Derbyshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Somerset, but I thought the jury [if made up of 12 good men/women and true] was still out on Waun Mawr.
Paragraph 2 of this Bluestone Brewery document lives up to MPP's esteemed reputation for being heavily economical with the truth. 'S'truth!!
The map is in the document, Tony. In MPP's mind, the "great circle" at Waun Mawn is now established fact, so that's that. End of discussion. Or maybe not.......
What is quite staggering to me is the apparent complete lack of scrutiny from anywhere else in the world of archaeology -- and the gullibility of people who should know better.
This will no doubt turn into another "Antiquity" article, published with a similar absence of critical scrutiny.
MPP inhabits a parallel universe. This may explain the lack of anyone (beyond his inner circle of magic men) from his own profession making any comment on, or challenge to, his spurious claims.
Different laws of science appear to apply to the wacky world of MPP Stonehenge - related archaeology. Is the UCL the unfortunate laughing - stock of discerning/ sensible archaeology professionals?
Is there not anyone [apart from, possibly, The Donald] in, for example, London who will stand bravely by MPP to the extent that they will add their own Comment of Support for him here? e.g. anyone working for, or studying at University College London Institute of Archaeology?
It is an interesting document and worth a read. MPP and his team of reputed academics seem to be 100% convinced that there was a circle at Waun Mawn with the same radius as Stonehenge (?), and that their digging has confirmed this.
To my untutored eye the evidence seems unconvincing as are explanations for aberrations such as a gap in the circle and a stone that was erected the wrong way around. The dating work had not yet been completed before publication - again mysterious to me as the dates are a foundation for the entire wobbly story.
Thanks for publishing Brian. It made for light reading while I was having my tea yesterday ...
It is an interesting document and worth a read. MPP and his team of reputed academics seem to be 100% convinced that there was a circle at Waun Mawn with the same radius as Stonehenge (?), and that their digging has confirmed this.
To my untutored eye the evidence seems unconvincing as are explanations for aberrations such as a gap in the circle and a stone that was erected the wrong way around. The dating work had not yet been completed before publication - again mysterious to me as the dates are a foundation for the entire wobbly story.
Thanks for publishing Brian. It made for light reading while I was having my tea yesterday ...
On July 27th, your birthday, you'll be doing a spot of kayaking.
Meanwhile, MPP will be even further up the creek...........
Yes, the degree of conviction is intriguing. Never a shadow of doubt about anything — and never for a moment does the MPP team think it necessary to convince others that their theses are correct. The founding assumptions seem to be (a) that everything they say is indisputable, and (b) that there is nobody out there who needs convincing.
Can it really be the case that the archaeological community (which is after all rather large) is incapable of independent scrutiny and thought?
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