I discovered this very rare and historic photo showing the rescue of the Millennium Stone after it had slipped into the Eastern Cleddau river in the year 2000. This was taken a day or two after I had helped with the pulling of the stone on its sledge. It fell into the river when assorted volunteers tried -- using authentic techniques -- to transfer the stone from the river bank into a curragh that was afloat, round about high tide. Anyway, in order to recover the stone, authenticity had to be temporarily suspended, as it was on every single day of the ill-fated bluestone transport expedition. The full and exciting story is related in detail in the pages of "The Stonehenge Bluestones". Available from all good bookshops!
Next time those enthusiastic experimental archaeology people show you one of their photos demonstrating how easy it is to pull a bluestone across a nice flat college lawn or a grassy London park, show them this photo as well..........
The stone transport must have happened, even if over very short distances (ie local to Stonehenge). Most schemes seem to consider the known technologies of the time, but a second way is to consider the available materials of the time and to invent what might have been done. The second (materials/invent) sometimes gives rise to technologies and/or material use that would leave no trace in the archaeological record. As far as I can tell, almost all ideas seem to be bound in some way or other to a consideration of known archaeological discoveries (such as the use of a curragh). If the actual method would leave no archaeological trace, it's possible that no modern experiments would duplicate what was done.
ReplyDeleteThe perfect crime, with no motive (unless you want to invent one, like MPP) and leaving no trace whatsoever! Seriously though, how likely is it that materials and techniques that were not available beforehand were used just on a one-off basis and then promptly forgotten about? Vanishingly unlikely, I should have thought......
ReplyDeleteJon says "...known archaeological discoveries ( such as the use of a curragh)". Alison Sheridan made something of this in Friday's online Talk. She spoke a lot about links by sea between Orkney and, e.g. the Boyne Valley insofar as evidence from found Neolithic objects, pottery etc, and even illustrated this with a map of Ireland, northern Scotland, Denmark etc turned 180 degrees.
ReplyDeleteYes: that's the issue. No method of proof.
ReplyDeleteAlison seemed very convinced there must have been some involvement of marine transport between northern Scotland and the coast of Ireland. Pity we don't have any rock images of prehistoric boats .... as yet. Alison was the person who, according to MPP, installed the notion of prehistoric marine movement from the Continent to, for example, the settled people who erected the Carreg Samson cromlech near Trefin, between St David & Fishguard. SEE MPP's 2012 Stonehenge book ( & coloured photo).
ReplyDelete(continued)........ Alison Sheridan " is certain that a pot from the burial chamber of Carreg Samson closed chamber tomb is of a style identical to that made in Brittany before 4000 BC. She reckons that, in large measure, the Neolithic way of life was brought by migrating Continental farmers as a 'package'rather than just its separate components being imported by the indigenous hunter - gatherers. Once farming had arrived in Britain, it was adopted by the locals." (page 326 ).
ReplyDelete