The stones are made of blue cheese.......

You should cry, I suppose, but you might as well laugh.  I have been looking at some of the social media reactions to the latest paper from the MPP team, on Waun Mawn, released recently with no media fanfare whatsoever.  That latter point is interesting in itself.......

Anyway, while most of the comments have been from people who are distinctly unimpressed with the Waun Mawn pantomime, there are a few who think it is all perfectly wonderful, demonstrating commendable "open mindedness" on the part of the research team, and showing an ability for "self correction."

It's as if Parker Pearson, Bevins, Ixer and the rest of them had come up with an amazing and radical theory that the Stonehenge bluestones are made of blue stilton cheese, with the theory published in a learned journal and  accompanied by carefully-planned saturation media coverage.  Alice does a wacky TV programme featuring MPP in the pouring rain, persisting with the "astonishing" theory in spite of the scepticism of lesser mortals. Public acclamation follows, with nobody daring to say that the theory is nonsense, out of deference to the reputations of the researchers.  Eventually, with the researchers becoming aware that the public is getting restless, they embark upon an ambitious and expensive project which results in the publication of a wondrous learned article in a reputable journal, with highly complex graphics and tables, which proves that the bluestones are actually made of stone.  This results in further acclamation from near and far, with commentators remarking on the open mindedness of the researchers who have been so willing to scrutinise their old theory and to find it wanting........ "Great work!" they say. "Science at its best!  Hypothesis testing as it should be done!"  And so on......

Funny old world......

And if you think this team is open minded, think again.  MPP, Bevins and Ixer (and various others) have put forward wildly eccentric theories concerning bluestone quarrying, lost circles and so forth which have been heavily criticised by myself and others -- but they have steadfastly refused to acknowledge any dispute and have ignored and refused to cite any evidence (even that contained in peer reviewed journals) which happens to be inconvenient.   Those are signs of closed minds, not open ones.

And as for the "self correction" bit, the Parker Pearson "lost circle" was questioned and heavily criticised by me and other people in journals and in social media, and my working paper about Waun Mawn was published on Researchgate back in March 2021.  This laid out in great detail the evidence on the ground and questioned many of the assumptions and interpretations of MPP and his research team.

Even in the new paper, Bevins et al refuse to acknowledge any of the dissenting voices, and pretend that they themselves have initiated a re-examination of their original very silly theory without any prompting from anybodys else.  In reality, they had no option other than to do this expensive and time-consuming research because they have remained inside their tight little bubble and have been impervious to the advice given to them by others. This was their last-ditch attempt to find some evidence that would stand up in court, and of course it was a miserable failure.  Sad, and more than a little pathetic.

If you want to find out how NOT to do research, look no further.