MPP and a presumed dolerite pillar ready for transporting to Stonehenge, but somehow left behind. This was at Carn Goedog, picturesquely described as "the IKEA of Neolithic quarries". Spotted dolerite from Carn Goedog was NEVER used preferentially in megalithic structures in Pembrokeshire or anywhere else. (Photo: Prehistoric Britain)
The famous "Lost Circle" programme fronted by the "astonished" Alice Roberts was on the telly again last night, in spite of the BBC being warned in 2022 by me -- and probably lots of other people -- that it is filled with pseudo-science. When I sent a formal complaint in last time, the BBC responded that "we've received no information that would lead us to form the view that the film can't be shown again." Well, as others will know, it's not easy to send them information, and they do not go out of their way to look for it either. ........
The documentary has now been shown NINE times on BBC channels alone, and is also permanently available on iPlayer and YouTube -- so it's a nice little earner for all those involved. This is the marketing pitch:
In a world exclusive, Professor Alice Roberts follows a decade-long historical quest to reveal a hidden secret of the famous bluestones of Stonehenge.Using cutting-edge research, a dedicated team of archaeologists led by Prof Mike Parker Pearson have painstakingly compiled the evidence to fill in a 400-year gap in our knowledge of the bluestones – and to show that the original stones of Britain’s most iconic monument had a previous life.
From the grand fantasy of medieval Merlin legends, to the chemical signatures in microscopic rock fragments, no stone is left unturned in the search for new evidence. By combining innovative 3D scanning techniques, traditional field archaeology and novel laboratory analysis, the team have discovered when and where the stones for Stonehenge were quarried and where they first stood.
Alice shows how the team discovered that the stones must have been quarried 400 years before they were first erected at Stonehenge. The team then focuses on trying to find out if the same stones had an earlier life.
Alice joins Mike as they put together the final pieces of the puzzle – not just revealing where the stones came from and how they were moved from Wales to England, but also solving one of the toughest challenges that archaeologists face.
Their revelations will rewrite the history of Stonehenge forever – this is the story of Stonehenge’s lost circle.
So this is sold to a gullible public as an investigation using "cutting edge research" -- in other words, high-powered science -- to help to solve the mystery. That's just cynical spin. Well, there are techniques involved, but they are certainly not used very scientifically, and of course the conclusions based on the research have been quietly dumped, one by one, since the programme was made in 2020. These are the papers that have cumulatively demonstrated that the documentary film is effectively useless, based as it is on dodgy evidence and a string of speculations and assumptions.
Darvill, T. 2022. Mythical rings? Waun Mawn and Stonehenge Stage 1. Antiquity, 4 November 2022, pp 1-15.
Pearce, N.J.G., Bevins, R.E., and Ixer, R.A. 2022. Portable XRF investigation of Stonehenge -- Stone 62 and potential source dolerite outcrops in the Mynydd Preseli, west Wales. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 44 (2022a), 103525.
Parker Pearson, M., Pollard, J., Richards, C., Welham, K., Kinnaird, T., Srivastava, A., Casswell, C., Shaw, D., Simmons, E., Stanford, A., Bevins, R., Ixer, R., Ruggles, C., Rylatt, J. & Edinborough, K. 2022. How Waun Mawn stone circle was designed and built, and when the Bluestones arrived at Stonehenge: A response to Darvill. Antiquity, 96 (390), pp 1-8.
John, B.S. 2024. The Stonehenge bluestones did not come from Waun Mawn in West Wales. The Holocene, March 20, 2024 (published online) 13 pp.
All of those who have participated in the recent research seem to have accepted that there was no link of any sort between Waun Mawn and Stonehenge, although MPP persists in his belief that there was an "intention" to build a large stone circle at Waun Mawn, and that the site was thus a "place of significance in the Stonehenge story". How he comes to that conclusion seems to be a complete mystery to everybody else....
Anyway, the programme is filled with pseudo-science from beginning to end, and the BBC should be ashamed of itself for continuing to promote a piece of frothy entertainment on the pretence that it is scientifically reliable. BBC Verify, where are you now?
7 comments:
I had a walk last night out the back of Tafarn y Bwlch and down the overly saturated moor to see if i could spot those other two chambered cairns at Penanty Isaf, that are not marked on the map.
I crossed the road at Rhyd y Groes and came up and around Cnwc y Hydd. Even on a wet March evening this windswept moorland is still attracting Lost Circle visitors!
As i passed, it occurred to me that permission could be sought from Gurnos Farm about having a small notice board on their roadside gate, notifying visitors that there is an alternative and more realistic view of the antiquity of this land, other than that given by MPP and Prof. Alice.
The farm cannot be best pleased about the number of people wandering around willy nilly looking for imagined stone circles.
Well said, CysgodyCastell. The same may well apply to what is needed to be displayed near Craig Rhosyfelin. Are both up for an outbreak of common sense?
Incidentally, no doubt Prof Alice Roberts has now personal regrets about acting as a sort of go - between in the making of the film about the so - called 'Lost Circle'.
FT today has a piece on Trump's abuse of science. I liked this comment:
"What did it for me is the proposition from London University that bluestones were transported by neolithic hands from West Wales to Stonehenge. There is a much more plausible hypothesis that glacial transport was responsible in the Anglian some 450000 years ago, but nevertheless the BBC and London University see pounds lights flashing to sell a more exciting narrative to their clientele."
The exciting narrative embraces heroic ancestors - Brexiteers all - carrying massive stones over impossible terrain for hundreds of kilometers and long before the wheel was invented or any significant road network. Mike Parker Pearson is the guru of this faith based transportation myth.
Completely science based, you understand. And they say investing on the stock market is a form of gambling ......
Thanks for that. Yes, I checked it out -- it's in the context of a discussion about fake news and "science skepticism". Trump is, I suppose, in a league of his own, but certainly the reputation of science is done no good at all by archaeologists who try to sell their myths as if they are scientifically reliable....... and who choose to tell their stories in reputable science journals because that increases their credibility. Then of course one has to ask why the editors of these journals suspend their disbelief and actually publish the fantasies!!
I am conjecturing, Brian, you may have had some slight impact somehow upon the phraseology and details used in the Financial Times piece "Anonymous" quotes on 27th March above?
No, I have no idea who "Anonymous" may be, and no idea who was behind that comment in the FT. Ft is not one of the papers I look at, even though I dare say it sometimes says things that are quite sensible! All I can think of is that there is a FT reader who also reads my blog or my publications.....
Thank you for reading the Blog and for your insightful comment, Mr/Ms Anonymous, and stick with us.
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