They appear to be denying both the existence and the use of glacial erratics for monument building in glaciated terrain.
It's quite extraordinary that in the article by MPP et al on distant stone sources, they got away with this sort of nonsense in the text, without being pulled up by the journal editor or the "experts" selected for peer review duties.n Whatever has happened to academic archaeology and the journals that represent it to the outside world?
from pp 114-115
The great passage tombs of Newgrange and Knowth in Brú na Bóinne were constructed with stones brought from at least six source areas as far away as 40 km to the north and south along Ireland’s east coast (Cooney 2000, 136, Figure 5.2; Stout 2002, 30–1). The largest of these weigh around half a tonne – the greywacke blocks brought from up to 5 km away (see Figure 1).
The great passage tomb of La Hougue Bie, Jersey, incorporates different rocks from across the island (Bukach 2003). Apart from passage tombs, stone circles and other monuments at this time were also composed of different types of rock, although the distances travelled were substantially less. The two Orcadian stone circles, the Ring of Brodgar and Stones of Stenness incorporate monoliths derived from up to seven sources, covering distances of more than 13 km (Downes et al. 2013; Richards 2013a). Also, different stone circles among the complex on Machrie Moor, Arran, are constituted of different types of rock: red sandstone and white granite, both derived from different places on the island (Richards and Wright 2013, 50–9).
The great passage tomb of La Hougue Bie, Jersey, incorporates different rocks from across the island (Bukach 2003). Apart from passage tombs, stone circles and other monuments at this time were also composed of different types of rock, although the distances travelled were substantially less. The two Orcadian stone circles, the Ring of Brodgar and Stones of Stenness incorporate monoliths derived from up to seven sources, covering distances of more than 13 km (Downes et al. 2013; Richards 2013a). Also, different stone circles among the complex on Machrie Moor, Arran, are constituted of different types of rock: red sandstone and white granite, both derived from different places on the island (Richards and Wright 2013, 50–9).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14324/AI.27.1.13
No mention at all of the possibility -- indeed the probability -- of glacial transport of the stones used in monument building at Newgrange, Knowth, the Orkneys and Arran. I have dealt with this matter before:
See also:
Williams-Thorpe, O. and Thorpe, R.S. 1991 Geochemistry, sources and transport of the Stonehenge Bluestones. Proc Br Acad. 77, pp 133-161
The Geological Sources and Transport of the Bluestones of Stonehenge, Wiltshire, UK
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 57 , Issue 2 , 1991, pp. 103 - 157
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0079497X00004527
"Geochemical provenancing of igneous glacial erratics from Southern Britain, and implications for prehistoric stone implement distributions" by Olwen Williams-Thorpe, Don Aldiss, Ian J. Rigby, Richard S. Thorpe, 22 FEB 1999, Geoarchaeology, Volume 14, Issue 3, pages 209–246, March 1999
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/%28SICI%291520-6548%28199903%2914:3%3C209::AID-GEA1%3E3.0.CO;2-7/abstract
Briggs, C.S. 2009. ‘Erratics and re-cycled stone: scholarly irrelevancies or fundamental utilities?’ IPG Conference Website contribution.
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-research/publications/publication/?publicationId=015d347c-65bd-4955-a456-a6cc009cd744
https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0092.00002
https://www.historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-research/publications/publication/?publicationId=015d347c-65bd-4955-a456-a6cc009cd744
I don't know what the situation may be on Jersey, because the article by Bukach (2003) is behind a paywall -- but it appears that the bulk of stones used in passage grave construction were "local" and that some were "non-local". I don't know how those terms were defined, and how far certain stones might have been moved.
https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0092.00002
The thing that concerns me the most is that three of the authors of this latest article (Bevins, Pearce and Ixer) are geologists, and that they appear to be fully signed up to a ruling hypothesis that completely denies any role for natural processes in the movement of stones in areas known to have been heavily glaciated on several occasions. How weird is that?
It gets even more bizarre when you realise that both Ixer and Bevins have been involved in glacial erratic studies -- Ixer in regard to the erratics found and publicised in the Birmingham area in the last few years, and Bevins in the study of the Storrie Collection of erratics found in Pencoed, near Bridgend. Perhaps both of them suffer from some strange ailment which manifests itself in the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing?
3 comments:
These various geologists and archaeologists deny that natural processes may well often be involved in the transportation of erratics. A peculiar preoccupation with alleged human involvement.
This is the central issue in my mind and obviously bothers the "expert circle" too or they would not have organised this narrative.
My wife smuggled a chunk of spotted dolerite from Carn Menyn several years ago and since her demise I turned it into a sculpture after many many hours. I can say with some certainty that this is NOT the material for creating something for eternity. It is incredibly hard - harder than granite they say - and it is also porous. When eventually I mounted my masterpiece on a stainless steel pin I used vaseline to ensure that I could rotate her. A few years later I discover the vaseline has intruded into the stone less than elegantly and to a surprising depth.
The idea that this spotted dolerite was specially chosen is frankly absurd. Other "sculptors" may want to disagree - please!.
I am delighted with my creation, looks a bit like a fish, but I doubt it will last a hundred years or even my lifetime unless someone or something keeps the weather out.
No, the spotted dolerites and other bluestones were lying around the general area when the monument we call Stonehenge was built. It was quite an achievement to move them and erect them no doubt. But the idea that there is some intrinsic quality in the stone is frankly ridiculous. Should any reader disagree then I challenge you to make a sculpture and then let us discuss about the material.
Agree, Chris. Talk to any N Pembs builder and they will all say the same -- that spotted dolerite (and the unspotted version) is incredibly difficult to work. I handled tonnes of dolerite blocks in the facing of our house's external walls, and getting even a very rough rectangular shape was an absolute nightmare. In the old days only the poshest of houses could afford the time and the labour required for the making of regular sized coin stones. Rhyolite is also difficult to work -- easier than dolerite, but with a tendency for fracturing in unexpected places and giving weird shapes.......
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