tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post2459130582857950815..comments2024-03-28T22:13:17.139+00:00Comments on Stonehenge and the Ice Age: Westbury White HorseBRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-43368377450106786132012-04-22T17:38:25.180+01:002012-04-22T17:38:25.180+01:00Mike Pitts, aforementioned editor of BA [British A...Mike Pitts, aforementioned editor of BA [British Archaeology], also has a website:-<br /><br />http://www.mike pitts.wordpress.com<br /><br />Quite a useful site to visit.Tony Hinchliffenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-72488471215553429022012-04-22T16:55:53.528+01:002012-04-22T16:55:53.528+01:00Mike Pitts, editor of British Archaeology, has bee...Mike Pitts, editor of British Archaeology, has been, on the whole, pretty even-handed in his treatment of the two main bluestone transportation hypotheses (glaciation or man) in British Archaeology magazine. But we shall have to keep an eye on him to ensure his neutrality in the debate, Chris.<br /><br />But he managed to do a very good objective job in his account of the long-term archaeological research at the henges of Avebury & Stonehenge in his "Hengeworld" (2000), for instance.Tony Hinchliffenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-41538468949977890352012-04-20T12:24:10.874+01:002012-04-20T12:24:10.874+01:00Hey Brian,
I think it very positive that you put f...Hey Brian,<br />I think it very positive that you put forward a "straw man" on the glaciation theory. It shows where we can look for evidence.<br /><br />Even more helpful would be a dummies guide to finding bluestones such that Tony's volunteers, or even myself, could stick their hand up reliably while walking the territory.<br /><br />By the way, I wrote to editor of BA on the need to revisit the glaciation hypothesis and did not receive an answer. They published earlier this year that Ixer's work had finally put paid to the glaciation theory - something which is clearly not supported, also by Rob Ixer. I did not receive a reply.chris johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16210890033354730381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-34761865569780778452012-04-19T18:28:30.722+01:002012-04-19T18:28:30.722+01:00Talking of long shots, one would be perilously clo...Talking of long shots, one would be perilously close to the firing and testing range of the Army's Salisbury Plain Training Area (just south of the Westbury White Horse and then the Bratton Iron Age Hill Fort)!!<br /><br />Curious to think that, if your theory about where the Irish Sea glacier possibly "skidded to a halt" and potentially spilled its bluestone erratic cargo is correct, then King Alfred The Great and his swiftly assembled troops from Hampshire, Somerset, Dorset and Wiltshire may have walked past/ over a few of the aforesaid bluestone erratics (varying greatly in size from stone chips to massive boulders) on his probable march roughly northwards along the Plain's edge from somewhere near Battlesbury Hill, near Warminster, towards Bratton Camp, beyond Westbury, where, it is nowadays surmised, Guthrum and his Vikings were encamped, having themselves marched there from Chippenham.<br /><br />King Alfred was, of course, a well-educated and learned man who later recruited Asser from St David's. Not sure how good his geological knowledge was!Tony Hinchliffenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-16653994760820086552012-04-16T21:59:07.459+01:002012-04-16T21:59:07.459+01:00Thanks Tony -- interesting info! Good to hear of ...Thanks Tony -- interesting info! Good to hear of your new project. My "project" would just involve keeping an eye open for any strange stones or boulders in places where they might not be expected -- it's a long shot, but you never know.......BRIAN JOHNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-68207303015433966932012-04-16T20:40:43.357+01:002012-04-16T20:40:43.357+01:00How did the White Horse of Westbury come to be ins...How did the White Horse of Westbury come to be inscribed on the chalk below Bratton Iron Age Hillfort? Read Bernard Cornwell's ripping yarn, "the Pale Horseman", to find out. Bernard writes historical novels set in the 9th Century, during King Alfred The Great's time, from the viewpoint of a young man, born English, but brought up by the Vikings. The A.D. 878 Battle of Ethandune is writ large in this particular book. Cornwell's historical detailing has been praised.Tony Hnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-63620409892541685852012-04-16T20:31:54.533+01:002012-04-16T20:31:54.533+01:00What exactly would your fieldwork involve, Brian? ...What exactly would your fieldwork involve, Brian? Would you want the plateau near the Horse pored over with a fine - toothed comb?<br /> <br />Ironically, I am just about to get involved in a Heritage Lottery - Funded project set up by the Westbury Heritage Society, but they have already decided on 12 sites of historic interest in and around Westbury, so they can't get involved in your potential project just now.Tony Hinchliffenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-85001494434743185822012-04-16T12:13:11.019+01:002012-04-16T12:13:11.019+01:00Ah -- so that's all right then!! Thanks Jon.....Ah -- so that's all right then!! Thanks Jon...BRIAN JOHNhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-82139991721549415302012-04-16T11:53:30.571+01:002012-04-16T11:53:30.571+01:00Surprisingly, concrete was a material developed in...Surprisingly, concrete was a material developed in the neolithic:<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YiftahelJon Morrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11264966739582178631noreply@blogger.com