tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12286907394857346842024-03-19T07:42:47.365+00:00Stonehenge and the Ice AgeHow much do we know about Stonehenge? Less than we think. And what has Stonehenge got to do with the Ice Age? More than we might think. This blog is mostly devoted to the problems of where the Stonehenge bluestones came from, and how they got from their source areas to the monument. Now and then I will muse on related Stonehenge topics which have an Ice Age dimension...
BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.comBlogger3509125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-2060934687660735912024-03-18T19:22:00.002+00:002024-03-18T19:22:41.781+00:00Bluestone "biface" stones at Stonehenge?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNbBPJPcz_kQZ43n__1RtidXeJtYSIfOEyn3LT_vaAXe2oT0e9pcltBCfUWyWA_3sd4o0QDInK688pohbmbvHI4Q0O2yCu7ilebSbNBl3ZVCMHNNqy0BQA0NFc2rZ0T6pVoUuW2uHCABGsuFaHix68bc0xNzhdVf_f08Emxzz-bf6b2AzV_WpK5VJpZ7c" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="802" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhNbBPJPcz_kQZ43n__1RtidXeJtYSIfOEyn3LT_vaAXe2oT0e9pcltBCfUWyWA_3sd4o0QDInK688pohbmbvHI4Q0O2yCu7ilebSbNBl3ZVCMHNNqy0BQA0NFc2rZ0T6pVoUuW2uHCABGsuFaHix68bc0xNzhdVf_f08Emxzz-bf6b2AzV_WpK5VJpZ7c=w295-h319" width="295" /></a></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Above the Durrington"biface" bluestone</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Below -- large lumps of sarsen</i></div></i><br /><div>I am intrigued by this mention of other biface bluestones found at Stonehenge. This is news to me......... The authors assume they are artifacts and that they were brought to the site. Is there any evidence at all in support of that contention?</div><div><br /></div><div>Source:</div><div>Along Prehistoric Lines: Neolithic, Iron Age and Romano-British Activity in the Former MOD Headquarters, Durrington, Wiltshire<br />By Steve Thompson and Andrew B. Powell<br />Published by Wessex Archaeology, 2018<div><br /></div><a href="https://www.wessexarch.co.uk/our-work/mod-durrington">https://www.wessexarch.co.uk/our-work/mod-durrington</a><br /><br />Quote:<div><br /><div>"Several finds have been uncovered alongside many artefacts such as ceramic and worked flint typical of the period. The most impressive, at least in size where the pieces of worked sarsen stone blocks found in the posthole alignment, the largest weighing in at 15 kg, with two smaller fragments, interpreted as broken flakes, being found alongside it. <br /><br />The use of sarsen as a material to construct stone circles such as Stonehenge and Avebury may suggest this material had some importance to the occupants of Neolithic Durrington, however it is suggested that the stone was discarded after being unable to be worked further. It is also broadly contemporary with the sarsen phase of Stonehenge, however it is possible sarsen was more commonplace than it is today as a number of solitary standing stones are known locally. <br /><br />A piece of worked ‘bluestone’ known as a biface was found in a later ditch close to the intersection of the two posthole alignments. <b>This object is similar to ones found at Stonehenge and is almost certainly of Neolithic date.</b> However, whilst it is likely to have been brought to the site at this time, it could equally be a Romano-British curio or trophy. ‘Bluestone’ is a key material of non-local rocks, many of which were brought from Wales, and most famous for its use at Stonehenge and the ritual activity taking place there."</div></div></div>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-77117801637192910052024-03-17T12:10:00.002+00:002024-03-17T12:10:24.098+00:00Marginal channels near Carn Goedog<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPDvYS4w3h7eg8GP--dkjWZO5dp79e29zNFJ-aksFUPnpIk8Uj0OsgpRS1a4nnNq9Mr8oVYff1fgLPKH2gqV2CEeQwvaGf3yZwNm_6YkjM4oG5uS-6Wlxv6Dn84zrvJJO6EmzYL_W2flzOdn4vxUjBm6GucU_sSO9OKMqdpteYh2Vr8Ht8b_LQSGYxX8M" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPDvYS4w3h7eg8GP--dkjWZO5dp79e29zNFJ-aksFUPnpIk8Uj0OsgpRS1a4nnNq9Mr8oVYff1fgLPKH2gqV2CEeQwvaGf3yZwNm_6YkjM4oG5uS-6Wlxv6Dn84zrvJJO6EmzYL_W2flzOdn4vxUjBm6GucU_sSO9OKMqdpteYh2Vr8Ht8b_LQSGYxX8M=w422-h317" width="422" /></a></div><p><br /></p>This is another amazing drone image courtesy Hugh Thomas of Preseli360. With a low light level and deep shadows, the amount of detail showing up in the landscape is extraordinary. Some of these tracks may be man-made -- or made by the feet of thousands of animals in the days of the drovers -- but I am more than ever convinced that the majority are related to marginal meltwater flow along the edge of an ice mass occupying the Brynberian Moor lowlands and pressing against the Mynydd Preseli north face. You can see Carn Goedog in the middle distance.<p></p><p>I have been meaning to survey these channels properly, but have never got round to it. The gradients and micro-morphology could be important. One of those things still on the list.........</p>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-36893915724594153782024-03-17T11:17:00.000+00:002024-03-17T11:17:19.106+00:00Elephant Foot Glacier<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXF8Rl_3x3y7yDjvo5Rp2th8bTxnIazrOuIb-jq0kzXgLqqbNmRLfHSs7vArEzzOQ6AIkyuz8IPYQkbDAL7TSBlVU4rNpZcmS9Wdyfvuhqvh44_Tc2p84og2pLC5RwkiH03rycHAMLIBOspnrjivqdre5DvetYfcOGlEVLMYVrikrlqRWw5n8tp8ceaLU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1664" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiXF8Rl_3x3y7yDjvo5Rp2th8bTxnIazrOuIb-jq0kzXgLqqbNmRLfHSs7vArEzzOQ6AIkyuz8IPYQkbDAL7TSBlVU4rNpZcmS9Wdyfvuhqvh44_Tc2p84og2pLC5RwkiH03rycHAMLIBOspnrjivqdre5DvetYfcOGlEVLMYVrikrlqRWw5n8tp8ceaLU=w293-h361" width="293" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>There's a lot of debate on social media about whether this photo is real -- surely it is too perfect to be true? When I first encountered it, there was no location, but I have tracked it down to Romer Lake, in the far north of Greenland. The piedmont glacier itself is called Elephant Foot Glacier -- and you can see why. It's the perfect illustration of a solid flowing like a liquid....... it's located on the shore of a lake which is frozen solid for most of the year -- and this may explain why erosional processes and calving have not greatly affected the glacier snout.<div><br /></div><div>Anyway, the above photo has clearly been doctored, because everything is too smooth for comfort -- but the main distortion occurs because the image width has been compressed, giving the distant mountain slopes an exaggerated steepness. So the piedmont glacier is really a bit wider than it appears.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPPTtTf0eU3SIFi21vtdvcPrIfUuKUJsD7F_qfO49WFGkpj-ZBNgmDtEY2Z3_5UiFxeTk7Qi8p5OZX5ZGPF1MCif8HiPc0R2wErP1Xz7I2HG4BaQyKXbXC1bDEHo2HLYQfBXhgjdjDJbTprc54XPDmHoj947uml9JDBXBS64mXJEB8qQSyBQdBJQWcc9U" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1032" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhPPTtTf0eU3SIFi21vtdvcPrIfUuKUJsD7F_qfO49WFGkpj-ZBNgmDtEY2Z3_5UiFxeTk7Qi8p5OZX5ZGPF1MCif8HiPc0R2wErP1Xz7I2HG4BaQyKXbXC1bDEHo2HLYQfBXhgjdjDJbTprc54XPDmHoj947uml9JDBXBS64mXJEB8qQSyBQdBJQWcc9U" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirJS0atDCtWsCW9LXQinjF2Vbrv4E-_ooj--AQO0qzQpOtJ7xwSxQ05l3vrdt5yRY8xLRnNpVhrUD-zagZfoss8T9bjJJR3MoHWs9QsgfTBEuKgpLE5QQBLrZkkMKauDHqenDK5Mt7wfcyuoYOG1DmFBh2K_Qzdg-e466JaEN7nCXPX-Gb9Lqu-_D-jEQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1494" data-original-width="1700" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEirJS0atDCtWsCW9LXQinjF2Vbrv4E-_ooj--AQO0qzQpOtJ7xwSxQ05l3vrdt5yRY8xLRnNpVhrUD-zagZfoss8T9bjJJR3MoHWs9QsgfTBEuKgpLE5QQBLrZkkMKauDHqenDK5Mt7wfcyuoYOG1DmFBh2K_Qzdg-e466JaEN7nCXPX-Gb9Lqu-_D-jEQ=w322-h283" width="322" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Images from Google Earth</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><br /></div><p></p></blockquote><p> </p></div>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-80478809293923898692024-03-17T10:53:00.000+00:002024-03-17T10:53:05.604+00:00Periglacial Carningli<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEOrYBDbKZqnwmWvxrgdnihgYFA70SDysTvX14ByvZxWgyw1G8fAOcHnZft-iRYN3fMfiXUDp7UB0CLADpibuR2WsHbznzOcjLkqM6ahV_ANOmYRvCi9nkMiDwKCvGjS3g7DFHhKg1DBRELWJtysstAfKwZy3X2dgrdfjmu0UkUgnE2XgVMysCj-IHdFA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhEOrYBDbKZqnwmWvxrgdnihgYFA70SDysTvX14ByvZxWgyw1G8fAOcHnZft-iRYN3fMfiXUDp7UB0CLADpibuR2WsHbznzOcjLkqM6ahV_ANOmYRvCi9nkMiDwKCvGjS3g7DFHhKg1DBRELWJtysstAfKwZy3X2dgrdfjmu0UkUgnE2XgVMysCj-IHdFA=w491-h276" width="491" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Thanks to Hugh Thomas and his Preseli360 site for this great drone image -- showing the south-facing flank of Carningli, with the rock outcrops of dolerite almost entirely obliterated by great accumulations of scree. This is intriguing, since scree accumulations generally (in the northern hemisphere) accumulate on the shady or north-facing sides of mountains. Here the shady side has a gentler gradient, and there are abundant bedrock exposures showing significant ice moulding features. So my explanation is that there was probably a substantial windscoop feature here at a time when the summit of the mountain was a nunatak. The relatively warm summer rock surfaces might have helped to keep the windscoop open, but long winters (with freeze-thaw processes dominant) would have allowed substantial rockface disintigtration and scree accumulation.<p></p>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-8031495102032011822024-03-15T12:57:00.002+00:002024-03-17T08:57:59.292+00:00Post Processualism and ArchaeoMythology<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgy1rYNyzTZ3xqtogl9YTDAj7km3TBf7OLdIsa19yh4njBvHMjRz-cZnVex4I-78fbI_L8sWc48sIAum88-Co3CPw3ilRqJmr6wnSScRGbx4BXkEjn7CSNpAoTHQ1ZuqMoOAE3vLrhEZUG0b2Q2JX9rYvuQFpktQncox4yACdA0q2hGMnn2Gh23VAH1aU4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1786" data-original-width="1346" height="419" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgy1rYNyzTZ3xqtogl9YTDAj7km3TBf7OLdIsa19yh4njBvHMjRz-cZnVex4I-78fbI_L8sWc48sIAum88-Co3CPw3ilRqJmr6wnSScRGbx4BXkEjn7CSNpAoTHQ1ZuqMoOAE3vLrhEZUG0b2Q2JX9rYvuQFpktQncox4yACdA0q2hGMnn2Gh23VAH1aU4=w316-h419" width="316" /></a></div><br /><br /></div>One of the themes of my talk the other evening was the manner in which evidence has been devalued in archaeology, at least by those practitioners who have embraced this strange thing called Post Processualism. Those who see themselves as "post processualists" have a license to say that evidence and facts have some value, but not much -- and that creating a coherent and exciting narrative that explains features on the ground is a far more worthy (ie academically respectable) exercise. In order to create the narrative you must understand the people you are dealing with, even if they lived many thousands of years ago. So you use imagination and empathy to get inside their minds and understand their motivations, their beliefs and their behaviour. In passing on your discoveries to others, you then tell the story, and bolt onto it any evidence that might give it extra colour or strength. The story becomes, in effect, the working hypothesis, to be modified as often as you like, with material added from your fieldwork or your archaeological digs, until it ends up as confirmed in your own mind. On effect, you then have a ruling hypothesis. It's a rather relaxed procedure, fairly familiar to people working in the humanities, where you don't need a huge amount of raw data or academic rigour. After all, everything is subjective, and your story is not necessarily any more or less accurate or truthful than mine. Understanding and insight become more important than processes and facts......... <br /><br />That's all very well for those of you who are communicating with colleagues or students who are just as relaxed as you are. But your problems start when you start communicating with others -- especially those who see themselves as scientists working in fields where research and publication procedures are clearly defined and adhered to. And here's the rub. <b> You want to publish in a scientific journal because that will make you look more respectable in academic circles</b>, but that's where you come up against the buffers, because your modus operandi is to tell people what they are looking at and then to give them some information in support of your conclusion. Your work is dominated by speculations, assumptions and assertions which your colleagues allow you to get away with. But now you dress your information up to be as "scientific" as possible in tables, graphs, diagrams, technical data sheets and so forth -- but it's all a con, and you know it. You are using technology because it suits you, but you are not a scientist, because you cannot, or will not, conform to the scientific publishing convention of problem statement, evidence presentation, interpretation and deduction, discussion and conclusion.<div><br /></div><div>It's all a bit like Putin arranging elections in Russia which are so strictly controlled that they are farcical -- because he NEEDS to demonstrate to the world what an amazing democrat he is, and what a powerful mandate he has from a grateful electorate. Democracy is the thing you hate the most, but you have to pretend you embrace it so that you can sell yourself to the rest of the world. Scary, but also rather pathetic.<br /><div><br /></div><div>This is of course all reprehensible. Back to archaeology and archaeologists. You are either for science or against it, and it is disingenuous and dishonest of you if you deny or ignore the relevance of science on the one hand and then on the other hand hijack it as a vehicle for the promotion of your ideas or your career.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, you might say that the above is all very simplified, and that the reality is more nuanced. Or maybe more convoluted:</div><div></div><a href="http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-7316%28199901%2964%3A1%3C33%3ATSNOP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-A">http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-7316%28199901%2964%3A1%3C33%3ATSNOP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-A</a></div><div><br /><div>Wonderful stuff from Van Pool and Van Pool, and three cheers for hyperrelativists, extreme positivistic scientists and nomological approaches. The authors conclude that ".......on any reasonable criteria or characteristics of science one wishes to use, much of postprocessual archaeology qualifies as science. In fact, postprocessual research may more fully meet several of these criteria than does processual archaeology." Hmmm.....</div><div><br /></div><div>Back to the real world. We need to openly discuss journal publishing policy. I'm not talking here about the glossy popular magazines like <i>Current Archaeology</i> or <i>British Archaeology</i>, whose sales depend on "impact" and spectacular headlines rather than academic rigour. But in my opinion, based on a string of Stonehenge-related articles, the journal called <i>Antiquity</i> (for example) appears to me to be quite happy to connive in the process of dressing up non-scientific papers as scientific, and facilitating the publication of peer-reviewed material (who, I wonder, are the reviewers?) which should be rejected out of hand by any journal that seriously adhered to the conventions of scientific publishing. You can dig up my criticisms of the following, one of which was described by a senior academic as "probably the worst paper he has ever had to read":</div><br />1. Parker Pearson, M. et al. 2015. Craig Rhos-y-felin: a Welsh bluestone megalith quarry for Stonehenge. Antiquity 89: 1331–52.<br /><a href="https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2015.177">https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2015.177</a></div><div><a href="https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-antiquity-paper-critical-assessment.html">https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-antiquity-paper-critical-assessment.html</a><br /><br />2. Parker Pearson, M. et al. 2019. Megalith quarries for Stonehenge's bluestones. Antiquity 93: 45–62. <br /><a href="https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2018.111">https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2018.111</a></div><div> <a href="https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2019/02/yet-more-on-quarries-scientific.html">https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2019/02/yet-more-on-quarries-scientific.html</a><br /><br />3. Pearson, M. et al. 2021. The original Stonehenge? A dismantled stone circle in the Preseli Hills of west Wales. Antiquity, 95(379), 85-103. <br /><a href="https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2020.239">https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2020.239</a></div><div><a href="https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2021/02/antiquity-article-on-lost-circle-review.html">https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2021/02/antiquity-article-on-lost-circle-review.html</a><br /><div><br /></div><div>Strange that MPP should be the senior author on each of these articles, but he's not entirely to blame -- there are more than a dozen authors altogether, and they cannot avoid corporate responsibility for this state of affairs. As I see it, the Editor and the publishers must share responsibility as well. As for other archaeological journals, I don't know them well enough to work out what they are up to, but I would not be surprised to find that post-processualism is having an insiduous and destructive influence on their academic integrity as well.........</div><div><br /></div><div>So here's my suggestion. One of the big journal publishing giants should start a new journal called "ArchaeoMythology" which is honest enough to recognise that there is a readership for pseudo-science and a group of pseudo-scientific archaeologists who need an outlet for their work. They can then all happily publish in the magazine, and read articles written by like-minded academics in its pages, and the rest of us can ignore them and get on with life........</div><div><br /></div><div>=========================</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2c-X8HiBng">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2c-X8HiBng</a></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t2c-X8HiBng" width="320" youtube-src-id="t2c-X8HiBng"></iframe></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Next, we come to Monty Python and the lessons we might learn from that wonderful film about the hunt for the Holy Grail. Symbolism in bucket loads. In the scene where King Arthur meets Dennis the Peasant we have comic genius, as Dennis, while grovelling in the mud, gives the king a lesson in political theory. It's hilarious because of course, if King Arthur had really existed, the following would have applied:</div><div>(1) Dennis would never have heard of King Arthur;</div><div>(2) Dennis would not have known what a king was; and</div><div>(3) Dennis would not have known that there was a country called Britain.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is a timely reminder that archaeologists who are digging in the mud in this day and age must not presume to know what was inside the heads of peasants who were digging in the mud during the Neolithic. But that is exactly what MPP and his team have done in proposing their narrative of stones with special properties being quarried from sacred places and transported all the way to Stonehenge during a coordinated series of heavy lift expeditions. The narrative is so extraordinary that it has to be underpinned by an extraordinary set of beliefs imposed from afar, 5000 years later, by modern academics onto a distant tribal group. So MPP, in his abundant writings, speculates on ancestor cults, political unification, stones with special qualities, tributes, orgies, sacred sites, rituals, ceremonial landscapes etc with gay abandon, much to the irritation of people who prefer to see some facts. He even claims, in order to justify the sophistication which he imposes on the Neolithic tribes of Preseli, that “this was one of the great religious and political centres of Neolithic Britain." As many others (including archaeologists) have pointed out, that claim is simply not supported by the evidence on the ground, and is just another piece of interpretative inflation.</div><div><br /></div><div>As Hitchens reminds us: "What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence" and as Carl Sagan further reminds us: "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."</div><br />To assume that the tribes of West Wales had the technical skills, the mental maps, the motivation, the manpower and raw material resources, and the leadership to make 80 or so monolith transporting expeditions by sea or overland is to enter a quagmire with no escape. And this is what MPP and his team will be forced to confront as they see their narrative collapsing, bit by bit, around their ears. When Stephen Briggs argued for opportunistic, rather that deterministic, stone gathering in the Neolithic, he was basing his argument on rather solid evidence; and as I have argued many times before, the great mass of the population at the time were not driven by rituals, belief systems, political aspirations or economic ambition but by things that were much simpler -- the need for warmth, clothing, food, safety and comradeship within secure family groups. It was all very utilitarian. The locals inhabiting the slopes of Mynydd Preseli would have had much in common with Dennis the Peasant. They would have had no knowledge at all of Stonehenge, which was at that time in any case just a circular earthwork no more significant than hundreds of others. They would have had no reason to cart lots of stones from here to there, involving a stupendous logistical challenge. They would in any case not have known how to get there................<br /><br />If Mike and his colleagues want to continue to elaborate their wondrous narrative, let them do it in the pages of this new journal which somebody will surely wish to create -- and in its pages they can entertain each other with fantastical narratives and jolly romps for many years to come, while leaving the rest of us in peace.</div>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-6406699633451152432024-03-14T08:25:00.001+00:002024-03-14T08:25:54.024+00:00In praise of Popper<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_xN7e2yKmenqXhhSYS44jJJsuRHIWBLaSgJAfhVdBB72R_a4N7wwq4PeGVsFxmzUtJwCm6A7uA38eaw8Y27LkTro8yqeLGrasw9F0L7dqCv1XukD7lnBNjBMlPr6F5KSO_9deP8NLYqxYFm9FDjJJVUEPYfT7eImApkdlfbNFpB5Gx44hOMdeqKpUKCo" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1266" data-original-width="1013" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_xN7e2yKmenqXhhSYS44jJJsuRHIWBLaSgJAfhVdBB72R_a4N7wwq4PeGVsFxmzUtJwCm6A7uA38eaw8Y27LkTro8yqeLGrasw9F0L7dqCv1XukD7lnBNjBMlPr6F5KSO_9deP8NLYqxYFm9FDjJJVUEPYfT7eImApkdlfbNFpB5Gx44hOMdeqKpUKCo=w256-h318" width="256" /></a></div><p><br /></p>A nice pic from the Caldey Island Facebook page -- it reminded me of Karl Popper's exhortation to scientists that they should concentrate their efforts on the falsification of existing hypotheses. The famous example of course is the hypothesis that "All swans are white" -- which was widely accepted as correct, of course, long ago, until somebody discovered that some swans are black as well.<p></p><p>This was one of the themes of by talk in Fishguard last night -- I urged people not to blindly "follow the science" (as we were exhorted to do during the dark days of the Pandemic) but to knowledgeably challenge the science presented in learned papers and especially to take everything presented in banner headlines in the media with a large dose of salt.</p><p>My main theme, of course, was that we should all recognise mythology for what it is, especially when it is dressed up as science. But more of that anon...... </p>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-48977934283006595402024-03-13T12:45:00.001+00:002024-03-13T12:45:13.448+00:00Stephen Briggs and others on erratics and prehistoric tool making<p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicFWAN6sy91WxK17w2y8hBS5WIq5vCjwtkONJOqrOtU6aaz72pNCv6Jr5BxF_M5Z_fAtCDSkqGNVlYjGCsleqBtH5C_PQdrt31Hin5z229z9EnAdLfLl5EPKLLNhtoU61agU12n_2rsIkNfFW_UNUwGGf39sKluluJxBWe2w7S0KHCVK8Cv7F8OZQMHn0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1476" data-original-width="1446" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEicFWAN6sy91WxK17w2y8hBS5WIq5vCjwtkONJOqrOtU6aaz72pNCv6Jr5BxF_M5Z_fAtCDSkqGNVlYjGCsleqBtH5C_PQdrt31Hin5z229z9EnAdLfLl5EPKLLNhtoU61agU12n_2rsIkNfFW_UNUwGGf39sKluluJxBWe2w7S0KHCVK8Cv7F8OZQMHn0" width="235" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Cumbrian erratic dispersal (Stephen Briggs)</i></div><br />I should have thought it was a no-brainer that erratics would have been used as raw materials for tool making back in the Neolithic -- but apparently there has been quite a lot of fuss about this in "lithic" circles. This paper by Stephen Briggs lays out some of the arguments from both sides, and highlights some of the rather nasty animosities too: <p></p><p> <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273564142_Erratics_and_Re-cycled_Stone_scholarly_irrelevancies_or_fundamental_utilities_to_lithic_studies_in_prehistoric_Britain_and_beyond">https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273564142_Erratics_and_Re-cycled_Stone_scholarly_irrelevancies_or_fundamental_utilities_to_lithic_studies_in_prehistoric_Britain_and_beyond</a></p><p><br /></p><i><b>Abstract</b><br /><br /></i><div><i>There are many theories explaining later prehistoric 'trade' and 'exchange systems' in stone artefacts. Evidence matching the petrographic information of transported implements with the country rock (local bedrock) where 'factories' produced flaked stone axes is felt to be compelling. Consequently, across Europe it is widely believed that the only way 'factory' rock could have reached the places where artefacts have been found was by human carriage. The discovery of implement working floors, or 'factories' in montane areas (c. 1900-1970) on primary exposures of stone, lithologically almost identical to polished axes found considerable distances from them, has led to a belief in the industrial, economic or social processing and carriage of finished products. There are caveats to this proof of evidence, however. Natural processes constantly redistribute incalculable numbers of durable erratic pebble- to boulder-sized clasts, so why could these not have been used for making prehistoric artefacts? There is abundant evidence in the archaeological record that artefacts were crafted from such material. And although there is now an archive of petrographic thin-sections available to help to identify the origins of the artefacts, no comparable data are available on re-cycled stone. Implement provenancing is therefore unlikely to be of lasting scientific value until investigative programmes have accumulated far more accurate petrographic data on pebbles and erratics from superficial deposits. Comparisons between some British-Irish implement distribution patterns with those of glacial erratics suggests the available evidence already better fits an interpretation of deterministic and opportunistic stone procurement rather than one involving long-distance travel by prehistoric peoples. Extensive, long-term sampling and provenancing programmes are now needed to address this requirement.</i></div><div><br /></div><div>It's interesting that in some quarters it has been deemed perfectly OK to say that tools were made from "destroyed Stonehenge orthostats" but that tools would not have been made from erratics of suitable rock found lying about in the countryside. In other words, Stonehenge orthostats would have had high value, and scattered erratics would not. At the heart of the debate is Stephen's contention that Neolithic toolmakers were involved in the "opportunistic" rather than the "deterministic" use of stone. In the latter scenario tool-makers would have targetted certain rock-types and maybe used quarries to find the perfect stones that they needed. (That belief of course lies at the heart of the bluestone debate.) Clearly there is a huge difference (in the minds of archaeologists) between a society of utilitarian or opportunistic tool-makers and one in which certain stone types were targetted because they were deemed special -- or even sacred! A relatively primitive and adaptable society on the one hand, and on the other a society in which there were high and low value items, sacred places and a degree of societal stratification. The stone age artisan versus the sophisticated tribal specialist who had a status attached to his skill level in the working of stone.<div><br />As an extension of the idea that Neolithic tool makers had a "deterministic" strategy, it helps if you can demonstrate that their tribal society was capable of creating a landscape full of ritual features which marked it out as being more "advanced" or sophisticated than neighbouring landscapes. This is what lies behind MPP's insistence that the Mynydd Preseli area was one of the great cultural centres of western Britain.......... But it's a circular argument. Because there were quarries and lost circles and so forth, that shows the local tribal society was quite advanced compared with others. And because society was quite advanced, it should come as no surprise that there were sacred places, quarries and stone circles. In my view it's all nonsense. The density of ritual or sacred features in the landscape here is interesting, of course, but no greater than anywhere else in SW Wales, as pointed out by Figgis and many other archaeologists.<div><br /></div><div>===============================<br /><div><br /></div><div>Another influential article on a similar topic is this one. Sadly, it's stuck behind another of those wretched paywalls.</div><div><br /></div>Geochemical provenancing of igneous glacial erratics from Southern Britain, and implications for prehistoric stone implement distributions<br /><br />Olwen Williams-Thorpe, Don Aldiss, Ian J. Rigby, Richard S. Thorpe<br />First published: 22 February 1999<br /><br /></div><div><a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1520-6548(199903)14:3%3C209::AID-GEA1%3E3.0.CO;2-7">https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1520-6548(199903)14:3<209::AID-GEA1>3.0.CO;2-7</a><br /><div><br /></div><br /><i><b>Abstract</b><br /><br />Sixteen basic and intermediate composition igneous glacial erratics from Anglian (pre-423,000 years) deposits in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire, southern Britain, were selected for chemical and petrographic analysis in order to determine their original source outcrops. Major and trace element compositions suggest that seven samples (plus two uncertain) originated in the Lower Carboniferous volcanics of the Scottish Midland Valley (SMV), four came from the Upper Carboniferous quartz dolerite association which crops out in Scotland, northern England (Whin Sill) and extends to Norway, and one came from the northern England Cleveland Dyke. One sample of altered dolerite is ambiguous but has some similarity to the Old Red Sandstone (Devonian) age lavas of the SMV, and one meta-basalt sample may be from southwest Scotland or Scandinavia. These results identify specific outcrops which provided glacial erratics within currently accepted ice trails in the United Kingdom, and provide the first supporting evidence based on geochemistry, rather than petrography, for these ice movements. The distribution and provenance of glacial erratics are of importance in archaeological studies, because erratics provided a potential source of raw material for stone implement production. There is a marked geographical correlation between the distribution of prehistoric stone implements of quartz dolerite in the United Kingdom, and directions of ice movements from quartz dolerite outcrops within Britain. This correlation lends support to the hypothesis that prehistoric man made extensive use of glacial erratics for implement manufacture, as an alternative to quarrying at outcrops and subsequent long-distance trade. </i></div></div></div>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-76834623326750625092024-03-12T12:14:00.002+00:002024-03-12T21:44:08.229+00:00More on ice-free corridors<p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgb8P-tsC6m3m6HFBh0JgbL1P-_6UrBIg565TN7VytbaIqA-TJIBcGMVL4fqOW07CEmZdne82Vzmll11Uk8qs8AsQS5hPCyDvD5M697iIy1jw0OyBE_4HzBWBwppmFM-hoUuRsqTnCjXB3IhHJ82pgZXhzb673sw9it3v2r0KZLElphjFrt1PpUfIksC2k" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1558" data-original-width="1264" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgb8P-tsC6m3m6HFBh0JgbL1P-_6UrBIg565TN7VytbaIqA-TJIBcGMVL4fqOW07CEmZdne82Vzmll11Uk8qs8AsQS5hPCyDvD5M697iIy1jw0OyBE_4HzBWBwppmFM-hoUuRsqTnCjXB3IhHJ82pgZXhzb673sw9it3v2r0KZLElphjFrt1PpUfIksC2k=w283-h349" width="283" /></a></div><br />A couple of years ago I did a post on the glaciation of the Oxford area and the Thames Valley, and featured this publication jacket from the Oxford Geology Group. On chancing upon it again, I was struck by the absurdity of the "ice-free corridor" shown extending from the Bristol Channel and north-westwards to incorporate central and SE Pembrokeshire.<p></p><p>I think I have now finally disposed of this ice-free corridor or enclave in my field research culminating in my latest QN publication:</p> <a href="https://www.qra.org.uk/mp-files/qn158_1_late-devensian-ice-free-corridor-in-pembrokshire.pdf/">https://www.qra.org.uk/mp-files/qn158_1_late-devensian-ice-free-corridor-in-pembrokshire.pdf/</a><br /><br />Citation:<br />John, B.S. 2023. Was there a Late Devensian ice-free corridor in Pembrokeshire? Quaternary Newsletter 158, pp 5-16.<br />==================<div><br /></div><div>As I have mentioned before. this sup[posed LGM ice-free corridor has been built into numerous ice sheet modelling exercises and has caused chaos by leaving model segments that are seriously absurd from a glaciological point of view and that are out of step with field evidence.</div><div><br /></div><div>But there may still be some who say "Ah yes, but look at the similarities with the ice-free corridor shown in NE England! If such a thing existed there, why not something similar in West Wales?"</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, there vis one fundamental difference. In NE England the ice free corridor was maintained because high ground -- namely the Yorkshire Wolds and North York Moors -- were enough of an obstacle to force the ice to flow around them rather than over them. So a long ice lobe from the north filled the Vale of York and flowed as far south as the inner reaches of the Humber Estuary. There was also a very complex pattern -- and history -- of glacial lake development in the area, which is still being unravelled by glacial geomorphologists. So there were two main factors -- the relative weakness of the ice incursion from the North Sea, and topographic controls.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>In Pembrokeshire the ice-free corridor as portrayed in countless publications is, by comparison, nonsensical because it supposedly existed in an area of lowland, almost surrounded by flowing ice which somehow miraculously left it alone............. also, there is no trace of an ice dam or of glacio-lacustrine deposits covering parts of the supposedly ice-free area. And the field evidence, as detailed in my QN article, shows scattered glacial and fluvioglacial deposits across south and central Pembrokeshire, just as in west and north Pembrokeshire -- indicating a common glacial history.</div><div><br /></div><div>==========================</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-%E2%80%98Lindholme-Advance%E2%80%99-and-the-extent-of-the-Last-Friend-Buckland/9bd44c6e4c81e0b24a93f64020620ac7cb556772">https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-%E2%80%98Lindholme-Advance%E2%80%99-and-the-extent-of-the-Last-Friend-Buckland/9bd44c6e4c81e0b24a93f64020620ac7cb556772</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgLoefqJyFqUNsHHyVKbFmpW6KDIHtUfFi6TNQkXc0Oqsb3r4CmvADTp8Iv-8bd1_NYWrYHSBPniSnu1h6oAy7iOTDjQ70KftFOeX1oVKcqVjao4_3NhIUPrKcGhBOJAlmdobETUumqD-ZP_qeZ1iFqbRF1RDMfmsWbwQ-1B4tDuI_jMVpNr8tLzBIthV0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="674" height="327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgLoefqJyFqUNsHHyVKbFmpW6KDIHtUfFi6TNQkXc0Oqsb3r4CmvADTp8Iv-8bd1_NYWrYHSBPniSnu1h6oAy7iOTDjQ70KftFOeX1oVKcqVjao4_3NhIUPrKcGhBOJAlmdobETUumqD-ZP_qeZ1iFqbRF1RDMfmsWbwQ-1B4tDuI_jMVpNr8tLzBIthV0=w266-h327" width="266" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/22211677/22198376.pdf">https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/22211677/22198376.pdf</a></div><div><br /></div>Quote:<div><br /></div><div>Another BIIS example of glacier lobe interactions is thought to have existed within the Yorkshire/Lincolnshire region. Here, a 125 km long ice lobe (Vale of York lobe) is known to have flowed from the Stainmore Gap south-eastward into the southern part of the Vale of York (Boulton et al., 1985; Clark et al., 2004). Further east, an approximately 400 km long ice lobe (North Sea lobe) advanced from southern Scotland (Catt and Penny, 1966; Boulton et al., 1985; Busfield et al., 2015) southwards down the eastern margins of the<br /><br />North Sea basin (Eyles et al., 1994; Clark et al., 2004; Boston et al., 2010; Evans and Thomson, 2010), as far south as north Norfolk (Pawley et al., 2006; Moorlock et al., 2008). These lobes, if they were coeval, will have moved within 10 km of each other either side of the chalk escarpment in East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, thereby forming ice dams and a series of proglacial lakes in the lowland terrain of eastern England (e.g. Livingstone et al., 2012).<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p> </p></div></div>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-5094453218616707772024-03-11T22:32:00.000+00:002024-03-11T22:32:34.474+00:00Another ISIS model -- and the glaciation of Salisbury Plain<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiC3tYkMbZC6ytVXUgCUJJhyMRP_TLE6Dkj9CFyGH0uIvrU8P3kLIxa7y7XIMXCtCsPKlz2U2DzKlwqTGJ644rxd0Zf04d8xX3Qa64whwg2n5sdejZ3-QQ5b8g3b5pIXV0_dw5Lx6NEbzKKjs2lKFmYuZ7SqfOWZ99gFLz3cdF1zfqEwJkqQQBnGY4L5Nc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1622" data-original-width="1892" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiC3tYkMbZC6ytVXUgCUJJhyMRP_TLE6Dkj9CFyGH0uIvrU8P3kLIxa7y7XIMXCtCsPKlz2U2DzKlwqTGJ644rxd0Zf04d8xX3Qa64whwg2n5sdejZ3-QQ5b8g3b5pIXV0_dw5Lx6NEbzKKjs2lKFmYuZ7SqfOWZ99gFLz3cdF1zfqEwJkqQQBnGY4L5Nc" width="280" /></a></div><br />This is one that I missed -- from about five years ago. A huge amount of effort has gone into the creation of models of BIIS behaviour, and this one has clearly fed into the latest BRITICE - CHRONO effort. This article is interesting in that it examines the creation, activity and decline of ice streams within the overall ice sheet mass, and tries to define the factors involved in their survival.<p></p><p>I was particularly interested in the work put in by the authors on ice surface gradients, and I was intrigued to see that they have reconstructed the ice surface at the time of operation of the Ice Stream in the Celtic Sea, south of St Georges Channel. </p><p>I am intrigued by the fact that the modelling throws up an ice surface altitude of c 1000m in Pembrokeshire when the snout is positioned to the north of the Isles of Scilly. Thus there was a predicted 1000m drop from there to the postulated snout position 150 km away. That's a much shallower profile than that of the Greenland ot Antarctic Ice Sheet, but much steeper than the shallowest recored gradients on the Laurentide Ice Sheet -- with falls of only 500m over 500 km -- a gradient of one metre per kilometre. Why the discrepancy? Well, a model is a model, and has to be validated through "ground truthing" -- but for what its worth, I have repeatedly suggested that the high summits of Preseli were overridden by Late Devensian (LGM) ice that was flowing broadly NW-SE. I have also suggested that the ice surface gradient might have been so low that the drop was from c 550m near Mynydd Preseli down to c 200m on the western chalk scarp of Wiltshire. The suggestion is that an ice surface at 1000m (in any of the main glacial episodes) could have resulted in a significant increase in glacier dynamics, this enhancing the erosional and transport transport of the ice mass flowing up the Bristol Channel. Again, this suggests that active ice carrying an assortment of west Wales erratics could well have flowed over the chalk scarp and transgressed at least as far eastwards as Stonehenge.</p><p><a href="https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2011/02/glaciological-dilemma.html">https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2011/02/glaciological-dilemma.html</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFqth9MC3bUROrO0WCo9Cgqke0D_tXiYv_pV9RzurgoByUE58h3jv0Y2aOl5LfYksaSEhsZnSShqrb5Nz-RiIM6vLZvB2as1rXKCu5XmftFUCjdndF1lE4Tbb6cP7kWOY_Fj00vAebfAxFuDB3BDMawPa__dE-w9NYbzR3f1Pb09NpAgWO8Wzf5cGVqao" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="786" data-original-width="1600" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjFqth9MC3bUROrO0WCo9Cgqke0D_tXiYv_pV9RzurgoByUE58h3jv0Y2aOl5LfYksaSEhsZnSShqrb5Nz-RiIM6vLZvB2as1rXKCu5XmftFUCjdndF1lE4Tbb6cP7kWOY_Fj00vAebfAxFuDB3BDMawPa__dE-w9NYbzR3f1Pb09NpAgWO8Wzf5cGVqao=w379-h187" width="379" /></a></div><br />This additional piece of glaciological work again shows that the glaciation of Salisbury Plain was not just possible, but indeed probable..........<div><br /></div><div>I'm intrigued to know how the model created by Gandy et al (called BISICLES) can cope with an ice edge out on the edge of the Celtic shelf -- adaptations will be needed to cope with rapid ice evacuation across a highly deforming bed of soft sediments.<br /><div><br /></div><div>===========================<br /><br />Details: <div> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.105915">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.105915</a><br /><br /><br />Exploring the ingredients required to successfully model the placement, generation, and evolution of ice streams in the British-Irish Ice Sheet<br />Niall Gandy, Lauren J. Gregoire, Jeremy C. Ely, Stephen L. Cornford, Christopher D. Clark, David M. Hodgson. Quaternary Science Reviews 223 (2019) 105915<div><br /></div>ABSTRACT<br /><br />Ice stream evolution is a major uncertainty in projections of the future of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice sheets. Accurate simulation of ice stream evolution requires an understanding of a number of “in- gredients” that control the location and behaviour of ice stream flow. Here, we test the influence of geothermal heat flux, grid resolution, and bed hydrology on simulated ice streaming. The palaeo-record provides snapshots of ice stream evolution, with a particularly well constrained ice sheet being the British-Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS). We implement a new basal sliding scheme coupled with thermo-mechanics into the BISICLES ice sheet model, to simulate the evolution of the BIIS ice streams. We find that the simulated location and spacing of ice streams matches well with the empirical reconstructions of ice stream flow in terms of position and direction when simple bed hydrology is included. We show that the new basal sliding scheme allows the accurate simulation for the majority of BIIS ice streams. The extensive empirical record of the BIIS has allowed the testing of model inputs, and has helped demonstrate the skill of the ice sheet model in simulating the evolution of the location, spacing, and migration of ice streams through millennia. Simulated ice streams also prompt new empirical mapping of features indicative of streaming in the North Channel region. Ice sheet model development has allowed accurate simulation of the palaeo record, and allows for improved modelling of future ice stream behaviour.</div></div></div>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-35343205783528702962024-03-09T22:36:00.001+00:002024-03-09T22:36:40.745+00:00The stones of Winterbourne Monkton<p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="640" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPvLK1j_8IRj24TZtt739eLqNzxGiNduxsWMoBX7tBOgXI53-4xopL_X0Ruoq0wkZT99oOMxqz2GiRtva0VG4HYGWO6xmi7LFe17IVdcai8bg0kGfgj9oSqLkP7VF6obgez1QduI-UMSNbqpBLpOEWKVe5Q4qm9uFjiLKX9smkHPDX7Ar-KwoAk7elzWE" width="320" /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjDlsLfXl_BqiRJY_UqOZfGEapkzasJktoDYn2X8lTAjlzrcmiwwMcNsE6rTbeR1mZZEO7c0bl9hE1wx_1E4fnEAkNoA0wiw6RgnO6-bUeKmeAzuRda17UyrD5A43GyqM1blBcrevp9WhiQ5gG7Z8OrVYgsnzgcJoBgFeaksJaT4uHbelhXxvNODi90ag8" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="640" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjDlsLfXl_BqiRJY_UqOZfGEapkzasJktoDYn2X8lTAjlzrcmiwwMcNsE6rTbeR1mZZEO7c0bl9hE1wx_1E4fnEAkNoA0wiw6RgnO6-bUeKmeAzuRda17UyrD5A43GyqM1blBcrevp9WhiQ5gG7Z8OrVYgsnzgcJoBgFeaksJaT4uHbelhXxvNODi90ag8" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The commentators suggest that this big flattish stone is a sarsen -- now in the churchyard but once in a nearby Neolithic long barrow.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVqMhWCPo5TcjEeBziqJHJnG49Q6t1hjGAf_vNlk_cLszcop00qTr20Z3-wMcuZX69etcsTXx9G3um1QCn8DMyKWRu1CLOxef0-lE0gpyXGyqW-opHl_b8Uv-zhq7s-Moz4Jb57ME8JLNNIyfIq-8U0OuPZ0fTsG3UQMPWSr0MZQtF3hp0Blrsad_Z13w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="640" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVqMhWCPo5TcjEeBziqJHJnG49Q6t1hjGAf_vNlk_cLszcop00qTr20Z3-wMcuZX69etcsTXx9G3um1QCn8DMyKWRu1CLOxef0-lE0gpyXGyqW-opHl_b8Uv-zhq7s-Moz4Jb57ME8JLNNIyfIq-8U0OuPZ0fTsG3UQMPWSr0MZQtF3hp0Blrsad_Z13w" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Thanks to Stonebothering.com for the above images. There are apparently some rather interesting stones in the village and in the surrounding countryside. Some references suggests that not all of them are sarsens -- does anybody have any further info about them?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://www.stonebothering.com/2023/07/winterbourne-monkton-stones.html">https://www.stonebothering.com/2023/07/winterbourne-monkton-stones.html</a><p></p><p><a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=10045">https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=10045</a><br /> </p>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-23378334817838381762024-03-02T15:58:00.000+00:002024-03-02T15:58:34.071+00:00The Upton Lovell pebbles -- glacial erratics?<p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNZCY0L4z8E6g2CFa4pYaMbRtaYGrgdAYtFF9k-C_c-biJO3xGCdv40UK6799dXCR8KA8N1jiVjqQ7zK2QmZZELjbjlNqRaHWYvMVRPd4MV8ww6Pt40zhV-xMYD-u2IHs2r311k0nUN6JRrfRRGK0ryW-nEdb1-gaAw0PBVq4VpcFZRXc38gFiSwm-o9g" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1374" data-original-width="2082" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjNZCY0L4z8E6g2CFa4pYaMbRtaYGrgdAYtFF9k-C_c-biJO3xGCdv40UK6799dXCR8KA8N1jiVjqQ7zK2QmZZELjbjlNqRaHWYvMVRPd4MV8ww6Pt40zhV-xMYD-u2IHs2r311k0nUN6JRrfRRGK0ryW-nEdb1-gaAw0PBVq4VpcFZRXc38gFiSwm-o9g=w417-h276" width="417" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Source: Wiltshire Museum, Devizes</i></div><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiI7D1c0qJHw-qAeJjaFYC3C_UW4NrnRPHC0ZLDvcBpXywrV9xVD80FQ-gywKttydUeG6031B-6dDAQEaIsz5o_LdmkWlUIxEx0rpYfNBRN5QmRhRSdeET4owGG_uoi8NI4DPeuIcMggPVYv1GYp5Qj5WjyseQC9aIXadJ-DcfD8bNggmRoNCjTcUKe-Rc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1802" data-original-width="1660" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiI7D1c0qJHw-qAeJjaFYC3C_UW4NrnRPHC0ZLDvcBpXywrV9xVD80FQ-gywKttydUeG6031B-6dDAQEaIsz5o_LdmkWlUIxEx0rpYfNBRN5QmRhRSdeET4owGG_uoi8NI4DPeuIcMggPVYv1GYp5Qj5WjyseQC9aIXadJ-DcfD8bNggmRoNCjTcUKe-Rc=w312-h339" width="312" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I recall seeing this article before, but I did not pay much attention to it. Remiss of me. It's about the Upton Lovell G2a burial on Salisbury Plain, in a circular mound first excavated by Cunnington in 1801 and later by Piggott. The stones are of cobble size, up to 12 cms long. They are all assumed to have been tools used for the working of gold -- and this is the emphasis of the article.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But what interests me is the fact that they are here on Salisbury Plain -- nice smoothed and rounded erratics including slate, quartzite, medium-grained sandstone, well-cemented sandstone, medium grained dolerite and greenstone. It's just assumed in the article that these stones were carried around by somebody who might have been a shaman or a metal worker -- and carried in to this site from somewhere quite distant. But people do not carry heavy stones around unless they have to, and it is perfectly possible that the stones were collected locally and used locally. So here is a question: might these stones have been discovered in a glacial deposit somewhere in the neighbourhood?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">===================</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div>Crellin RJ, Tsoraki C, Standish CD, et al. Materials in movement: gold and stone in process in the Upton Lovell G2a burial. Antiquity. 2023;97(391):86-103.<p></p><p>doi:10.15184/aqy.2022.162</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/materials-in-movement-gold-and-stone-in-process-in-the-upton-lovell-g2a-burial/3BBA3D012898FA68D9F35EA27478BE03">https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/materials-in-movement-gold-and-stone-in-process-in-the-upton-lovell-g2a-burial/3BBA3D012898FA68D9F35EA27478BE03</a></p>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-15471230524126500102024-02-29T19:09:00.005+00:002024-03-10T08:36:09.569+00:00The Battle of the Stonehenge Bluestones -- evening lecture<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhZ0cmCSvslMD7TrkxCbOJ7tErmpZiW-fjX-mNjsaNj3Hpl5np2gCuCIXYdbk07aVrHUEUllmpVn9URAb22rQaUQICDgNphXBtXCOahkQTijxCc_6YM6uPBIRtyhJUyBt68pxhu2S3onjPCLWqpKLM0nOI21y9BlZww0TxTj19cfR1dKkW3WFgCr3T3TA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1024" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhZ0cmCSvslMD7TrkxCbOJ7tErmpZiW-fjX-mNjsaNj3Hpl5np2gCuCIXYdbk07aVrHUEUllmpVn9URAb22rQaUQICDgNphXBtXCOahkQTijxCc_6YM6uPBIRtyhJUyBt68pxhu2S3onjPCLWqpKLM0nOI21y9BlZww0TxTj19cfR1dKkW3WFgCr3T3TA=w440-h440" width="440" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="caret-color: rgb(28, 30, 33); color: #1c1e21; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;"><span class="xt0psk2" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/FishguardandGoodwickOurHistory?__cft__[0]=AZW2fmyhPo8UMP0Ii9BuO6e3MuBoPZ-LVRsxFmgbS83uRf1JJ5A7I-zVjmzEv2e4bFFjJ3yEfnmFs2DvBZWt2yja_S1jxxsb2GP5_IpfcSI2j3nCALMMIpgOBO5YQIhOdCbEicbqpwBzudBoJ6xKtQERqimzzJmi87QnH2Xl19XhyQDBCcVgPF_OgipbjupvKcOHTsY6c5LqBKpfy7crA-Xa&__tn__=-UC%2CP-y-R">Fishguard & Goodwick Our History / Abergwaun ac Wdig Ein Hanes</a></i><div><a href="https://theatrgwaun.com/production/ein-hanes-the-battle-of-the-stonehenge-bluestones/">https://theatrgwaun.com/production/ein-hanes-the-battle-of-the-stonehenge-bluestones/</a><i><br /><br />Our March talk - booking open now. This should be one to interest everybody -and the speaker is our renowned local geomorphologist Brian John who himself lives on the slopes of the Mynydd Preseli.</i><div><i><br />"Over the last century there has been a vigorous debate involving earth scientists and archaeologists over the Stonehenge bluestones and their link with Pembrokeshire. How did they get from here to there? <br />In 1923, geologist H. H. Thomas claimed that glacial transport was impossible and that the bluestone monoliths must have been carried by humans. That modern myth has persisted to this day, and elaborated to include “bluestone quarries” and a “lost stone circle”. But does the evidence support the story? "</i></div><div><br /></div><div>----------------------------<p></p><p>A few weeks ago the committee of the local history group at Theatr Gwaun in Fishguard invited me to give a talk on the dispute surrounding the bluestones -- and of course I agreed. So here we go -- date fixed as 13th March, starting at 6 pm. I shall seek to be as balanced as possible in my presentation, and hope we will have a jolly discussion afterwards.</p><p>Everybody welcome!</p><p>Stonehenge photo used on the poster -- courtesy Simon Banton and the Stones of Stonehenge web site.</p><p></p></div></div>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-75792895458665136662024-02-29T12:09:00.001+00:002024-02-29T12:35:44.839+00:00Archaeologists are their own worst enemies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOzRD7-pVvwixIiLcKaPx8c8-P5TZQh_yiYqEvLw4zPg2i6d3Ydw4sLOi98wDi_kJrMtDZD7X9lr5eBeIEixjxD8JVnj4-IGjhK3FVBwjLRdqiBP2iEP6skUXDlftX3bdsJvNaKByLupl24kWZUlRwMLwKmb6wCGzEkjni1-2l6sBrlbsaM2t1D1p8e6M" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="267" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOzRD7-pVvwixIiLcKaPx8c8-P5TZQh_yiYqEvLw4zPg2i6d3Ydw4sLOi98wDi_kJrMtDZD7X9lr5eBeIEixjxD8JVnj4-IGjhK3FVBwjLRdqiBP2iEP6skUXDlftX3bdsJvNaKByLupl24kWZUlRwMLwKmb6wCGzEkjni1-2l6sBrlbsaM2t1D1p8e6M=w358-h254" width="358" /></a></div><br /><br />Tony has drawn my attention to a strange article in the current edition of <i>British Archaeology</i>. It's an opinion piece on p 66, written by Dr Chloe Duckworth. It is entitled "Woke archaeology and culture wars" and while I am not entirely sure what its main point is, there is much in it that I agree with. She criticises equalities minister Kemi Badenoch for interfering in academia and for suggesting that a research article on the relationship between ethnicity and susceptibility to the bubonic plague was "sensationalist research" coming from "woke archaeology". Well, Badenoch is a very silly person who should keep her nose out of things she does not understand. She and her pet parliamentary rottweilers should know better than to interfere in the academic peer review and publication process. And to use the word "woke" as a term of abuse is calculated to appeal to the nasty people who lurk in the shadows at the far right of the political spectrum. In my experience, the great majority of academics of my acquaintance, across all disciplines, have liberal or social democratic tendencies and are rather good at empathising with those in society who are less well off than they are themselves. If that makes them "woke" that's fine by me. But it is a horrible and disgusting word that smacks of complacency, arrogance and intolerance, and I have an instant mistrust of anybody who uses it. So yes, go for it, Chloe, and flag up the general nastiness of Bedenoch and her ilk........ even in a sensitive and refined magazine like <i>British Archaeology</i>........<br /><br />As for the rest of the article, I'm not so sure. Ostensibly it is about the Stonehenge road tunnel and ponders on whether it is woke (or not) to support it or oppose it. I have no particularly strong view on the matter of the tunnel, but I do think it's important for archaeologists to be respected by those who hold views that are not in tune with their own. And on this matter they are their own worst enemies. For example, members of the archaeology establishment have based many of their arguments against the tunnel on the emotional, spiritual or even mystical value of Stonehenge and its landscape. We have all heard about the "desecration" of the historic landscape -- and that arises, of course, from decades of myth creation. Gordon Barclay and Kenny Brophy are not alone in expressing concern about mythologisation and marketing of the Stonehenge landscape as something more religious than historic. That overblown view of the old ruin and its landscape, and the ground beneath, does not necessarily strike a chord with everybody, and especially with those who may be concerned with traffic safety and journey times!<br /><br />At the end of the article Chloe seems to be arguing that archaeologists should be trusted by politicians and others because "scientific rigour" is built into their DNA. Yes, many archaeologists are scientifically rigorous in their work. But others are not, and they are the ones who blow their trumpets most loudly. They may be technically competent, and indeed they use many high-powered tools in their investigative work -- so for them the term "technical rigour" might be more appropriate. Some of them clearly have no idea what science is, or how it works. On this blog, over the past 15 years, I have been highly critical of archaeologists who simply ignore inconvenient evidence, refuse to cite peer-reviewed articles that draw conclusions at odds with their own, and who appear more interested in developing exciting narratives than in finding out the truth. We can blame "post-processualism" if we like, which at its core seems to demonstrate a profound mistrust of, and dislike for, academic or scientific rigour. One of the leading journals,<i> Antiquity</i>, published from Cambridge University, seems to have abandoned scientific peer review and now routinely publishes papers that are so full of assumptions, speculations and confirmation bias that they should never have been published at all. <div><br /></div><div>If archaeology wants respect, on the matter of the Stonehenge tunnel or anything else, the academics need to sort out what they believe in and how they behave.<br /><br /></div>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-87824120341108606692024-02-28T23:01:00.000+00:002024-02-28T23:01:51.232+00:00Glacial Lake Nevern<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjg4SmBO1GWTbJQDBTn4lL59ACSmOz90xnLLiMBYZxBG-a9NnB2Xv65uCETx_lsT5_lBG2ZoLsuRwzfak4pIoT2Gj_NXayoCGh1Te1Y3MgamLzQQPyd1s_stZRIWSS5rIm9O8Y4QzEiYJwh3CIWjv3HaoRqAy-x64RTB75d8aJ8v7BAQl4r83HbqkYmgjU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1606" data-original-width="2940" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjg4SmBO1GWTbJQDBTn4lL59ACSmOz90xnLLiMBYZxBG-a9NnB2Xv65uCETx_lsT5_lBG2ZoLsuRwzfak4pIoT2Gj_NXayoCGh1Te1Y3MgamLzQQPyd1s_stZRIWSS5rIm9O8Y4QzEiYJwh3CIWjv3HaoRqAy-x64RTB75d8aJ8v7BAQl4r83HbqkYmgjU=w492-h269" width="492" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Section from the definitive BRITICE-CHRONO map of the British Isles</i></p><p>I have done posts before on Glacial Lake Teifi and Glacial Lake Nevern. The former did, I think, exist at one time -- and the evidence for it is quite strong. But Lake Nevern? (That's the smaller lake to the west of Lake Teifi, shown in the Nevern Valley to the SE of Newport. Click on the map to enlarge....) As far as I can see, it is figment of somebody's imagination. I think it is a hangover from Charlesworth in 1929, based, as far as I can see, on no evidence whatsoever.</p><p>I live in the area that was supposedly submerged beneath this splendid lake, but in spite of enthusiastic searching, I have never seen any laminated silts or clays, or any other evidence (such as shorelines) that might encourage me to think of a large water body. On the map two ice edge positions are marked in <br />the Newport area -- and I can see no evidence in support of them either.</p><p>There is a big (and very thick) till sheet in the lower valley of the Clydach stream, but the sediments here do not appear to have laminations, and they are best interpreted as lodgement till.</p><p><a href="https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-coed-y-pwll-till-sheet.html">https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-coed-y-pwll-till-sheet.html</a><br /><br />There is a moraine, I think, in Cilgwyn, but that is not marked on the BRITICE map. The only features that might be construed as being associated with a large water body are as series of mounds of sands and gravels in the fields near Caersalem Chapel, at altitudes of 107m - 115m. Charlesworth originally proposed that water from this lake spilled over westwards through the Gwaun Channel. The channel has a humped long profile, with the hump at Llanerch, at 133m asl. If there had been a meltwater lake here, that altitude would have set the water level. But it is c 20m too high. So there was no lake.</p><p>We talk often enough about myths and fantasies in archaeology. But they exist in glacial geomorphology too...........<br /><br /></p>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-28669352823211320142024-02-28T22:34:00.001+00:002024-02-28T22:34:58.159+00:00Beyond the Bluestones<div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPzFKaJjc78aJL9V4JbiPYL4p-7XN-PijpKpvBFw5ulIGTCMYBj-tyi2g5UxeabLLgpv3dELWmVIXaO916zCiWREcM-2u2APlFKqjEwDenkfAKT1qf1m-aqkXsDpHm0YkeyE-7CFNaUwEaoeAksDe2Zknsez9xYG4EUMG0Jxje3mV_D7R2KMbg8KEQtIY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="2158" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiPzFKaJjc78aJL9V4JbiPYL4p-7XN-PijpKpvBFw5ulIGTCMYBj-tyi2g5UxeabLLgpv3dELWmVIXaO916zCiWREcM-2u2APlFKqjEwDenkfAKT1qf1m-aqkXsDpHm0YkeyE-7CFNaUwEaoeAksDe2Zknsez9xYG4EUMG0Jxje3mV_D7R2KMbg8KEQtIY=w400-h249" width="400" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Well, this looks interesting, but there is no way I am paying £16 for the privilege of reading it. When I have something to go on, I will no doubt be tempted to comment..........</div><div><br /></div>Bradley R. Beyond the bluestones: links between distant monuments in Late Neolithic Britain and Ireland. <i>Antiquity</i>. Published online 2024:1-8. <br /><br />ABSTRACT<div><br /></div><div>Recent research has considered the relationship between Stonehenge and sites in south-west Wales, raising questions about whether the first monument at Stonehenge copied the form of an earlier stone circle at Waun Mawn and how the relationship between these sites was connected with the transport of bluestones between the different regions. But Stonehenge and Waun Mawn are not the only prehistoric sites in Britain and Ireland that share architectural elements and hint at social connections across vast distances of land and sea. This debate article explains how the questions raised about these Late Neolithic monuments can and should be applied to other monumental complexes to explore this insular phenomenon.<br /><br /><a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity">Antiquity </a>, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/firstview">First View </a>, pp. 1 - 8<br />DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.3">https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.3</a></div>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-69507712038889573382024-02-28T12:23:00.004+00:002024-02-28T12:28:14.576+00:00Was there a Late Devensian ice-free corridor in Pembrokeshire? Update<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhBDeYQaKKhe3ou3CGMw7sVHdWwyoWLZUo9gW4QC7kla5l6Tf-WK37dWP-yADmAjqIddPTHl_Wsf6vQh7d4yoqtCZeZppWOW1AoCa1LzSnKD1wpddJtPUGhhVVLI-63xt854IVuV-rkyJBDnyafJAFpk57ytFvXY8hBAZhTa3Ivn5DbujEhukN44UA4g4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1692" data-original-width="1828" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhBDeYQaKKhe3ou3CGMw7sVHdWwyoWLZUo9gW4QC7kla5l6Tf-WK37dWP-yADmAjqIddPTHl_Wsf6vQh7d4yoqtCZeZppWOW1AoCa1LzSnKD1wpddJtPUGhhVVLI-63xt854IVuV-rkyJBDnyafJAFpk57ytFvXY8hBAZhTa3Ivn5DbujEhukN44UA4g4=w336-h310" width="336" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Some of the sites cited in the QN paper.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2q5ZdZKms6MnLIWokI3B8WbqVzaGiPNxs8UoYpFPZz_GOj8yCyGgpHVlpN12-OfCd3MFZHaHG3eSAMlhixMO27yVwtX2WaoLAQ76zwFWN8niakLIMGO8sMOGYa2NeIwz-poV42kI4wV0AroH8dP2CDbsMIDqOVzJ8T1a67Ja9Prp32Eh9ucHayY3Qgq0" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1472" data-original-width="2150" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi2q5ZdZKms6MnLIWokI3B8WbqVzaGiPNxs8UoYpFPZz_GOj8yCyGgpHVlpN12-OfCd3MFZHaHG3eSAMlhixMO27yVwtX2WaoLAQ76zwFWN8niakLIMGO8sMOGYa2NeIwz-poV42kI4wV0AroH8dP2CDbsMIDqOVzJ8T1a67Ja9Prp32Eh9ucHayY3Qgq0" width="320" /></a></div><br />The revised LGM map showing ice streams and directions of flow</i></div><p></p><p>I have noticed that the link used on my previous post about this article, about a year ago, does not work any longer. That is because the QRA website has been redesigned, and because the archive of past issues of the journal has been made open access. So (I think) the articles from all past issues are now readily available for anybody to view. Here is the correct link to my paper:</p><p> <a href="https://www.qra.org.uk/mp-files/qn158_1_late-devensian-ice-free-corridor-in-pembrokshire.pdf/">https://www.qra.org.uk/mp-files/qn158_1_late-devensian-ice-free-corridor-in-pembrokshire.pdf/</a></p><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMfxi8soP7Y9VVONDFSpBtaTRpkorGo1niVXvHLylFdGBrJEaBOESWKx_hZQDBotY17Xiz9FLJHmV_dkg6Bgc71aQVz_SVisfSfKYQztDNbG27BaGKecXei8L5wDniG5s0LGLuKWycTweM8TjBIEHvGmOuYqidbQdwPvpAP7p0vPGF4Wp7Shw7sgVU6iU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="2336" height="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMfxi8soP7Y9VVONDFSpBtaTRpkorGo1niVXvHLylFdGBrJEaBOESWKx_hZQDBotY17Xiz9FLJHmV_dkg6Bgc71aQVz_SVisfSfKYQztDNbG27BaGKecXei8L5wDniG5s0LGLuKWycTweM8TjBIEHvGmOuYqidbQdwPvpAP7p0vPGF4Wp7Shw7sgVU6iU" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div></i>Citation:<br />John, B.S. 2023. Was there a Late Devensian ice-free corridor in Pembrokeshire? Quaternary Newsletter 158, pp 5-16.<div>==================<br /><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div><br /></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Abstract</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>An ice-free enclave or corridor covering most of Pembrokeshire has featured in many of the recent reconstructions of glacial activity in western Britain during the LGM. This appears to be a hangover from the days when the terms “Older Drift” and “Newer Drift” were frequently used in the literature. However, the supposed ice- free corridor is not well supported in published studies, and it causes difficulty for those involved in ice-sheet modelling. With the aid of new field observations from scores of sites across West Wales, it is suggested that there is no convincing evidence in support of the ice-free hypothesis. The regional Quaternary stratigraphy in Central and South Pembrokeshire matches that of North Pembrokeshire and the St Brides Bay coast, and it is suggested that the whole of the peninsula was inundated by the ice of the Irish Sea Ice Stream travelling broadly NW to SE at the time of peak glaciation, around 26,000 years ago.</i></div></i><div><i><br /></i></div><div>The paper incorporates a pretty radical re-interpretation of the field evidence from West Wales, and I'm pleased to say I have had many kind comments about it. Nobody, thus far, has disagreed with any of it.........</div><br /><div><br /></div></div>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-74867460990462582892024-02-27T13:38:00.004+00:002024-02-28T16:58:30.899+00:00Was Salisbury Plain glaciated?<p> </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEic2XIRyrtGKtWsjdhcVR9nZx1qCByd0ebXXz7criIOEGtAkzSEE7o_qXZgjc5xLTDlT4MSC2Q8OkRqrKL4LcRGwPvV8RdjX-7B7UnprmPWpE1vZXAQ_TqIx20NR6imlw6SbdYmsP8h4cKrzmivKjBlri0XUxHkSsrMT0hiVsPfkY0jIb6chzIMCti0BbI" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1312" data-original-width="1950" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEic2XIRyrtGKtWsjdhcVR9nZx1qCByd0ebXXz7criIOEGtAkzSEE7o_qXZgjc5xLTDlT4MSC2Q8OkRqrKL4LcRGwPvV8RdjX-7B7UnprmPWpE1vZXAQ_TqIx20NR6imlw6SbdYmsP8h4cKrzmivKjBlri0XUxHkSsrMT0hiVsPfkY0jIb6chzIMCti0BbI=w429-h288" width="429" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is an interesting "pseudo satellite"image created by Olav Odé, based on research by Kim Cohen and Marc Hijma, representing the situation in western Europe during the Elsterian glacial episode, around 470,000 - 420,000 years ago. It's on page 38 of the Doggerland book published by Sidestone Press, and freely available for web viewing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://www.sidestone.com/books/doggerland-lost-world-under-the-north-sea">https://www.sidestone.com/books/doggerland-lost-world-under-the-north-sea</a><p></p><p>Forget about the artistic license employed in the portrayal of the surface morphology of the glaciated area! The shadowed hilly areas bear no relation to reality or even glaciology. There are some bits of the map that do not make much sense. But you have to enjoy the great slabs of broken ice shelf shown floating about off the south coast of Cornwall........</p><p>But what matters is the overall position of the ice edge, which is remarkably similar to that which Geoff Kellaway proposed many moons ago, and which I also proposed for the Anglian / Elsterian / MIS 12 glacial episode around 450,000 years ago:</p><p><a href="https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2022/02/southern-england-where-is-glacial-limit.html">https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2022/02/southern-england-where-is-glacial-limit.html</a></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0hcekJWD9YRNdORhgAkLdgxQjVXZameh-MIso5hnpJuokLps0ujQFPIXqkLdVXtq-aAOnF6Fqqi0v7WTUn7FBM2jFH58mEI48FRARP6UnwHMGD4hy4xQh3fMODBR8Cqa0ej539xGfi66Kqn757MT_zixllYYj11korGD-eAGgcRLOt0pGxIlY21si99Y" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="206" data-original-width="415" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0hcekJWD9YRNdORhgAkLdgxQjVXZameh-MIso5hnpJuokLps0ujQFPIXqkLdVXtq-aAOnF6Fqqi0v7WTUn7FBM2jFH58mEI48FRARP6UnwHMGD4hy4xQh3fMODBR8Cqa0ej539xGfi66Kqn757MT_zixllYYj11korGD-eAGgcRLOt0pGxIlY21si99Y" width="320" /></a></div><p><br /></p>This also coincides with some of the "outlier" models generated by the glaciology group from Aberystwyth University more than a decade ago.<p></p><p><a href="https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2012/08/where-was-somerset-gbg-limit.html">https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2012/08/where-was-somerset-gbg-limit.html</a></p><p><a href="https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-greatest-british-glaciation-gbg.html">https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-greatest-british-glaciation-gbg.html</a></p>On the Cohen / Hijma map we can see that the local ice caps on Exmoor and Dartmoor are incorporated into the "glaciated area"; that glacier ice is shown transgressing the northern coasts of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset; that the Somerset Levels are shown as glaciated; that there is an ice cover over the Mendips and the Cotswolds; and that Salisbury Plain is glaciated. <div><br /></div><div>Another interesting feature of the map is the portrayal of France as being largely covered by polar desert, with abundant small ice caps over many upland areas including the Massif central.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yet another interesting feature -- the presence of a very substantial land bridge linking southern England to the continent. This was important not just as a land bridge used by migrating human beings, but as a feature which must have affected local climate and precipitation patterns. We must be careful about assuming that SW Britain was an area of temperate maritime climate characterised by relatively warm temperatures and abundant rainfall; during this glacial episode (and maybe others) this was more likely an area of very cold and dry climate, as no doubt already identified by the new generation of ice sheet computer modellers.</div><div><br /></div><div>========================</div><div><br /></div><div>PS. I hasten to add that when I did my 2022 post about Southern England, I had no knowledge at all of the Dutch work on ice limits that found its way into print at about the same time.......</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><br /></div>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-5133953500238880152024-02-27T12:26:00.001+00:002024-02-27T12:26:33.917+00:00A million years of Quaternary oscillations<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5G444iNf1PnEWQUJu5riv8CahkrDMv6e5jydaufxxBlhXjfaG7bd8-F5czCe4vUL3GHSnr9zU-rMb-uslVGUeQSHGyyQjAGVRHQZrsbSBQT2rTomYw1yrqYLfCivDnAeRjc6kCIZPiLVtKYhcOtlfQhbtTMq1TC7T1O2BbnXgBc0yj3A-RfMJ_JGgf3I/s1220/Screenshot%202024-02-27%20at%2011.48.21.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="1220" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5G444iNf1PnEWQUJu5riv8CahkrDMv6e5jydaufxxBlhXjfaG7bd8-F5czCe4vUL3GHSnr9zU-rMb-uslVGUeQSHGyyQjAGVRHQZrsbSBQT2rTomYw1yrqYLfCivDnAeRjc6kCIZPiLVtKYhcOtlfQhbtTMq1TC7T1O2BbnXgBc0yj3A-RfMJ_JGgf3I/w460-h205/Screenshot%202024-02-27%20at%2011.48.21.png" width="460" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5G444iNf1PnEWQUJu5riv8CahkrDMv6e5jydaufxxBlhXjfaG7bd8-F5czCe4vUL3GHSnr9zU-rMb-uslVGUeQSHGyyQjAGVRHQZrsbSBQT2rTomYw1yrqYLfCivDnAeRjc6kCIZPiLVtKYhcOtlfQhbtTMq1TC7T1O2BbnXgBc0yj3A-RfMJ_JGgf3I/s1220/Screenshot%202024-02-27%20at%2011.48.21.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5G444iNf1PnEWQUJu5riv8CahkrDMv6e5jydaufxxBlhXjfaG7bd8-F5czCe4vUL3GHSnr9zU-rMb-uslVGUeQSHGyyQjAGVRHQZrsbSBQT2rTomYw1yrqYLfCivDnAeRjc6kCIZPiLVtKYhcOtlfQhbtTMq1TC7T1O2BbnXgBc0yj3A-RfMJ_JGgf3I/s1220/Screenshot%202024-02-27%20at%2011.48.21.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6LYXbl3r8T-VAiNvN4WSQffDVM3QBL1oisQ2FvTNs9ys2Nd3bsx5eReBku7dLhGPaRmdXyf-E3JB6vDVfZyPEKPHCSfD6A8hoCIczf7Ojtwcan-eoKsHZ7NB2LnZqKqS0MnBaOTK_1QQ6gKT6W2WnI4X1sZ2dSY5pQYUFZj68_qBPe0LpCVNx9QaXhpw/s1340/Screenshot%202024-02-27%20at%2011.50.10.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="1340" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6LYXbl3r8T-VAiNvN4WSQffDVM3QBL1oisQ2FvTNs9ys2Nd3bsx5eReBku7dLhGPaRmdXyf-E3JB6vDVfZyPEKPHCSfD6A8hoCIczf7Ojtwcan-eoKsHZ7NB2LnZqKqS0MnBaOTK_1QQ6gKT6W2WnI4X1sZ2dSY5pQYUFZj68_qBPe0LpCVNx9QaXhpw/w460-h188/Screenshot%202024-02-27%20at%2011.50.10.png" width="460" /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="426" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT7jblEt2Ihv6I1tSM_fzJ25wGEr0gCqq73HWWAEnHON-VVtPgkYVBuA-MB3DegHtLq-Y4dv4WeuUmiCMK1VXosmQw_UCcUnTLvKZrVknmCDgd8zLNvODLR7NnmkTYFKsl8RjW1TIOrB2YXDnxh_DyqV5z_DboRBxD2hBVmQOBhvpeV-BYUcgp-BfFNTM/w147-h143/Screenshot%202024-02-27%20at%2011.51.17.png" width="147" /></div></a></div></div><p></p><p>Since I am in the business of heaping praise today, I'm happy to draw attention to a wonderful diagram created by Malou Osendarp, based on research by Kim Cohen and Marc Hijma, showing the main climatic oscillations of the past million years and contriving, at the same time, to show various environmental changes as experienced in Western Europe. The descriptive text is in Part One of the book.</p><p><a href="https://www.sidestone.com/books/doggerland-lost-world-under-the-north-sea">https://www.sidestone.com/books/doggerland-lost-world-under-the-north-sea</a></p><p>The basic curve shown on the diagram is the oxygen isotope sea level curve which is now widely accepted as more or less correct. The high points show the interglacials and interstadials and the low points (highlighted with the white colouring) show the polar desert / glacial episodes. We can also see the switches between deciduous and coniferous forest cover, the periods of open water as experienced by the present coastal areas, and the episodes where there is clear evidence of human occupation.</p><p>This diagram deserves to become a classic, and I will no doubt return to it quite soon..........</p><p>There is also a very useful graph on pp 212 and 213 of the book, showing the chronology and the technical labels given by researchers to the key environmental phases.</p><p><br /></p>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-84647267459260434142024-02-27T11:35:00.001+00:002024-02-27T11:57:21.306+00:00More on Doggerland<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4sjWTGol9dgKjjz2IWE_q3CSsS4dazSZ69AoS9m64NZfHp01pPGsVrG7q7HsKYBqsu1WFVLSuN9eR1T14E_Z-sLKztnhojAME3g6CxOnX0i8-jzOxtUDTvmiHOLz5Xs46yZuTisGCPGl2Hmj1VSaEKs6BosEqeV-CBRMFZgrUkL8SFTY1VfjybfulFOo" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1456" data-original-width="1258" height="376" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4sjWTGol9dgKjjz2IWE_q3CSsS4dazSZ69AoS9m64NZfHp01pPGsVrG7q7HsKYBqsu1WFVLSuN9eR1T14E_Z-sLKztnhojAME3g6CxOnX0i8-jzOxtUDTvmiHOLz5Xs46yZuTisGCPGl2Hmj1VSaEKs6BosEqeV-CBRMFZgrUkL8SFTY1VfjybfulFOo=w324-h376" width="324" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is a nice "popular" article by Emma Tidswell, summarising what is known about Doggerland. It''s well researched and quite accurate, from what I can see. One interesting thing about it is that it uses information from research in the Netherlands, and reproduces some of the excellent illustrations from Dutch researchers. There is also a section on the Storegga Tsunami. Recommended reading.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://ruralhistoria.com/2023/07/15/doggerland/?fbclid=IwAR1VjwlQ9dAPuUbNJVxHBPYFKbS7iyeB-bdPsOgdPrXuGTCgEJouxPe2U8I">https://ruralhistoria.com/2023/07/15/doggerland/?fbclid=IwAR1VjwlQ9dAPuUbNJVxHBPYFKbS7iyeB-bdPsOgdPrXuGTCgEJouxPe2U8I</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtQvoXQ_ffXAC7sCa5WK5NXE8bVXr66dDee1iO78_652dshRxvivUmAE3DGwRbrbMWs96x8H-3nIo0vlr1UuTVQGOydKxdkxBGpUaMmY6clLFa6hcJ_oDJGms4TkQCptYNkHLeTq6kqTo6VvcZwkaixF61Ye492-sz2fEmgv8OHjH41K-buUFkeOhxWhM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="710" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhtQvoXQ_ffXAC7sCa5WK5NXE8bVXr66dDee1iO78_652dshRxvivUmAE3DGwRbrbMWs96x8H-3nIo0vlr1UuTVQGOydKxdkxBGpUaMmY6clLFa6hcJ_oDJGms4TkQCptYNkHLeTq6kqTo6VvcZwkaixF61Ye492-sz2fEmgv8OHjH41K-buUFkeOhxWhM=w306-h369" width="306" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><i>Doggerland approximately 11,000 years ago during the onset of the Holocene Epoch. At this time sea level was rising inexorably. Dark green colouring indicates higher land. The red outlines delineate the present-day coastlines of Great Britain and Europe.<br /><br />Source: Olav Odé/ National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden, Netherlands</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i>See also the comprehensive study published by Sidestone Press:</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://www.sidestone.com/books/doggerland-lost-world-under-the-north-sea">https://www.sidestone.com/books/doggerland-lost-world-under-the-north-sea</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">This is also by Dutch authors, and is based on a previously published Dutch volume. There is a foreword by Vince Gaffney.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Once again, all credit to Sidestone Press for allowing free internet access to the whole volume. They deserve the Gold Medal for services to open access.......<br /><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><p></p>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-78486281828640212552024-02-27T10:22:00.003+00:002024-02-27T10:22:52.948+00:00Anglian / Wolstonian ice extent<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-X5TiiZeVIDwzp20Q8fs5IU1s_7kcFsQJwJrbKXryUjGcnkk7h5F46E4MgSIZ2Pj1U-2-DaAnhQ7oP-2qJjl2tbhdJuRasA37Cb-jWEOhpbV7IK_eq5mel16mpmHsKS7HJ6ckmQRoHTeYOXEM6IbApkgLH0bc47lUMCKpJsnVDNWD4rO20eoM0Z6kUEE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="554" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh-X5TiiZeVIDwzp20Q8fs5IU1s_7kcFsQJwJrbKXryUjGcnkk7h5F46E4MgSIZ2Pj1U-2-DaAnhQ7oP-2qJjl2tbhdJuRasA37Cb-jWEOhpbV7IK_eq5mel16mpmHsKS7HJ6ckmQRoHTeYOXEM6IbApkgLH0bc47lUMCKpJsnVDNWD4rO20eoM0Z6kUEE=w393-h280" width="393" /></a></div><p><br /></p>In another context, I have been having a bit of an argument with a senior academic about whether there is any sort of a consensus in glacial geomorphology circles about an extensive ice cover in the SW part of the British Isles -- and in particular the Celtic Sea.<p></p><p>Well, I'm very confident that there is a consensus, which gets stronger every year -- for example as more papers are published by the members of the BRITICE-CHRONO team. I have discussed many of their articles on this blog. </p><p>One example is the map reproduced above, and mentioned in an earlier post on this blog:</p><p><a href="https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2015/08/prehistory-and-irish-sea.html">https://brian-mountainman.blogspot.com/2015/08/prehistory-and-irish-sea.html</a></p><p>We now know that the ice edge during the Devensian glaciation reached the ice shelf edge -- this was not known 24 years ago when the map was drawn. Earlier glaciations were at least as extensive, and we now also know that the Scilly Isles were at one time submerged beneath glacier ice. This means that the ice of the Irish Sea Ice Stream on its SE edge must have impinged powerfully on the coasts of Cornwall, Devon and Somerset.</p><p>Does anybody now dispute that contention? If so, let's hear from you, and let's see the colour of your evidence.........</p>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-11794890555079098632024-02-23T22:51:00.004+00:002024-02-23T22:53:07.720+00:00The Wren's Egg glacial erratics<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguCiuqxx8XvK1Q1jDY7ctP0sSXyjUtxcWZzfZbY3-GIMfG9f1jwHacJp6u3G2PbH5W_Lbgow3KQ8VKMmiwbtt1JF6p4PcUOFgTzimM_pF3O7Fu7oQx4aleFH6P9ifQzxrDmdMIZ0w-IFo8ctmXTorHHbVxxpta3YlTUvAiXCkOlEVts-WmhFiDVidMI8w/s1000/427998065_1445412563048167_7346082375170242864_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="664" data-original-width="1000" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguCiuqxx8XvK1Q1jDY7ctP0sSXyjUtxcWZzfZbY3-GIMfG9f1jwHacJp6u3G2PbH5W_Lbgow3KQ8VKMmiwbtt1JF6p4PcUOFgTzimM_pF3O7Fu7oQx4aleFH6P9ifQzxrDmdMIZ0w-IFo8ctmXTorHHbVxxpta3YlTUvAiXCkOlEVts-WmhFiDVidMI8w/s320/427998065_1445412563048167_7346082375170242864_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil1OXai8AnlJ1Il8TrIaojXaPk89L4LR2lLik5IABBxM4QZXBMS24VpAfnz3wC9WTMx0mkHUJVeA0bSnG3dNooRdULe77KCPDEIGb1LYGzNZWvRnnMjrfp4mgUpZzAK49b6Y9hazFbGP3iwsUXfFs-a7c8dgU9287-1oT9ZmHTSnKC0heJs1fdmuc7hjU/s1000/428086716_1445412453048178_6672503572088477997_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="664" data-original-width="1000" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil1OXai8AnlJ1Il8TrIaojXaPk89L4LR2lLik5IABBxM4QZXBMS24VpAfnz3wC9WTMx0mkHUJVeA0bSnG3dNooRdULe77KCPDEIGb1LYGzNZWvRnnMjrfp4mgUpZzAK49b6Y9hazFbGP3iwsUXfFs-a7c8dgU9287-1oT9ZmHTSnKC0heJs1fdmuc7hjU/s320/428086716_1445412453048178_6672503572088477997_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><i>Thanks to Corbred Galdus and Northern Antiquarian for drawing attention to the Wren's Egg and Nest, in Galloway, Scotland. Posted on Facebook -- nice photos!! But is the stone in the top photo a glacial erratic and are the other two something else? </i></span></div></div><p></p><p>There are apparently four boulders here, but I am intrigued that in all of the official documentation only one glacial erratic is mentioned -- namely the one in the top photo. The boulders are apparently quite small -- less than a metre in diameter. They are made of granite, and the source is unknown. I have looked at many photos of these stones, and they have the key characteristics of glacial erratics -- rounded off edges, facets and a weathering crust which is peeling off in places. Since we are dealing with granite, I doubt that there are striations -- but I may be wrong.<br /><br /></p><p>What intrigues me here is that boulders 2, 3 and 4 are NOT referred to as erratics, presumably because they are deemed to be in rather crude and simple stone settings -- ie they have been moved a short distance from where they were found. There is no logic at all in that. I suspect that the majority of megalithic monuments in the glaciated parts of the British Isles are made with glacial erratics, moved relatively short distances (ie. metres, rather than kilometres) from the places in which they were discovered.</p><p>As pointed out by Olwen Williams-Thorpe and her colleagues many years ago, the most powerful factor in the determination of location for standing stones and burial chambers was probably the ready availability of stone -- and I agree with them.</p><p> <a href="https://www.historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-research/publications/publication/?publicationId=015d347c-65bd-4955-a456-a6cc009cd744">https://www.historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-research/publications/publication/?publicationId=015d347c-65bd-4955-a456-a6cc009cd744</a></p><p><a href="https://darkgalloway.wordpress.com/">https://darkgalloway.wordpress.com/</a><span face="system-ui, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(5, 5, 5); color: #050505; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://darkgalloway.wordpress.com/"></a></span></p><p>Thanks to Tony for drawing my attention to this topic.</p>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-14149109489536356182024-02-23T18:06:00.003+00:002024-02-23T18:25:07.384+00:00On the significance of bluestones<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjb0UYb3vXpI4WCbkvPlxLsD4Nx2TCDMYtQj2QPXDFk3bDwqFC2rE_aQE6ZEInXytf0tpFXwjVx0pre__LVKADSeqMqzuK0AqfM7Fa5lpkX4ti9OpL1osTEHPzruD-qOu0KbfLnxAWp_kx0TgK5wGA_LdZAnfJ4L1utyH9jfBTujTL05ytuEkkavVYFyGc" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="551" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjb0UYb3vXpI4WCbkvPlxLsD4Nx2TCDMYtQj2QPXDFk3bDwqFC2rE_aQE6ZEInXytf0tpFXwjVx0pre__LVKADSeqMqzuK0AqfM7Fa5lpkX4ti9OpL1osTEHPzruD-qOu0KbfLnxAWp_kx0TgK5wGA_LdZAnfJ4L1utyH9jfBTujTL05ytuEkkavVYFyGc" width="318" /></a></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Three professional geologists pondering on the significance of a bluestone erratic at the</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> first International Geological Congress.</i></div></i><p></p>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-44622582534879207882024-02-20T23:02:00.001+00:002024-02-20T23:02:24.439+00:007,000 reads, and counting........<p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOIwH7wQsjfPJqU5ZKw7zL8fgKRILeuTLePTUNVRV4HMhbUwAg8nATg30ufvpCRFhBRHUdvVyIaN7rk0s8JuymKoGW9x_Zk2Ddh7YAGRFSTBgWj9V6WpwLEqcKpK4OhXMgfgMOauOJswbndCy3gxVZ14X_1VVKitRDjR-p0YBYigNHXYs26aYAZU_5kZU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1210" data-original-width="1428" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOIwH7wQsjfPJqU5ZKw7zL8fgKRILeuTLePTUNVRV4HMhbUwAg8nATg30ufvpCRFhBRHUdvVyIaN7rk0s8JuymKoGW9x_Zk2Ddh7YAGRFSTBgWj9V6WpwLEqcKpK4OhXMgfgMOauOJswbndCy3gxVZ14X_1VVKitRDjR-p0YBYigNHXYs26aYAZU_5kZU" width="283" /></a></div><br />I noticed today that this article on Waun Mawn has now had over 7,000 reads. I don't know who all these readers are, or where they come from, but it does mean that there are now many people out there in the big wide world who may or may not agree with me, but who are all fully aware that there is a major dispute going on about "Proto Stonehenge" and the "Lost Giant Circle". The article is now getting a bit dated, since it was last modified in Sept 2022, to take account of recent publications -- but before long I will bring it up to date.<p></p><p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/345177590_Waun_Mawn_and_the_search_for_Proto-_Stonehenge">https://www.researchgate.net/publication/345177590_Waun_Mawn_and_the_search_for_Proto-_Stonehenge</a></p><p>In the context of this increased global awareness, it is all the more surprising that the Daily Express has quite recently done another web article on Waun Mawn, with a reporter who seems blissfully unaware of the fact that most of the contents of the article have already been disavowed by our old friend MPP and assorted colleagues. Nobody with any sort of awareness of the literature believes in the "lost circle" any longer. So who decided that it was a good idea to publish this nonsensical and out-dated article? The features editor? If so, he should be sacked........</p><p>Or has there been another press release from the MPP team, arising from nothing in particular apart from the desire to keep the lost circle myth alive for as long as possible? All very bizarre.........</p><p><a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1867457/stonehenge-mystery-solved-geologists-megalith-wales-spt">https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1867457/stonehenge-mystery-solved-geologists-megalith-wales-spt</a></p><p><br /></p>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-31501585177911188362024-02-20T21:41:00.000+00:002024-02-20T21:41:16.384+00:00Schuchert Flod, East Greenland<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMrZMe0h5gRBt3b0Red5TuhPKRk334WNeCQh1QIu_xGTvL-cPqqRqucSMx9oc0bDpXN1n_Uv6MYnIgpkwBm3dt-S8pmUCFuTHHG6sunvxiV271I8EeRcEtrU3jHmfEfzx2l8xn6Z9c2kogW0lBNhvtqdXZ3h_yUzrtFi3mlcFy5d_G2l3gOCyvTinDgWM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1790" data-original-width="2206" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjMrZMe0h5gRBt3b0Red5TuhPKRk334WNeCQh1QIu_xGTvL-cPqqRqucSMx9oc0bDpXN1n_Uv6MYnIgpkwBm3dt-S8pmUCFuTHHG6sunvxiV271I8EeRcEtrU3jHmfEfzx2l8xn6Z9c2kogW0lBNhvtqdXZ3h_yUzrtFi3mlcFy5d_G2l3gOCyvTinDgWM=w371-h301" width="371" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgkeJPc43PwzjCGRfbFXA6HnRqsVaknZSCaUA3nzxirNqJi56eErioOKztowcJ-PudNWPZsNfj4Z_FYNtkXxFdrA51TietvoR6pyeaIjgZXXfU0nXTBDqxtNf_yO4V7Za9ZViX4J0EeD--P2LEOd22fGyP-XCi5giIdtHv5DYmd2T6z_idaZe0M4Ulvj-M" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1514" data-original-width="1252" height="383" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgkeJPc43PwzjCGRfbFXA6HnRqsVaknZSCaUA3nzxirNqJi56eErioOKztowcJ-PudNWPZsNfj4Z_FYNtkXxFdrA51TietvoR6pyeaIjgZXXfU0nXTBDqxtNf_yO4V7Za9ZViX4J0EeD--P2LEOd22fGyP-XCi5giIdtHv5DYmd2T6z_idaZe0M4Ulvj-M=w317-h383" width="317" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEimTZaqyz-YW_0Lyvm_jEPNp8A0HsOTPcKtKc1FcT64zCacidP54W5XLj8oCUDsYUdvgOOa4tfzu4pIclr2q0dIqrwqaCL3_7GRZlXWDg8esj4-CnaHs0lz2Z9o8MNgxw8LScNRFR-gM8olFnhzfAWlXyI350HK9r-TGDnuWNbSL0hinRD76E8hL8zx8HY" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="637" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhU8CXGRlS1KlOIAYg53DB2kLhVTJjyVGsuRo_jTJe-VcN4KEsEzfV8mQu_evh2Ol66mmH2o7HDu2Hg8ZmEBlyqDn7-HlfRlhRGPl79hnW9yOpdc2NkbliDzEpGHtTGfY3HGWyK5UHbdsaRzNHP5ov6lf2E2ZitMw5oRYr3rVXiwRyrarZnvAYbXUzCQWE=w327-h251" width="327" /></a></span></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2mL8w5q44HPJIJdsawIGUwpICMgtiQaK80QpGIoNyidtnSOTyzz48RTzZs30A-IOBj9YgmZbZfE9ps0-Fb418SrIoIYEJC3BUezomf3xkFyIaEnzMvZUK7L3iOCJJeBhYxPSKgQpvrnkpcUqs07Qw2pcVPOlsricXYmdj7olz7IWC3FI2mXzqQnuwP9U" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img alt="" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="382" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2mL8w5q44HPJIJdsawIGUwpICMgtiQaK80QpGIoNyidtnSOTyzz48RTzZs30A-IOBj9YgmZbZfE9ps0-Fb418SrIoIYEJC3BUezomf3xkFyIaEnzMvZUK7L3iOCJJeBhYxPSKgQpvrnkpcUqs07Qw2pcVPOlsricXYmdj7olz7IWC3FI2mXzqQnuwP9U=w318-h334" width="318" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>The Schuchert Flod (river or flood in Danish) -- one of the most dramatic meltwater rivers in Greenland. Four different levels of resolution....... </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>The Schuchert River originates as the stream carrying the meltwater from the Schuchert Glacier and its tributary glaciers in the northern part of the Staunings Alps. There are ten glaciers feeding into the meltwater river, most of them on the eastern flank of the mountain range. These are genuine alpine glaciers with small catchments -- very different from the glaciers fed from the plateau ice caps in other parts of east Greenland.<br /><br />Braided rivers like this are hugely impressive -- not least because of the noise that they make. It's a non-stop thundering that drowns out all the other sounds in the Arctic environment. But they are inadequately studied by hydrologists and geomorphologists, partly because of their remote locations and partly because they are dangerous and difficult to work on. They have relatively steep gradients, have high velocities and huge sediment loads in the larger clast sizes, namely boulders and cobbles. The water is also cloudy because of the large loads of sand, silt and clay carried in suspension. The larger clasts tend to be moved over short distances before lodging or sticking, with blockages causing the river water to spill laterally out of one temporary channel and to create other channels. So the channel arrangement that we see today are in constant flux. They will be different tomorrow, and any attempt to create an accurate channel map is rather futile.......<br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The concept of equilibrium does not make much sense here, because there are very powerful diurnal and seasonal rhythms in river water velocity and volume. In the winter the Schuchert Flod has no water flow at all, and it is cold and dark. But as daylight (and warmth) returns during the spring thaw it starts to flow as the lowland seasonal snowcover begins to melt. As the "melting front" moves up into the valleys and onto the glaciers, in May and June, the volume of water flow inexorably increases. I suspect that the peak flow month will be July. At that time nearly all of the water in the river will be coming from the "feeder" glaciers in the mountains. Also during July and August the diurnal rhythm becomes more marked, as twilight and then darkness gradually return, with cooler conditions and reduced glacier melting in the early hours of the morning. If you have to cross a braided stream in the Schuchert valley catchment, it's easier to do it at 4 am than it is at 4 pm. By September, on the glaciers, there are a few hours of sub-zero temperatutes on the glaciers every night.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The chaotic spring thaw that happens on the big rivers of Alaska and Arctic Canada, involving the breakup of the river ice and the downriver transport of huge ice blocks which can destroy roads, bridges and houses does not happen in the Schuchert Valley, because the braided stream channels are not deep enough or wide enough for the creation of thick floating river ice. However, there can be catastrophic "pulses" of meltwater flowing down braided streams such as the Schuchert Flod because of the collapse upstream of ice dams holding meltwater lakes in ice-front situations such as that of the Roslin Glacier.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhqabLoN4M63aNvmj2H13-bB2zY9AOq1jy8l8btzVUl_RnaN_cEn-MfdgYKwWcpkOTmAv76xCK7FEh33xmfHKBgmgb3h1rCMjNYZxI6KuO83xcLoFARnbQ8Ssk3w5VACnnX6YnEctHQlgHZUvilNGVRhprm6t4lD5H_akzoWOvHQJV_oq08uB1MHoKkZXU" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="380" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhqabLoN4M63aNvmj2H13-bB2zY9AOq1jy8l8btzVUl_RnaN_cEn-MfdgYKwWcpkOTmAv76xCK7FEh33xmfHKBgmgb3h1rCMjNYZxI6KuO83xcLoFARnbQ8Ssk3w5VACnnX6YnEctHQlgHZUvilNGVRhprm6t4lD5H_akzoWOvHQJV_oq08uB1MHoKkZXU=w282-h297" width="282" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The great loop of moraine and dead ice topography associated with a surge of the Roslin Gletscher, which pushed all the way across the braided river plain. The Schuchert Flod is here squeezed into a single channel, after which it re-assumes its braided pattern downstream. The meltwater lakes are ephemeral; and if one of them bursts out, a short lived catastrophic flood will work its way down the river to the sea. In Iceland this is called a jøkulhlaup, and when one comes along you don't want to be anywhere near it........ </i></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">It's because of this inherent variability in the multiple channels of the braided river that the Schuchert Flod is viewed as essentially uncrossable at the height of the summer season. You cannot cross -- even with ropes -- where the braided river is at its narrowest, because here the channels are very deep and fast-flowing. But if you try to cross where the braided river is maybe a kilometre wide and where there are multiple channels, you may find that although no single river segment is more than waist deep, you have problems with ropes and stable anchoring points. In a four-man crossing party the lead man has to be belayed to a support man who stands on a stable (and preferably dry) "island", and he in turn is supported by the third and fourth men on the rope. Only one man at a time should be in the water, trying to avoid being swept off his feet and also to avoid mobile boulders and cobbles on the river bed. If you have a 25 kg backpack, then it becomes even more hazardous. There is a practical limit to the amount of rope you can use, and it can happen that a four-man crossing party can become stranded, when they encounter an uncrossable channel ahead of them and when the channels they have already crossed become deeper because of a raised water level or a change in channel arrangement. In places the Schuchert Flod is 4 km wide, and any attempt to cross it even in the early hours of the morning would be foolhardy in the extreme.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">In 1962, while Dave Sugden and I (expedition leaders) were in Kjove Land, one of our expedition members with a four-man party was crossing the Schuchert Flod c. 30 km to the north when he was swept off his feet and carried 100m downstream. Against all the rules, he was not using a rope, but it's possible that his loaded rucksack provided some buoyancy, and the river spat him out onto a gravel bank from which the others were able to rescue him. He could have been killed. When Dave and I found out about this incident, we were not best pleased.........<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjK-eT9E__4cK6vxmPfl-zOkZYEllhI6qJyikzMqO8ayvO-V9raxmOtzl1C3zP9Vzd8aWs1jatqU5y5KLE5ffuy99UEAj-AZ2keIXya9BArY0stTkQQ5HZ_qLSWiyIMMGgCZa2yb14Ks8H2fUYpY08EUOIbwg268i2pXLmZfgzP0aHBRtbtN3Byw07es2s" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1776" data-original-width="1298" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjK-eT9E__4cK6vxmPfl-zOkZYEllhI6qJyikzMqO8ayvO-V9raxmOtzl1C3zP9Vzd8aWs1jatqU5y5KLE5ffuy99UEAj-AZ2keIXya9BArY0stTkQQ5HZ_qLSWiyIMMGgCZa2yb14Ks8H2fUYpY08EUOIbwg268i2pXLmZfgzP0aHBRtbtN3Byw07es2s=w241-h330" width="241" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>The southernmost section of the Schuchert Flod, where the braided river runs into the tidal mudflats. The mudflats are a "graveyard" for stranded small icebergs and bergy bits, with larger bergs stranded on the outer edge of the delta</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyrO_YQLnc4XrkcS-AZjdozAisMIEOqtwwlCcEd6fK1jYNhw84S5A14ZgPFOE3337MrTf9hHCWWNl6v5AtURl5qCDQNa0ayw0Z4uOZRw2zNfHcTGmvv_-JzOtNcVllljgyWeW8NnaTDb8gpDg4A3j0DJ9H7YvLrpICUA8iFAt3X_vTg0EjLu1p3GoLJek" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="417" data-original-width="604" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgyrO_YQLnc4XrkcS-AZjdozAisMIEOqtwwlCcEd6fK1jYNhw84S5A14ZgPFOE3337MrTf9hHCWWNl6v5AtURl5qCDQNa0ayw0Z4uOZRw2zNfHcTGmvv_-JzOtNcVllljgyWeW8NnaTDb8gpDg4A3j0DJ9H7YvLrpICUA8iFAt3X_vTg0EjLu1p3GoLJek=w365-h252" width="365" /></a></div><br /><br /></i></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><br /><p></p>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1228690739485734684.post-76958527055625300012024-02-19T23:23:00.002+00:002024-02-19T23:23:34.623+00:00Carningli fortified village<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTs-qu5ZBtNobxTPp1Jvftns_n2eG5JqfqgU5dkU3ZXDozK8pWxB6wpt8wMh2H3hrt3D37MLuJks0JOZFrFgE6DnUf5vgb65pReOz4OOaLLsTjf47xq15S-xkbzXeL0TGTCgkrEg8HdmAn84KIwJHqExmCMevv_gO3ppJ1V0tHnywSgQtCEDAzhf0XCgw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2177" data-original-width="1440" height="369" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjTs-qu5ZBtNobxTPp1Jvftns_n2eG5JqfqgU5dkU3ZXDozK8pWxB6wpt8wMh2H3hrt3D37MLuJks0JOZFrFgE6DnUf5vgb65pReOz4OOaLLsTjf47xq15S-xkbzXeL0TGTCgkrEg8HdmAn84KIwJHqExmCMevv_gO3ppJ1V0tHnywSgQtCEDAzhf0XCgw=w246-h369" width="246" /></a></div> <p></p><p>Worth sharing. A great photo by Chris Musson, published on the Coflein (Welsh Government) web site. It shows the defensive rampart running around the edge of the "village" on the Carningli summit. The settlement site may have been permanent, but is more likely to have been occupied seasonally. It's generally thought to have been an Iron Age feature, but there may have been a Bronze Age settlement here as well.........</p>BRIAN JOHNhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00413447032454568083noreply@blogger.com0