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The remains of a hilltop home believed to be about 5,000 years old have been discovered on the outskirts of Edinburgh (Scotland). The Neolithic roundhouse, found on a site where a quarry is due to be expanded, is one of the oldest prehistoric buildings to be discovered in the Scottish capital. Archaeologists have hailed it as one of the most important finds ever made in Edinburgh because of its age – about the same as Skara Brae in Orkney – and unique location. It is also expected to help fill in a largely unknown chapter in Scottish history, when farming had only recently spread to Britain from Europe.

The site, at Ravelrig Hill, near Dalmahoy, enjoys spectacular views across the Lothians and Fife. Experts believe the roundhouse was probably built by one of the first families of farmers to start producing their own food in the area.

Experts from Glasgow University’s Archaeological Research Division (Guard) have spent several months working in the area, which is already home to the remains of two prehistoric hill forts.

The house, remains of which were found in a huge circular ditch, was surrounded by a larger egg-shaped enclosure. Although no materials such as pottery have been discovered, archaeologists have been able to date flint recovered from the site, and the remains of an internal fireplace were found.

The site is thought to be roughly the same age as the cairn at Cairnpapple Hill, which is widely regarded as Scotland’s most prehistoric burial site and can be seen from Ravelrig Hill. Donna Maguire, project director for Guard, said

There may once have been a number of settlements on the hill, lost when quarrying began in the area more than 150 years ago.

The discovery was only made because Edinburgh City Council insisted that an archaeological dig was carried out before construction giant Tarmac was allowed to expand its quarrying operation in the area.
Ms Maguire said:

We had no idea we would find anything like this, so it was hugely exciting. There’s been very little like this discovered anywhere in the Central Belt. It dates from around the time of early farming but very little is known of that era in Scotland and that’s why it’s so significant. It was clearly built at the top of the hill because of its location overlooking the landscape. In a way, it was intended to make people see it and regard it as an important landmark.”

John Lawson, the city council’s archaeologist, added:

“Although remains of buildings discovered at Cramond within the last ten years have been dated to 8,500 years ago, this is one of the most significant prehistoric sites to have been found in the wider Edinburgh area for many years.”

All materials recovered are being taken away for analysis. The discovery is not expected to delay work to expand the quarry. Tarmac has been quarrying there since 1987.

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The German city of Speyer, in Rheinland-Palatinate, boasts some macabre relics. A collection of skulls, shin bones and vertebrae might not seem unusual in an archaeology museum, but these particular remains are special. They all show signs of having been cut, scraped or broken, indicating that their owners were cannibalised. “These grooves, running from the base of the nose to the back of the neck, or here on the temples, show, beyond all possible doubt, that the flesh was torn off,” says Andrea Zeeb-Lanz, the regional head of archaeology, holding up a skull.

It takes good eyesight to catch the fine parallel incisions made by the cutting edge of the flint stone. She then shows a piece of thigh-bone the end of which has been crushed. Judging by the state of the bone tissue, it was smashed shortly after the victim was killed.

All these human remains were found at the stone-age site at Herxheim, near Speyer. About 7,000 years ago farmers, who grew wheat and barley, raised pigs, sheep and cattle, settled here, building a village of four to 12 houses, the post holes of which have survived. At the time the first farmer-stockherders were moving into Europe, supplanting their hunter-gatherer predecessors. The Herxheim settlers came from the north (between 5,400 and 4,950BC) and belonged to the Linear Pottery culture.
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An amateur archaeologist believes a giant boulder on a hill overlooking Loch Ness (Scottish Highlands) was used as a guide for crop sowing and harvesting by residents of in the Great Glen more than 5000 years ago. John Forsyth – who was voted a corresponding member of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland for services to archaeology – believes the boulder was positioned and sculpted so people could use it as a marker against the sun to signal when their crops should be planted in spring and harvested in autumn.

He believes a community lived to the east of the boulder, which is between Creag Dhearg and Meall Fuar-Mhonaidh, and used the setting of the sun to establish the spring and autumn equinoxes – when day and night is roughly the same length.

As part of his research, Mr Forsyth used a global positioning system to locate another rock behind his home which lies directly east of the boulder and has the same latitude, suggesting an alignment which he thinks is deliberate. The retired geography teacher spent the spring equinox – Friday 20th March – photographing the sun setting to ensure his calculations were accurate.

“I was waiting with bated breath and started getting very tense and uptight when the sun started coming down. When it started to disappear behind the hill it came right down perfectly on top of the boulder. I was delighted!”

Mr Forsyth takes a keen interest in archaeology and believes the boulder was last moved at around the same time as the Callanish Standing Stones on Lewis and the structures at Stonehenge were erected.

“I’m very confident it’s from that time because the boulder is firmly embedded in peat and there is lichen on its surface. How the people of the time managed to put the boulder there is another question,

admitted Mr Forsyth, who is confident of his findings.
Highland Council archaeologist Kirsty Cameron was interested to learn of the theory.

“People who were living in that time had a very good use of astronomy.We encourage people to contact us about sites of possible interest but establishing a time for this is hard to prove and because it’s a stone, it can’t be excavated. I would be keen to find out more about it.”

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In this tale we hear about the arrival of the Elder Gods and learn more about the Mighty Dagda. In the time when the Dagda held court at the Brugh na Boinne, Corgenn the King of Connachta comes to visit and Aedh, the son of the Dagda makes a pass at his wife…

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Excavation of a proposed park-and-ride site in Taunton has revealed one of the largest prehistoric roundhouses in Britain and a number of Roman burials reports the BBC. The house dates from the Iron Age (400-100 BC) and was constructed from wooden posts with a thatched roof and had a diameter of 17m (56ft).

The finds unearthed from the Cambria Farm site since December 2008 are to be displayed by the Museum of Somerset. Continue Reading »

Patrick and Caroline Pic: Shropshire Star

Park Hall is undertaking a major new project for 2009 with the reconstruction of an Iron Age roundhouse built using traditional methods by local crafts men and women reports the Shropshire Star. There is an important local connection to the Iron Age, for just over a kilometre from Park Hall is the site of the Old Oswestry Iron Age Hill Fort, which is one of the finest hill forts in Britain.

Excavations of the Hillfort in 1939/1940 suggest that the earliest settlement dates back to 700BC (Early Iron Age) with evidence of timber built roundhouses on the top of the natural hill. During 2008 a project led by Oswestry Borough Council enhanced facilities at the Hillfort improving access and providing interpretation on site.

Alongside these improvements it seemed an ideal time and opportunity to develop the educational base by building a reconstructed Iron Age Roundhouse within close vicinity to the Hillfort, Park Hall being the chosen site. Continue Reading »