Tartessian Script Pic: Wiki

Earlier this year, the BBC reported that a new tool had been developed that can reconstruct long-dead languages. Knowing how potentially important the discovery and translation of the Tartessian scripts are (see our earlier posts linked in the Show Notes for CMP 34), we wonder whether this fascinating computer system could be used by University of Aberystwyth to help with the Ancient Britain and the Atlantic Zone project. Tartessian has been put forward as one of the earliest Celtic languages, so a comprehensive understanding of the philology of this ancient language can only be helped by this new development! They say:

Researchers have created software that can rebuild protolanguages – the ancient tongues from which our modern languages evolved. To test the system, the team took 637 languages currently spoken in Asia and the Pacific and recreated the early language from which they descended.

The work is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. Currently language reconstructions are carried out by linguists – but the process is slow and labour-intensive.

Dan Klein, an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said:

It’s very time consuming for humans to look at all the data. There are thousands of languages in the world, with thousands of words each, not to mention all of those languages’ ancestors.

It would take hundreds of lifetimes to pore over all those languages, cross-referencing all the different changes that happened across such an expanse of space – and of time. But this is where computers shine.

Languages change gradually over time.

Over thousands of years, tiny variations in the way that we produce sounds have meant that early languages have morphed into many different descendents Dr Klein explains:

These sound changes are almost always regular, with similar words changing in similar ways, so patterns are left that a human or a computer can find.

“The trick is to identify these patterns of change and then to ‘reverse’ them, basically evolving words backwards in time.

Limitations of the Software

The software can churn through large amounts of data quickly, but it does not bring the same degree of accuracy as a linguist’s expertise.

Dr Klein said:

Our system still has shortcomings. For example, it can’t handle morphological changes or re-duplications – how a word like ‘cat’ becomes ‘kitty-cat’.

At a much deeper level, our system doesn’t explain why or how certain changes happened, only that they probably did happen.

While researchers are able to reconstruct languages that date back thousands of years, there is still a question mark over whether it would ever be possible to go even further back to recreate the very first protolanguage from which all others evolved, or whether such a language even exists.

Read the full article on the BBC website.

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You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
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Bronze Age Sickle Pic: Ann Brysbaert

A late Bronze Age sickle was found at the Shinewater Park Sacred Water Site, Sussex, England in 1995 as we reported earlier. The following is an abbreviated extract from the superlative report about the conservation undertaken on the sickle by the specialist form the British Museum, Ann Brysbaert. A thoroughly researched conservation plan was required in order to meet the display conditions of the receiving museum and to meet the high standards required by the specialists involved in the treatment of this unique sickle.

The site was discovered during the excavation of a lake which forms part of a new community park being developed by Eastbourne Borough Council. The object was found in a peat environment and was block lifted from site in this soil.

Some of the remains found on site include post alignments and other wooden structures, a skeleton of a child, antler artefacts and several copper alloy objects, including the sickle. The latter finds and the post alignments have suggested to some a comparison with the site of Flag Fen in Cambridgeshire, according to M. Taylor, an independent wood specialist (personal communication). Together with the other copper alloy objects, the sickle was recorded to have lain horizontally in the acidic peat. The pottery from the site gives a date around 800-600 BC, which is Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age.

Object description and technology

The object could be partially described before it was taken out of its surrounding peat, and more details became available after lifting and cleaning procedures were carried out.

The sickle consisted of two main materials. The metal of the blade was considered to be a copper alloy and the wood of the handle was identified through a sample as Field Maple (sample taken and identified by M. Taylor).

The amazing ‘Druid’ Sickle itself

It is not entirely clear how the slightly curvy metal blade and hollow socket with two rivet holes would have been shaped. It may have been cast in an open, single piece mould. Ridges ran along the blade on both sides.

The grain of the wooden handle ran along its length. The end of the handle formed a clearly cut curved part, nicely rounded and worked. This curve probably stopped the hand of the user from sliding off the instrument during usage. This curved part also gave an idea of how the object could have been used: a straight cutting movement was made towards the body of the user. A small hole went through the thickness of the handle about 2.5 cm below the metal socket. The hole seemed to be deliberately made because of its square section. Taylor suggested that if it was purposely made, a rope could have been put through it to enable the owner to carry the sickle on his belt. But the option that the hole was the result of animal activity during burial was not excluded.

The connection between the wooden handle and the metal socket was achieved by the use of two rivets. However, since the diameter of the wood was hardly smaller than the diameter of the metal socket, the wood might have been slightly cut at the socket end in order to fit in the metal piece as an extra way of fitting both parts together tightly. The wood obviously had also swollen because it was buried and became waterlogged.

Conserving the Sickle

Xantopren L was chosen to be the best material for the moulding process because it met all pre-set requirements. The process of moulding was carried out as follows: all holes and undercuts were filled with wet acid free tissue to prevent the moulding material from creeping in the wood since the metal was much heavier, it had to be suspended onto fine nylon thread to stop it from disappearing in the moulding material when the first half was made.

Half of the Sickle immersed in Xantropen L Pic: Ann Brysbaert

Treatment was carried out as follows: a solution of water and industrial methylated spirits (IMS) was made up to gradually replace all the water in the object. The percentage of the IMS went up over a period of time until 100% IMS was reached. This solution was then replaced by ether, in which the object was immersed. After 24 hours, it was taken out of the ether and allowed to air dry in a closed fume cupboard. Initially all went well, but after one hour cross-grained cracks started to appear. Fortunately, these all closed up when the object was placed in a normal environment again. A few smaller cracks, however, remained visible at the curved end of the handle, but they were very small.

During further investigation of the metal under high magnification (65x), striations on one side of the blade were visible and were possible signs of use wear. Some corrosion deposits were removed mechanically. Most of the surface was seriously etched and little was left of the “original surface.” The etched areas were not touched during the investigative cleaning process.

Since the future museum environment was not known, the blade was stabilised against further corrosion by brushing on a solution of 3% benzotriazole (BTA) in IMS. Brushing was chosen, in order to keep the rivet holes with the wood uncontaminated. Protective and consolidative layers of Incralac, containing some BTA, finished off the metal.

Conclusions of Ann Brysbaert, the Conservationist

Line drawing of the hafted sickle by Jane Russell Pic: Ann Brysbaert

The first aim of the project was to adopt a conservation process that would render the object stable and presentable. A second aim was to learn about the conservation, investigation and analysis of composite and waterlogged objects. A last one was to experience how to work and function in the framework of an ongoing project, involving other conservators, find specialists and experts on different materials. All aims were met and from that perspective, the conservation project was successful.

The following recommendations were made for safeguarding the object in the future:

• light levels should not exceed 50 lux to prevent damage to the wood
• temperatures of 18-20° C are ideal and should be kept stable at all times
• the relative humidity (RH) should be kept stable. This is very important because of the composite nature of the object. Copper alloys and wood require different levels of RH when they are separate. Since this is not possible here, a compromise RH of between 25% and 46% should be set (Erhardt & Mecklenberg 1994). Below 25%, the wood would suffer from being stored too dry and would crack (a potential danger for the sickle because cracks appeared already earlier during the treatment but fortunately closed again). Above 46% copper alloy is prone to active corrosion.

The full report can be viewed at the Journal of Conservation & Museum Studies website.

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Heads in Roundhouse? Pic: Lost Intentions

The skull of a teenage Romano-British boy, which seems to have been skinned at the time of death and displayed on a pole, has been found in a late 2nd century pit outside a contemporary temple in St Albans reported British Archaeology in 1996. The skull is without known parallel in Roman Britain, but may provide new evidence for a head cult in the province.

At least 90 cut-marks made by a fine-bladed knife were found on the sides and top of the skull, in addition to several scrape-marks. The disorderly pattern of the marks suggests the skull was defleshed (where the bare skull is the prized object) rather than scalped (where the scalp itself is more important), according to archaeologists Simon Mays of English Heritage and James Steele of Southampton University, who publish their findings in next month’s Antiquity (1996 – ed.). The skin of the face itself was left on the skull, perhaps because facial skin is particularly hard to remove.

The skull contains four large holes caused by blows at the time of death, suggesting the boy was battered to death before being decapitated and defleshed – though whether he was killed and defleshed by the same people is unknown. The boy’s front teeth and lower jaw were missing from the pit, and there is damage to the base of the skull, all of which suggests the skull may have been displayed on a pole until all the flesh disappeared and the jaw dropped off.

According to Dr Mays, the absence of weathering suggests the skull was displayed indoors, perhaps in the nearby temple.He said:

It was probably when the skull ceased to be an object of veneration that it was placed in the pit, where it was found with puppy bones and a small iron knife. Why this particular boy’s skull was chosen for defleshing, however, remains unclear.

No other defleshed skulls are known from the period, but one 3rd-4th century skull fragment is known from Wroxeter which seems to have been scalped. Other possible evidence for a head cult includes parts of two skulls built into a temple wall at Cosgrove, Northamptonshire, and numerous skulls deliberately deposited in pits in the Romano-British period as well as in the pre-Roman Iron Age.

Classical Sources back up the head cult theory

Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian, who wrote works of history between 60 and 30 BC. He is known for the monumental universal history Bibliotheca historica. The last section of his Bibliotecha (books XVII to the end) concerns the historical events from the successors of Alexander down to either 60 BC or the beginning of Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars. He wrote:

(The Gauls) cut off the heads of enemies slain in battle and attach them to the necks of their horses. The blood stained spoils they hand over to their attendants and carry off as booty, while striking up a paean and singing a song of victory, and they nail up these first fruits upon their houses just as those who lay low wild animals in certain kinds of hunting. They embalm in cedar oil the heads of the most distinguished enemies and preserve them carefully in a chest, and display them with pride to strangers, saying that, for this head, one of their ancestors, or his father, or the man himself, refused a large sum of money. They say that some of them boast that they refused the weight of the head in gold. Diodorus

(The end of the Bibliotecha has been lost, so it is unclear whether Diodorus reached the beginning of the Gallic War as he promised at the beginning of his work or, as evidence suggests, old and tired from his labours he stopped short at 60 BC.) He selected the name “Bibliotheca” in acknowledgment that he was assembling a composite work from many sources.

[source]

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
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The skull of a teenage Romano-British boy, which seems to have been skinned at the time of death and displayed on a pole, has been found in a late 2nd century pit outside a contemporary temple in St Albans. The skull is without known parallel in Roman Britain, but may provide new evidence for a head cult in the province.

At least 90 cut-marks made by a fine-bladed knife were found on the sides and top of the skull, in addition to several scrape-marks. The disorderly pattern of the marks suggests the skull was defleshed (where the bare skull is the prized object) rather than scalped (where the scalp itself is more important), according to archaeologists Simon Mays of English Heritage and James Steele of Southampton University, who publish their findings in next month’s Antiquity. The skin of the face itself was left on the skull, perhaps because facial skin is particularly hard to remove.

A Bronze Age boat will be launched in Falmouth on 6 March as part of an archaeological experiment being carried out by the National Maritime Museum Cornwall and the University of Exeter.

The 4000-year-old, 50ft long, five tonne prehistoric boat has been reconstructed by a team of volunteers, led by shipwright Brian Cumby. His team have spent the last year building the craft out of two massive oak logs using replica methods and tools, such as bronze-headed axes.

Project director Prof Robert Van de Noort from the University of Exeter says:

The launch really is the moment of truth for this project. The very nature of an experiment means that we can’t know for sure what will happen. The boat has already given us a few surprises along the way, so the launch really is a leap into the unknown.

Since the beginning of the year, Brian and the volunteers have really cracked on with the project and the boat is now all together and on its trailer. All that’s left to do now is to put all the stitches in and move the boat to its launch site. It is estimated that the boat will be launched sometime early March. Currently they are trying to choose a name for the boat on their Facebook page, and the most popular choice at the moment is Morgawr, the name of a Cornish sea monster!

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
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Celtic Cauldron Pic: Sylvantech

The Cauldron is a symbol that occurs throughout Celtic Mythology – from the Cauldrons of the Dagda and Ceridwen to the Holy Grail of King Arthur. In one part of the Mabinogion, which is the cycle of myths found in Welsh legend, Cerridwen brews up a potion in her magical cauldron to give to her son Afagddu (Morfran). She puts young Gwion in charge of guarding the cauldron, but three drops of the brew fall upon his finger, blessing him with the knowledge held within. Cerridwen pursues Gwion through a cycle of seasons until, in the form of a hen, she swallows Gwion, disguised as an ear of corn. Nine months later, she gives birth to Taliesen, the greatest of all the Welsh poets.

The Cauldron of Knowledge

As a goddess of the Underworld, Cerridwen is often symbolized by a white sow, which represents both her fecundity and fertility and her strength as a mother. She is both the Mother and the Crone; many modern Pagans honor Cerridwen for her close association to the full moon.

The Cauldron of Bran the Blessed

In the Celtic legend of Bran the Blessed, the cauldron appears as a vessel of wisdom and rebirth. Bran, mighty warrior-god, obtains a magical cauldron from Cerridwen (in disguise as a giantess) who had been expelled from a lake in Ireland, which represents the Otherworld of Celtic lore. The cauldron can resurrect the corpse of dead warriors placed inside it (this scene is believed to be depicted on the Gundestrup Cauldron). Bran gives his sister Branwen and her new husband Math — the King of Ireland — the cauldron as a wedding gift, but when war breaks out Bran sets out to take the valuable gift back. He is accompanied by a band of a loyal knights with him, but only seven return home.

The famous silver Gundestrup Cauldron Pic: Wiki

Bran himself is wounded in the foot by a poisoned spear, another theme that recurs in the Arthur legend — found in the guardian of the Holy Grail, the Fisher King. In fact, in some Welsh stories, Bran marries Anna, the daughter of Joseph of Arimathea. Also like Arthur, only seven of Bran’s men return home. Bran travels after his death to the otherworld, and Arthur makes his way to Avalon. There are theories among some scholars that Cerridwen’s cauldron — the cauldron of knowledge and rebirth — in in fact the Holy Grail for which Arthur spent his life searching. [source]

The Cauldron of the Dagda

In the Mythological Cycle of early Irish literature, the four treasures (or jewels) of the Tuatha Dé Danann are four magical items which the mythological Tuatha Dé Danann are supposed to have brought with them from the four island cities Murias, Falias, Gorias and Findias, when they arrived in Ireland. They were accompanied by the Dagda – Danu’s son by Bile, The Dagdha, or Good God, who is also known as the All Father, Eochaid Ollathair (Father of All), and Ruadh Rofessa (The Red One). One of the fabulous, magical treasures that they brought with them was the Cauldron of the Dagda from which no company ever went away unsatisfied. The cauldron was known as the Undry and was said to be bottomless. Another link between the legends of the Dagda and a Cauldron occurs on the eve of the Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh, The Dagda visited the camp of the Fomorii, where he was forced to eat a huge cauldron stuffed with enough porridge of milk, flour, fat, pigs and goats for fifty men. This test temporarily turned him into a fat old man, but it did not prevent him from making love to a Formorii girl, who promised to use her magic against her people. (See CMP 005 – Girding the Loins for Battle for the story).

The Cauldron of Dyrnwch the Giant

The Black Cauldron Pic: Dragon’s Breath Blessings

Listed as one of the Thirteen Treasures of Britain, The cauldron (pair) of Dyrnwch the Giant is said to discriminate between cowards and brave men: whereas it would not boil meat for a coward, it would boil quickly if that meat belonged to a brave man. The description probably goes back to a story similar to that found in the Middle Welsh tale Culhwch ac Olwen, in which the cauldron of Diwrnach the Irishman, steward (maer) to Odgar son of Aedd, King of Ireland, is among the anoetheu which Culhwch is required to obtain for the wedding banquet.

King Arthur requests the cauldron from King Odgar, but Diwrnach refuses to give up his prized possession. Arthur goes to visit Diwrnach in Ireland, accompanied by a small party, and is received at his house, but when Diwrnach refuses to answer Arthur’s request a second time, Bedwyr (Arthur’s champion) seizes the cauldron and entrusts it to one of Arthur’s servants, who is to carry the load on his back. In a single sweep with the sword called Caledfwlch, Llenlleawg the Irishman kills off Diwrnach and all his men. A confrontation with Irish forces ensues, but Arthur and his men fight them off. They board their ship Prydwen and, taking with them the cauldron loaded with the spoils of war, return to Britain. In Culhwch, Diwrnach’s cauldron is not attributed with any special power. However, the earlier poem Preiddeu Annwfn (The Spoils of Annwfn), refers to an adventure by Arthur and his men to obtain a cauldron with magical properties equivalent to the one in the lists of the thirteen treasures. In this poem the owner of the cauldron is not an Irish lord but the king of Annwn, the Welsh Otherworld, suggesting that the version of the story in Culhwch is a later attempt to euhemerize an older tale. Diwrnach’s name, which derives from Irish Diugurach and exhibits no literary provenance, may have been selected by the author of Culhwch ac Olwen to emphasize the Irish setting of his story. Although Dyrnwch is not himself described as an Irishman, it is probable that his name goes back to Diwrnach. The extant manuscripts of Tri Thlws ar Ddeg also present such variant spellings as Dyrnog and Tyrnog, without the Irish-sounding ending, but on balance, these are best explained as Welsh approximations of a foreign name.

The Cauldron of Manannan

Manannán mac Lir is a sea deity in Irish mythology. He is the son of the obscure Lir (in Irish the name is “Lear”, meaning “Sea”; “Lir” is the genitive form of the word). He is often seen as a psychopomp, and has strong affiliations with the Otherworld, the weather and the mists between the worlds. He is usually associated with the Tuatha Dé Danann, although most scholars consider him to be of an older race of deities. Manannán figures widely in Irish literature, and appears also in Scottish and Manx legend. He is cognate with the Welsh figure Manawydan fab Llŷr. Manannán was associated with a “cauldron of regeneration”. This is seen in the tale of Cormac mac Airt, among other tales.  Here, he appeared at Cormac’s ramparts in the guise of a warrior who told him he came from a land where old age, sickness, death, decay, and falsehood were unknown (the Otherworld was also known as the “Land of Youth” or the “Land of the Living”).  [wiki]

The Holy Grail – Cauldron of Sovereignty

The Holy Grail is a dish, plate, stone, or cup that is part of an important theme of Arthurian literature. A grail, wondrous but not explicitly “holy,” first appears in Perceval le Gallois, an unfinished romance by Chrétien de Troyes: it is a processional salver used to serve at a feast. Chretien’s story attracted many continuators, translators and interpreters in the later 12th and early 13th centuries, including Wolfram von Eschenbach, who makes the grail a great precious stone that fell from the sky. The Grail legend became interwoven with legends of the Holy Chalice. The connection with Joseph of Arimathea and with vessels associated with the Last Supper and crucifixion of Jesus, dates from Robert de Boron’s Joseph d’Arimathie (late 12th century) in which Joseph receives the Grail from an apparition of Jesus and sends it with his followers to Great Britain. Building upon this theme, later writers recounted how Joseph used the Grail to catch Christ’s blood while interring him and how he founded a line of guardians to keep it safe in Britain. The legend may combine Christian lore with a Celtic myth of a cauldron endowed with special powers.

Sangreal (Arthur Rackham) Pic: Wiki

The Holy Grail in the Mabinogion

The Welsh romance Peredur, generally included in the Mabinogion, likely at least indirectly founded on Chrétien’s poem but including very striking differences from it, preserving as it does elements of pre-Christian traditions such as the Celtic cult of the head. Peredur son of Efrawg is one of the three Welsh Romances associated with the Mabinogion. It tells a story roughly analogous to Chrétien de Troyes’ unfinished romance Perceval, the Story of the Grail, but it contains many striking differences from that work, most notably the absence of the French poem’s central object, the grail. The central character of the tale is Peredur, son of Efrawg. As in Percival, the hero’s father dies when he is young, and his mother takes him into the woods and raises him in isolation. Eventually he meets a group of knights and determines to become like them, so he travels to King Arthur’s court. There he is ridiculed by Cei and sets out on further adventures, promising to avenge Cei’s insults to himself and those who defended him. While travelling he meets two of his uncles, the first plays the role of Percival’s Gornemant and educates him in arms and warns him not to ask the significance of what he sees. The second replaces Chrétien’s Fisher King, but instead of showing Peredur a ‘grail’, he reveals a salver containing a man’s severed head. The young knight does not ask about this and proceeds to further adventure, including a stay with the Nine Witches of Gloucester (Caer Loyw) and the encounter with the woman who was to be his true love, Angharad Golden-Hand. Peredur returns to Arthur’s court, but soon embarks on another series of adventures that do not correspond to material in Percival (Gawain’s exploits take up this section of the French work.) Eventually the hero learns the severed head at his uncle’s court belonged to his cousin, who had been killed by the Nine Witches of Gloucester. Peredur avenges his family, and is celebrated as a hero. [wiki]

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
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Bronze Age timbers discovered in 1995 Pic: Eastbourne Gov.

We reported about the amazing discoveries made at Shinewater Park, and speculated that they were possibly more significant than those found at Flag Fen. Chris Greatorex of the Southeastern Archaeological Service, director of the excavation in 1995, said that: Artefactual finds and their state of preservation indicate that the Late Bronze Age occupation platform is one of the most important wetland Bronze Age sites in north-west Europe. [source]

He is just talking about the area of the excavation and the dwellings that they unearthed, not the 8 metre wide causeways that off to the South Downs in the West and towards Hastings in the East – potentially miles of ancient thoroughfares across Sacred marshy wetlands. The site has been under threat since 1997 reports British Archaeology!

The Sussex ‘Flag Fen’ decaying with a Record!

A Bronze Age settlement and ceremonial site in East Sussex, similar to Flag Fen, and regarded as one of the most important prehistoric finds of recent years, is decaying, unexplored, because no money can be found to pay for an archaeological investigation.

The site, known as Shinewater, was discovered well-preserved in waterlogged conditions in the marshland east of Eastbourne in 1995, and consists of a timber platform connected to a long causeway running across what was formerly a lake. Numerous bronze objects were found, some with wooden handles intact, apparently thrown into the lake as votive offerings as at Flag Fen, together with a wealth of other organic and environmental remains.

However, only a small amount of archaeological work has taken place at Shinewater – a two-week rescue dig on the main platform, and some further work in the surrounding area – as the site was discovered unexpectedly by workmen constructing flood-storage lakes for Eastbourne Borough Council. As the sites existence had not been foreseen by East Sussex County Council, no provision was made in advance for archaeology, and as a result the developer – the borough council – was not obliged to pay when the site was found.

An attempt has been made to preserve what remains of the main platform in air-tight, waterlogged conditions by wrapping it in a vertical plastic skirt, but some experts doubt the attempt will be successful even in the short term. Meanwhile, the prospects of an emergency rescue excavation remain distant, as no organisation has offered the money to pay for it.

Maisie Taylor of Flag Fen said the site would decay `quickly‘, despite the plastic skirt, because the excavation of the new lakes had lowered the water-table, and this would cause the deposits to dry out from the bottom up before long.She said:

It was a very important site with fantastic finds in amazing condition, but I’m resigned now to the fact that they’re going to argue about it until it falls to pieces.

English Heritage is currently monitoring the underground conditions at the site, but Peter Kendall, English Heritage’s Inspector for the area, said he feared Ms Taylor `might be right‘ that the site was rapidly deteriorating. However, he said English Heritage had no funds to pay for excavation this year, and no plans to do so in the future.

It is true, we are left with a funding gap – because if we don’t pay for it, who will?

According to Ms Taylor and Mr Kendall, the possibility that such a site existed should have been predicted; but Andrew Woodcock, the County Archaeologist (retired – ed.), said that no other similar remains were known in the area, and that the site was invisible from the surface. He said:

We did not make a mistake. The machinery swung into operation very quickly to safeguard the site after it was discovered, and we keep our fingers crossed that the money is going to come from somewhere.

British Archaeology, No. 24, May 1997

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Female Skull w Hairpin Pic: Nat Geo

An ancient Dane with Arabian genes is part of a DNA study that suggests Scandinavians of 2,000 years ago were more genetically diverse than today reports the National Geographic back in 2008. Researchers say the Iron Age man may have been a soldier serving on the Roman Empire’s northern frontier or a descendant of female slaves transported from the Middle East.

he Roman Empire at the time stretched as far as the Middle East, while Roman legions were based as far north as the River Elbe in northern Germany.

The study analyzed 18 well-preserved bodies from two burial sites dating from 0 to A.D. 400 in eastern Denmark. The sites were originally excavated some 20 years ago.

Mitochondrial DNA, which provides a genetic record of an individual’s maternal ancestry, was taken from teeth by a team led by Linea Melchior of the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Copenhagen.

One skeleton had a type of DNA signature—known as a haplogroup—closely associated with the Arabian Peninsula, according to Melchior.

“It’s especially found among some Bedouin tribes, but it has also been found in the southern part of Europe,” the researcher said.

Iron Age Grave

The skeleton came from Bøgebjerggård, an Iron Age site on the southern part of the island of Sjælland (Zealand).

The bodies likely belonged to poor farmers, the team said.

Other unusual haplogroups were identified, including one representing a prehistoric European lineage which today is found in only about 2 percent of Danes, Melchior said.

Carry on to read the full story on the Nat Geo site.

Originally posted 2010-05-19 12:30:45. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

As well as being one of the most beautiful parks in Eastbourne, underneath the park, hidden from view, is the largest bronze age village to be discovered in Europe. It is believed that the village is built on a huge oak platform covering 500m.sq. and coming of this platform are a number of causeways going towards the Downs and Hastings, these causeways alone are unusual because it would normally be just mud tracks leading to a village, but in the case of these causeways they are massive, up to 8m wide. This implies that this village was of huge importance, perhaps as a dock or a large farming area.

A tiny fraction of the platform was discovered while excavating for the lake and in this small section all sorts of pottery and artefacts were found including the Sickle you can see below. Another amazing coincidence about the site is that everything is extremely well preserved. Not only are we finding pottery and metal but also the wood and even material used over 3000 years ago. The magnitude of this find cannot not be over stated, so why aren’t they excavating the site and finding out more about the site?  [source]

British Archaeology, December 1995 – New Flag Fen-like site found in East Sussex

A large Late Bronze Age ceremonial and occupation site, preserved in waterlogged deposits and similar in some respects to the famous Bronze Age site at Flag Fen, has been found near Eastbourne in East Sussex.

As at Flag Fen, the Eastbourne site consists of a large wooden platform connected to a long wooden causeway running across what was formerly a marshy lake. A number of bronze artefacts have been found, seemingly thrown from the platform as votive offerings into the marsh.

The platform appears to have been the site of a small settlement. At least two clay hearths were found on the platform, surrounded by a mass of occupation evidence such as butchered animal bones and pottery. The pottery seems to date the settlement provisionally to c 800-600BC – later than Flag Fen, which flourished from c 1400-900BC.

Both the platform and causeway lay originally on the surface of the marsh, supported by a complex arrangement of oak posts. The posts had been driven into the underlying clay and peat, but also rose up above the causeway and platform, possibly to mark the line of the causeway (which ran for at least 1km across the marsh), and also perhaps as a structural base for buildings on the platform. The platform itself, 80m wide and at least 50m long, consisted of a solid timber base covered in brushwood and rush matting, with a surface layer of gravel.

The bronze artefacts found in the surrounding peat included a palstave (or unsocketed axe), two socketed axes, a chisel head and a sickle. The sickle was excavated complete with its intact wooden handle, and all the other objects except the palstave retained traces of wood. The excavators from East Sussex County Council have so far only excavated a small area, and many more bronze artefacts are expected as work continues next year. One of the socketed axes was found in near-mint condition, and still retained a sharp cutting edge. Its style suggests it came from north-west continental Europe, indicating some form of long-distance trade or gift-exchange. Some amber beads and part of a shale bracelet were also found.

The skeleton of an infant was discovered at the site, but it was not in situ, and at present it is unclear whether the skeleton represents an ordinary child burial, or a foundation deposit or some other kind of ritual burial. Human bones from at least three adults have also been found.

According to Andrew Woodcock, East Sussex County Archaeologist (now retired – 2013), the presence of `foreign’ bronze, and the ritual deposition of artefacts, suggest this was an important site in the Bronze Age. It is also likely to prove an important site for modern archaeology, as one of only a handful of major waterlogged prehistoric sites currently known in the country with good preservation of organic remains. [source]

Water-logged site in danger if it dries out

Because of the nature of the site, the village has been trapped in-between two layers of clay in a layer that is very waterlogged. It is this water that is keeping everything well preserved. Think Mary Rose, this was preserved at the bottom of the sea and needs to be continually sprayed with water to stop it rotting away, now that it has been raised from the sea bed. Because of this waterlogged soil everything is being kept well preserved and there is no rush to get the site excavated, there is only a limited amount of money available for archaeological digs of the size needed to lift the village from the marsh and unfortunately there are more important digs that need to go ahead because the treasures they are hiding do stand a risk of disappearing for ever.

Shinewater Dig in Progress Pic: Shinewater Park

We are continually monitoring the water levels within the marsh and if it should ever start to dry out then money would be found to raise the village, until then we just have to be patient.

A late Bronze Age sickle was found at Shinewater Park, Sussex, England in 1995. A thoroughly researched conservation plan was required in order to meet the display conditions of the receiving museum and to meet the high standards required by the specialists involved in the treatment of this unique sickle.  [source]

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Michael Collins Throws in Hurling Ball 1921 Pic: Irish Archaeology

The wonderful website dealing with all aspects of Irish Archaeology turned its attention to the ancient Irish sport of Hurling in 2011. They say that Hurling is arguably the fastest field sport in the world and quite possibly the oldest. It is played with sticks called hurleys, a ball known as a sliotar, and by two teams of 15 who play on a large pitch with goals at either end.

The earliest surviving references to hurling are found in 7th and 8th century AD Irish laws, which describe various sporting injuries that should be compensated. Hurling is also mentioned in the 11th/ 12th century Leabhar na hUidre, while further descriptions are to be found in 13th/14th century romantic tale Cath Mhaigh Tuireadh Chunga. This latter account details a very bloody hurling game between the Tuatha De Danna and the Fir Bolg that was played at Moytura, Co. Mayo. This mythical match supposedly took place in 1072 BC! (the Bronze Age).

However, the most famous early account of the hurling is found in the Tain Bo Cuailgne, which describes the exploits of the Ulster hero Cú Chullainn. Although the surviving version of this epic dates from the 12th century it has been convincingly argued that the story’s origins lie in the Iron Age (500 BC – 400 AD). Hurling is mentioned a number of times in the text, most notably when the young hero, then known as Setanta, uses a hurley and sliotar to kill a vicious hound. Hence forth he became known as Cú Chulainn (Cullen’s hound), after the owner of the dog.

Possible representations of hurling are also found on two high crosses from Kells and Monsterboice, which date from 9th/10th centuries AD. On each of these crosses a biblical panel is depicted which illustrates David killing a lion with what appears to be a curved stick and ball. The killing instrument should in fact be a sling, but it appears that a hurley was chosen instead as it may have been more familiar to an Irish audience (“Warriors, Legends and Heroes – the archaeology of hurling, in Archaeology Ireland, Autumn 1998“, O’Sullivan 1998, 34).

Read the full story by Colm Moriarty on the Irish Archaeology website.

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You can also now download a Celtic Myth Podshow App from the iTunes store. This is the most convenient and reliable way to access the Celtic Myth Podshow on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You’re always connected to the latest episode, and our App users have access to exclusive bonus content, just touch and play! To find out more visit the iTunes Store or our Description Page.
You can now also find an Android version of the App which works identically to the iPhone version. You can find it on Handster at http://www.handster.com/celtic_myth.html or by using the QR code opposite. It’s also found on the Opera Marketplace as well as AppBrain in the US.
If you come to the site and listen or listen from one of our players – have you considered subscribing? It’s easy and you automatically get the episodes on your computer when they come out. If you’re unsure about the whole RSS/Subscribing thing take a look at our Help page.

Pic: Southern Daily Echo

Four Stone Age axes, dating from a time when people had stopped hunting woolly mammoths and sabretoothed tigers and turned to farming, are giving clues to the origins of settled human life in the county of Hampshire reports the Southern Daily Echo. It’s a mystery that could shed light on life in Hampshire 6,000 years ago.

They were found at Hill Head and Titchfield, near Fareham, and at Beaulieu, in the New Forest, and Bartonon- Sea.

The tools, which are now in Winchester City Council’s collection, have been analysed and found to originate in the north Italian Alps from around 4,000BC. They had been carried for many miles before they were lost in Hampshire. But no-one knows why or how they got here.

Helen Rees, Winchester’s curator of archaeology, said their origins were a mystery.

There was probably a movement of people and the axes were brought in by settlers or they may have been traded.

The research is part of Project JADE, a three-year, one-million-euro programme, which is funded by the French Government.

[Source]

Originally posted 2009-03-11 09:12:07. Republished by Blog Post Promoter