Jul 23 2008

Scholars say Holy Grail came from Wales


Pic: Bridgman Pottery
Wales Online reports that the allure of the Holy Grail has fascinated writers and ensnared knights for more than 1,000 years.

From Malory to Monty Python, the eternal chalice – said to be the very cup from which Jesus drank at the last supper – has become enshrined as one of popular culture’s most spiritual icons.

But while Scotland has been given the credit for being the Grail’s final resting place – thanks largely to Dan Brown’s hugely-successful novel The Da Vinci Code – a new book by a Welsh academic says Wales’ claim to the relic is stronger.

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Jul 22 2008

Vikings from South Iceland gather museums

Published by Gary under Archaeology, Iceland, Vikings


Pic: IceNews
A complete interactive listing of all the museums, galleries and multimedia exhibitions in South Iceland has been launched on the new travel website, South.is.The huge area of South Iceland, with its few inhabitants and many sheep, does not immediately seem like prime museum territory – but the website South.is begs to differ. Listings on the site exist for dozens of museums and galleries, and over 40 churches of interest.

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Jul 20 2008

Iron Age bodies and trackways

Published by Gary under Archaeology, Celtic Society


Pic: BBC
The BBC reports that a team of archaeologists in Leicestershire has uncovered several ancient bodies at the site of a new park-and-ride development.

Excavations are continuing in Enderby after what are thought to be four skeletons from the Iron Age - dating from before 43AD - were discovered.

The team from the University of Leicester said there were probably more bodies buried at the site.

A further four-week excavation in now under way.

Peter Liddle, keeper of archaeology at Leicestershire County Council, said:

We seem to have a track way that runs across the landscape and buried next to that track way are a series of bodies. It’s nice as Iron Age roads and tracks are not that common. Iron Age burial is elusive - you don’t see a lot of dead Iron Age people, you can’t generally find them.

Read the full story here.

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Jul 17 2008

National Archaeology Week opens in Ammanford, Wales

Carrag Cennen
Cerreg Cennen Castle

Pic: Ammanford Website

Ammanford will be stepping back in time this weekend as the local history society teams up with Dyfed Archaeological Trust to celebrate National Archaeology Week. The Castle and Conquest in Wales will be a free admission, all-day event on Saturday, July 12, between 10.30am and 4.30pm at the remains of Ammanford castle in Tirydail.

Richard Jones, heritage management archaeologist for Dyfed Archaeology Trust, said:

The open day at Ammanford castle will be our major event for National Archaeology Week. We have other events taking place at Llandeilo and Carmarthen, but Ammanford will have a huge range of activities and demonstrations.

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Jul 15 2008

Horns of Power - new book about Celtic God


Pic: Avalonia
A new book will be published by Avalonia Books that provides a huge collection of essays on the importance of horns as a symbol to our ancestors. It covers many subjects in its fascinating essays from Cernunnos to Herne the Hunter. Boy, would I love to read this one!

Avalonia tells us that:

The raw, ancient and primordial force symbolised by horns has long had associations with mystery, magick and power. Our ancestors often envisaged their gods as anthropomorphic beings who encapsulated this wild essence. Today the gods of the bull, the ram, goat and stag still hold tremendous power and are invoked at rituals by a new priesthood who continue to seek the wildness of nature and the inspiration that it holds. These deities transcend the safe and known boundaries of human structure, sometimes even luring us across the threshold of the known into the unknown worlds.

This unique anthology brings together the work of more than twenty dedicated scholarswith that of modern day mystics. Through their written and artistic contributions they illustrate just some of the many manifestations of the Horned God.

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Jul 11 2008

Neolithic Orkney Stone Circle to be uncovered


Pic: BBC
The BBC have just reported that a major archaeological investigation is getting under way at one of Western Europe’s most impressive prehistoric sites.

The Ring of Brodgar in Orkney is the third largest stone circle in the British Isles, but little is known about it.

The project will involve the re-excavation and extension of trenches dug in 1973. Geophysical surveys will also be undertaken to investigate the location of standing stones.

Dr Jane Downes of the Archaeology Department, Orkney College, UHI, and Dr Colin Richards of the University of Manchester are the project directors.

Dr Downes said:

Because so little is known about the Ring of Brodgar, a series of assumptions have taken the place of archaeological data.

The interpretation of what is arguably the most spectacular stone circle in Scotland is therefore incomplete and unclear.

Source

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Jul 09 2008

Ancient Prosthetics 101 - Guest Blogger Kirsten Campbell



Welcome to the first in what we hope will become a regular feature. We are providing a mirror or an opportunity for bloggers to extend their audience and to provide our readers with some fascinating views on Celtic Mythology. If you have something to say, or have said something that you feel ought to be said about the world of the Celts, then let us know! All copyright rights will remain with you and full credit will, of course, be given.

This is a blog by Kirsten Campbell, a student of Archaeology and Celtic Civilisation with a gift for the creative.  Kirsten is an aspiring writer of historical fiction and here she speculates about the possibilities of ancient prosthetics - artificial limbs. Her home on the web is Kirsten’s Scribbling Corner.

Ancient Prosthetics 101

I mentioned in my post on character names that Aelius, the Roman protagonist of my Severan novel, will later gain the epithet “Argentocoxos” (Silver Foot), the name of a Caledonian referred to once in passing in Cassius Dio’s account of Septimius Severus’ campaigns in northern Britain. The big question was: how do I get from “Aelius” to “Argentocoxos”? It was going to have to be a nickname of some sort, but why was Aelius going to end up being called “Silver Foot”? Continue Reading »

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Jul 08 2008

Archaeologists ‘used to destroy heritage’, conference told

Model of the Hill of Tara

ARCHAEOLOGISTS working on excavations for the controversial M3 motorway feared they would be “sacked, blacklisted or bullied out of their profession” for not supporting the building of the chosen route, it was claimed last Thursday. Speaking at a debate on the motorway near Tara at the sixth World Archaeological Congress at UCD, Maggie Ronayne, a lecturer in the department of archaeology at NUI, Galway, said pressure was put on site directors and field teams by archaeologists employed by the National Roads Authority (NRA). Ms Ronayne said:

Lip service was paid to archaeology, but archaeologists were used to destroy our heritage,” said Ms Ronayne. “From the point of view of archaeology, the route chosen by the NRA was the least desirable, and other routes were not properly considered because they were not profitable for developers.

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Jul 06 2008

Archdruid Rollo Maughfling Critical in Hospital


Pic: BBC
A disturbing news report appeard on a Druid Newsgroup last night as General Sam reports that Archdruid Rollo Maughfling has suffered a severe stroke and is now blind and paralysed. The Celtic Myth Podshow wish him a speedy recovery or smooth travels. General Sam says:

We received the sad news in Ireland last night that our dear friend and colleague in Druidry, Rollo Maughfling, Archdruid of Stonehenge and England, Founder of the Glastonbury Order of Druids (G.O.D.), was admitted to hospital . He is blind and paralysed, suffering from a lethal stroke it seems. Rollo is also Stonehenge Officer of the Council of British Druid Orders, the largest of its kind in the world, encompassing at least 18 Druid Orders and Associates at home and abroad, and co-ordinating their work with many more, as the best-known and most active Druid umbrella group on the planet, representing 17,000 Druids.

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Jul 04 2008

Britain’s oldest house! New neolithic discovery

Published by Gary under Archaeology, Celtic Society


Pic: BBC
Archaeologists have found the site of what they believe is one of England’s oldest houses.

The Stone Age house was unearthed at Kingsmead Quarry in Horton, close to Windsor Castle, and is thought to be more than 5,000 years old.

Dr Alistair Barclay of Wessex Archaeology, said it was a rare discovery. Continue Reading »

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