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.

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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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Pic: BBC

The BBC report that the public can have their say on the future of Stonehenge, in a three-month consultation to improve the site. People can give feedback on road proposals near Stonehenge and the location of new visitor facilities. English Heritage Corporate Communications spokesperson Renee Fok said people needed to have a say because of global interest in the site. Ms Fok said the consultation was crucial in preparing the site for the 2012 Olympic Games.

English Heritage expects people visiting England for the Olympics in London will also visit other well-known tourist sites, such as Stonehenge.

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Pic: Eire Sarah

TARA, Temor, Temhuir, or Temoria, is intimately connected with the early religion of Ireland, and has been associated with singular theories. As Tea-mur, it was the mount or home of Queen Tea, wife of the Milesian King Heremon. The centre of Druidical song and power, the seat of ancient royalty, Tara was a favourite subject of glorification by ancient annalists, and has been immortalized in the poem of Moore. But, while bards record a great assembly being held there 921 B.C., Dr. Petrie, the eminent antiquary, is disposed to regard the place as existing only between 200 and 300 years after Christ.

The high civilization at Tara has been a favourite subject for Bards. The old lady guide at Tara told us that only gold and silver vessels were used at the banquets. Dr. Ledwich laughs at the yarns about its twenty-seven kitchens, and its amazing bill of daily fare. He assures us that the story of Tara rests only upon the fragment of a fragment in the Seabright collection, that had neither the name of its author nor a date. The earliest Romish ecclesiastics, and mediæval writers, knew nothing of early Irish culture or wealth. Continue Reading »

Pic: LuluP

England’s enigmatic Stonehenge served as a burial ground from its earliest beginnings and for several hundred years thereafter, new research indicates. Dating of cremated remains shows burials took place as early as 3000 B.C., when the first ditches around the monument were being built, researchers said Thursday. And those burials continued for at least 500 years, when the giant stones that mark the mysterious circle were being erected, they said.

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The Independent has just carried a fascinating article about the geometrical skills of the Stonehenge builders. David Keys, their Archaeology Correspondent writes: Stone Age Britons had a sophisticated knowledge of geometry to rival Pythagoras – 2,000 years before the Greek “father of numbers” was born, according to a new study of Stonehenge. Five years of detailed research, carried out by the Oxford University landscape archaeologist Anthony Johnson, claims that Stonehenge was designed and built using advanced geometry.

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The BBC history department is creating a video and text diary of the dig taking place at Stonehenge Wiltshire. The website also boasts a 360 interactive panorama from inside the stone circle, a computer generated timelapse video showing from the creation of the Henge to it’s present day form, interesting articles and interviews with some of archaeologists excavating the site. The history show Timewatch is also being filmed and the program will be aired in the autumn.

For the first time in nearly half a century an archaeological dig is taking place inside the sacred circle of Stonehenge, and BBC History is there to film it. The dig aims to solve one of the great mysteries of archaeology - what was Stonehenge for?

Professors Geoffrey Wainwright and Tim Darvill overseeing the dig,  have found chips of Blue stone indicating that many of the original stones were broken up to be taken away.   Until recent times in the local town of Amsbury,  hammers could be hired to be taken to Stonehenge for chipping a lump of blue stone to take away, as the stones were supposed to contain powers of healing.   Which is interesting as one of the theories is that Stonehenge was a centre for healing

For your ringside seat on at this historic dig visit Here