Jul
09
2008
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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.
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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 »
Jul
01
2008
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.
Source
Jun
20
2008
Site director Ian Grant presses on with the dig. |
ARCHAEOLOGISTS have begun excavating a quarry near Wrexham after evidence of a Neolithic settlement was uncovered.
The exciting discovery was made at Tarmac’s Borras Quarry, off Holt Road, near Wrexham and archaeologists have begun to uncover the remains of the settlement, believed to be about 4,000 years old. |
The exciting discovery was made at Tarmac’s Borras Quarry, off Holt Road, near Wrexham and archaeologists have begun to uncover the remains of the settlement, believed to be about 4,000 years old.
The archaeologists noticed dark areas resembling cooking pits appearing as topsoil and subsoil was being removed in preparation for sand and gravel extraction.
Tarmac has now suspended soil removal in the area of the discovery whilst archaeologists from Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust (CPAT) excavate the remains.
Project manager Nigel Jones of CPAT, said:
This is an important discovery as we currently have very little evidence of Neolithic settlement in this part of Wales.
Read the rest of this story on the Wrexham Leader.
Jun
01
2008
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Tuesday, 20 May 2008 - Clare Museum and the Irish Stone Axe Project (ISAP) at University College Dublin have uncovered evidence of a 6000-year-old trade link between Ireland and Great Britain.
This Looped and Socketed Axehead was found near Miltown Malbay in the townland of Knockliscrane in the civil parish of Kilmurry-Ibrickane in the barony of Ibrickane. It was found during field drainage operations and was brought to the surface by a mechanical digger employed in this task. The axe was found on the surface of the spoil heap and had not been more than three feet below the surface. |
It is 6.5cm X 5.2cm wide. The axehead is in poor condition with the remains of only one loop still visible. It dates from the Bronze Age (2,400BC-600BC) and possibly had a more ritual than functional use. This axe was claimed for the state by Clare Museum under the National Monuments Act (1994) and the National Cultural Institutions Act (1997). Continue Reading »
May
30
2008
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Archaeologists may have finally solved the enduring puzzle of the prehistoric monuments: They are giant tombstones of the dead, says a new study released today by the National Geographic Society.
Newly dated human remains unearthed at the megalithic circle in southern England reveal Stonehenge was a place of burial from its earliest beginnings some 5,000 years ago, said Mike Parker Pearson, who leads the Stonehenge Riverside Project. (Read full story.)
You can find a fascinating preview of a show to be aired on the National Geographic channel on the 1st June here. |
May
28
2008
tarotastic |
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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Continue Reading »
May
26
2008
Photo: Werner Karrasch, Viking Ship Museum |
The Irish Examiner reports that at three o’clock next Thursday afternoon Dubliners will be treated to an extraordinary spectacle. The Viking ship Sea Stallion, which has been on display at the National Museum in Collins Barracks, will be lifted 50 metres into the air by a giant crane. Then the huge vessel will be swung out over the three-storey museum building and deposited in the nearby Croppy’s Acre. In the middle of the night it will be moved to the River Liffey, prior to its long sea journey back to Denmark. |
Continue Reading »
