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Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe, Scarre |
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| "Abbot's Way" | Login/Create an Account | 5 comments | ||
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| Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content. |
| Re: Abbot's Way (Score: 1) by Andy B on Tuesday, 11 October 2005 (User Info | Send a Message) |
| See also Times Online http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,61-1818469,00.html |
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| Re: Abbot's Way (Score: 1) by Andy B on Wednesday, 05 October 2005 (User Info | Send a Message) |
| More about this trackway here: http://webapp1.somerset.gov.uk/her/details.asp?prn=23789 |
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| Fragile peatland sites in peril (Score: 1) by Andy B on Friday, 07 October 2005 (User Info | Send a Message) |
| Two late prehistoric wooden trackways on the Somerset moors have dried out and been lost according to a new study. Severe damage was also found at an Iron Age wetland settlement and nine other nationally important sites. The study blames the losses on the drying up of prehistoric wetland archaeology by arable farming. Richard Brunning, of Somerset County Council Heritage Service said: "It was a shock to see the damage that desiccation has caused." Stewardship Scheme During the summer, the ground water table drops below the waterlogged remains, which causes them to dry out. Two Neolithic trackways, The Abbot's Way and Bell Track (3000-2500 BC), were only 40cm from the present ground surface meaning they were always above the water level. At three other sites, including a late Bronze Age structure possibly used for rituals, the water table dipped below the wooden remains for between three and five months during the summer. The study claims current farming practices are not providing sufficient irrigation of peat soil to preserve the monuments. It also warns other fragile archaeological sites, some of which are more than 5,000 years old, could be all but destroyed by agricultural drainage within a century. English Heritage is now calling for farmers to join Defra's Environmental Stewardship Scheme which rewards them for preserving the monuments through maintaining raised water levels and converting arable land to pasture. The study was paid for by English Heritage, Somerset County Council and the Environment Agency. Photo: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/4309832.stm |
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| Re: Abbot's Way (Score: 1) by Andy B on Saturday, 08 October 2005 (User Info | Send a Message) |
| See also http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,1587420,00.html |
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| Re: Abbot's Way (Score: 1) by mishkin on Sunday, 09 October 2005 (User Info | Send a Message) |
| The sad thing is with all this ancient site loss, that everyone says they are doing something now - a bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted - when it should have been ages ago. All this has been known for years about peat removal and drying out, so where were the archaeologists then, or was'nt site protection important, they were after all scheduled monuments. |
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