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Stones Forum >> Artefacts and discoveries during development in Europe
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Artefacts and discoveries during development in Europe |
Andy B
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|  Posted 03-07-2010 at 19:24
Following our thread
North American Finds Discovered by Development
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=Forum&file=viewtopic&topic=2077&forum=1
here is a thread for discoveries of tools, artefacts and discoveries during development in Europe, that don't warrant their own Site Page
[ This message was edited by: Andy B on 2010-07-03 19:26 ]
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Andy B
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| Posted 03-07-2010 at 19:25
Mesolithic axe head unearthed at Culmore
A stone age axe head, believed to be 7,000 years old, has been uncovered in Derry.
The artefact was found on freshly ploughed land on the banks of the River Foyle near Thornhill College. The suspected axe head was spotted by a man walking his dog in the area and he took the item home.
Local archaeologist Ian Leitch believes the item dates from the Mesolithic period or middle stone age and was around 7,000 years old.
And he believes the finds significant in terms of the wider archaeology of the area. "The axe head from Culmore suggests that there may be a mesolithic site on or near to the find spot. It may have been dropped or lost by its owner while out hunting on land near the river."
He added: "The stone axe head is made from mudstone, measures around six centimetres in size and is in quite good condition."
Mr Leitch paid tribute to the finder for alerting him to the find. He added: "It is important that such an artefact is reported and properly recorded."
Last summer archaeologists unearthed eight neolithic (new stone age) sites in Derry, some more than 5,000 years old.
The exciting discoveries were made during work on the new Maydown dual carriageway and included a pair of well-preserved 5,000 years-old Neolithic houses and 4,000 years-old Bronze Age burial places known as 'ring-ditches'.
The earliest known mesolithic site in Ireland was excavated at Mount Sandel (around 9,000 years old) on the banks of the River Bann in Coleraine in the 1970s.
http://www.derryjournal.com/journal/Mesolithic-axe-head-unearthed-at.6332313.jp
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Andy B
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| Posted 08-07-2010 at 15:04
Neolithic finds unearthed by Ormesby St Michael dig
Some of the earliest pottery ever found in Britain has been unearthed on farmland on the Norfolk Broads.
The Neolithic flints and pottery shards dating back more than 5,000 years were found by the Oxford East Archaeology unit next to Ormesby Broad.
They include a loom weight for weaving cloth and a rare whetstone, used for sharpening tools, something normally only found in burial grounds.
The dig preceded the creation of 12 man-made silt lagoons for the broad.
They will hold sediment from the eastern arm of Ormesby Broad and are aimed at improve water quality and encouraging wildlife in a £120,000 project funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
'Rarely seen'
The excavation also uncovered an extensive Middle Bronze Age field system dating back to about 1,500 BC.
These systems were not thought to have existed further east than the Cambridgeshire Fens, indicating that such organised systems of farming were in use in the Broads earlier than previously thought.
Richard Mortimer, senior project manager at Oxford Archaeology East, said: "We have not only shown that contrary to virtually all published sources and expectations Norfolk certainly does have Middle Bronze Age field systems, but they have a complexity that has rarely been seen elsewhere in the county.
"It seems man, who dug out the Broads, was living and farming here earlier than we thought. It adds a new chapter to the Middle Bronze Age story for Norfolk".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/10342496.stm
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bat400
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| Posted 16-07-2010 at 03:38
Submitted by coldrum ---
Island rat-catcher unearths ancient human skeletons
AN ISLAND estate worker has unearthed three human skeletons, including a child's, that may be thousands of years old.
Colin Newton, 34, a handyman for the North Uist estate and freelance pest control officer, made the grim discovery while laying traps for rats and ferrets in Griminish, on the north-west coast of the island.
He said that while laying a trap he spotted a small lower jawbone complete with teeth jutting out from the sand. He said: "I knew there were some ancient settlements in the area, but you don't expect to find a set of lower teeth.
"I plucked up the courage and had a wee scrape round about and, sure enough, the bottom jaw fell out. When I looked round about, there were other bones and I could see the spine. I knew right away it was a child's jawbone, it was so small.
"The teeth were perfect and unbelievably white. I also found a much bigger thigh bone, about the same size as mine, so I knew it had to be from an adult. The whole experience was eerie."
Source:
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Island-ratcatcher-unearths-ancient-human.6380409.jp
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bat400
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| Posted 16-07-2010 at 03:49
Submitted by coldrum ---
New archaeological discoveries made around South Yorkshire.
Rare Iron Age pottery has been recovered, plus evidence of ditches and historic agricultural practices, after excavations at the site of planned new wind turbines off Hangman Stone Road, Marr, Doncaster.
Elsewhere in the borough, grey and red pottery, dating back to between the second and fourth centuries AD, was recovered from the site of the planned Huggin Lakes holiday complex, Holme Wood Lane, Armthorpe.
The archaeology service said the large volume of items indicated the remains were from a former settlement.
"One ditch even contained the remains of a hearth, which had been pushed into it," an official said.
The remains are being preserved on site pending a further report on their importance - while the holiday development awaits planning permission.
And excavations on Roman Ridge, the earthwork remains of a Roman road between Scawsby and Adwick, Doncaster, have also been fruitful.
Archaeologists said: "One trench was excavated through the road deposits to provide information on the construction techniques. It showed that, far from being a classic of Roman road, it consisted mostly of the up-cast from flanking ditches capped by a thin layer of limestone."
Further searches are planned for sites including a section of the Firth Rixson site at Templeborough, earmarked as part of the site for the proposed biomass power station in the Don Valley.
The land is next to the site of Templeborough Roman Fort - where remains are believed to lie underground.
Source: http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/Council-worker-stumbles-across-3000yearold.6385549.jp
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Andy B
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| Posted 22-08-2010 at 23:39
Discovery of wildlife and relic could stall flood curbs scheme
Inverness project engineers find protected species and prehistoric pot shard.
The discovery of protected wildlife and a late archaeological find have posed a raft of potential problems for constructors starting work on a multimillion-pound flood defence system for Inverness.
Highland Council chiefs and the company commissioned to build it are adamant, however, that they can overcome the issues.
After many years of discussing the project, it emerged yesterday that a small segment of a Bronze or Iron Age pot had been discovered at the location with a nesting mallard duck, tree-nesting birds, otters and badgers.
The builders are currently seeking guidance from their own experts in the respective fields with government agencies including Scottish Natural Heritage and the RSPB charity.
The south-west Inverness flood relief channel will divert floodwater from the south side of the city away from homes in Hilton, Lochardil and Holm by collecting water from the burns and channelling it into the River Ness. The scheme is expected to cost £10million. The £2.5million contract for the first two phases was awarded to George Leslie Ltd. The work is scheduled to take 40 weeks.
Speaking before a turf-cutting ceremony at Knocknagael Farm on the south side of the city to mark the start of work on the first of three phases, the council’s project engineer, Colin Howell, said: “It’s one of the most challenging schemes that I’ve worked on because of the environmental constraints and what we’ve found.”
He said he was “genuinely excited” by the discovery of the piece of ancient pot, adding the authority had made provision in the contract for finding such things, so it was “of no financial significance to the council”.
He said nearby residents had been kept informed about the six-days-a-week work that would follow.
Contracts director Gordon McIntosh said: “It’s a fairly straightforward job. The main issues are the environmental issues that we have to overcome, but we’re very aware of those and realise the council has done a lot of work to get us to this stage.”
Phase one, between the River Ness and Holm Burn Bridge, involves increasing the capacity of the burn, flood containment works on the banks, the widening and deepening of an existing sediment pond and the construction of a fish pass.
Phase two is from Holm Burn just downstream of Torbreck Bridge, terminating at the Culduthel channel. Welcoming the investment, the council’s transport, environmental and community services chairman, John Laing, said: “It is important the council takes account of the impact of climate change by investing in flood mitigation measures such as this to ensure cost-effective measures are in place to deal with exceptional weather flood events as and when they may arise.”
Read more: http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1766008?UserKey=#ixzz0dBgLfKHL
with thanks to Coldrum
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Andy B
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| Posted 24-08-2010 at 15:57
3,500-Year-Old Bracelet Found Near Tzfat
Archaeologists in Israel are excited at their latest find: a bronze bracelet from 3,500 years ago, in southeast Tzfat in the Galilee.
The excavation of the first known village from the Late Bronze period – roughly the time of the Biblical Joseph – is taking place in the Ramat Razim neighborhood, with funding provided by the Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Housing. The work is being done in preparation for the construction of new neighborhoods, commercial areas, an access road and a medical school in the area.
"We discovered a rare, wide bracelet made of bronze,” said Karen Covello-Paran, director of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority. “The ancient bracelet, which is extraordinarily well-preserved, is decorated with engravings, and the top of it is adorned with a horned structure,” representing power, fertility and law.
One who could afford such a bracelet was apparently very well-off financially, Covello-Paran said, “and it probably belonged to the wife or daughter of the village ruler. In the artwork of neighboring lands, gods and rulers were depicted wearing horned crowns; however, such a bracelet, and from an archaeological excavation at that, has never been found here.”
The bracelet was found inside the remains of an estate house, part of an ancient settlement that existed in a rocky area overlooking the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights. Made of indigenous limestone, the building included a paved central courtyard surrounded by residential rooms and storerooms. The residents apparently engaged in barter.
Along with the bracelet, a Canaanite scarab was found that is made of stone and engraved with Egyptian hieroglyphs. In antiquity, scarabs were worn as pendants or were inlaid in rings, and were used as a seal or talisman with magical powers.
“This is the first time that a 3,500-year-old village has been excavated and exposed in the north of Israel,” Covello-Paran said. “To date, only the large cities have been excavated in the region, such as Tel Megiddo or Tel Hazor. Here we have gained a first glimpse of life in the ancient rural hinterland in the north, and it turns out that it was more complex than we thought. It seems that the small village at Ramat Razim constituted part of the periphery of Tel Hazor, the largest and most significant city in the Canaanite region at the time, which is located about 10 kilometers north of the settlement at Ramat Razim.”
The ancient inhabitants of Ramat Razim raised sheep and goats, and farmed. Numerous basalt querns that were used for grinding wheat into flour were found in the building. In addition, we also found large storage vessels that were used to store grain and liquids, which stood on the floor to a height of more than a meter. An ancient oven for cooking was found in one of the residential rooms alongside ceramic cookware and tools, including flint blades, and intact bronze implements such as a long needle (15 centimeters, or 6 inches) for sewing sacks or treating skins, and a long decorated pin that was used to fasten a dress or gown.”
The Israel Antiquities Authority is working to integrate the site in the extensive development plans for Ramat Razim, alongside the research institute and medical school, as an open place for visitors, together with the other nature assets in the region.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/138923
[well it's Europe in Eurovision terms! - MegP Ed]
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Andy B
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| Posted 24-08-2010 at 16:37
Bronze Age settlement unearthed in Huntingdonshire village
A VILLAGE in west Huntingdonshire has been inhabited more or less continuously for 3,000 years, archaeologists have discovered.
Evidence of the three millennia-old settlement came to light as a result of a routine dig before four new homes are built by Little Stukeley-based SD Construction on a site in Thrapston Road, near Spaldwick church.
Excavation director Susan Clelland, from the charity Wessex Archaeology Limited, explained: “Before we started work there was little evidence of pre-historic settlement in the area. We now know that people have been living and working in Spaldwick since the Bronze Age.”
The excavators discovered a series of inter-cutting ditches and pits that have helped shed light on the origins of the village in the Bronze Age. By the Iron Age (approximately 2,500 years ago) a ditch surrounded the settlement. By this stage people were harvesting crops from adjacent fields, and mixed deciduous woodland was probably used for grazing animals such as pigs, she said.
“By the late Roman period (approximately 1,800 years ago) the small-scale fields were expanded into much larger fields as enterprising landowners sought to maximise their investment.
“The focus of the village probably shifted during this period to a similar pattern visible today, with the site on the outskirts of the modern village.”
She added that, during the mediaeval period (approximately 1,000 years ago), the site was on the edge of the current settlement, and a cluster of ovens found showed that it was used for industrial activity.
Finds from the site include domestic waste usually associated with settlement, such as pottery and animal bones, and a well-preserved bone comb was also discovered.
Brendon Wilkins, project manager for Wessex Archaeology, said: “Just as Spaldwick is an attractive place to settle today, it was also attractive to people from the pre-historic onwards. The excavation has been an excellent opportunity to investigate why people choose to live here and how those reasons changed over generations.”
http://www.huntspost.co.uk/news/latest-news/bronze_age_settlement_unearthed_in_huntingdonshire_village_1_558631?
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coldrum
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| Posted 26-08-2010 at 18:02
Prehistoric grave found in Alkmaar
Archaeologists digging in the Paardenmarkt (Horse market) square in the centre of the Dutch town of Alkmaar have discovered a prehistoric grave.
The remains show a person buried in the crouched position, which is typical of the Iron Age. The grave was found under a layer of sand found earlier in Alkmaar and known to date from the same period, between 700 BC and the beginning of the Christian era.
The dig in the centre of town is now in its final phase.
Earlier, archaeologists found a collective grave dating from 1573 and containing 15 skeletons and several musket balls and traces of shot. The siege of Alkmaar by the Spanish and the subsequent relief by William of Orange took place between August and October 1573. Other discoveries include a monastery graveyard and the remains of an historic street plan.
The dig is due to end later this month, after which the square will be subject to a major redesign.
http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/prehistoric-grave-found-alkmaar?
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coldrum
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| Posted 26-08-2010 at 18:04
Rock art recording in the Italian Alps
An international team led by Professor Angelo Fossati of the Catholic University of Brescia and the Footsteps of Man Archaeological Society have been involved in the search for new prehistoric rock art sites around Paspardo, high up on the intermediate slopes of Valcamonica in the Alpine region of Lombardy, northern Italy.
Carved rock-art scenes depict wild and domesticated animals, hunting parties, duelling warriors and structures (interpreted as huts and houses). The finely pecked engravings have survived for thousands of years, protected by soil and leaf litter deposition. To record all them, the team used a number of different techniques including mirror reflection from oblique angles, acetate tracing, and 3D and laser photogrammetric survey methods.
Over the past 12,000 years Valcamonica has provided important a settlement area and trade route. The area containing over 200,000 petroglyphs was, in 1979, the first Italian site to be included in the prestigious World Heritage List of UNESCO. The majority of the petroglyphs are carved onto polished smooth sandstone and schist rock-outcropping located on the lower and intermediate slopes of the valley to an altitude of c. 2100m above sea level; the earliest dating the Late Upper Palaeolithic.
This year an international team involving Bristol students concentrated their efforts on recording the large Rock No. 4 of In Valle, which was first identified in the 1930s. This large exposed surface is divided into a series of panels containing a plethora of stylistic and representative carvings that span the Bronze and Iron Ages. The team worked on the upper section of the rock, where a series of new carvings were recorded, including duelling warriors and hunting scenes.
The Footsteps of Man Archaeological Society, who have been involved in intensive fieldwork on this side of the valley for over 20 years, have been engaged in the discovery, recording and study of numerous sites such as Dos Sotto Laiolo, Dos Custapeta, Dos Sulif and Baite Fles-Saline. It is hoped that next group of Bristol students will complete the recording of Baite Fles-Saline, the highest decorated surface to be discovered so far, located around 300m above the village of Paspardo.
http://www.archaeologydaily.com/news/201008214865/Rock-art-recording-in-the-Italian-Alps.html
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coldrum
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| Posted 26-08-2010 at 18:05
Back home... Iron Age figure 'lost' for 21 years returns to Yorkshire
EAST Yorkshire's oldest lady has come home – after a 21-year absence.
The Iron Age representation of a woman was sent to experts at the British Museum in 1989.
Staff at Hull Council's archaeology department assumed it had been returned and was somewhere in their stores.
Manager of Humber Archaeology Partnership Dave Evans decided recently to track it down and found it still at the British Museum. He said: "It's a joy to have her back."
The crude figure, which was found during excavations at North Cave, seems to have been fashioned on the end of a rectangular bar. Made out of local clay fired at a low temperature, it is around 2,100 years old.
Mr Evans said it may be associated with salt-making once carried out at North Cave, where it was discovered in 1986. He added: "She has clear breasts, a little face and her sides have been shaped to give her a waist in clay. She's more Twiggy than Jordan.
"Someone thought it might have been a Celtic Goddess and it was sent off with great excitement to the British Museum to a lady who at the time was writing definitive books and giving lectures on gods and goddesses and sexuality. But she came to no positive conclusions."
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Back-home-Iron-Age-figure.6462598.jp
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coldrum
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| Posted 26-08-2010 at 18:06
Researchers uncover 'oldest' dog remains in Swiss cave
Researchers have found that fragments of a dog's skull and teeth discovered in a cave in Switzerland date back more than 14,000 years in what could be the oldest known remains of man's best friend.
The fossils were among a haul of archaeological finds uncovered in 1873 in the Kesslerloch cave in northern Switzerland, Swiss news agency ATS said Monday.
But it was only last year that researchers at Germany's Tuebingen University took a closer look at them, it said.
"During a recent re-analysis of the faunal remains, we identified a cranial fragment and teeth of the domestic dog," the researchers said in an article in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology.
"The large maxillar fragment was directly dated to ...14,100-14,600 BP (Before Present)," it said.
"We argue that the maxilla fragment must now be considered the earliest indisputable directly dated evidence of a domestic dog," they said.
Belgian archaeologists have claimed to have found the cranium of a dog dating back 30,000 years, but researcher Hannes Napierala told ATS: "We are skeptical because the teeth are very similar to those of a wolf."
The fragment found in the cave in Switzerland's Schaffhausen canton, however, was clearly distinct from remains of wolves, the researchers said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100802/sc_afp/switzerlandgermanyanimaldogoffbeatpaleontology_20100802162511;_ylt=AtpPfduql9rdKZBUH1NjSjLOSpZ4
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coldrum
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| Posted 26-08-2010 at 18:06
Ice age flint tools found during road repairs
Archaeological remains dating back to the last Ice Age have been found during work to upgrade a major road, the Highways Agency said.
The remains, along with Iron Age and Roman settlements, were uncovered during work to upgrade the A46 between Newark and Widmerpool in Nottinghamshire.
The Highways Agency said the finds included ancient flint tools and flint knapping debris dating back to about 11,000 BC - around the end of the last Ice Age when Stone Age hunter-gathers returned as the climate began to warm up.
A46 Highways Agency project manager Geoff Bethel said: "As the A46 follows the route of the old Roman road, we expected to uncover a number of artefacts from Roman Britain and we were not disappointed.
"But to uncover such rare flint tools dating back to the end of the Ice Age was very exciting."
Evidence of such early people had been found in caves, but the pieces of flint found at Farndon appeared to show these people were making things out in the open, possibly in a temporary campsite, the Highways Agency said.
The excavations also provided insight into the Iron Age and Roman communities that used to live in the area.
Evidence of an Iron Age settlement at Owthorpe Junction, just east of Cotgrave, Nottinghamshire, was uncovered, and a 4,000 year old Neolithic circular monument with eight Bronze Age burials was found further north at Stragglethorpe junction.
The archaeological team uncovered part of the settlement that lined the road leading into the town, including Roman timber buildings, rubbish pits, wells and track ways, as well as a number of burials, all dating back around 2,000 years.
Phil Harding, Stone Age expert and presenter of Channel 4's Time Team, worked on the excavations as a field archaeologist for Cotswold Wessex Archaeology.
He said: "Among the findings was a piece from a Neolithic axe made of greenstone, a type of stone from the Lake District.
"It was very distinctive, only a chip the size of a stamp, but exciting nonetheless.
"The stone was very good quality and very distinctive - you could tell a person's wealth or status by the number of axes he owned, or the flint it was made from.
"Overall, there were enough bits and pieces to suggest we have evidence of hunting people, gathering, camping, and visiting the confluence of two rivers right through to the time of the first farmers."
The project to widen a 17-mile (28km) stretch of the A46 in Nottinghamshire is hoped to be finished in summer 2012.
The design for the route made sure the majority of the site of Margidunum Roman town, near Bingham, was avoided, the Highways Agency said.
Jon Humble, English Heritage's regional Inspector of Ancient Monuments, added: "The line of the A46 coincides with part of one of the most important roads from Roman Britain - the Fosse Way that linked Exeter with Lincoln.
"So when the dualling of the A46 was being planned, we knew that the Highways Agency would have to consider the potential for important archaeological discoveries over the full length of the road scheme.
"More than a hundred archaeologists have worked very closely with the road designers, highway engineers and earth-moving contractors to ensure that important archaeological remains have been properly recorded and recovered.
"The Romans understood the value of first-rate team-work - I like to think they would have been impressed."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/ice-age-flint-tools-found-during-road-repairs-2062848.html
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coldrum
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| Posted 26-08-2010 at 18:07
Dig unearths insight into life before the Romans
THE third phase of the Big Dig at Brading Roman Villa may well have been one of the toughest excavations eminent archaeologist Sir Barry Cunliffe had ever undertaken but it has yielded some treasures and a greater understanding of Brading’s history up to its Roman occupation.
With the three-week dig ending yesterday (Friday), Sir Barry’s team has unearthed, over the past two weeks, numerous pottery remains, ranging from pieces of amphorae to a tray for sifting sea water to extract salt.
The discovery of a second century BC saucepan became the earliest evidence of occupation on the site, pushing its history back as much as two centuries.
Examples of early jewellery were also found, which included an example of a small mid-first century AD brooch inlaid with enamel.
A butt beaker, a type of Gaulish pre-Roman period drinking vessel, bronze tweezers, a flagon and a cremation jar were also discovered.
During the first week of the dig, Sir Barry’s team unearthed a rare cooking pot and a copper coin bearing the image of a goddess.
This year’s dig concentrated principally on a site to the rear of the villa’s car park.
There is, according to Sir Barry, strong evidence the villa was a high-status farmstead in the late Iron Age, trading with the Romans before the AD43 invasion of Britain.
"We’ve got reminders of Mediterranean manners and lifestyle before the Roman invasion and them being incorporated into community life," he explained. "It is likely salt was a product of this area. The farmstead may well date back to an earlier period of the Iron Age. The dig was unrelenting — one of the toughest sites to dig any of us has ever seen.
"Yet it yielded a host of fascinating features and gave us a real understanding about the villa story."
http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/news/dig-unearths-insight-into-life-before-the-romans-34385.aspx
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Andy B
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| Posted 10-10-2010 at 10:26
Iron Age Horse burial found under schoolyard
This is the Daily Mail... the finds were under the yard !
Found in a school yard, the grisly remains of an Iron Age horse and human bones
By David Derbyshire
Last updated at 1:03 AM on 17th September 2010
An Iron Age burial site containing the skeletons of children and sacrificed animals has been unearthed by archaeologists. The remains – which include tributes to a long-forgotten god – were buried in deep pits by Ancient Britons more than 2,000 years ago. They were discovered in London during the construction of a new school and are one of the most important Iron Age finds in the capital for years, shedding light on a time when Britain was on the verge of Roman rule.
Researchers believe the pits were dug on the site of a small farming community, made up of earth and timber roundhouses with thatched roofs and central fireplaces. They have all the hallmarks of ceremonial pits, used to mark the abandonment of a village. The children were buried separately and are thought to have died from natural causes.
The burials were discovered by workmen laying the foundations of the new Stanley Park High School on the former site of a hospital in Carshalton, South-West London. Duncan Hawkins, an archaeologist at the dig, said the remains were typical of a ‘late Iron Age and early Roman farming settlement’.
‘A very large number of domestic animal skeletons have been recovered – including horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and dogs,’ he said. These animals, which were either whole or partly dismembered, appear to have been deliberately sacrificed and deposited in deep pits cut into the chalk bedrock. This may represent some form of “closure” ritual when the settlement passed out of use with the pits perhaps originally representing grain stores.’
The pits were up to 12ft deep and lie less than 100 yards from one of the largest late Bronze Age hilltop enclosures in South-East England. This was dug up during the creation of a hospital 100 years ago.
A spokesman for the archaeologists said: ‘The human burials on the site are all infants who died at childbirth or very shortly after. Late Iron Age and Roman communities buried such infants in and around their homes where they were close to their living families.’
Other Iron Age features, including a possible livestock pathway, shallow gullies and pits, have also been identified. The school intends to share the discoveries with the pupils in history lessons. The finds come from the end of the Iron Age and the start of the Roman occupation which began in AD43 under the Emperor Claudius. It is possible that the village may have been abandoned in the upheaval that surrounded the arrival of the Roman army.
Some excellent pictures accompany this article
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1312564/Iron-Age-human-sacrificial-animal-remains-site-new-school.html
With thanks to Runemage
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bat400
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| Posted 16-10-2010 at 20:45
Was this an Ice Age highway? Workers digging up A-road find axe abandoned 13,000 years ago.
Ancient axes believed to be around 13,000 years old have been discovered during work to widen a major road.
Submitted by coldrum ---
The Ice Age remains, along with Iron Age and Roman settlements, were uncovered during work to upgrade the A46 between Newark and Widmerpool in Nottinghamshire.
The important finds included ancient flint tools and flint debris dating back to about 11,000 BC - around the end of the last Ice Age when Stone Age hunter-gathers returned as the climate began to warm up.
Highways Agency project manager Geoff Bethel said: 'As the A46 follows the route of the old Roman road, we expected to uncover a number of artefacts from Roman Britain and we were not disappointed.
'But to uncover such rare flint tools dating back to the end of the Ice Age was very exciting.'
Evidence of such early people had been found in caves, but the pieces of flint found at Farndon appeared to show these people were making things out in the open, possibly in a temporary campsite, the Highways Agency said.
The excavations also provided insight into the Iron Age and Roman communities that used to live in the area.
Evidence of an Iron Age settlement at Owthorpe Junction, just east of Cotgrave, Nottinghamshire, was uncovered, and a 4,000 year old Neolithic circular monument with eight Bronze Age burials was found further north at Stragglethorpe junction.
The archaeological team uncovered part of the settlement that lined the road leading into the town, including Roman timber buildings, rubbish pits, wells and track ways, as well as a number of burials, all dating back around 2,000 years.
Phil Harding, Stone Age expert and presenter of Channel 4's Time Team, worked on the excavations as a field archaeologist for Cotswold Wessex Archaeology.
He said: 'Among the findings was a piece from a Neolithic axe made of greenstone, a type of stone from the Lake District.
'It was very distinctive, only a chip the size of a stamp, but exciting nonetheless.
'Overall, there were enough bits and pieces to suggest we have evidence of hunting people, gathering, camping, and visiting the confluence of two rivers right through to the time of the first farmers.'
The project to widen a 17-mile (28km) stretch of the A46 in Nottinghamshire is hoped to be finished in summer 2012.
The design for the route made sure the majority of the site of Margidunum Roman town, near Bingham, was avoided, the Highways Agency said.
Jon Humble, English Heritage's regional Inspector of Ancient Monuments, added: 'The line of the A46 coincides with part of one of the most important roads from Roman Britain - the Fosse Way that linked Exeter with Lincoln.
'So , we knew that the Highways Agency would have to consider the potential for important archaeological discoveries over the full length of the road scheme.
'More than a hundred archaeologists have worked very closely with the road designers, highway engineers and earth-moving contractors to ensure that important archaeological remains have been properly recorded and recovered.
'The Romans understood the value of first-rate team-work - I like to think they would have been impressed.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1306616/Axes-Ice-Age-dating-13-000-years-excavation-A46.html#ixzz0wNc5tON8
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Andy B
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| Posted 12-11-2010 at 15:42
'Bronze Age' cremation urn at Fortrose housing site
An ancient cremation urn has been found by archaeologists surveying a site earmarked for a housing project.
The team from Headland Archaeology believe the object uncovered at Fortrose dates from the Bronze Age.
Developer Tulloch Homes, which has planning consent to build 156 properties on the land, commissioned the survey.
Further excavations will be done under the supervision of Highland Council's archaeology officer.
A spokesman for Tulloch Homes said: "It is the most significant find in their initial dig and the urn has been removed from the site for more detailed examination.
"Further archaeological excavation at the Fortrose site will be undertaken at a later stage under the supervision of Highland Council's archaeology officer.
"However, the land earmarked for the first two phases of our housing development has been investigated by the dig team and has been designated clear.
"Thus, the start of work on the development will not be delayed. These first phases contain the affordable housing element of the project, 16 houses and 16 flats, for which there is great local demand."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-11536596
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bat400
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| Posted 12-11-2010 at 22:46
Proposed Davie Cooper Centre on the site of an ancient Bronze Age burial ground.
Submitted by coldrum --
The site — which is very well-known in archaeological circles — was discovered in the 1930s when it was Knappers Quarry, and any part of that area which is being developed must first be checked for artefacts. The plans for the Great Western Road centre, a special needs daycare and respite facility in memory of the great Bankies player, will come before the Planning Committee on September 7.
Hugh McBrien, from the West of Scotland Archaeologist Service, will be in charge of the excavations taking place there. Between 2700 and 700BC, the area is believed to have been an important ritual site for Bronze Age inhabitants.
Hugh said: “In the 1930s there weren’t many professional archaeologists. There was also very little control over development.
“Archaeologists went in as the top soil was being scraped away and found a whole range of burial sites and possible timber sites that suggested ritual use of the site for hundreds, possibly thousands of years.
“If you look at the site, even with all the modern buildings there, you can see that it’s a flat, sandy terrace surrounded by little bits of high ground, one of which Drumchapel sits on now, and another with the multi-storey flats on the south side of Great Western Road."
Hugh does not expect to find anything new on the Davie Cooper site, but he does not completely rule it out.
It is recommended that the plans for the Davie Cooper Centre are approved, subject to the excavation and other conditions.
http://www.clydebankpost.co.uk/news/roundup/articles/2010/09/01/404569-cooper-centre-on-bronze-age-site-/?
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bat400
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| Posted 14-11-2010 at 06:48
Remains of Neolithic village discovered in SW Budapest
submitted by coldrum --
The remains of a 7,000-year-old village have been unearthed in southwest Budapest's 22nd district by archaeologists of the Budapest History Museum, the museum reported on its website on Wednesday.
During the excavations, which precede earthworks for a section of the M0 ring around the city, the experts have discovered the foundations of six buildings which originally had clay walls supported by wooden beams.
Next to the houses, the archaeologists have found remains of baking ovens, storage pits and waste holes in the ground, yielding a rich collection of broken clay vessels and stone tools from the Linear Pottery Culture, Gabor Szilas, leader of the excavations told MTI.
Near the Neolithic site, a short section of the limes connecting fortifications along the frontier of the Roman Empire, as well as part of a village from the 7th-8th century A.D. have also been found.
Source: =8314]http://www.caboodle.hu/nc/news/news_archive/single_page/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=8314
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Andy B
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| Posted 20-11-2010 at 01:06
Roman Site Discovered in London
A new Roman site has been discovered at Syon Park in west London. Archaeologists from The Museum of London Archaeology Dept have excavated over 11,000 pottery fragments, 100 coins and some items of jewelery. Also, burial sites containing human remains and a section of a Roman road have been unearthed.
Submitted by Sunny100
No URL link cited unfortunately
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