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Moderated by : davidmorgan , TimPrevett , Andy B , Klingon , MickM , bat400 , sem , Runemage , TheCaptain
The Megalithic Portal and Megalith Map : Index >>
Sacred Sites and Megalithic Mysteries >> Britain's largest Meteorite removed from burial chamber.
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Britain's largest Meteorite removed from burial chamber. |
Runemage
Joined:
15-07-2005
Messages: 2412
from UK
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|  Posted 12-09-2012 at 22:41
Infuriatingly, this Guardian article doesn't say which burial mound the meteorite was removed from.
"A hunk of rock that for years sat on the doorstep of a stately home in Wiltshire has been identified as – possibly – the largest meteorite to have fallen on Britain.
The lump of stone, which weighs 90kg, fell to Earth some 30,000 years ago and is thought to have survived almost whole because it was preserved firstly in the frozen conditions of the last ice age and then in chalk after being built into a burial mound.
After being excavated from the mound in the 19th century it lay for at least 80 years on the front doorstep of Lake House near Salisbury, latterly the home of rock star Sting.
It has spent the last 20 years in storage in the Natural History Museum in London until scientist Colin Pillinger pieced together its history, helped by old copies of Country Life that showed it in situ at Lake House.
The meteorite has gone on display at the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum, whose curators are billing it as "possibly the biggest to have ever fallen on the British Isles".
Pillinger said he had begun to explore the history of the Lake House stone while he researched another smaller meteorite that was buried at an iron age fort in Hampshire. "That's the great thing about science," he said. "You often start off with one thing and then end up with a different story altogether."
Pic and original article http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/sep/12/largest-meteorite-display-museum
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PeteG
Joined:
21-11-2002
Messages: 287
from Avebury
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| Posted 12-09-2012 at 23:15
There is a lot of assumption going on in this story.
Rev Duke did dig into barrows in Wiltshire so it is assumed that this is where it came from.
However, searching through Dukes records and notes at Wiltshire Heritage Museum has yet to throw up any real evidence or even a reference to any strange stone found in any of his digs.
The search for clues continues...
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Andy B
Joined:
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from Surrey, UK
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| Posted 13-09-2012 at 15:45
Pete - can you think of a likely burial mound candidate we could attach it to - just to spread the speculation a bit further 
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PeteG
Joined:
21-11-2002
Messages: 287
from Avebury
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| Posted 13-09-2012 at 15:53
well considering it's size and weight I would go for a barrow near lake house so somewhere around Coneybury henge.
Or possible Vespasians Camp which had mounds inside and was in use as far back as the Mesolithic
This is only a guess.
PeteG
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ghostlly
Joined:
16-08-2006
Messages: 4
from chicago
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|  Posted 14-09-2012 at 18:25
The meteor was probably in the burial chamber for a reason. Often these meteors had a lot of ritual significance. The black stone of Mecca is thought to be a meteor.
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