New Views over Megalithia

[Boreades]

The Strange Case Of the Missing Henge

Slap-bang in the middle of Inspector Morse's territory as well.

The news first surfaced in 2008 ...

TVAS News - Oxford
Recently, a ditch discovered back in March has now been identified as being part of a very rare monument type called a ‘henge’, which was created in the late Neolithic and Bronze Age (c. 2300 BC) round the same time as Stonehenge. The ditch excavated here is up to 8m across and at least 2.5m deep, curves only very slightly and based on the small part of the plan so far recovered, would have enclosed an area of at least 150m diameter, encompassing all of what is now Keble College and the Pitt Rivers Museum.

As reported by This is Oxfordshire / Oxford Mail

http://www.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/news ... ntal_find/

The news then mysteriously disappeared from the TVAS site. But can still be found in the Web.Archive ...

https://web.archive.org/web/20090218060 ... ord-2.html

The henge then disappeared as well, under a prime building site worth millions.

Authorities recently sanctioned the public release (through the Oxford Mail, on Isis Day, 17th July, 2008) of the astonishing news that a huge henge, measuring at least 150 metres diameter, had been discovered less than half a mile to the north of Carfax, at the centre of Oxford. The massive megalithic site, far bigger than Stonehenge, had been realised, they claim, when builders were preparing land behind houses in St Giles for the new ‘Kendrew Quadrangle’ development by St John’s College.

Archaeologists determined that the circular henge was surrounded by a moat, 8 metres wide and 2.5 metres deep and that this ancient ‘fortified’ island encloses all of present-day Keble College as well as Pitt-Rivers Museum:

In quick-smart fashion the builders, upright and square, Kingerlee ... were requested to fill it all in and get on with the job, which they are. In March 2008, a heap of up to 40 bodies were unearthed during the groundwork phase. By law, even for an Oxford money-bags like St. Johns, work had to stop.

St. John’s College is extremely rich. It is said that a traveller could walk from St. John’s, Oxford to St. John’s, Cambridge without stepping off this institution’s wallet. Alumni include the Jesuit martyr Edmund Campion, inventor Jethro Tull, poets and writers A.E. Houseman, Robert Graves, Philip Larkin and Kingsley Amis, fugitive from justice, Tony Blair, and (nearly because he failed the entrance exam) the camel-riding hero T.E. Lawrence (Morse, however, did get through.)

Very close to the Oxford Henge long barrows, round barrows, and other ritual sites have been discovered, in what is St Giles Church now known as the University Parks, and under Wycliffe Hall, in Summertown, under Ss. Philip and James Church in Woodstock Road and on Port Meadow. The site is only a stone’s throw (not one of those big ones. If it is I ‘ent chuckin’ it!) from the 12th Century, St. Giles Church, which might help to explain the dismay that social and religious historians have long expressed regarding the necessity of this large church so close to St. Mary Magdalen’s Church, which is also outside the old city boundary. Was St. Giles built on the henge site, or on top of something associated with it perhaps?

Now you see it…Now you don’t: The Oxford Henge
https://ellisctaylor.com/2015/10/23/now ... ord-henge/

[Mick Harper]

It is gratifying to hear that academics are cheap chisellers as well as being cheap chisellers.

[Boreades]

Mayan Megalopolis

The National Geographic is getting excited:

Exclusive: Laser Scans Reveal Maya "Megalopolis" Below Guatemalan Jungle. A vast, interconnected network of ancient cities was home to millions more people than previously thought. In what’s being hailed as a “major breakthrough” in Maya archaeology, researchers have identified the ruins of more than 60,000 houses, palaces, elevated highways, and other human-made features that have been hidden for centuries under the jungles of northern Guatemala.
...
The project mapped more than 800 square miles (2,100 square kilometers) of the Maya Biosphere Reserve in the Petén region of Guatemala, producing the largest LiDAR data set ever obtained for archaeological research.
...
Virtually all the Mayan cities were connected by causeways wide enough to suggest that they were heavily trafficked and used for trade and other forms of regional interaction. These highways were elevated to allow easy passage even during rainy seasons. In a part of the world where there is usually too much or too little precipitation, the flow of water was meticulously planned and controlled via canals, dikes, and reservoirs.

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/201 ... ?beta=true

Sadly they conflate how it was with how it is now.

Environmental degradation is another concern. Guatemala is losing more than 10 percent of its forests annually, and habitat loss has accelerated along its border with Mexico as trespassers burn and clear land for agriculture and human settlement. ... “By identifying these sites and helping to understand who these ancient people were, we hope to raise awareness of the value of protecting these places,” Hernandez said.

i.e. they fail to join the dots and point out the bleeding obvious. That the Maya Biosphere Reserve didn't exist when the Mayan Megalopolis was active, and the jungle is an aberration, formed when the plants move back in after the Mayan Megalopolis was abandoned. Not a "pristine wilderness".

Edit: Has anyone said why the Mayan Megalopolis was abandoned?

[Boreades]

The Temple at the Gates of Dawn

Just received, a sales pitch from another site:

Join regular Ancient Origins contributor Charles Christian for an exploration of how one mysterious ruin in the East of England has been the site of continuous religious ceremonies for over 2000 years—but with an ever changing cast of gods including the Celtic Belenus, the Roman Mithras, the Saxon Woden and finally the Christian God. This revealing webinar will also be looking at the implications of the St Michael ley-line and how this could connect the ruins with an even older tradition stretching back to Thoth, Ancient Egyptian god of the Underworld. Join us for a preview of some of the material in Charles Christian’s upcoming book The Temple at the Gates of Dawn.

https://members.ancient-origins.net/tem ... ods-change

Yes, very nice, but where is this mysterious ruin in the East of England?

And, not to be confused with The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn?

[Mick Harper]

You are deputed to attend this webinar (on the grounds you may know what a webinar is) while I explore other routes linking us with this interesting-sounding dude.

[Boreades]

Scottish Iron Age broch is full of mysteries

So says The Herald, reporting on yet another case of ortho's obsessed with high-caste elites and the violent military side of things.

Ancient highland ruins probed by archaeologists

Not probing around Chateau Boreades (for once)

Archaeologists are probing an ancient mystery uncovered by workers deep in a Highland forest. The crumbling ruins are believed to have been an Iron Age fort, or possibly the home of a local chief or lord, and date back to about 2,400 years ago. Now researchers are unravelling its tantalising mystery, with evidence showing the structure may have a violent past and was burnt down twice and rebuilt before finally being abandoned.

There you go, gratuitous violence.

The dun-house stands above a fertile valley and it has been suggested it began life as the home of a local chieftain, but was soon taken over by the people who lived nearby and adapted for use as a defensive structure.

It just *has* to be high-caste elite, doesn't it? Then they get confused ...

On one hand...

However, a lack of artefacts uncovered during the investigation raises the intriguing possibility that the site may have only been used by prehistoric Scots living nearby as a refuge during times of war or strife.

More elusive military waived in our direction? But then...

Among the artefacts uncovered were signs of metalworking, and stones for grinding grains. Little remains to indicate who its inhabitants were and the lack of anything linked to human habitation indicates the structure was rarely used.

The idea that it was a factory and/or warehouse seems to elude them. But that would be *trade*, not yur actual high-caste elite stuff.

Archaeologist Mary Peteranna, of AOC Archaeology, said: “Where the Dun-house was built suggests it was maybe the home of a chief, and it would have been visible from quite a way off as it sits above the valley. “We don’t know why it was used in the way it appears to have been, and more excavation would be needed to further investigate the site.”

Clinging to the wreckage?

[Mick Harper]

"Being visible from a long way off", though Mary doesn't mention it, suggests a waymarker, which would account for the lack of human habitation evidence, but the metal-working bit might, might, point to the use of rushing water. Certainly human habitation by a chief or by anybody else would seem the least of the possibilities. Hence the 'more research needed' get-out-jail card needing to be played.

[hvered]

not to be confused with The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn?

A number of standing stones are given the name of Piper's, sometimes Fiddler's, Stone which always puzzled me. The explanation usually proffered is spoilsport Puritans banning music and being ultra-hostile to indigenous 'religion' (is there evidence that puritannical iconoclasm encompassed megaliths?).

There is however a mining link. The story of the Little Drummer Boy from Richmond, North Yorkshire, who was lowered into a tunnel never to be seen (though heard) again has a striking parallel with the Pied Piper story. Using children ('little people') to work in mines was standard practice until relatively modern times but what I didn't know about was the role of musicians to lead the way. Anyway, for what it's worth, Richmond and Hamelin are both in regions that are famous for mining, stretching back to the Cistercian monasteries if not earlier.

In the Pied Piper the boy left behind was lame. Lameness is linked to 'special status' (cf. blacksmiths) in folklore but there may be a factual basis to the tale of a mass disappearance of children and a lead piper.

[TisILeclerc]

http://www.pembrokeshirehistoricalsocie ... ng-stones/

Here are two stones that have been 'baptised' by Christians. If you are taking over you've got to put your trademark on the old shop after all.

There are plenty in Scotland as well. Christianity is from the middle east so we should expect a certain kind of religious fervour from them. It's not as if they were chopping heads off or burning people to death.

As for pipers and caves. There is a pipe tune called the piper's cave and I believe this celebrates a MacCrimmon who entered a cave and disappeared, as they do. I think there was a dog with him who escaped with his hair all singed.

And under Edinburgh castle there is also a similar story about a young piper doing something similar. I think in York they send a drummer boy down.

https://www.spookyisles.com/2015/10/pip ... ernatural/

http://www.picturebritain.com/2013/01/5 ... astle.html

There are many legends about the castle, and one is called The Lone Piper. Supposedly a labyrinthine network of tunnels were once discovered running underneath the castle, and a young boy was sent in to see where they led. Armed with nothing but his pipes, he played as he walked so that the others above ground could hear where he went. Then, somewhere far below, the piping stopped. The lad was never heard from again, though it’s said that his ghost still plays the pipes from somewhere underground

And from Tresco

Piper’s Hole cuts across a seam of tin which was mined during the 17th century. The idea was to bring sufficient illumination to be able to check the granite walls of the cave for evidence of human excavation such as pick-work. It was in the the “corridor” at the back of cave that we hoped to find marks in the granite that would show that miners once worked the rock.

https://www.tresco.co.uk/island-news/da ... ipers-hole

The article doesn't mention pipers but you never know.

[hvered]

Plenty of material to work on, Tisi. Muchas.

The article on the five Pembrokeshire stones illustrates perfectly the lack of analysis. It begins

The buildings, carvings and illustrated manuscripts referred to as Insular Art were produced in the Early Medieval period between the reduction, and in places the disappearance of, the influence of Imperial Roman culture in Britain and Ireland in the 5th century AD and the re-establishment of some Classical Roman values by clerics and soldiers who brought the Romanesque style of design to Britain in the late 10th, 11th and 12th centuries.

'Eary Medieval' is no longer popular (it used to be 'Dark Age' till that was dropped) but is apparently still convenient as it covers the five hundred year lacuna between the 5th century (end of the Roman period) and the arrival of the Normans. so we've been warned. 'Romanesque' means Norman architecturally.

A small number of Insular Gospel books are justly famous. Amongst them the Northumbrian Lindisfarne Gospels in the British Library, the Irish Book of Kells in Trinity College Library, Dublin and the sole Welsh example, the so called St Chad Gospels now housed in Litchfield Cathedral. They are great works of art and significant expositions of Christian belief.

These are twelfth-century or later. See Meetings With Remarkable Forgeries.

Less obviously important but much more numerous are statements of Christian belief in images and scripts incised into durable rock dressed into standing stones. Often an inscription is in Latin and a Roman letterform. Others are in native languages and Ogham or other forms of Rune. Usually the statement intended by the stones, is also signified by the different forms of cross cut into the stone and probably by other motifs around them.

Difficult to gauge intention

The diversity in the design of the Early Medieval standing stones also makes it clear that they served many purposes and when their original purpose was forgotten they were reused and re-carved to satisfy different demands.

The original purpose (navigational markers) wasn't entirely subsumed. Crosses were landmarks in otherwise hard to find contexts, e.g. on Dartmoor. 'Re-carved' suggests there were earlier carvings but this isn't made clear.

Standing stones were carved by Angles, Saxons, Vikings and other Norse people throughout the mainland of Britain and its surrounding islands as well as by people like the Cornish, Picts, Scots, Irish and others speaking dialects of ‘P’ and ‘Q’ Celtic and earlier Brittonic languages. The name often given to these insular monuments, ‘Celtic Crosses’ is therefore a misnomer.

I think he's saying they weren't carved by the natives, whatever language he imagines they spoke. Medieval masons who actually used stone could presumably be the people who 're-used' standing stones.

Of the 217 Early Medieval standing stones in Pembrokeshire only the 5 under discussion have recognisable depictions on them of any kind although 2 at Penally have motifs that might be imagined to be sinuous beasts.

I wish he wouldn't call standing stones Early Medieval. Why such certainty in an article awash with vagueness?