Reverse engineering

[Boreades]

Granted there were some uniquely "nouveau-Roman" sites. But on many sites that used to be just labelled Roman, whenever some serious fieldwork digging is done, surprise surprise, underneath the Roman stuff is pre-Roman Iron Age or even Bronze Age British stuff. Despite the veneer of Roman "sophistication", the Romans were highly adept at the "hostile takeover" of any business or trade of value. Only in a very few places in Britain did the Romans build something completely new and separate from what Britons had already started.

I am now of the view that nearly all "Roman" sites should be assumed to be re-branded older British sites unless there is clear evidence to the contrary. The Roman stuff is just the top layer or a veneer on a deeper and more ancient past.

[hvered]

Dorchester, which is on the Thames (or the Isis as it's known hereabouts), is said to be a Roman town with (in brackets) a 'Neolithic sacred centre' on the east bank of the river. The 'Michael Line' also crosses the Thames at Dorchester. A path called the Icknield Way crosses here, more or less parallel with the modern road. Dorchester seems to have always been a gateway to the Thames.

Later the town was the HQ of St Birinus, the patron saint of the Thames Valley. The (modern) Ridgeway national trail crosses the river further south at Goring-Streatley after which it seems to lose its way, e.g. 'Lower Icknield Way', 'Upper Icknield Way' etc., until it picks up again near Bledlow. [The starting point of the annual St Birinus pilgrimage to Dorchester happens to be Churn Knob, a barrow outside Bledlow].

The focal point in the area is a conical hill overlooking Dorchester called Wittenham Clumps, described as an Iron Age hillfort. It's made of chalk and in sunlight looks completely white despite being covered with grass and of course clumps. People including drivers orient themselves by the hill. Dorchester itself can't be seen from a distance.

[Boreades]

The focal point in the area is a conical hill overlooking Dorchester called Wittenham Clumps, described as an Iron Age hillfort. It's made of chalk and in sunlight looks completely white despite being covered with grass and of course clumps. People including drivers orient themselves by the hill. Dorchester itself can't be seen from a distance.

That description has a curious coincidence with Silbury and Avebury.
Both are on the Michael Line.
Both henges are on a line 8 degrees east of north from the hills.

[hvered]

The east coast is just as interesting to a Megalithic eye.

Have a look at Teeside

[Chad]

The Lake District is one vast Megalithic hydro-engineered industrial mining landscape.

Take a look at this map of the Lake District:



Firstly, it's quite unique.

It shouldn't be much different than Snowdonia... mountains, heavy rainfall... but it looks totally different. Even in the Scottish Highlands you won't find such a regular, neatly laid out set of fresh water bodies, in such a tight geographical area.

Secondly, some of these fresh water bodies are modern reservoirs, but without prior knowledge, I doubt you could pick them out from the ''natural'' lakes.

I'm convinced these ''natural'' lakes are actually Megalithic reservoirs. In fact I believe there were originally other large ''lakes''... one just to the west of Coniston Water and another to the east of Windermere, running through Kendal.

[Chad]

Now take a look at the area around Windermere and Coniston Water (both ''natural''):



The waters released from each, join together and enter the bay around Chapel Island (just east of Ulverston).

The copper mines were up in the Cumbrian mountains... One in particular was at the head of Coniston.

How convenient that the first half the journey along the valley, from mine to coast, could be done by boat.

[Chad]

These valleys weren't flooded simply to aid transportation. The water they contained was also vital to the refining process... to separate the chaff from the wheat.

But rather than doing this at the extraction site, where (since the mines were above the valleys) this would involve pumping the water... and would cause silting up of the reservoirs... our Megalithic friends (loving the low maintenance option) would have barged the raw material to the foot of the reservoir and carried out the refining there.

Now being below the level of the reservoir, no pumping would be involved... a simple controlled release of water could be used... and the silt would then be simply washed down stream. (Anybody visiting Morecambe Bay at low tide will know where it ended up.)

[Boreades]

I couldn't help but notice the "Druids Circle" on the map. As the Celts and Druids had superior technology to the Romans in many ways, I wouldn't be surprised if that included the hydraulic mining techniques that the Ortho-Historians tell us were used by the Romans. Except they were using it in Celtic areas that they had invaded and taken charge of the assets.

What do the snowflake symbols mean?

[Boreades]

Here's a gem for TME's Science and Technology Department.

The Roman's didn't invent concrete.
Or, how to make your own sarsen stones at home.

Geopolymer concrete is currently grabbing a fair bit of attention for various reasons. If I understand correctly, it can produce architectural-grade cement and concrete, or moulded items, with far lower heat & energy requirements than traditional Portland cement. i.e. it's cheaper. It's also more environmentally-friendly we're told. Entire buildings are being made of it.

Some excellent notes from people who are experimenting at home with the various geopolymer mixes that can be used.
http://chiefio.wordpress.com/2014/02/12 ... d-and-diy/

For those of us (like Jon) who will be keen to understand the actual chemistry involved, the Geopolymer Org has the proper chemistry explanations:
http://www.geopolymer.org/archaeology/p ... n-of-stone

Along with an excellent explanation of the Egyptian's recipe for concrete. From that, why the pyramids makes a lot more sense as the skillful use of concrete for precision civil engineering, rather than brute force and dragging lumps of stone around.

If the Egyptians knew it (and the Etruscans, and the Phoenicians), perhaps megalithic people knew it as well?

We've always been encouraged to think of those strangely-placed sarsen stones as "glacial erratics" dragged for many miles over hill and dale. But why not consider them as engineered concrete blocks, made on-site, or near sources of limestone (chalk) and lime kilns? As are found in places across south-central England.

Just as large parts of Devon and Cornwall were deforested to fuel metal smelting, perhaps large parts of Dorset and Wiltshire were deforested for lime kilns, to make the cement, to make the sarsens?

I'd be grateful for any pointers towards sources of sodium carbonate in TME-times. To mix with lime to make caustic soda, as the next step in producing polymer cement.

[macausland]

A good source of sodium carbonate is to be found in samphire and seaweed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salicornia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasswort

Keeping by the seaside lime was produced by burning oyster shells. A mediaeval lime pit has recently been discovered at Colchester.

http://www.thecolchesterarchaeologist.co.uk/?p=9524

The west country is also a good source for kaolin. According to Wiki Britain is the third largest exporter of kaolin after the US and Brazil.

https://www.bgs.ac.uk/downloads/start.cfm?id=1362

Analysis of the 'Bosnian pyramid' has shown that it was built with concrete blocks.

It shouldn't be surprising really that ancient people would be using concrete of sorts. They would have known that clay becomes very hard when baked through their pottery making. Also, making structures with wattle and daub would have shown that large structures could be built quite simply.