Archive for July 4th, 2007
Four Stone Hearth XVIII is up at Clioaudio
Alun at Clioaudio has posted the latest edition of Four Stone Hearth, and a mightier set of posts can rarely have been seen in a single edition of any Blog Carnival; this one is divided into
categories which include Death and Decay, Technology, Writing Tongues, Flora and Fauna, Ethics, Art and Tripping – I lost count of the number of entries, so many thanks to Alun for compiling such a vast array of excellent material from such a wide variety of locales in the blogosphere.
The next edition of 4SH is being hosted by Sherd Nerd, on the 18th of July.
image by Beej Jorgensen
Rotherwas Ribbon – A Bronze Age Site ‘Unique In Europe’
Although details are as yet relatively sketchy, the BBC are carrying this story on their Radio 4 news of a structure dating back 4,000 years, that has been uncovered at Rotherwas in Herefordshire, which is described as being unique in Europe…
The ‘Rotherwas Ribbon’ is a snake-shaped area of fire-cracked stones which date back to the same period of Stonehenge – that’s the early Bronze Age, about 2,000 BC.
Archaeologists believe this major find may have no parallels in Europe, with the closest similar artefact being the 2,000-year-old serpent mounds of the Ohio river valley in America.
It’s been deliberately laid and runs at the base of Dinedor Hill – north to south at a right angle across the planned route for the new Rotherwas Access Road.
The archaelogists have been working very closely with McAlpine who are building the road for the council and detailed plans have been drawn up to encase the find and preserve it within a protective structure beneath the new road.
The team of archaelogists think it’s been built in a series of opposing curves using stones which were taken from a ridge half a mile away and shattered by being heated by fire and then dropped into water.
To the naked eye it looks like a giant mosaic, similar to a cobbled street and archaelogists think that it may have been used in some kind of ritual or ceremonial activity.
Dr Keith Ray… says it’s a very exciting find not just for Herefordshire, and not just for the UK, but, apparently so far unique in Europe – it has international significance.
From what I can gather, the structure is set onto the side of a steep hill, and a series of burnt timber posts have also been discovered, whilst nearby have been found the traces of timber framed round-houses, indicating the area was settled and significant long before the Romans arrived there. Read the rest of this entry »
