Andy Burnham's Blog, page 121

Corston Beacon

This unassuming Bronze age cairn in Pembrokeshire was excavated in 1928 by W.F. Grimes. Under a 1.5 to 2 ton capstone a stone cist was found which contained a laid out body (with head to the north) of a man aged under 35, and a three riveted bronze knife.

Teufelssteine Osnabrück

A chambered tomb in a small clearing in the pine forest. Measuring 22m by 8m, including perimeter stones, It has five good captones and 13 excellent uprights. On Teufelsheide Street south west of the town of Osnabrück.

Haresfield Beacon and Ring

The Bulwarks hill-fort (unexcavated), consists of a single bank with an outer ditch crossing the neck of the spur 630 yards east of Ring Hill . The slope from bank to ditch is lengthened at the north end, where the ditch runs into a gully and the bank curves away along the edge of the scarp. Four gaps in the bank, 6 to 24m (20 to 80 ft) wide, have corresponding causeways in the ditch. A hollow-way enters the north end of the ditch by way of a gully. A few sherds of featureless hand-made pottery, found in the field to the west of the bank are now in Gloucester City Museum.

Wanna Steingrab (2)

Top photo: the megalithic grave of Wanna (Nr. 632) in the year 1930 by E. Sprockhoff himself, of the books and numbering system. The tomb is very well preserved, four large capstones are visible. The chamber was overgrown by moorland in historic times so there are no orthostats visible.

Wideford Hill

Free ebook: Neolithic house societies in Orkney, on four Neolithic settlements discovered in the vicinity of Wideford Hill between 1994 and 2014. Edited by Colin Richards and Richard Jones, details in the comments on our page. Externally and internally this chambered cairn is very similar to Isbister, Tomb of the Eagles. The cairn is a Maes Howe type, built into the hillside of Wideford Hill. From the road to Kirkwall the whole hill appears to be a huge cairn so the site for the actual cairn is enhanced by this positioning to create a sense of domination over the surrounding countryside. Nowadays three concentric rings of tiered stonework are exposed after the site was taken into state care in the 1900's when the earthen mound was removed. The original excavation was undertaken in 1849 and produced animal bones and rubble infilling but no pottery or identifiable human remains.

Grevinge Skov Runddysse 3

Megalitgrav (Burial Chamber) on a low mound in Holbæk. The chamber is oriented east-west and has three orthostats as well as a lower threshold stone to the west. Above the chamber rests a large lintel. Chamber length: 1.20m by 0.75 by 0.85m. Many more sites in the immediate locality, check the nearby sites list and map on our page.

São Bento (Vila Real)

A prehistoric once fortified religious sanctuary, now christianised, and on a distinctive crag overlooking the Corgo valley. The summit, which was cobbled and had a statue of Jesus placed on it, once bore concentric circles engraved in the rock. There are small sections of the castle wall still standing here and there. Sao Bento was also occupied by the Romans and there is a grotto near the base of the east-facing slope above which was a painted dedication to Isis, in Greek. (Not visible when there recently) There are still places with cup marks and engraved 'serpents' on its slopes which have survived quarrying and removal of the castle stones.

Video: Prehistory for Antifascists - Dr Ben Pitcher at Stone Club December 2022

Ben Pitcher gave a fascinating talk at Stone Club's First Birthday Event on Monday. Ben is a reader in Sociology and the Megalithic Portal was there to record it (and drink some Stone Club beer). Ben's forthcoming book is Back to the Stone Age: Race and Prehistory in Contemporary Culture. Who are we? Where did we come from? What are we like? These questions are alive in contemporary culture.

Tumshukayko

A Late Pre-Ceramic site in Ancash Region, Peru dating from about 2500 BCE. 1 km north from the city of Caraz, at an elevation of 2300m above sea level. The fine stone work forms a circular structure, consisting of platforms, terraces and stairways.

Northern Earth Issue 170 Out Now

In this issue: • Lost Lands and Surfacing Stones - Changing environments combine with oral tradition and new-found archaeology to affirm that history is never still
• Getting Wise about the Royal Mile - The recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II and the elaborate ceremonies ensuing draw Robin Heath to explain Britain’s arcane royal geography
• Numinosity and Sacred Place - The experience of Place, not religion, is at the heart of human apprehension of the holy all around the world, argues Paul Devereux
• The Curse of the Senegambian Stones - NE likes to draw attention to other megalithic cultures across the globe and here Mark Greener introduces us to a remarkable group of sites in West Africa