Andy Burnham's Blog, page 168

Yazilikaya

See the comments on our page for a paper suggesting that these rock cut reliefs had a time-keeping function. Stone Carvings in Turkey. This is the national sanctuary of the Hittite Empire as conceived by King Tudhaliya IV for Chamber a and his son Suppiluliuma II (the last Hittite monarch) for Chamber B. A natural rock shrine, open to the sky, carved with almost 100 figures of gods and kings. 13th century BCE. The smaller and narrower Chamber B is more of a memorial to Tudhaliya IV.

Kallerup Svannæsdysse

Megalitgrav (Burial Chamber) near Kalundborg, Denmark. The capstone has 15 cup marks, not all of which are recognizable because the stone is covered in of moss and lichen. See our page for a plan, more photos and details of how to visit.

Cerrigmarchogion

Newly published research from Rob Ixer, Richard Bevins and team positively identifies this rock outcrop as the source of one of the Stonehenge bluestones (in this case non-spotted dolerites) and the net is closing on some of the others - more details in the comments on our page.. A line of rock outcrops of non-spotted dolerite in Pembrokeshire. In legend they are the graves of some of Arthur’s knights killed in battle. The whole area is steeped in myth. However they have been identified as a source of one of the bluestones found at Stonehenge. Photo left by Gareth James.

Saban-ri Dolmen

A dolmen in Saban-ri, South Korea. Most are black-gray but unlike other dolmens around here, the stone colour here is white. I guess it's a unique colour, but the stone here seems to have a different characteristic than anywhere else. The dolmen is in the middle of a field. There was a lot of agricultural waste thrown away around it. It’s cultural heritage, but people feel indifferent. I wish people would be more interested in dolmens and manage them.

Serpent Mound, Ohio

Shawnee people reclaim the great Serpent Mound at the Solstice, details in the comments on our page. An earthen effigy mound mound in the form of a snake located in Adams County, Ohio. Radiocarbon dating indicates the effigy is 900 years old, placing it within the time of the Fort Ancient Culture. The mound is at the top of a ridge line, overlooking a creek. If the snake were stretched out, the figure would be over 1200 feet long.

Waun Mawn W

The summer solstice sun just about to rise over Waun Mawn standing stone, more photos on our page. A standing stone 2.3m high, 1.2m by 0.7m thick, part of the Talfarn y Bwlch Stone Complex, Nr Brynberian in Pembrokeshire.

Usakli Mound

A mosaic floor from the Late Bronze Age building of Uşaklı Höyük, central Turkey has been revealed, making it the world's oldest known mosaic. More details in the comments on our page
. A Bronze Age settlement mound in Yozgat Province, Turkey, inhabited between the 3rd and 1st millennia BCE. It is speculated to be the Hittite city of Zippalanda (along with Çadır Höyük).

Wet Withens

Photos from summer solstice 2021, and see more from previous years on our page. Send us a photo if you visited an ancient site at the summer solstice, or if it was cloudy let us know how you got in in the forum. Wet Withens, sometimes known as Wet Withers (Old English for ‘the wet land where willows grew’), is the largest embanked stone circle in Derbyshire. Located on a slight slope, just above the 335m contour, to the west of an extensive cairnfield, the ten or eleven millstone grit uprights are placed at the inner edge of a continuous bank. The bank is approximately 31m by 29.5m internally in diameter, between 2m and 3m wide and 1m high and most unusually it has no entrances. In addition, a small cairn lies to the south-east of the centre.

Keamcorravooly

The Giant's Grave, (An Uaigh an Fhathaigh), is a neat and picturesque tomb in Co. Cork. It is about 3.6m long, with two overlapping roof-slabs, the easternmost of which is supported by a small chocking-stone on top of the backstone. It is markedly wedge-shaped, and retains much of its double-walling. Like most of the Cork wedge-tombs it is low, the entrance being about 1m high. It commands a fine view of the hills to the north and west. About 200m further up the hill, on a ridge, is a second, ruined, wedge-tomb.

Gross Fredenwalde Weinberg

A new video about the latest excavations on the Weinberg, Germany. The oldest baby skeleton in central Europe was found in this Mesolithic cemetery in Gross Fredenwalde, see the comments on our page for more . Mesolithic (7000 BCE) burial ground situated on the 111m high Weinberg. Examined in the 1960´s and again in 2012. Archaeologists found tools, jewellery and remains of seven persons (3 adults and 4 children). It appears to have been an important Mesolithic site in northern Germany.