Andy Burnham's Blog, page 242

Easter Aquhorthies

The Winter Solstice sunrise at 0852am yesterday (21st), captured by Umbra-Man. More winter solstice photos please - send them in from any of our site pages - and we'll show the best ones here. Have a very Happy Christmas, Yule etc from all of us at the Megalithic Portal. A lovely recumbent stone circle, situated on the false crest of a hill just outside Inverurie in Aberdeenshire. One of the stones is made of stunning red jasper and there is a 'reserved' area in front of the recumbent, delineated by two huge slabs which stick out from it, pointing towards the centre of the circle.

Yellowstone Lake

US National Park shutdown - many parks such as Yellowstone will remain open but without staff, however amenities and many attractions are shut. More details on our page below. Browse our resources on other National Parks and Monuments here.. Thousands of years before Euro-Americans “discovered” the bubbling mudpots and eruptive geysers of what is now Yellowstone National Park, early Americans were spending part of their summer camping in the Yellowstone Lake area. “It’s always been a destination resort,” said Elaine Hale, park archaeologist. “For at least 10,000 years people have been using the lake area.”

Aksamitova Brana

A cave of geothermal origin in limestone, now known as Aksamit Gate. Recent thinking is that the cave had no ceiling and was open from very early times. There is evidence of ancient human activity in the highest part of the cave, which is lit by the winter solstice sun rays at midday (see photos lower down). The site is located on the top of the mysterious karst massif called the Golden Horse (Zlatý kůň), sited very close to the prehistoric hillfort of Kotýz. Is said that the strange name Kotýz comes from the name of the thracian goddess Kotys, whose cult was brought to this land in the Iron Age.

Mozia

Mozia, today known as San Pantaleo is an island of the Lagoon of Marsala. It was an ancient Phoenician city. The island faces the west coast of Sicily, between l, Grande Island and the mainland

Sudbeckenpfad

During the construction work of new houses, the remains of a Neolithic settlement were found near Sudbeckenpfad road in Bochum (North Rhine-Westphalia/Germany). The settlement was built by the Rössen culture and dates from ca. 4500 BC.

Cissbury Ring

Hillfort and Neolithic flint mines in West Sussex The largest hill fort in Sussex, the second largest in England and one of the largest in Britain and Europe overall, covering some 60 acres. The earthworks that form the fortifications were built around the beginning of the Middle Iron-Age possibly around 250 BC but abandoned in the period 50 BC - 50 AD. Of the approximately thirteen flint mining shafts excavated at Cissbury between 1875 and 1878, three shafts exhibited art and marked chalk blocks:

Irkutsk Museum Of Regional Studies

Irkutsk's Museum of Regional Studies is located at 13, Karla Marksa street, Irkutsk, Russia and contains a wide selection of exhibits from prehistoric times to the modern era.

A look at the best Prehistoric Sites to visit on a trip to Florida

The area of Florida around Orlando is well known as a vacation destination, with many well known theme parks and tourist destinations. But these can get incredibly busy, so to get away from the crowds and commercialisation, why not spend some time exploring Florida’s prehistoric heritage. Here is our guide to some of the best sites to visit, many of them known only to the locals.

Saint-Joseph Abri

A rock-shelter (abri) dating from the Mesolithic into the Neolithic. Recent excavations have shown that Mesolithic hunter-gatherers were living near Neolithic farming communities, revealing an insight into the transitional "Neolithic Revolution".

Sybaris

Sybaris was an important city of Magna Graecia. It was situated on the Gulf of Taranto, in Calabria, Southern Italy, between two rivers, the Crathis (Crati) and the Sybaris (Coscile). The city was founded in 720 BC by Achaean and Troezenian settlers. Sybaris amassed great wealth thanks to its fertile land and busy port. Its inhabitants became famous among the Greeks for their hedonism, feasts, and excesses, to the extent that "sybarite" and "sybaritic" have become bywords for opulent luxury and outrageous pleasure-seeking.