Andy Burnham's Blog, page 70

Grime's Graves Flint Mines

I visited Grime's Graves yesterday (Thursday) on the preview day. I have added lots of photos to our page and videos will follow. We were told of an exciting discovery whilst excavating for the new pit access building - here's an exclusive first look. This amazing (and presumably Neolithic) chalk plaque with chevrons was uncovered!. On the surface, the mine-shafts of Grime's Graves appear to be countless. English Heritage reckons that there are 433 of them surviving as shallow pits over 17 acres of Norfolk heath land (take a look at the aerial photograph linked from our page.) Digging with antler picks and in use for only a couple of hundred years in the late Neolithic, the deepest shafts go down 13m (30 feet) into the hard chalk.

Bøjden Klokkehøj Runddysse

A klokkehøj (Dolmen) in Svendborg, Denmark. It has five orthostats, excavated and restorated in 1978. There were many finds from the floor layer, including bones, sherds and ceramics. The site is very from the road and has its own bench and litter bin!

Announcing the Megalithic Portal photo competition winners for Jan to March 2021

Continuing our photo competition catch-up, we are delighted to announce the winners for photos submitted to us between January and March 2021. As always these were all voted for by you, our visitors and contributors. Votes are still being collected for all photos submitted since then and we will be announcing more winners soon.
1st Prize: Knocknagappul Stone Row by GaelicLaird
2nd Prize: Broch of Gurness by PAB
3rd Prize: The Bullstones by Gritstone
View the winning photos and highly commendeds below.

Normanton Down

Top photo: Looking west towards Normanton Gorse and also the famous Bush barrow in the distance. We have other recent photos on our other pages, browse the nearby sites list from this page. The bronze age barrow cemetery south of Stonehenge, the other side of the A303. Including Early Bronze Age Beaker burials and the remains of a Neolithic long barrow.

Nalanda University excavated site

The history of Nalanda goes back to the days of Mahavira and Buddha in the 6th century BCE. It was the place of birth and nirvana of Sariputra, one of the famous disciples of Buddha. The place rose into prominence in the 5th century CE as a great monastic-cum-educational institution for oriental art and learning in the whole Buddhist world, attracting students from distant countries including China.

Barabar Caves

One of the oldest rock-cut caves in India (300 BCE). Some of the caves have Ashokan inscriptions.
Most of the caves consist of two chambers.The caves were carved out of granite. The interior has a highly polished surface. Most of the caves have an interesting echo effect.

Newton Mulgrave Moor RB4 - 7

This bronze age barrow - RB4 on the sketch map - is one of at least seven which comprise the barrow cemetery spread across the relatively level ground on the north east part of Newton Mulgrave Moor, North Yorkshire. Read on for information on the other barrows.

Bosigran Castle

A simple cliff castle or promontory fort (Iron Age) on a headland consisting of a prominent granite outcrop with steep cliffs forming some of the sides. A wall has been built across the promontory linking the cliffs to fortify or enclose it. There are no traces of any ditches as a defence or any evidence for occupation within the enclosed area. The wall is around 100 metres long, its construction and the size of the wall vary along its length - suggesting later alterations.

S'Iscrithola Domus de Janas

The necropolis of S'Iscrithola consists of five Neolithic domus de janas (rock-cut tombs) located on a slope descending towards the artificial lake of Gusana, in a beautiful forest area in Sardinia. The tombs are cut in relatively small rock outcrops. All the tombs are single-chambered, except for tomb 5, which has an antechamber and main chamber. Tomb 3 is partly damaged due to rock collapse.

Cooper's Ferry Archaeological Site

Cooper's Ferry is an archaeological site along the lower Salmon River, Idaho. Various lithic and animal remains from the Pleistocene to early Holocene ages have been found there. Radiocarbon dating provided a date mapping to 15,700 years calendar years ago. This would be several thousand years before the Clovis fluted points. The excavators have suggested their finds support the idea that early Americans arrived via a coastal route followed by riverine travel.