MaryAnn Bernal's Blog, page 285
May 4, 2014
Britain's oldest settlement is Amesbury not Thatcham, say scientists
Archaeologists discover Wiltshire site is forerunner to Stonehenge and has been continually occupied since 8,820BC
Mark Brown, arts correspondent
A bone and tool found at Blick Mead, an excavated Mesolithic site a mile-and-a-half from Stonehenge. Photograph: University Of Buckingham/PABritain's oldest settlement is not where we thought it was, a team of archaeologists said on Thursday as they announced with confidence that Amesbury should now hold the distinction.
It was previously considered that Thatcham in Berkshire held the distinction but researchers from the University of Buckingham are certain we need to look 40 miles west, to the parish of Amesbury, in Wiltshire, which also includes Stonehenge.
Carbon dating of bones of aurochs – the giant cattle that were twice the size of today's bulls – at the Blick Mead dig site, has shown that Amesbury has been continually occupied for each millennium since 8,820BC. Older than Thatcham, occupied since 7,700BC, it is in effect where British history began.
David Jacques, research fellow in archaeology at the University of Buckingham, led the dig. He said: "The site blows the lid off the Neolithic revolution in a number of ways. It provides evidence for people staying put, clearing land, building and presumably worshipping monuments.
"The area was clearly a hub point for people to come to from many miles away and in many ways was a forerunner for what later went on at Stonehenge itself. The first monuments at Stonehenge were built by these people.
"For years people have been asking 'why is Stonehenge where it is?' Now, at last, we have found the answers."
It was the same dig, at Blick Mead, which last year led to the discovery that Mesolithic Britons were enjoying eating frogs legs about eight millennia before the French.
At the time, Jaques expressed confidence that evidence would prove it was Britain's oldest settlement. That has now been confirmed and on Thursday it was recognised by the Guinness Book of Records.
The dig also unearthed the largest number of Mesolithic worked flints ever found; 31,000 were discovered in just over 40 days, all in a 16-sq-metre (172-sq-ft) area.
The discoveries put a date to the activities of those who built the first monuments at the Stonehenge site, using enormous pine posts. It shows their communities lived in the area for a further 3,000 years, close to the dawn of the Neolithic era when Stonehenge itself was built.
Archaeologists say the results provide something of a missing link between the erection of the posts, between 8,820 and 6,590BC, and of Stonehenge, in 3,000BC. The findings provide evidence which suggests that Stonehenge, rather than a Neolithic new-build sitting, at first, in an empty landscape should be viewed as a response to long-term use of the area by indigenous hunters and home-makers.
Bill Dunn, spokesman for the Amesbury History Centre, said: "We are naturally delighted at the confirmation of Amesbury's longevity as the oldest continuously inhabited place in England. We have always known Amesbury as somewhere special and this confirms it. All the visitors to the museum are amazed at what they find, and we hope even more people will now visit."
• This article was amended on 2 May 2014. An earlier version referred to Amesbury as being continually occupied for each millennia, rather than millennium, since 8,820BC.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/may/01/oldest-britain-settlement-amesbury-wiltshire-stonehenge
Mark Brown, arts correspondent
A bone and tool found at Blick Mead, an excavated Mesolithic site a mile-and-a-half from Stonehenge. Photograph: University Of Buckingham/PABritain's oldest settlement is not where we thought it was, a team of archaeologists said on Thursday as they announced with confidence that Amesbury should now hold the distinction.
It was previously considered that Thatcham in Berkshire held the distinction but researchers from the University of Buckingham are certain we need to look 40 miles west, to the parish of Amesbury, in Wiltshire, which also includes Stonehenge.
Carbon dating of bones of aurochs – the giant cattle that were twice the size of today's bulls – at the Blick Mead dig site, has shown that Amesbury has been continually occupied for each millennium since 8,820BC. Older than Thatcham, occupied since 7,700BC, it is in effect where British history began.
David Jacques, research fellow in archaeology at the University of Buckingham, led the dig. He said: "The site blows the lid off the Neolithic revolution in a number of ways. It provides evidence for people staying put, clearing land, building and presumably worshipping monuments.
"The area was clearly a hub point for people to come to from many miles away and in many ways was a forerunner for what later went on at Stonehenge itself. The first monuments at Stonehenge were built by these people.
"For years people have been asking 'why is Stonehenge where it is?' Now, at last, we have found the answers."
It was the same dig, at Blick Mead, which last year led to the discovery that Mesolithic Britons were enjoying eating frogs legs about eight millennia before the French.
At the time, Jaques expressed confidence that evidence would prove it was Britain's oldest settlement. That has now been confirmed and on Thursday it was recognised by the Guinness Book of Records.
The dig also unearthed the largest number of Mesolithic worked flints ever found; 31,000 were discovered in just over 40 days, all in a 16-sq-metre (172-sq-ft) area.
The discoveries put a date to the activities of those who built the first monuments at the Stonehenge site, using enormous pine posts. It shows their communities lived in the area for a further 3,000 years, close to the dawn of the Neolithic era when Stonehenge itself was built.
Archaeologists say the results provide something of a missing link between the erection of the posts, between 8,820 and 6,590BC, and of Stonehenge, in 3,000BC. The findings provide evidence which suggests that Stonehenge, rather than a Neolithic new-build sitting, at first, in an empty landscape should be viewed as a response to long-term use of the area by indigenous hunters and home-makers.
Bill Dunn, spokesman for the Amesbury History Centre, said: "We are naturally delighted at the confirmation of Amesbury's longevity as the oldest continuously inhabited place in England. We have always known Amesbury as somewhere special and this confirms it. All the visitors to the museum are amazed at what they find, and we hope even more people will now visit."
• This article was amended on 2 May 2014. An earlier version referred to Amesbury as being continually occupied for each millennia, rather than millennium, since 8,820BC.
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/may/01/oldest-britain-settlement-amesbury-wiltshire-stonehenge
The Night I Danced with Rommel featured on Bargain Books
The Night I Danced with Rommel
by Elisabeth Marrion
Rating: 4.7 Stars
Genre: Historical Fiction
Price: $0.99 Save $2.00
Make sure price is still $0.99 before clicking “Buy”.
“It is a beautifully written, artfully edited story….If you are looking for an entertaining book with purpose, this is it.” -Linda R.
‘May I have this dance, Hilde’ asked Field Marshal Rommel, opening the Grande Ball held in his honour.
Did this dance save the life of Hilde’s Polish friends?
Hilde had come a long way since her dream of becoming a singer was shattered when her father made arrangements for her to work as a housekeeper in Berlin at the tender age of fourteen.
Hilde’s life is thrown into turmoil in Berlin during the late 1920’s early 1930’s. Having Polish friends meant it was becoming increasingly unsafe for her to stay there and she finds a new life in the Harz mountains.
In Goslar, Hilde meets her husband, Karl, a young officer in the German Army. When he joins the 7th Panzer Brigade led by General Erwin Rommel at the beginning of World War II, Hilde is left to bring up their children in war-torn Germany.
Hilde’s story is based on facts and is told here by her youngest daughter, Elisabeth.
http://ereadernewstoday.com/more-bargain-and-free-books-for-5-4-14/6743579/
History Trivia - Pope Alexander VI divides the New World between Spain and Portugal
May 4
1256 The Augustinian monastic order was constituted at the Lecceto Monastery in Tuscany when Pope Alexander IV issued a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae.
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1415 Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus were condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance.
1471 Wars of the Roses: the Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians at the battle of Tewkesbury.
1493 Pope Alexander VI divided the New World between Spain and Portugal along the Line of Demarcation.
1256 The Augustinian monastic order was constituted at the Lecceto Monastery in Tuscany when Pope Alexander IV issued a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae.
[image error]
1415 Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus were condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance.
1471 Wars of the Roses: the Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians at the battle of Tewkesbury.
1493 Pope Alexander VI divided the New World between Spain and Portugal along the Line of Demarcation.
May 3, 2014
History Trivia - Gregory V consecrated as pope
May 3
612 Constantine III, Byzantine Emperor was born.
996 Gregory V was consecrated as pope. The pontificate of Gregory was brief and turbulent, and was interrupted by the installation of John XVI as antipope.
1415 Cecily Neville, mother of Edward IV of England and Richard III of England was born.
1469 Niccolo Machiavelli was born.
612 Constantine III, Byzantine Emperor was born.
996 Gregory V was consecrated as pope. The pontificate of Gregory was brief and turbulent, and was interrupted by the installation of John XVI as antipope.
1415 Cecily Neville, mother of Edward IV of England and Richard III of England was born.
1469 Niccolo Machiavelli was born.
Audio Book - Dragon's Star: The Adventures of Cecilia Spark, Book 3
http://www.audible.com/pd/Kids/Dragons-Star-Audiobook/B00K1NBZ1E/ref=a_pd_Kids_D_c2_pin
Written by: Ngaire Elder Narrated by: Hana Khalique Cecilia Spark is in a race against time. Her challenge is to save the last Millennium Dragon, captured by a hideous knight of darkness, and reunite him with the star that gives him his power. With Orson, Ractus and Pacha by her side, Cecilia must rescue Fuego and save the Land of Dragons from an endless, desperate gloom. Harassed by crooked imps, captured in the lair of a giant spider, lost in the darkest of dungeons and threatened by a hidden river monster, will Cecilia and her brave friends succeed in their quest.
Written by: Ngaire Elder Narrated by: Hana Khalique Cecilia Spark is in a race against time. Her challenge is to save the last Millennium Dragon, captured by a hideous knight of darkness, and reunite him with the star that gives him his power. With Orson, Ractus and Pacha by her side, Cecilia must rescue Fuego and save the Land of Dragons from an endless, desperate gloom. Harassed by crooked imps, captured in the lair of a giant spider, lost in the darkest of dungeons and threatened by a hidden river monster, will Cecilia and her brave friends succeed in their quest.
May 2, 2014
The Phil Naessens Show: Donald Sterling, 1st Amendment and NBA Playoff Talk
On today’s Phil Naessens Show J.R. Wilco shares his thoughts on Donald Sterling and the series between the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs. David Ramil shares his thoughts on Sterling, the Miami Heat first round playoff sweep of the Charlotte Bobcats and more NBA talk. J.A. Sherman joins Phil to share his thoughts on Donald Sterling, the 1st Amendment and game six of the playoff series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Memphis Grizzlies. http://phillipnaessens.wordpress.com/...
