MaryAnn Bernal's Blog, page 75
November 23, 2016
Oldest Human Burial and Polished Axe Unearthed in Ireland
Ancient Origins
Archaeologists have shed new light on the belief systems of early Mesolithic hunter-gatherers after analyzing cremated remains and artifacts given as grave offerings from the earliest recorded human burial site in Ireland. The team says it shows a rare and intimate glimpse of the complex funerary rituals taking place on the banks of the River Shannon at Hermitage, County Limerick, over 9,000 years ago. The team, led by Dr. Aimée Little from the Department of Archaeology at the University of York, analyzed cremated remains dating from 7530-7320 BC -- the earliest recorded human burial and grave assemblage.
The Hermitage site, where researchers found Ireland's oldest known burial. Credit: Courtesy of Aimée Little Polished Adze The site also featured evidence for a grave-marker; a post which would have marked the spot at which the cremated remains were buried long after the event itself. A highly-polished stone adze interred with the remains, thought to represent the earliest known completely polished adze or axe in Europe, was revealed to have been commissioned for burial at the site.
An artist's interpretation of what the grave at Hermitage would have looked like with a post. Courtesy of Aimée Little Microscopic analysis of the adze's surface demonstrated a short duration of use, indicating its purpose was for funerary rites.
Funerary Rites
It was then intentionally blunted, probably as part of the funerary rites, which the researchers have suggested may have been a ritual act symbolizing the death of the individual. The findings mark Hermitage out as an exceptionally important site for the Early Prehistory of North West Europe. Dr. Little said: "Through technological and microscopic analysis of the polished adze it has been possible to reconstruct the biography of this remarkable grave offering. "The special treatment of this adze gives us a rare and intimate glimpse of the complex funerary rituals that were taking place graveside on the banks of the River Shannon over 9,000 years ago."
Unprecedented Dr Ben Elliott added: "The adze is exceptional as we traditionally associate this polished axes and adzes like this with the arrival of agriculture in Europe, around 3000 years later. Bizarre Burials Uncovered in Ancient Georgia Cemetery Include Headless Skeletons and Decapitated Skull on a Plate The Mysterious Prehistoric Triple Burial of Dolni Vestonice A Polish Stonehenge? Discovery of New Burial Mounds May Rewrite History "Although polished axes and adzes are known from pre-agricultural sites in Ireland and other parts of Europe, to find such a well-made, highly polished and securely dated example is unprecedented for this period of prehistory."
This article, originally titled ‘ Archaeologists study earliest recorded human burial site in Ireland ’, was published on Science Daily .
Source: University of York. "Archaeologists study earliest recorded human burial site in Ireland." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 8 November 2016. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11...
Archaeologists have shed new light on the belief systems of early Mesolithic hunter-gatherers after analyzing cremated remains and artifacts given as grave offerings from the earliest recorded human burial site in Ireland. The team says it shows a rare and intimate glimpse of the complex funerary rituals taking place on the banks of the River Shannon at Hermitage, County Limerick, over 9,000 years ago. The team, led by Dr. Aimée Little from the Department of Archaeology at the University of York, analyzed cremated remains dating from 7530-7320 BC -- the earliest recorded human burial and grave assemblage.
The Hermitage site, where researchers found Ireland's oldest known burial. Credit: Courtesy of Aimée Little Polished Adze The site also featured evidence for a grave-marker; a post which would have marked the spot at which the cremated remains were buried long after the event itself. A highly-polished stone adze interred with the remains, thought to represent the earliest known completely polished adze or axe in Europe, was revealed to have been commissioned for burial at the site.
An artist's interpretation of what the grave at Hermitage would have looked like with a post. Courtesy of Aimée Little Microscopic analysis of the adze's surface demonstrated a short duration of use, indicating its purpose was for funerary rites.
Funerary Rites
It was then intentionally blunted, probably as part of the funerary rites, which the researchers have suggested may have been a ritual act symbolizing the death of the individual. The findings mark Hermitage out as an exceptionally important site for the Early Prehistory of North West Europe. Dr. Little said: "Through technological and microscopic analysis of the polished adze it has been possible to reconstruct the biography of this remarkable grave offering. "The special treatment of this adze gives us a rare and intimate glimpse of the complex funerary rituals that were taking place graveside on the banks of the River Shannon over 9,000 years ago."
Unprecedented Dr Ben Elliott added: "The adze is exceptional as we traditionally associate this polished axes and adzes like this with the arrival of agriculture in Europe, around 3000 years later. Bizarre Burials Uncovered in Ancient Georgia Cemetery Include Headless Skeletons and Decapitated Skull on a Plate The Mysterious Prehistoric Triple Burial of Dolni Vestonice A Polish Stonehenge? Discovery of New Burial Mounds May Rewrite History "Although polished axes and adzes are known from pre-agricultural sites in Ireland and other parts of Europe, to find such a well-made, highly polished and securely dated example is unprecedented for this period of prehistory."
This article, originally titled ‘ Archaeologists study earliest recorded human burial site in Ireland ’, was published on Science Daily .
Source: University of York. "Archaeologists study earliest recorded human burial site in Ireland." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 8 November 2016. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11...
November 22, 2016
Extensive Engraved Ramp Discovered Connecting an Elite Tomb to the Bank of the Nile
Ancient Origins
A decorated causeway leading to the tomb of a Middle Kingdom Elephantine Island provincial governor has been unearthed at Aswan, Egypt. The causeway is said to be the longest found to date on the western bank of the Nile in Aswan. It is also believed that the discovery may change the history of the Qubbet El-Hawa area. The discovery of the tomb was announced by Mahmoud Afifi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department at the Ministry of Antiquities. He explained to Ahram Online that the recently discovered causeway is 133 meters (436.35 ft.) long and connects the tomb of Sarenput I to the Nile bank.
The Nile river at Aswan, Egypt. (Citadelite/CC BY SA 3.0) While examining the causeway, researchers found beautiful engravings decorating the walls. Afifi explained that one of the most interesting images the team found is a decoration depicting a group of men pulling a bull on the eastern part of the ramp's northern wall. It portrays an offering to Sarenput I after his death. The archaeological mission has also discovered a collection of clay containers in a pit located within the causeway. The researchers believe that they are canopic jars that were used during mummification. Organic materials were found inside the containers and the artifacts will be further studied to better understand the mummification process during the Middle Kingdom period (c. 2055 BC – 1650 BC).
Example of a Middle Kingdom canopic jar from Harageh, tomb 92. (CC BY SA 3.0) This container belonged to Lady Senebtisi who lived sometime during the 12th Dynasty, (c. 1938-1759). The tomb’s first two chambers have colonnades and the burial chamber has a niche that housed a statue of Sarenput I. The reliefs which decorate the tomb show Sarenput with his family and beloved dogs. There is also a scene showing the owner of the tomb with the god Khnum. Sarenput I was an Elephantine ruler during the reign of King Senusret I (1971 BC - 1926 BC). He held a few titles, including ‘the overseer of foreign lands’ and ‘the overseer of the priests of Satet.’ Sarenput I was also responsible for the pharaoh’s trade with Nubia.
Bust of Senusret I in the Neues Museum, Berlin. (Keith Schengili-Roberts/CC BY SA 3.0) Research on the ramp is being led by archaeologist Martin Yumath, who is excited about the discovery. He believes that his team’s work may change what we currently think about the history of this area. As Ahram Online reports, “Yumath asserted that the mission will start a comprehensive study on the ramp in order to reveal more of its secrets, which may open up the opportunity to comprehensively explore the Qubbet El-Hawa area, which houses a collection of tombs of high officials from the Old Kingdom and nomarchs [provincial governors] from the Middle Kingdom.”
The causeway. (Ahram Online) Another headline in archaeology news regarding the ancient Egyptian 12th dynasty was reported by Natalia Klimczak on Ancient Origins in May 2016. That discovery was the tomb of a prominent lady called Sattjeni. Her tomb was found by Spanish Egyptologists in the necropolis of Qubbet el-Hawa (West Aswan), Egypt as well. The team of researchers from Jaén University in Spain has been working in West Aswan since 2008 and, since that year, they have discovered several intact burials from different time periods. A group led by Alejandro Jiménez-Serrano discovered the tomb of Sattjeni, who appears to have been one of the most important women of her time. According to El Confidencial, inside the tomb the researchers discovered the remains of a woman who was buried in two wooden coffins. The inscription allowed them to discover her name.
The newly-discovered coffin of the Egyptian noblewoman called Sattjeni. (Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities) Sattjeni was the mother, daughter, and a wife to important governors. Her family worked mostly in the service of pharaoh Amenemhat III (1800-1775 BC). She was the daughter of Prince Sarnbhut II, and the mother of Heqa-Ib III and Amaeny-Senb (two of the highest Elephantine authorities under the reign of this pharaoh). Her body was discovered wrapped in linen and deposited in two coffins made of cedar from Lebanon. Her face was still covered by a cartonnage mask. The inner coffin was very well preserved, enabling the accurate dating of the year in which the tree was cut to make the coffin.
Top Image: The engraved wall of the causeway discovered during excavations at Aswan's Qubbet El-Hawa necropolis.
Source: Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities By Natalia Klimczak
A decorated causeway leading to the tomb of a Middle Kingdom Elephantine Island provincial governor has been unearthed at Aswan, Egypt. The causeway is said to be the longest found to date on the western bank of the Nile in Aswan. It is also believed that the discovery may change the history of the Qubbet El-Hawa area. The discovery of the tomb was announced by Mahmoud Afifi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department at the Ministry of Antiquities. He explained to Ahram Online that the recently discovered causeway is 133 meters (436.35 ft.) long and connects the tomb of Sarenput I to the Nile bank.
The Nile river at Aswan, Egypt. (Citadelite/CC BY SA 3.0) While examining the causeway, researchers found beautiful engravings decorating the walls. Afifi explained that one of the most interesting images the team found is a decoration depicting a group of men pulling a bull on the eastern part of the ramp's northern wall. It portrays an offering to Sarenput I after his death. The archaeological mission has also discovered a collection of clay containers in a pit located within the causeway. The researchers believe that they are canopic jars that were used during mummification. Organic materials were found inside the containers and the artifacts will be further studied to better understand the mummification process during the Middle Kingdom period (c. 2055 BC – 1650 BC).
Example of a Middle Kingdom canopic jar from Harageh, tomb 92. (CC BY SA 3.0) This container belonged to Lady Senebtisi who lived sometime during the 12th Dynasty, (c. 1938-1759). The tomb’s first two chambers have colonnades and the burial chamber has a niche that housed a statue of Sarenput I. The reliefs which decorate the tomb show Sarenput with his family and beloved dogs. There is also a scene showing the owner of the tomb with the god Khnum. Sarenput I was an Elephantine ruler during the reign of King Senusret I (1971 BC - 1926 BC). He held a few titles, including ‘the overseer of foreign lands’ and ‘the overseer of the priests of Satet.’ Sarenput I was also responsible for the pharaoh’s trade with Nubia.
Bust of Senusret I in the Neues Museum, Berlin. (Keith Schengili-Roberts/CC BY SA 3.0) Research on the ramp is being led by archaeologist Martin Yumath, who is excited about the discovery. He believes that his team’s work may change what we currently think about the history of this area. As Ahram Online reports, “Yumath asserted that the mission will start a comprehensive study on the ramp in order to reveal more of its secrets, which may open up the opportunity to comprehensively explore the Qubbet El-Hawa area, which houses a collection of tombs of high officials from the Old Kingdom and nomarchs [provincial governors] from the Middle Kingdom.”
The causeway. (Ahram Online) Another headline in archaeology news regarding the ancient Egyptian 12th dynasty was reported by Natalia Klimczak on Ancient Origins in May 2016. That discovery was the tomb of a prominent lady called Sattjeni. Her tomb was found by Spanish Egyptologists in the necropolis of Qubbet el-Hawa (West Aswan), Egypt as well. The team of researchers from Jaén University in Spain has been working in West Aswan since 2008 and, since that year, they have discovered several intact burials from different time periods. A group led by Alejandro Jiménez-Serrano discovered the tomb of Sattjeni, who appears to have been one of the most important women of her time. According to El Confidencial, inside the tomb the researchers discovered the remains of a woman who was buried in two wooden coffins. The inscription allowed them to discover her name.
The newly-discovered coffin of the Egyptian noblewoman called Sattjeni. (Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities) Sattjeni was the mother, daughter, and a wife to important governors. Her family worked mostly in the service of pharaoh Amenemhat III (1800-1775 BC). She was the daughter of Prince Sarnbhut II, and the mother of Heqa-Ib III and Amaeny-Senb (two of the highest Elephantine authorities under the reign of this pharaoh). Her body was discovered wrapped in linen and deposited in two coffins made of cedar from Lebanon. Her face was still covered by a cartonnage mask. The inner coffin was very well preserved, enabling the accurate dating of the year in which the tree was cut to make the coffin.
Top Image: The engraved wall of the causeway discovered during excavations at Aswan's Qubbet El-Hawa necropolis.
Source: Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities By Natalia Klimczak
November 21, 2016
Unearthing the 1,000-Year-Old Story of a Rare Viking Toolbox
Ancient Origins
The discovery of a rare 1,000-year-old Viking toolbox containing 14 unique iron tools caused excitement during recent excavations at an old Viking fortress. The toolbox was unearthed in a small lump of soil at Denmark's fifth Viking ring fortress: Borgring. It is the first direct evidence that people actually lived at the site. Science Nordic journalist Charlotte Price Persson became an archaeologist for a day and joined the team of researchers to help clear away the dirt and expose the iron tools. The soil containing the artifacts was removed from the site of one of the four gates at Borgring. The researchers suggest that the tools could have belonged to people who lived in the fortress. It contains an amazing collection of tools which were used around the 10 th century AD.
Lead archaeologist Nanna Holm decided to take a better look before excavation began on the tools. As she told Science Nordic: “We could see that there was something in the layers [of soil] around the east gate. If it had been a big signal from the upper layers then it could have been a regular plough, but it came from the more ‘exciting’ layers. So we dug it up and asked the local hospital for permission to borrow their CT-scanner.”
The scans allowed the researchers to see the shapes of the tools and they realized that the toolbox itself was gone – the wood had rotted away over time. However, the placement of the objects suggests that the wooden box was replaced with soil. The discovery is exceptionally rare. Tools made of iron were very expensive and precious to the Vikings. It is strange that nobody had found them before and melted the objects down to repurpose the iron.
CT Scan of the Viking toolbox. ( videnskab.dk) The archaeologists believe that an analysis of the artifacts will help them to understand what type of craftsman owned them. For now, they suppose that the spoon drills and drawplate could have been used to produce thin wire bracelets. But, this kind of drill was also used to make holes in wood – suggesting that it could have also been a carpenter’s toolbox. Moreover, the location of the artifacts by the eastern gate of the fortress provides more information on the tools’ history. They could have been used after a fire that torched the fortress’ north and east gates in the second half of the 10th century. The team also found a room near the gate which could have been a workshop or used for housing a craftsman. It measures about 30-40 square meters (322-430 sq. ft.), and had its own fireplace. The researchers speculate that the tools were buried underground when the gate collapsed – explaining why the recovery of the valued iron objects would have been difficult.
Aerial photo of Vallø Borgring. This is an edited version of a satellite photo with added hill shade. The arrow is pointing at a site which has a clear circular form. (Danskebjerge/ CC BY SA 3.0 ) Now the researchers want to scan the tools by X-ray. That should help Holm’s team to identify exactly what the tools are. She already has some ideas, for example, that one of the spoon drills may be a pair of pliers or tweezers. It is planned that the tools will be put on display next year, although the artifacts need conservation work before they will be ready to be exhibited.
[image error] Thinglink interactive image: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/85066...
Top Image: Example of a Viking toolbox that was found in 1936 at the bottom of the former lake Mästermyr, island of Gotland. Source: Christer Åhlin/SHMM
By Natalia Klimczak
The discovery of a rare 1,000-year-old Viking toolbox containing 14 unique iron tools caused excitement during recent excavations at an old Viking fortress. The toolbox was unearthed in a small lump of soil at Denmark's fifth Viking ring fortress: Borgring. It is the first direct evidence that people actually lived at the site. Science Nordic journalist Charlotte Price Persson became an archaeologist for a day and joined the team of researchers to help clear away the dirt and expose the iron tools. The soil containing the artifacts was removed from the site of one of the four gates at Borgring. The researchers suggest that the tools could have belonged to people who lived in the fortress. It contains an amazing collection of tools which were used around the 10 th century AD.
Lead archaeologist Nanna Holm decided to take a better look before excavation began on the tools. As she told Science Nordic: “We could see that there was something in the layers [of soil] around the east gate. If it had been a big signal from the upper layers then it could have been a regular plough, but it came from the more ‘exciting’ layers. So we dug it up and asked the local hospital for permission to borrow their CT-scanner.”
The scans allowed the researchers to see the shapes of the tools and they realized that the toolbox itself was gone – the wood had rotted away over time. However, the placement of the objects suggests that the wooden box was replaced with soil. The discovery is exceptionally rare. Tools made of iron were very expensive and precious to the Vikings. It is strange that nobody had found them before and melted the objects down to repurpose the iron.
CT Scan of the Viking toolbox. ( videnskab.dk) The archaeologists believe that an analysis of the artifacts will help them to understand what type of craftsman owned them. For now, they suppose that the spoon drills and drawplate could have been used to produce thin wire bracelets. But, this kind of drill was also used to make holes in wood – suggesting that it could have also been a carpenter’s toolbox. Moreover, the location of the artifacts by the eastern gate of the fortress provides more information on the tools’ history. They could have been used after a fire that torched the fortress’ north and east gates in the second half of the 10th century. The team also found a room near the gate which could have been a workshop or used for housing a craftsman. It measures about 30-40 square meters (322-430 sq. ft.), and had its own fireplace. The researchers speculate that the tools were buried underground when the gate collapsed – explaining why the recovery of the valued iron objects would have been difficult.
Aerial photo of Vallø Borgring. This is an edited version of a satellite photo with added hill shade. The arrow is pointing at a site which has a clear circular form. (Danskebjerge/ CC BY SA 3.0 ) Now the researchers want to scan the tools by X-ray. That should help Holm’s team to identify exactly what the tools are. She already has some ideas, for example, that one of the spoon drills may be a pair of pliers or tweezers. It is planned that the tools will be put on display next year, although the artifacts need conservation work before they will be ready to be exhibited.
[image error] Thinglink interactive image: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/85066...
Top Image: Example of a Viking toolbox that was found in 1936 at the bottom of the former lake Mästermyr, island of Gotland. Source: Christer Åhlin/SHMM
By Natalia Klimczak
November 20, 2016
Holy Yet Cursed Medieval Well Unearthed in England
Ancient Origins
Archaeologists working in England have excavated a holy well dated to the Medieval period. Local legends speak of pilgrims bathing in its waters to cure their eye and skin diseases. However, a later urban myth also linked the well to a more sinister story and claims that the site is cursed.
The shallow spring is known as St Anne’s Well and it is located between Rainhill and Sutton St Helens, near Liverpool. Science Alert says the well was built to honor Saint Anne, the Virgin Mary’s mother, “who had a cult following in Britain during the late Medieval Period (1066-1485 AD).” Local legends say that St Anne had bathed in the well, providing the waters with healing powers.
Saint Anne with Mary as a child. (Renardeau/
CC BY SA 3.0
)It is generally believed that 12 monks were living in a priory near the holy well before Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries. "The well attracted numbers of pilgrims, necessitating the building of a small three-roomed structure around the well and the custodianship of two of the monks," Jamie Quartermaine, an archaeologist who supervised the dig said.
The Ritual behind Wishing Wells: Buying Favors and Good FortuneThe Masonic Initiation Wells of the Quinta da Regaleira
A structure built around the Dupath Well in Cornwall / Kernow. (1912) (
Public Domain
)Local folklore states that the steward of a neighboring landowner named Hugh Darcy argued with the prior, Father Delwaney, about access to the well and land boundaries. The two men got into a heated argument at which point Darcy apparently told Delwaney that the prior would likely not hold his important position much longer, before stomping back toward his master’s estate.
Soon thereafter the monks were apparently removed from the priory by the king’s men. On their way out they passed by the holy well where Father Delwaney saw Hugh Darcy (who seemed to be awaiting them and to have had an “understanding” with the commissioners taking the monks away). The prior was angered by Darcy’s appearance and possible role in the loss of the monastery and he said: “The curse of the serpent be on thee, thou spoiler of the Lord’s inheritance, thy ill-gotten gains shall not profit thee, and a year and a day shall not pass ere St. Anne thy head shall bruise.” Not long after placing this curse on Darcy, the prior fainted and then died.
The story continues by saying that Darcy wasted no time in gaining access to the farmlands around the holy well and tearing down the building made for the pilgrims who visited it. Although things seemed to be going smoothly at first Darcy “could not get rid of the strange foreboding of coming evil.” Three months later his son died of a mysterious illness and soon after he suffered heavy financial loss. The legend ends with Darcy disappearing after a night of drinking. His body was allegedly found beside the well where his head was crushed in.
It is probable that the story is nothing more than an urban myth, but it is true that eventually the holy well had fallen into disuse and was filled with earth. Before it was excavated, St Anne’s Well had “just a patch of barren grass and a couple of stones” marking its location in a large field. [Via Historic England] The holy well was known about for years by local archaeologists and the property owner and it was on the “Heritage at Risk Register” since 2010.
St Anne’s Well as it appeared in 2015. (
Historic England
)As Jamie Quartermaine, told Discovery News “When we first got to the well we found that there was very little indication of it on the surface, but after excavation it was found to be in reasonable condition.”
Oxford Archaeology North carefully worked to unearth the legendary feature, and two days later they excavated the large sandstone well. Historic England reports that St Anne’s Well measures almost 2 x 2 meters (6.6 x 6.6 ft.) and has three steps which led to the pool where the pilgrims would have bathed.
The well during excavations. (
Historic England
)Historic England says that works were completed on the holy well with the team repairing some of the fallen stones and setting up a wooden perimeter to protect it from soil filling it in again and possible damage from farm machinery.
900-Year-Old Holy Well Found Under London Building Still has Drinkable WaterFirst Ancient Oracle Well to Apollo unearthed in Athens
Members of Rainhill Civic Society and Merseyside Archaeological Society with the repaired holy well. (
Historic England
)As the website Seomra Ranga points out, “holy wells are places of popular religious devotion where people come to pray and leave simple offerings. Holy wells invariably tend to date from pre-Christian times, during which they served as a form of natural religion in which the well was held to be sacred.”
Often, said wells are actually springs which have been provided with a special significance in local folklore and have specific legends associated with them. The importance of the sites can be linked to the global reverence humans tend to have for water - especially when it is clean or pure.
St. Brigid's well, Near Buttevant, County Cork, Ireland. (Alison Cassidy/
CC BY SA 3.0
)Another holy well was found in January 2016. It was discovered in the basement of Australia House, the nation’s diplomatic mission, in London. As Mark Miller wrote in his article for Ancient Origins, the well dates back about 900 years. It is one of the few holy wells that can still be accessed in the city.
Two interesting points of interest about this well are its association with theater and the clean water it is said to still provide. As High Commissioner Alexander Downer told ABC. “They were used for ceremonial purposes and plays were performed around the well. And as a result of that this part of London evolved as an area where theatres were built.” Mr. Downer also said a medieval monk wrote about the well, describing it as “sweet, wholesome and pure.”
Australia House. (Richard Rogerson/
CC BY SA 2.0
)And more recently, Duncan Howitt said he drank a cup of the water about seven years ago. “He was encouraged by a colleague from the Canadian High Commission who had an interest in history when a group of about five people went into the basement. Howitt called the water “fresh and clear. Better than tap water.”” [ Via Ancient Origins]
Top Image: St. Anne's Well, between Rainhill and Sutton St Helens, near Liverpool, UK. Source: Jamie Quartermaine
By Alicia McDermott
Archaeologists working in England have excavated a holy well dated to the Medieval period. Local legends speak of pilgrims bathing in its waters to cure their eye and skin diseases. However, a later urban myth also linked the well to a more sinister story and claims that the site is cursed.
The shallow spring is known as St Anne’s Well and it is located between Rainhill and Sutton St Helens, near Liverpool. Science Alert says the well was built to honor Saint Anne, the Virgin Mary’s mother, “who had a cult following in Britain during the late Medieval Period (1066-1485 AD).” Local legends say that St Anne had bathed in the well, providing the waters with healing powers.
Saint Anne with Mary as a child. (Renardeau/
CC BY SA 3.0
)It is generally believed that 12 monks were living in a priory near the holy well before Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries. "The well attracted numbers of pilgrims, necessitating the building of a small three-roomed structure around the well and the custodianship of two of the monks," Jamie Quartermaine, an archaeologist who supervised the dig said.The Ritual behind Wishing Wells: Buying Favors and Good FortuneThe Masonic Initiation Wells of the Quinta da Regaleira
A structure built around the Dupath Well in Cornwall / Kernow. (1912) (
Public Domain
)Local folklore states that the steward of a neighboring landowner named Hugh Darcy argued with the prior, Father Delwaney, about access to the well and land boundaries. The two men got into a heated argument at which point Darcy apparently told Delwaney that the prior would likely not hold his important position much longer, before stomping back toward his master’s estate.Soon thereafter the monks were apparently removed from the priory by the king’s men. On their way out they passed by the holy well where Father Delwaney saw Hugh Darcy (who seemed to be awaiting them and to have had an “understanding” with the commissioners taking the monks away). The prior was angered by Darcy’s appearance and possible role in the loss of the monastery and he said: “The curse of the serpent be on thee, thou spoiler of the Lord’s inheritance, thy ill-gotten gains shall not profit thee, and a year and a day shall not pass ere St. Anne thy head shall bruise.” Not long after placing this curse on Darcy, the prior fainted and then died.
The story continues by saying that Darcy wasted no time in gaining access to the farmlands around the holy well and tearing down the building made for the pilgrims who visited it. Although things seemed to be going smoothly at first Darcy “could not get rid of the strange foreboding of coming evil.” Three months later his son died of a mysterious illness and soon after he suffered heavy financial loss. The legend ends with Darcy disappearing after a night of drinking. His body was allegedly found beside the well where his head was crushed in.
It is probable that the story is nothing more than an urban myth, but it is true that eventually the holy well had fallen into disuse and was filled with earth. Before it was excavated, St Anne’s Well had “just a patch of barren grass and a couple of stones” marking its location in a large field. [Via Historic England] The holy well was known about for years by local archaeologists and the property owner and it was on the “Heritage at Risk Register” since 2010.
St Anne’s Well as it appeared in 2015. (
Historic England
)As Jamie Quartermaine, told Discovery News “When we first got to the well we found that there was very little indication of it on the surface, but after excavation it was found to be in reasonable condition.”Oxford Archaeology North carefully worked to unearth the legendary feature, and two days later they excavated the large sandstone well. Historic England reports that St Anne’s Well measures almost 2 x 2 meters (6.6 x 6.6 ft.) and has three steps which led to the pool where the pilgrims would have bathed.
The well during excavations. (
Historic England
)Historic England says that works were completed on the holy well with the team repairing some of the fallen stones and setting up a wooden perimeter to protect it from soil filling it in again and possible damage from farm machinery.900-Year-Old Holy Well Found Under London Building Still has Drinkable WaterFirst Ancient Oracle Well to Apollo unearthed in Athens
Members of Rainhill Civic Society and Merseyside Archaeological Society with the repaired holy well. (
Historic England
)As the website Seomra Ranga points out, “holy wells are places of popular religious devotion where people come to pray and leave simple offerings. Holy wells invariably tend to date from pre-Christian times, during which they served as a form of natural religion in which the well was held to be sacred.”Often, said wells are actually springs which have been provided with a special significance in local folklore and have specific legends associated with them. The importance of the sites can be linked to the global reverence humans tend to have for water - especially when it is clean or pure.
St. Brigid's well, Near Buttevant, County Cork, Ireland. (Alison Cassidy/
CC BY SA 3.0
)Another holy well was found in January 2016. It was discovered in the basement of Australia House, the nation’s diplomatic mission, in London. As Mark Miller wrote in his article for Ancient Origins, the well dates back about 900 years. It is one of the few holy wells that can still be accessed in the city.Two interesting points of interest about this well are its association with theater and the clean water it is said to still provide. As High Commissioner Alexander Downer told ABC. “They were used for ceremonial purposes and plays were performed around the well. And as a result of that this part of London evolved as an area where theatres were built.” Mr. Downer also said a medieval monk wrote about the well, describing it as “sweet, wholesome and pure.”
Australia House. (Richard Rogerson/
CC BY SA 2.0
)And more recently, Duncan Howitt said he drank a cup of the water about seven years ago. “He was encouraged by a colleague from the Canadian High Commission who had an interest in history when a group of about five people went into the basement. Howitt called the water “fresh and clear. Better than tap water.”” [ Via Ancient Origins]Top Image: St. Anne's Well, between Rainhill and Sutton St Helens, near Liverpool, UK. Source: Jamie Quartermaine
By Alicia McDermott
November 19, 2016
The young Elizabeth II: life before she was Queen
History Extra
A 1942 Cecil Beaton portrait of the 16-year-old princess Elizabeth as colonel of the Grenadier Guards. (Getty/Popperfoto)
In April 1926, Britain was on the brink of the General Strike called by the TUC. There had been an economic perfect storm: the postwar crash in coal prices, combined with the government putting Britain on the gold standard, had put mining under pressure. After a government commission recommended reducing miners’ wages, the stage was set for an all-out strike of miners and other workers covered by the TUC, including railway and transport workers.
But despite being in a crisis, the home secretary Sir William Joynson Hicks could not be excused witnessing the legitimacy of a royal baby. The Duke and Duchess of York – George V’s second son, Bertie and his wife, the former Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon – were expecting their first child. Although the baby was not a direct heir to the throne, Sir William still had to travel to 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair, a home owned by Bowes-Lyons, where the child was due to be born.
The little girl was born by Caesarian section at 2.40am on 21 April. “We have long wanted a child to make our happiness complete,” wrote the duke. The child was “a little darling with a lovely complexion”, decreed Queen Mary. “I do hope that you and papa are as delighted as we are to have a granddaughter, or would you sooner have had another grandson?” wrote the duke to his father, George V. The baby was officially third in line to the throne, but since she was the child of George V’s second son – and female – she was destined to be pushed down the succession by sons born to her uncle, the Prince of Wales, and her father. She was called Elizabeth Alexandra Mary after her mother, great-grandmother and grandmother – after consorts, not queens regnant. The princess was destined for a good marriage and little more.
The royal family gather following the christening of the new princess in Buckingham Palace’s private chapel, 29 May 1926. Although third in line, Elizabeth was not expected to rule. (Getty Images)
On 3 May, the TUC called the General Strike. Conservative prime minister Stanley Baldwin called it the “road to anarchy”, but the government played hard, drafting in volunteers and calling forth the middle classes to step in. By 12 May it had been called off and the following year the government outlawed sympathetic strikes and strikes intended to coerce the government, making another general strike impossible and restoring the existing structures of power. Two weeks later, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was christened by the archbishop of York at Buckingham Palace.
The young princess was a favourite with her grandparents and one of the few people in the family not afraid of the king, whom she called ‘Grandpa England’. In early 1927, her parents departed on a tour of Australia and New Zealand, leaving her with her nannies. When they returned, they took a new house, 145 Piccadilly, near Hyde Park. It had 25 bedrooms, a lift and a ballroom but, by royal standards, Elizabeth was growing up in a cosy, normal house and her playmates in the gardens were the daughters of businessmen and doctors, not fellow princesses.
In 1930 Princess Margaret was born. This time the home secretary, John R Clynes, had to trek up to Glamis Castle, the ancestral home of the Duchess of York. “I am glad to say that she has large blue eyes and a will of iron, which is all the equipment a lady needs!” the duchess wrote. As they grew up, it became evident that the two little girls had very different personalities. Elizabeth was conscientious, dutiful and orderly – she couldn’t go to sleep without unsaddling and feeding all her nursery horses and lining them up neatly. Margaret was playful, determined and fond of pranks – she blamed any mistakes or spillages on her imaginary friend, Cousin Halifax.
Elizabeth atop a rocking horse with sister Margaret in August 1932. (Getty Images)
In 1933, when Elizabeth was seven, she received a new governess, Miss Marion Crawford. She had been recommended to the Duchess of York as a “country girl who was a good teacher, except when it came to mathematics”. Fortunately, the duchess was not looking for a challenging academic schedule. Both she and her husband had hated school (the duke had been ridiculed as a dunce). What the royal couple wanted for their daughters was a “really happy childhood, with lots of pleasant memories”, which meant minimal lessons. The king had only one request: ‘‘Teach Margaret and Lilibet a decent hand.” Miss Crawford’s regimen was gentle. Elizabeth received lessons from 9.30 until 11 in the morning and the rest of the day was devoted to outdoor games, dancing and singing, with a rest period for an hour and a half.
Nanny Marion Crawford gave the girls a minimal education. Lessons became more robust once Elizabeth was heir. (Corbin)
Unlike her parents, Elizabeth had an aptitude for learning and enjoyed history and literature but she had little opportunity for sustained study. Queen Mary criticised their education and recalled that she had busied herself with homework in the holidays – but to no avail. In her free time, Elizabeth was fondest of dogs and horses. She declared she wanted to marry a farmer so she could have lots of “cows, horses and dogs”.
George V died in January 1936 and the Prince of Wales assumed the throne as Edward VIII. As king he was more dependent on his lover, Wallis Simpson, than ever. But although the foreign press discussed his relationship with the American divorcee at length, the British newspapers stayed quiet. In late October, Wallis filed for divorce from her second husband and it was clear that the king meant to marry her. The government was as determined to stop him, for it was thought the people would not accept a divorced consort. The empire governments mostly refused the idea outright. “It was plain to everyone that there was a great shadow over the house,” wrote Miss Crawford.
Edward ruled for less than a year before standing down to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. (Getty Images)
On 10 December, 10-year-old Elizabeth was about to write up her notes from her swimming lesson when she heard chants of “God Save the King” outside. She asked a footman what had happened and he told her that her uncle had abdicated and her father was king. She ran up to tell her sister the news. “Does that mean you will have to be the next queen?” asked Margaret. “Yes, some day,” replied Elizabeth. “Poor you,” said Margaret. In the face of crisis and change, Elizabeth adopted a technique she would use throughout her life: she stuck to her routine, attempting to appear unruffled. She wrote up her swimming notes, and at the top of the page she wrote: “Abdication Day.”
The jolly life of 145 Piccadilly was at an end. The family moved into Buckingham Palace and her father and mother – who had always been so present – became consumed by meetings, receptions and politics. The former king, now the Duke of Windsor, the Uncle David of whom the children had been so fond, was sent to Europe. Elizabeth attended her father’s coronation, accompanied by Queen Mary, writing that the abbey was covered in “a sort of haze of wonder as papa was crowned, at least I thought so”.
[image error]Princess Elizabeth, aged 11, witnesses her father, the Duke of York, being crowned King George VI after his brother Edward VIII’s abdication in 1936. (Getty Images)
Elizabeth was now heir to the throne. Queen Mary stepped up her campaign over education, and more history was introduced. In 1938, Elizabeth began receiving lessons from the vice provost of Eton, Henry Marten, on constitutional history. Marten’s teachings were important to Elizabeth’s perception of her role: he told her that monarchy was strengthened by adaptability and talked of the importance of broadcasting directly to her subjects.
The palace and the government were concerned that the princess did not seem too isolated. The First Buckingham Girl Guide Pack was instituted, with 20 girls invited to the palace on Wednesday afternoons. They learned trekking in the palace grounds and practised signalling in the corridors.
A girl guide pack was created at the palace to enable Elizabeth to fraternise with girls her own age. (Press Association)
On 15 March 1939, German tanks entered Prague. The ‘peace’ created through appeasement by prime minister Neville Chamberlain was shattered. “Who can hope to appease a boa constrictor,” declared The Telegraph. The country moved towards war. In the summer of 1939, Elizabeth and her parents paid a visit to the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, where the king had studied. There she was introduced to Philip of Greece, 18 to her 13. The princess was fascinated by him.
On 3 September 1939, Chamberlain announced on the BBC that Britain was now at war. The king broadcast later in the day, telling the people that this “grave hour” was “perhaps the most fateful in our history”. The princesses were staying at Birkhall, near Balmoral, on their annual summer holiday with Miss Crawford – and were soon joined by hundreds of evacuees from Glasgow. After Christmas at Sandringham, they went to Royal Lodge in Windsor, the pale pink walls painted green to fool enemy bombers. The queen refused to bow to pressure to send the children to Canada, out of the range of the enemy.
In spring 1940, German troops invaded Denmark and Norway. Chamberlain resigned and Winston Churchill became prime minister, declaring to the Commons that Britain must “wage war, by sea, land and air with all our might”. The dispossessed royals of Norway and Denmark arrived seeking safety in London. The princesses were sent to Windsor Castle, where they would remain for the rest of the war – along with the crown jewels, bundled up in paper in the underground vaults.
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in a BBC studio announcing the declaration of war, 3 September 1939. (Fox Photos/Getty Images)
The princesses were key to the propaganda strategy – the nation was told that they were in a secret location in the countryside, where they carried around their gas masks and grew their own carrots and potatoes in a vegetable patch. But the princesses were not exempt from the terrors of war – 300 bombs were dropped on Windsor Great Park over the course of the conflict. Often they were woken at night and sent into the underground vaults of the castle. Like Churchill, they slept in ‘siren suits’, zip-up all-in-one jumpsuits designed for warmth and practicality in bombing raids.
The palace had repeatedly rejected requests for Elizabeth to speak on the radio. In 1940, with the Luftwaffe razing British cities to the ground, the king and queen changed their minds. In a time when US support for the war effort was critical, they agreed to allow the princess to broadcast on the BBC to the children of North America. On 13 October she gave her speech, expressing how she and her sister sympathised with those who had been evacuated, since “we know from experience what it means to be away from those we love most of all”. The speech was a hit. “Princess yesterday huge success here,” reported a north American representative of the BBC.
“This time we are all in the front line,” said the king in his Christmas message at the end of 1940. The bombing of British cities continued until April. Britain entered a sustained period of hardship. In 1941 it was the first country in the world to introduce conscription for single women. When Elizabeth turned 16, she begged her father to allow her to join the Labour Exchange. She was interviewed, but not placed – much to the relief of the king, who wished to protect his daughters.
At the end of 1943, when Elizabeth was 17, Philip came to spend Christmas with the family. He was charmed by her admiration and what he described as the “simple pleasure” of family life, so unlike his own unhappy childhood. He returned to war enthusiastic about the idea of marrying the princess, and his cousin, George of Greece, made a suggestion to the king that the pair might wed. It was a misstep; the king was shocked and told George that Elizabeth was too young and Philip “had better not think any more about it at present”. The king didn’t wish to lose his daughter and the courtiers thought Philip “rough, ill mannered” (in the words of one). Worst of all was his background. As one courtier put it, “it was all bound up in one word: German”.
The princess turned 18 in 1944 and began to assume royal duties. Her father insisted she be made a counsellor of state (usually only open to those who had reached 21) and she stood in for him when he was briefly in Italy, signing a reprieve on a murder case. She made her first public speech at a children’s hospital and launched HMS Vanguard in the autumn. But she wanted more – she desired to serve in the forces. In early 1945, the king relented and allowed her to join the Auxiliary Territorial Service as a trainee ambulance driver.
The king relented in 1945 and allowed Elizabeth to play a part in the war effort – she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service where she learned car mechanics. (Getty Images)
At the base in Aldershot she was initially kept away from the other trainees and taken to eat in the officers’ mess, before the papers found out and the regime was quickly adjusted. The princess later said that it was the only time in her life that she had been able to test herself against people her own age. For the government, her training was a propaganda coup. Photos were taken of her wielding her spanner or standing by vehicles and she was on the front of every Allied newspaper.
On 30 April, Allied forces occupied the Reichstag. Hitler committed suicide in his bunker and the troops surrendered. On 7 May, the BBC interrupted a piano recital to announce that the following day would be known as Victory in Europe Day. The war was over.
On VE Day, the princesses appeared with their parents and Winston Churchill on the balcony of the palace to wave at the crowds, Elizabeth in uniform. That evening, Margaret suggested that they go out to see the crowds. The king and queen relented and the girls set off, accompanied by Marion Crawford and various officers, wandering as far as Park Lane before returning back through Green Park to shout “we want the king!” with the crowds. “All of us were swept along by tides of happiness and relief,” recalled Elizabeth.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill (centre) with Queen Elizabeth, King George VI, Princess Elizabeth (left) and Princess Margaret Rose waving from the balcony of Buckingham Palace during VE Day celebrations. (Reg Speller/Getty Images)
Once the euphoria had subsided, the aftermath of war seemed grey, miserable and full of privations. “Food, fuel and clothes are the main topics of conversation,” wrote the king. He was exhausted by the effort of war and found it hard to adjust to daily life. At the same time, the people were fascinated by the princess and increasingly preferred to see her opening hospitals, presenting prizes and giving speeches. She was overwhelmingly popular: dignified, a veteran of the war and full of the glamour of youth. Cambridge University suggested she might be the first woman ever to receive an honorary degree but the palace refused the offer.
In 1946, with the end of the war in Japan, Prince Philip returned to Britain and was sent to teach naval officers in Wales. He began to court Elizabeth in earnest, taking supper with her and Margaret in the nursery and taking the sisters out to restaurants or shows. Austerity Britain was delighted by the idea of a royal romance and the possibility of a wedding. The king and queen were dubious, but it was too late – Elizabeth was determined to marry Philip.
In February 1947, the princess left the country for the first time for a tour to South Africa with her parents and sister. There, she celebrated her 21st birthday. She reviewed troops, attended a ball in her honour and gave her address to the empire. In it she pledged her future: “I declare before you that my whole life, whether it shall be long or short, shall be devoted to your service.” She had spent a long time in the nursery but now she was 21, on the brink of marriage – and in less than five years, she would become queen.
Kate Williams is a royal historian, author and broadcaster.
A 1942 Cecil Beaton portrait of the 16-year-old princess Elizabeth as colonel of the Grenadier Guards. (Getty/Popperfoto)
In April 1926, Britain was on the brink of the General Strike called by the TUC. There had been an economic perfect storm: the postwar crash in coal prices, combined with the government putting Britain on the gold standard, had put mining under pressure. After a government commission recommended reducing miners’ wages, the stage was set for an all-out strike of miners and other workers covered by the TUC, including railway and transport workers.
But despite being in a crisis, the home secretary Sir William Joynson Hicks could not be excused witnessing the legitimacy of a royal baby. The Duke and Duchess of York – George V’s second son, Bertie and his wife, the former Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon – were expecting their first child. Although the baby was not a direct heir to the throne, Sir William still had to travel to 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair, a home owned by Bowes-Lyons, where the child was due to be born.
The little girl was born by Caesarian section at 2.40am on 21 April. “We have long wanted a child to make our happiness complete,” wrote the duke. The child was “a little darling with a lovely complexion”, decreed Queen Mary. “I do hope that you and papa are as delighted as we are to have a granddaughter, or would you sooner have had another grandson?” wrote the duke to his father, George V. The baby was officially third in line to the throne, but since she was the child of George V’s second son – and female – she was destined to be pushed down the succession by sons born to her uncle, the Prince of Wales, and her father. She was called Elizabeth Alexandra Mary after her mother, great-grandmother and grandmother – after consorts, not queens regnant. The princess was destined for a good marriage and little more.
The royal family gather following the christening of the new princess in Buckingham Palace’s private chapel, 29 May 1926. Although third in line, Elizabeth was not expected to rule. (Getty Images)On 3 May, the TUC called the General Strike. Conservative prime minister Stanley Baldwin called it the “road to anarchy”, but the government played hard, drafting in volunteers and calling forth the middle classes to step in. By 12 May it had been called off and the following year the government outlawed sympathetic strikes and strikes intended to coerce the government, making another general strike impossible and restoring the existing structures of power. Two weeks later, Elizabeth Alexandra Mary was christened by the archbishop of York at Buckingham Palace.
The young princess was a favourite with her grandparents and one of the few people in the family not afraid of the king, whom she called ‘Grandpa England’. In early 1927, her parents departed on a tour of Australia and New Zealand, leaving her with her nannies. When they returned, they took a new house, 145 Piccadilly, near Hyde Park. It had 25 bedrooms, a lift and a ballroom but, by royal standards, Elizabeth was growing up in a cosy, normal house and her playmates in the gardens were the daughters of businessmen and doctors, not fellow princesses.
In 1930 Princess Margaret was born. This time the home secretary, John R Clynes, had to trek up to Glamis Castle, the ancestral home of the Duchess of York. “I am glad to say that she has large blue eyes and a will of iron, which is all the equipment a lady needs!” the duchess wrote. As they grew up, it became evident that the two little girls had very different personalities. Elizabeth was conscientious, dutiful and orderly – she couldn’t go to sleep without unsaddling and feeding all her nursery horses and lining them up neatly. Margaret was playful, determined and fond of pranks – she blamed any mistakes or spillages on her imaginary friend, Cousin Halifax.
Elizabeth atop a rocking horse with sister Margaret in August 1932. (Getty Images)
In 1933, when Elizabeth was seven, she received a new governess, Miss Marion Crawford. She had been recommended to the Duchess of York as a “country girl who was a good teacher, except when it came to mathematics”. Fortunately, the duchess was not looking for a challenging academic schedule. Both she and her husband had hated school (the duke had been ridiculed as a dunce). What the royal couple wanted for their daughters was a “really happy childhood, with lots of pleasant memories”, which meant minimal lessons. The king had only one request: ‘‘Teach Margaret and Lilibet a decent hand.” Miss Crawford’s regimen was gentle. Elizabeth received lessons from 9.30 until 11 in the morning and the rest of the day was devoted to outdoor games, dancing and singing, with a rest period for an hour and a half.
Nanny Marion Crawford gave the girls a minimal education. Lessons became more robust once Elizabeth was heir. (Corbin)Unlike her parents, Elizabeth had an aptitude for learning and enjoyed history and literature but she had little opportunity for sustained study. Queen Mary criticised their education and recalled that she had busied herself with homework in the holidays – but to no avail. In her free time, Elizabeth was fondest of dogs and horses. She declared she wanted to marry a farmer so she could have lots of “cows, horses and dogs”.
George V died in January 1936 and the Prince of Wales assumed the throne as Edward VIII. As king he was more dependent on his lover, Wallis Simpson, than ever. But although the foreign press discussed his relationship with the American divorcee at length, the British newspapers stayed quiet. In late October, Wallis filed for divorce from her second husband and it was clear that the king meant to marry her. The government was as determined to stop him, for it was thought the people would not accept a divorced consort. The empire governments mostly refused the idea outright. “It was plain to everyone that there was a great shadow over the house,” wrote Miss Crawford.
Edward ruled for less than a year before standing down to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson. (Getty Images)
On 10 December, 10-year-old Elizabeth was about to write up her notes from her swimming lesson when she heard chants of “God Save the King” outside. She asked a footman what had happened and he told her that her uncle had abdicated and her father was king. She ran up to tell her sister the news. “Does that mean you will have to be the next queen?” asked Margaret. “Yes, some day,” replied Elizabeth. “Poor you,” said Margaret. In the face of crisis and change, Elizabeth adopted a technique she would use throughout her life: she stuck to her routine, attempting to appear unruffled. She wrote up her swimming notes, and at the top of the page she wrote: “Abdication Day.”
The jolly life of 145 Piccadilly was at an end. The family moved into Buckingham Palace and her father and mother – who had always been so present – became consumed by meetings, receptions and politics. The former king, now the Duke of Windsor, the Uncle David of whom the children had been so fond, was sent to Europe. Elizabeth attended her father’s coronation, accompanied by Queen Mary, writing that the abbey was covered in “a sort of haze of wonder as papa was crowned, at least I thought so”.
[image error]Princess Elizabeth, aged 11, witnesses her father, the Duke of York, being crowned King George VI after his brother Edward VIII’s abdication in 1936. (Getty Images)
Elizabeth was now heir to the throne. Queen Mary stepped up her campaign over education, and more history was introduced. In 1938, Elizabeth began receiving lessons from the vice provost of Eton, Henry Marten, on constitutional history. Marten’s teachings were important to Elizabeth’s perception of her role: he told her that monarchy was strengthened by adaptability and talked of the importance of broadcasting directly to her subjects.
The palace and the government were concerned that the princess did not seem too isolated. The First Buckingham Girl Guide Pack was instituted, with 20 girls invited to the palace on Wednesday afternoons. They learned trekking in the palace grounds and practised signalling in the corridors.
A girl guide pack was created at the palace to enable Elizabeth to fraternise with girls her own age. (Press Association)
On 15 March 1939, German tanks entered Prague. The ‘peace’ created through appeasement by prime minister Neville Chamberlain was shattered. “Who can hope to appease a boa constrictor,” declared The Telegraph. The country moved towards war. In the summer of 1939, Elizabeth and her parents paid a visit to the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, where the king had studied. There she was introduced to Philip of Greece, 18 to her 13. The princess was fascinated by him.
On 3 September 1939, Chamberlain announced on the BBC that Britain was now at war. The king broadcast later in the day, telling the people that this “grave hour” was “perhaps the most fateful in our history”. The princesses were staying at Birkhall, near Balmoral, on their annual summer holiday with Miss Crawford – and were soon joined by hundreds of evacuees from Glasgow. After Christmas at Sandringham, they went to Royal Lodge in Windsor, the pale pink walls painted green to fool enemy bombers. The queen refused to bow to pressure to send the children to Canada, out of the range of the enemy.
In spring 1940, German troops invaded Denmark and Norway. Chamberlain resigned and Winston Churchill became prime minister, declaring to the Commons that Britain must “wage war, by sea, land and air with all our might”. The dispossessed royals of Norway and Denmark arrived seeking safety in London. The princesses were sent to Windsor Castle, where they would remain for the rest of the war – along with the crown jewels, bundled up in paper in the underground vaults.
Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in a BBC studio announcing the declaration of war, 3 September 1939. (Fox Photos/Getty Images)The princesses were key to the propaganda strategy – the nation was told that they were in a secret location in the countryside, where they carried around their gas masks and grew their own carrots and potatoes in a vegetable patch. But the princesses were not exempt from the terrors of war – 300 bombs were dropped on Windsor Great Park over the course of the conflict. Often they were woken at night and sent into the underground vaults of the castle. Like Churchill, they slept in ‘siren suits’, zip-up all-in-one jumpsuits designed for warmth and practicality in bombing raids.
The palace had repeatedly rejected requests for Elizabeth to speak on the radio. In 1940, with the Luftwaffe razing British cities to the ground, the king and queen changed their minds. In a time when US support for the war effort was critical, they agreed to allow the princess to broadcast on the BBC to the children of North America. On 13 October she gave her speech, expressing how she and her sister sympathised with those who had been evacuated, since “we know from experience what it means to be away from those we love most of all”. The speech was a hit. “Princess yesterday huge success here,” reported a north American representative of the BBC.
“This time we are all in the front line,” said the king in his Christmas message at the end of 1940. The bombing of British cities continued until April. Britain entered a sustained period of hardship. In 1941 it was the first country in the world to introduce conscription for single women. When Elizabeth turned 16, she begged her father to allow her to join the Labour Exchange. She was interviewed, but not placed – much to the relief of the king, who wished to protect his daughters.
At the end of 1943, when Elizabeth was 17, Philip came to spend Christmas with the family. He was charmed by her admiration and what he described as the “simple pleasure” of family life, so unlike his own unhappy childhood. He returned to war enthusiastic about the idea of marrying the princess, and his cousin, George of Greece, made a suggestion to the king that the pair might wed. It was a misstep; the king was shocked and told George that Elizabeth was too young and Philip “had better not think any more about it at present”. The king didn’t wish to lose his daughter and the courtiers thought Philip “rough, ill mannered” (in the words of one). Worst of all was his background. As one courtier put it, “it was all bound up in one word: German”.
The princess turned 18 in 1944 and began to assume royal duties. Her father insisted she be made a counsellor of state (usually only open to those who had reached 21) and she stood in for him when he was briefly in Italy, signing a reprieve on a murder case. She made her first public speech at a children’s hospital and launched HMS Vanguard in the autumn. But she wanted more – she desired to serve in the forces. In early 1945, the king relented and allowed her to join the Auxiliary Territorial Service as a trainee ambulance driver.
The king relented in 1945 and allowed Elizabeth to play a part in the war effort – she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service where she learned car mechanics. (Getty Images)At the base in Aldershot she was initially kept away from the other trainees and taken to eat in the officers’ mess, before the papers found out and the regime was quickly adjusted. The princess later said that it was the only time in her life that she had been able to test herself against people her own age. For the government, her training was a propaganda coup. Photos were taken of her wielding her spanner or standing by vehicles and she was on the front of every Allied newspaper.
On 30 April, Allied forces occupied the Reichstag. Hitler committed suicide in his bunker and the troops surrendered. On 7 May, the BBC interrupted a piano recital to announce that the following day would be known as Victory in Europe Day. The war was over.
On VE Day, the princesses appeared with their parents and Winston Churchill on the balcony of the palace to wave at the crowds, Elizabeth in uniform. That evening, Margaret suggested that they go out to see the crowds. The king and queen relented and the girls set off, accompanied by Marion Crawford and various officers, wandering as far as Park Lane before returning back through Green Park to shout “we want the king!” with the crowds. “All of us were swept along by tides of happiness and relief,” recalled Elizabeth.
Prime Minister Winston Churchill (centre) with Queen Elizabeth, King George VI, Princess Elizabeth (left) and Princess Margaret Rose waving from the balcony of Buckingham Palace during VE Day celebrations. (Reg Speller/Getty Images)Once the euphoria had subsided, the aftermath of war seemed grey, miserable and full of privations. “Food, fuel and clothes are the main topics of conversation,” wrote the king. He was exhausted by the effort of war and found it hard to adjust to daily life. At the same time, the people were fascinated by the princess and increasingly preferred to see her opening hospitals, presenting prizes and giving speeches. She was overwhelmingly popular: dignified, a veteran of the war and full of the glamour of youth. Cambridge University suggested she might be the first woman ever to receive an honorary degree but the palace refused the offer.
In 1946, with the end of the war in Japan, Prince Philip returned to Britain and was sent to teach naval officers in Wales. He began to court Elizabeth in earnest, taking supper with her and Margaret in the nursery and taking the sisters out to restaurants or shows. Austerity Britain was delighted by the idea of a royal romance and the possibility of a wedding. The king and queen were dubious, but it was too late – Elizabeth was determined to marry Philip.
In February 1947, the princess left the country for the first time for a tour to South Africa with her parents and sister. There, she celebrated her 21st birthday. She reviewed troops, attended a ball in her honour and gave her address to the empire. In it she pledged her future: “I declare before you that my whole life, whether it shall be long or short, shall be devoted to your service.” She had spent a long time in the nursery but now she was 21, on the brink of marriage – and in less than five years, she would become queen.
Kate Williams is a royal historian, author and broadcaster.
November 18, 2016
8 things you (probably) didn’t know about King Cnut
History Extra
A 15th-century stained glass window from Canterbury Cathedral, depicting King Cnut. (CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images)
1) Cnut descended from some notable Danish rulers The Danish royal dynasty from which Cnut descended was actually relatively young – it had been established by his great-grandfather, Gorm the Old. Gorm was a confirmed pagan worshipper who respected the old Norse gods such as Thor, Odin and Freya. Gorm’s son Harald was of a different disposition – he adopted Christianity and firmly established the religion in Denmark for the first time. Harald was known for an unusual distinguishing physical characteristic – his teeth appeared to be blue. This may be because they were just in poor condition and were discoloured as a result. Another possible explanation is that Harald may have filed his teeth and carved grooves in them, which he then coloured with blue dye. At any rate, he became known as Harald Bluetooth. Modern Bluetooth technology (a joint initiative between various Scandinavian companies) was named after Harald for the part that he played in trying to unify Denmark and Norway during his reign. Harald Bluetooth was the father of Sweyn Forkbeard (who in turn was the father of Cnut). Harald and Sweyn came to blows and there was a bitter civil war between them. Harald was eventually defeated and died soon after fleeing from Denmark. 2) Cnut’s first experience of invading England ended in personal disaster In 1013, Cnut accompanied his father Sweyn Forkbeard on an invasion of England. As far as we know, this was the first time he had been to the country. Sweyn was not just raiding England; by this time, he was trying to conquer it. It soon looked like Sweyn was about to become king of the country; he had been so successful in battle that the current king Æthelred had fled. But then, just as it appeared that Sweyn’s triumph was complete, he suddenly died. Cnut, probably then just a teenager, seems to have been caught with his guard down. He assumed that he would merely assume the role left vacant by his father’s death. But he was faced by an unexpected English backlash. An army caught him unawares and a catastrophic defeat followed. Cnut barely escaped. However, when he left England by ship, Cnut left behind a number of hostages – minus their ears and noses. It was a stark warning to those who did not support him that they could be in for a seriously difficult time in the future.
Silver penny depicting Cnut. (CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images) 3) For a brief period in 1016, England had two kings at the same time Opportunity arose for Cnut in 1016. Following the death of Anglo-Saxon king Æthelred ‘the Unready’, his son Edmund Ironside became king of England. However, Ironside did not have unanimous support, even from the English. Some seem to have reasoned that Cnut, who had returned to the country with a newly-raised army, was a better bet. Cnut and Edmund fought a vicious and drawn-out war. After several major clashes, the conflict’s final climactic battle was fought at Ashingdon (‘Assandun’) in Essex. Cnut was triumphant and Ironside was forced to flee for his life. Cnut caught up with him in Gloucestershire in October 1016. However, rather than fight yet another battle, the two men agreed to divide England between them. Edmund was to have the kingdom of Wessex and Cnut the rest of England. Whether or not this unusual arrangement would have ever worked in the long-run we shall never know. Conveniently for Cnut, Ironside died just a few weeks later, on 30 November 1016. Cnut was now the undisputed king of England. 4) Cnut forked out huge sums to get rid of Viking raiders ‘Danegeld’ was the term used for money paid to troublesome Viking raiders, in order to make them go away. The late king Æthelred was infamous for his frequent Danegeld payments, but it was not Æthelred who made the largest Danegeld payment, but Cnut. The idea of paying off raiders was not new; it had been used in Carolingian Francia two centuries earlier and even the heroic Alfred the Great had used it as a tactic. However, there were problems with the approach. Even if one party of raiders went away, another would soon take their place and the payments would need to be repeated, which was clearly an expensive scenario. Meanwhile, some raiders, such as Sweyn Forkbeard, might go away for a short time before simply coming back again. When Cnut first became king, he was faced with the problem of what to do with thousands of unemployed Viking raiders. His solution was to pay them to go away. The cost was enormous – Cnut raised 10,000 Troy lbs [a measurement used to measure gold and silver] of silver from London and 72,500 Troy lbs from the rest of England to finance his policy. This was a mammoth sum at the time; while it is difficult to meaningfully convert into modern currency, it amounted to more than 30,000kg of silver. Cnut’s payment was greater than any previous Danegeld sum (the former highest was 48,000 pounds, paid in 1012 during the reign of Æthelred). But although it must have caused great pain to the taxpayers of England, the policy largely seems to have worked, as Viking raids diminished substantially.
A coin depicting Anglo-Saxon king Æthelred, who was “infamous for his frequent Danegeld payments”. (Hoberman Collection/UIG via Getty Images) 5) Cnut inherited Denmark from his older brother, not his father At the time of Cnut’s rule, the laws of Viking succession were fairly flexible. When a great leader such as Sweyn Forkbeard died, it was not unusual for his patrimony to be divided between his sons, rather than the eldest taking everything. In theory, this helped prevent disputes involving disgruntled younger sons, though in reality these disagreements were still common. Because Sweyn Forkbeard died while he and Cnut were in England, another of his sons, Harald, took over control of Denmark. Cnut was forced to fight for the country he was in, otherwise he would have been left with nothing. In 1018, Harald died without an obvious heir, leaving Denmark available for his brother Cnut. He seems to have taken the country without too much difficulty and held on to it for the rest of his reign. Norway was a different matter. Although Sweyn Forkbeard had conquered the country at the end of the 11th century, it was never fully assimilated into his territories and he lost control of it after an uprising there. In 1030 Cnut won a decisive victory against his opponent, King Olaf II of Norway, at the battle of Stiklestad, but his subsequent reign in the country was short-lived. Those he appointed to be his representatives there were not popular, partly due to a period of extended famine, and they were ejected from the country. Norway was never securely integrated into Cnut’s kingdom. 6) Cnut’s wife, Emma, was the only woman to marry two different kings of England Emma’s first husband was the luckless Æthelred ‘the Unready’. The royal couple had several children, one of whom would later become King Edward the Confessor. When Æthelred died in 1016, Emma seems to have left the country and returned to Normandy. When she returned to England in 1017, it was as Cnut’s wife. Emma was a loyal lieutenant for Cnut and their marriage was a great political success. Emma seems to have had a strong instinct for political survival. Cnut and Emma had several children together, including Harthacnut, who later became king of both England and Denmark for a short time. However, marital alliances at the time could be complicated. When Cnut married Emma, he already had a partner, Ælfgifu of Northampton. Whether they were ever married or not is unclear. It was quite normal at that period for kings and noblemen to have a concubine rather than an official wife and it would appear that Ælfgifu fell into that category. Their relationship did produce several children. One of them, Harold ‘Harefoot’, was king of England for a short time. Ælfgifu and Emma were bitter rivals for decades, and they both outlived Cnut.
Cnut and his wife Emma, in an engraving from an 11th-century manuscript. (DeAgostini/Getty Images)
7) Despite being Danish, Cnut was an Anglophile Cnut was an astute statesman. Rather than rejecting the former Anglo-Saxon kings of England, he went out of his way to show support for them. He did this by visiting or making gifts to shrines associated with Anglo-Saxon kings, such as Shaftesbury Abbey, where King Edward the Martyr lay buried, or Wilton Abbey, linked with St Edith, sister of Æthelred. He even paid his respects to his old adversary, Edmund Ironside, at Glastonbury Abbey. This Anglophile policy was a smart political move on Cnut’s part, as it was well regarded by his English subjects. He also adopted a new law code, which was regarded as introducing a strong but fair regime to England. Cnut based these laws on those of the Anglo-Saxon king Edgar, whose reign was regarded as a golden age. Cnut also not only adopted English policies, but also introduced them to his overseas territories with a good degree of success. He took full advantage of the English coinage system, which was renowned for its quality at the time. He ensured that this quality was maintained and introduced a vastly improved coinage into Denmark. There are a number of cases recorded where the moneyers working in Denmark were of English origin. 8) Cnut made his reputation as a passionate supporter of the church Cnut was in many senses a Viking, and is probably best known as such today. He led his army using Viking tactics and launched raids on enemy territory using instantly recognisable longships. He was also fond of skalds [Scandinavian bards, or minstrels] who related old Viking sagas and tales. Yet, it was as a patron of the church that Cnut made his reputation; this was quite a turnaround given the fact that Vikings had become renowned as scourges of the institution and frequent raiders of monasteries and other religious establishments. This reflected the fact that these were changing times for the Viking world. Christianity had gained a foothold in much of Europe centuries previously, but was a more recent introduction to the Viking world. Cnut’s family, especially his grandfather Harald Bluetooth, had been patrons of the church. However, Cnut’s reign in England, then one of Europe’s richest countries, allowed him to take this policy to new heights. He was able to make a number of generous gifts to the church and strengthen the fledgling religion in Denmark. Cnut’s recognition of the church reached its height in 1027, when he journeyed to Rome to attend the coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor, Conrad II. While there he met Pope John XIX. The fact that a Viking ruler could meet the head of the church and be treated as an equal of other mainstream European leaders shows just how much the world had changed. WB Bartlett is the author of King Cnut & The Viking Conquest of England 1016, published by Amberley in October 2016.
A 15th-century stained glass window from Canterbury Cathedral, depicting King Cnut. (CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images) 1) Cnut descended from some notable Danish rulers The Danish royal dynasty from which Cnut descended was actually relatively young – it had been established by his great-grandfather, Gorm the Old. Gorm was a confirmed pagan worshipper who respected the old Norse gods such as Thor, Odin and Freya. Gorm’s son Harald was of a different disposition – he adopted Christianity and firmly established the religion in Denmark for the first time. Harald was known for an unusual distinguishing physical characteristic – his teeth appeared to be blue. This may be because they were just in poor condition and were discoloured as a result. Another possible explanation is that Harald may have filed his teeth and carved grooves in them, which he then coloured with blue dye. At any rate, he became known as Harald Bluetooth. Modern Bluetooth technology (a joint initiative between various Scandinavian companies) was named after Harald for the part that he played in trying to unify Denmark and Norway during his reign. Harald Bluetooth was the father of Sweyn Forkbeard (who in turn was the father of Cnut). Harald and Sweyn came to blows and there was a bitter civil war between them. Harald was eventually defeated and died soon after fleeing from Denmark. 2) Cnut’s first experience of invading England ended in personal disaster In 1013, Cnut accompanied his father Sweyn Forkbeard on an invasion of England. As far as we know, this was the first time he had been to the country. Sweyn was not just raiding England; by this time, he was trying to conquer it. It soon looked like Sweyn was about to become king of the country; he had been so successful in battle that the current king Æthelred had fled. But then, just as it appeared that Sweyn’s triumph was complete, he suddenly died. Cnut, probably then just a teenager, seems to have been caught with his guard down. He assumed that he would merely assume the role left vacant by his father’s death. But he was faced by an unexpected English backlash. An army caught him unawares and a catastrophic defeat followed. Cnut barely escaped. However, when he left England by ship, Cnut left behind a number of hostages – minus their ears and noses. It was a stark warning to those who did not support him that they could be in for a seriously difficult time in the future.
Silver penny depicting Cnut. (CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images) 3) For a brief period in 1016, England had two kings at the same time Opportunity arose for Cnut in 1016. Following the death of Anglo-Saxon king Æthelred ‘the Unready’, his son Edmund Ironside became king of England. However, Ironside did not have unanimous support, even from the English. Some seem to have reasoned that Cnut, who had returned to the country with a newly-raised army, was a better bet. Cnut and Edmund fought a vicious and drawn-out war. After several major clashes, the conflict’s final climactic battle was fought at Ashingdon (‘Assandun’) in Essex. Cnut was triumphant and Ironside was forced to flee for his life. Cnut caught up with him in Gloucestershire in October 1016. However, rather than fight yet another battle, the two men agreed to divide England between them. Edmund was to have the kingdom of Wessex and Cnut the rest of England. Whether or not this unusual arrangement would have ever worked in the long-run we shall never know. Conveniently for Cnut, Ironside died just a few weeks later, on 30 November 1016. Cnut was now the undisputed king of England. 4) Cnut forked out huge sums to get rid of Viking raiders ‘Danegeld’ was the term used for money paid to troublesome Viking raiders, in order to make them go away. The late king Æthelred was infamous for his frequent Danegeld payments, but it was not Æthelred who made the largest Danegeld payment, but Cnut. The idea of paying off raiders was not new; it had been used in Carolingian Francia two centuries earlier and even the heroic Alfred the Great had used it as a tactic. However, there were problems with the approach. Even if one party of raiders went away, another would soon take their place and the payments would need to be repeated, which was clearly an expensive scenario. Meanwhile, some raiders, such as Sweyn Forkbeard, might go away for a short time before simply coming back again. When Cnut first became king, he was faced with the problem of what to do with thousands of unemployed Viking raiders. His solution was to pay them to go away. The cost was enormous – Cnut raised 10,000 Troy lbs [a measurement used to measure gold and silver] of silver from London and 72,500 Troy lbs from the rest of England to finance his policy. This was a mammoth sum at the time; while it is difficult to meaningfully convert into modern currency, it amounted to more than 30,000kg of silver. Cnut’s payment was greater than any previous Danegeld sum (the former highest was 48,000 pounds, paid in 1012 during the reign of Æthelred). But although it must have caused great pain to the taxpayers of England, the policy largely seems to have worked, as Viking raids diminished substantially.
A coin depicting Anglo-Saxon king Æthelred, who was “infamous for his frequent Danegeld payments”. (Hoberman Collection/UIG via Getty Images) 5) Cnut inherited Denmark from his older brother, not his father At the time of Cnut’s rule, the laws of Viking succession were fairly flexible. When a great leader such as Sweyn Forkbeard died, it was not unusual for his patrimony to be divided between his sons, rather than the eldest taking everything. In theory, this helped prevent disputes involving disgruntled younger sons, though in reality these disagreements were still common. Because Sweyn Forkbeard died while he and Cnut were in England, another of his sons, Harald, took over control of Denmark. Cnut was forced to fight for the country he was in, otherwise he would have been left with nothing. In 1018, Harald died without an obvious heir, leaving Denmark available for his brother Cnut. He seems to have taken the country without too much difficulty and held on to it for the rest of his reign. Norway was a different matter. Although Sweyn Forkbeard had conquered the country at the end of the 11th century, it was never fully assimilated into his territories and he lost control of it after an uprising there. In 1030 Cnut won a decisive victory against his opponent, King Olaf II of Norway, at the battle of Stiklestad, but his subsequent reign in the country was short-lived. Those he appointed to be his representatives there were not popular, partly due to a period of extended famine, and they were ejected from the country. Norway was never securely integrated into Cnut’s kingdom. 6) Cnut’s wife, Emma, was the only woman to marry two different kings of England Emma’s first husband was the luckless Æthelred ‘the Unready’. The royal couple had several children, one of whom would later become King Edward the Confessor. When Æthelred died in 1016, Emma seems to have left the country and returned to Normandy. When she returned to England in 1017, it was as Cnut’s wife. Emma was a loyal lieutenant for Cnut and their marriage was a great political success. Emma seems to have had a strong instinct for political survival. Cnut and Emma had several children together, including Harthacnut, who later became king of both England and Denmark for a short time. However, marital alliances at the time could be complicated. When Cnut married Emma, he already had a partner, Ælfgifu of Northampton. Whether they were ever married or not is unclear. It was quite normal at that period for kings and noblemen to have a concubine rather than an official wife and it would appear that Ælfgifu fell into that category. Their relationship did produce several children. One of them, Harold ‘Harefoot’, was king of England for a short time. Ælfgifu and Emma were bitter rivals for decades, and they both outlived Cnut.
Cnut and his wife Emma, in an engraving from an 11th-century manuscript. (DeAgostini/Getty Images)
7) Despite being Danish, Cnut was an Anglophile Cnut was an astute statesman. Rather than rejecting the former Anglo-Saxon kings of England, he went out of his way to show support for them. He did this by visiting or making gifts to shrines associated with Anglo-Saxon kings, such as Shaftesbury Abbey, where King Edward the Martyr lay buried, or Wilton Abbey, linked with St Edith, sister of Æthelred. He even paid his respects to his old adversary, Edmund Ironside, at Glastonbury Abbey. This Anglophile policy was a smart political move on Cnut’s part, as it was well regarded by his English subjects. He also adopted a new law code, which was regarded as introducing a strong but fair regime to England. Cnut based these laws on those of the Anglo-Saxon king Edgar, whose reign was regarded as a golden age. Cnut also not only adopted English policies, but also introduced them to his overseas territories with a good degree of success. He took full advantage of the English coinage system, which was renowned for its quality at the time. He ensured that this quality was maintained and introduced a vastly improved coinage into Denmark. There are a number of cases recorded where the moneyers working in Denmark were of English origin. 8) Cnut made his reputation as a passionate supporter of the church Cnut was in many senses a Viking, and is probably best known as such today. He led his army using Viking tactics and launched raids on enemy territory using instantly recognisable longships. He was also fond of skalds [Scandinavian bards, or minstrels] who related old Viking sagas and tales. Yet, it was as a patron of the church that Cnut made his reputation; this was quite a turnaround given the fact that Vikings had become renowned as scourges of the institution and frequent raiders of monasteries and other religious establishments. This reflected the fact that these were changing times for the Viking world. Christianity had gained a foothold in much of Europe centuries previously, but was a more recent introduction to the Viking world. Cnut’s family, especially his grandfather Harald Bluetooth, had been patrons of the church. However, Cnut’s reign in England, then one of Europe’s richest countries, allowed him to take this policy to new heights. He was able to make a number of generous gifts to the church and strengthen the fledgling religion in Denmark. Cnut’s recognition of the church reached its height in 1027, when he journeyed to Rome to attend the coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor, Conrad II. While there he met Pope John XIX. The fact that a Viking ruler could meet the head of the church and be treated as an equal of other mainstream European leaders shows just how much the world had changed. WB Bartlett is the author of King Cnut & The Viking Conquest of England 1016, published by Amberley in October 2016.
November 17, 2016
Ancient Passage Tomb Discovered Beneath “Haunted” Hellfire Club of Dublin
Ancient Origins
Sitting almost exposed in the hollow of the curious hill behind the Hellfire Club in Dublin, a dark chunk of blazing rock served as a convenient border to many bonfires over the centuries. Ironically, the people who probably enjoyed the warmth of the fire while lying up against the comfortably curved bank of the mound probably never understood the significance of the mound they rested upon. After thousands of years going unnoticed, the archaeologists who carried out the first-ever excavation of a passage tomb site at the notorious Hellfire Club in Dublin, eventually announced that the mound that offered rest to many people throughout the centuries, was the remains of an ancient tomb, and that ordinary looking dark stone was carved with symbols and designs that are over 5,000 years old.
The “Haunted” Mysteries of the Hellfire ClubThe mystery surrounding the location takes us a few centuries back, way before the team of archaeologists excavated the site to learn more about the prehistoric pagan tombs which line the foundations of the house. Throughout its nearly three-century long existence, the home has been the subject of many hauntings and other speculated supernatural events. The old hunting lodge on Montpelier Hill was built for Irish Parliamentary Speaker William Connolly in 1725. Connolly’s workmen used stones from the old passage tombs underneath the structure to build the lodge – marking the beginning of the site’s association with the supernatural. According to local legend, Satan was not happy with the desecration and blew the lodge’s roof off in a rage. Following the roof collapse, the lodge on Montpelier Hill became known by locals as a “place of evil”. Soon after the death of Connolly the place was taken over by a group of young aristocrats who held drunken orgies there, as well as, it is said, practicing the Occult and worshiping Satan.
Things would get completely out of control, when an often drunken “member” of the club named Lord Santry, would murder an ill and bedridden servant in the lodge by burning him alive. The lodge was soon after abandoned after a mysterious fire took place, while the unfortunate victim’s body would be found almost 250 years later, during the 1970's, buried with a statue of The Devil.
Back to 2016The spooky history of the location, however, never discouraged the team of archaeologists who were in search of the facts behind the myth and urban legends. As Neil Jackman, an experienced and licensed archaeologist who has excavated sites all over Ireland and has authored many articles and publications to help promote Irish heritage, reports in Abarta Heritage, the discovery of the artwork was the result of incredible serendipity,
“The surface of the stone had been damaged by fires and weathering, so the artwork is almost completely imperceptible to the naked eye. Had we dug our trenches anywhere else on site we would not have discovered it, and had we excavated during the summer, the higher flatter sunlight may not have revealed the faint trace of the artwork. As the stone was sitting in a disturbed modern layer of material relating to picnics and parties, it was outside of its original context. We removed it quite early in the dig, though due to the many fires that had been lit upon it, it fractured into four large fragments as we began to lift it from the trench. As we did not originally notice anything particularly unusual about the stone, we (with some difficulty) lifted it out of the trench and set it on the side, so it would be close at hand for when we began to backfill the trenches.”
Jackman sent initial images to megalithic art experts Professor Muiris O’Sullivan of UCD and Dr Elizabeth Shee Twohig, who visited the site with specialist photographer Ken Williams to use photogrammetry to expose the extent of the designs on the portions of slab which could not be seen by the naked eye. Ecstatic by the exciting news and results, a team from the Discovery Programme of archaeological innovation visited the site the next day to scan the stone and record all details. The valuable lump is now at the National Museum of Ireland for further examination, while an impressive 3-D model can be viewed by visiting sketchfab.com
Hell Fire Club, Megalithic Art by The Discovery Programme on SketchfabPossibly More Stones Are “Hiding” ThereAlthough, nobody can be sure at this moment if more stones of the same archaeological significance and art are now lying under a road through the mountains Jackman calls this find “a tantalizing glimpse of that the original tomb may have looked like,” and remains optimistic about the future findings. He told TheJournal.ie, “Unfortunately, these stones appear to have been largely plundered for building material for the Hellfire Club and the Old Military Road. However, perhaps more art remains to be discovered in the future.”
Top image: Main: Hell Fire Club, Dublin ( CC by SA 3.0 / Joe King ). Inset: The newly discovered megalithic stone with symbol. Credit: Arbata Heritage
By Theodoros II
Sitting almost exposed in the hollow of the curious hill behind the Hellfire Club in Dublin, a dark chunk of blazing rock served as a convenient border to many bonfires over the centuries. Ironically, the people who probably enjoyed the warmth of the fire while lying up against the comfortably curved bank of the mound probably never understood the significance of the mound they rested upon. After thousands of years going unnoticed, the archaeologists who carried out the first-ever excavation of a passage tomb site at the notorious Hellfire Club in Dublin, eventually announced that the mound that offered rest to many people throughout the centuries, was the remains of an ancient tomb, and that ordinary looking dark stone was carved with symbols and designs that are over 5,000 years old.
The “Haunted” Mysteries of the Hellfire ClubThe mystery surrounding the location takes us a few centuries back, way before the team of archaeologists excavated the site to learn more about the prehistoric pagan tombs which line the foundations of the house. Throughout its nearly three-century long existence, the home has been the subject of many hauntings and other speculated supernatural events. The old hunting lodge on Montpelier Hill was built for Irish Parliamentary Speaker William Connolly in 1725. Connolly’s workmen used stones from the old passage tombs underneath the structure to build the lodge – marking the beginning of the site’s association with the supernatural. According to local legend, Satan was not happy with the desecration and blew the lodge’s roof off in a rage. Following the roof collapse, the lodge on Montpelier Hill became known by locals as a “place of evil”. Soon after the death of Connolly the place was taken over by a group of young aristocrats who held drunken orgies there, as well as, it is said, practicing the Occult and worshiping Satan.
Things would get completely out of control, when an often drunken “member” of the club named Lord Santry, would murder an ill and bedridden servant in the lodge by burning him alive. The lodge was soon after abandoned after a mysterious fire took place, while the unfortunate victim’s body would be found almost 250 years later, during the 1970's, buried with a statue of The Devil.
Back to 2016The spooky history of the location, however, never discouraged the team of archaeologists who were in search of the facts behind the myth and urban legends. As Neil Jackman, an experienced and licensed archaeologist who has excavated sites all over Ireland and has authored many articles and publications to help promote Irish heritage, reports in Abarta Heritage, the discovery of the artwork was the result of incredible serendipity,
“The surface of the stone had been damaged by fires and weathering, so the artwork is almost completely imperceptible to the naked eye. Had we dug our trenches anywhere else on site we would not have discovered it, and had we excavated during the summer, the higher flatter sunlight may not have revealed the faint trace of the artwork. As the stone was sitting in a disturbed modern layer of material relating to picnics and parties, it was outside of its original context. We removed it quite early in the dig, though due to the many fires that had been lit upon it, it fractured into four large fragments as we began to lift it from the trench. As we did not originally notice anything particularly unusual about the stone, we (with some difficulty) lifted it out of the trench and set it on the side, so it would be close at hand for when we began to backfill the trenches.”
Jackman sent initial images to megalithic art experts Professor Muiris O’Sullivan of UCD and Dr Elizabeth Shee Twohig, who visited the site with specialist photographer Ken Williams to use photogrammetry to expose the extent of the designs on the portions of slab which could not be seen by the naked eye. Ecstatic by the exciting news and results, a team from the Discovery Programme of archaeological innovation visited the site the next day to scan the stone and record all details. The valuable lump is now at the National Museum of Ireland for further examination, while an impressive 3-D model can be viewed by visiting sketchfab.com
Hell Fire Club, Megalithic Art by The Discovery Programme on SketchfabPossibly More Stones Are “Hiding” ThereAlthough, nobody can be sure at this moment if more stones of the same archaeological significance and art are now lying under a road through the mountains Jackman calls this find “a tantalizing glimpse of that the original tomb may have looked like,” and remains optimistic about the future findings. He told TheJournal.ie, “Unfortunately, these stones appear to have been largely plundered for building material for the Hellfire Club and the Old Military Road. However, perhaps more art remains to be discovered in the future.”
Top image: Main: Hell Fire Club, Dublin ( CC by SA 3.0 / Joe King ). Inset: The newly discovered megalithic stone with symbol. Credit: Arbata Heritage
By Theodoros II
November 16, 2016
More Treasures Retrieved from Lord Elgin’s Ship Which Sank with the Parthenon Marbles
Ancient Origins
A remarkable collection of artifacts has been discovered by marine archaeologists revisiting the Mentor shipwreck. Mentor was a ship that sank in 1802 near the island of Kythera in Greece while controversially transporting precious artifacts including the world-renowned Parthenon marbles to England.
According to Haaretz, the cargo of coins, jewelry, Egyptian statues, and many other artifacts were discovered by the team of marine archaeologists led by the Greek Culture Ministry's Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, Dimitris Kourkoumelis.
Some of the artifacts found aboard Mentor, Lord Elgin's ship that sank off Kythera while carrying Parthenon marbles from Piraeus to London in 1802. (Petros Vezyrtzi)Although many precious items were looted and recovered from the sea a long time ago, there is still a lot left to discover around the famous wreckage. The ship’s amazing story has been described before on Ancient Origins.
Lord Elgin, the ship’s owner, was responsible for acquiring the antiquities England’s elite were interested in at the time. As Dhwty wrote: “In 1799, Lord Elgin was appointed the ambassador to the Sublime Porte in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Lord Elgin is said to have intended to improve the knowledge of Classical art in Great Britain by providing his home country with casts of Greek monuments hitherto known only from drawings and engravings.”
The Mentor Shipwreck and the Disastrous Journey of the Parthenon Marbles to BritainThe Antikythera Shipwreck – The Titanic of the Ancient World and its Sunken Historic TreasureControversy Reignites as British MPs Propose Finally Returning Ancient Parthenon Marbles to Greece“He assembled a team of architects, painters, draftsmen and molders under the leadership of the Italian G.B. Lusieri, and began work in Athens in 1800. […] In 1802, Lord Elgin and his men had taken away ‘pieces of stone with inscriptions or figures’ that filled 16 boxes, and were preparing to ship them back to London. On September 15, Lord Elgin’s vessel set off from the Greek port of Piraeus, with the first port of call being the island of Malta. Apart from the 16 boxes of artifacts […] a total of 12 men were on board the ship.” [via Ancient Origins]
Portrait of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin. 1788. (
Public Domain
)Dhwty continues: “On September 16, a favorable wind had taken Mentor to Cape Matapan, the southernmost point of mainland Greece. A strong easterly wind, however, forced the ship to spend the night there. The next morning, Mentor continued its journey. It was during this leg of transit that the captain realized that the ship was taking on water. Although he decided that it would be best to make for harbor on the nearest Peloponnesian coast, no one in the crew was familiar with the geography of that area, and so it was thought that the best solution was to seek port on the nearby island of Kythera.
In the afternoon on the same day, Mentor reached the shores of Cape Avlemonas. Two anchors were cast, though they failed to catch the bottom. Several maneuvers were then performed in order to prevent the ship from crashing into the rocks on the coast. This attempt failed, and Mentor crashed into the rocks of Cape Avelemonas and sank into the sea.”
Divers find more artifacts at wreck of the Mentor, which sank carrying the Elgin Marbles2,000-Year-Old Human Remains Found on Famous Antikythera Shipwreck23 Wrecks Found in Ship Graveyard in Aegean Sea in Just 22 DaysThe ship sank to the depth of 23 meters (75.5ft.), but all the passengers and crewmembers were rescued by a vessel named Anikitos. However, the 16 boxes of antiquities sank to the bottom of the sea. To remedy this problem, Lord Elgin hired sponge divers from the island of Kalymnos, and the precious marbles were salvaged from the wreck and shipped to the UK through Malta.
Parthenon marbles on display at The British Museum. (Andrew Dunn/CC BY SA 2.0)But not everything was recovered. Thus, a team of marine archaeologists discovered parts of an Egyptian statue and a piece of an ancient Egyptian inscription which sheds light on the origins of the marble. As Dimitris Kourkoumelis recently told Haaretz: ''In Egypt, especially Alexandria, they were selling ancient stone statues of Egyptian pharaohs that were used as ballast on the ships. Afterwards, when they reached port, they would take out the ballast and sell the statues to collectors.''
Fragment of Pharaonic statue that was found with the shipwreck. It dates to the New Kingdom period (1570-1070 BC). (EUA - Petros Vezyrtzis/GR Reporter)Apart from this, the team of researchers found an instrument probably used by William Leek, a famous British topographer, who made the topographical map of Zea in Piraeus and drawings of the Parthenon. They also found several artifacts that belonged to the passengers and crew of the ship which can still be tied to specific individuals. The divers discovered a compass, part of an hourglass and calipers, glassware such as vessels, cups, and bottles, porcelain, three pistols and many bullets, flints, a cannonball, and watches that were manufactured in London.
In the next season, Dimitris Kourkoumelis’ team hopes to explore Mentor’s bow and uncover more antiquities. They believe there are still more Parthenon marble fragments which were broken and left behind.
A pistol underwater archaeologists found aboard the ship Mentor. (Petros Vezyrtzi)It has been 200 years since the tragedy on the sea, yet the topic of the Parthenon marbles is still very controversial. In 1816, Lord Elgin sold the marble treasures to the British Government and they became part of the British Museum’s collection. However, nowadays, Elgin is regarded as a thief by many Greek people.
They see him as a criminal who stole their heritage. Many of the original Parthenon marbles can be found in London and some are in the Louvre in Paris. Greek exhibits mostly consist of plaster casts of the precious marbles, but there is an ongoing attempt to recover the lost treasures from abroad.
An idealised view of the Temporary Elgin Room at the Museum in 1819, with portraits of staff, a trustee and visitors. (Public Domain)Top Image: Underwater archaeologists explore the wreck of Mentor, Lord Elgin's ship that sank off Kythera due to the heavy weight of the Parthenon marbles. Source: John Fardoulis and Alexandros Tourtas
By Natalia Klimczak
A remarkable collection of artifacts has been discovered by marine archaeologists revisiting the Mentor shipwreck. Mentor was a ship that sank in 1802 near the island of Kythera in Greece while controversially transporting precious artifacts including the world-renowned Parthenon marbles to England.
According to Haaretz, the cargo of coins, jewelry, Egyptian statues, and many other artifacts were discovered by the team of marine archaeologists led by the Greek Culture Ministry's Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities, Dimitris Kourkoumelis.
Some of the artifacts found aboard Mentor, Lord Elgin's ship that sank off Kythera while carrying Parthenon marbles from Piraeus to London in 1802. (Petros Vezyrtzi)Although many precious items were looted and recovered from the sea a long time ago, there is still a lot left to discover around the famous wreckage. The ship’s amazing story has been described before on Ancient Origins.Lord Elgin, the ship’s owner, was responsible for acquiring the antiquities England’s elite were interested in at the time. As Dhwty wrote: “In 1799, Lord Elgin was appointed the ambassador to the Sublime Porte in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Lord Elgin is said to have intended to improve the knowledge of Classical art in Great Britain by providing his home country with casts of Greek monuments hitherto known only from drawings and engravings.”
The Mentor Shipwreck and the Disastrous Journey of the Parthenon Marbles to BritainThe Antikythera Shipwreck – The Titanic of the Ancient World and its Sunken Historic TreasureControversy Reignites as British MPs Propose Finally Returning Ancient Parthenon Marbles to Greece“He assembled a team of architects, painters, draftsmen and molders under the leadership of the Italian G.B. Lusieri, and began work in Athens in 1800. […] In 1802, Lord Elgin and his men had taken away ‘pieces of stone with inscriptions or figures’ that filled 16 boxes, and were preparing to ship them back to London. On September 15, Lord Elgin’s vessel set off from the Greek port of Piraeus, with the first port of call being the island of Malta. Apart from the 16 boxes of artifacts […] a total of 12 men were on board the ship.” [via Ancient Origins]
Portrait of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin. 1788. (
Public Domain
)Dhwty continues: “On September 16, a favorable wind had taken Mentor to Cape Matapan, the southernmost point of mainland Greece. A strong easterly wind, however, forced the ship to spend the night there. The next morning, Mentor continued its journey. It was during this leg of transit that the captain realized that the ship was taking on water. Although he decided that it would be best to make for harbor on the nearest Peloponnesian coast, no one in the crew was familiar with the geography of that area, and so it was thought that the best solution was to seek port on the nearby island of Kythera.In the afternoon on the same day, Mentor reached the shores of Cape Avlemonas. Two anchors were cast, though they failed to catch the bottom. Several maneuvers were then performed in order to prevent the ship from crashing into the rocks on the coast. This attempt failed, and Mentor crashed into the rocks of Cape Avelemonas and sank into the sea.”
Divers find more artifacts at wreck of the Mentor, which sank carrying the Elgin Marbles2,000-Year-Old Human Remains Found on Famous Antikythera Shipwreck23 Wrecks Found in Ship Graveyard in Aegean Sea in Just 22 DaysThe ship sank to the depth of 23 meters (75.5ft.), but all the passengers and crewmembers were rescued by a vessel named Anikitos. However, the 16 boxes of antiquities sank to the bottom of the sea. To remedy this problem, Lord Elgin hired sponge divers from the island of Kalymnos, and the precious marbles were salvaged from the wreck and shipped to the UK through Malta.
Parthenon marbles on display at The British Museum. (Andrew Dunn/CC BY SA 2.0)But not everything was recovered. Thus, a team of marine archaeologists discovered parts of an Egyptian statue and a piece of an ancient Egyptian inscription which sheds light on the origins of the marble. As Dimitris Kourkoumelis recently told Haaretz: ''In Egypt, especially Alexandria, they were selling ancient stone statues of Egyptian pharaohs that were used as ballast on the ships. Afterwards, when they reached port, they would take out the ballast and sell the statues to collectors.''Fragment of Pharaonic statue that was found with the shipwreck. It dates to the New Kingdom period (1570-1070 BC). (EUA - Petros Vezyrtzis/GR Reporter)Apart from this, the team of researchers found an instrument probably used by William Leek, a famous British topographer, who made the topographical map of Zea in Piraeus and drawings of the Parthenon. They also found several artifacts that belonged to the passengers and crew of the ship which can still be tied to specific individuals. The divers discovered a compass, part of an hourglass and calipers, glassware such as vessels, cups, and bottles, porcelain, three pistols and many bullets, flints, a cannonball, and watches that were manufactured in London.In the next season, Dimitris Kourkoumelis’ team hopes to explore Mentor’s bow and uncover more antiquities. They believe there are still more Parthenon marble fragments which were broken and left behind.
A pistol underwater archaeologists found aboard the ship Mentor. (Petros Vezyrtzi)It has been 200 years since the tragedy on the sea, yet the topic of the Parthenon marbles is still very controversial. In 1816, Lord Elgin sold the marble treasures to the British Government and they became part of the British Museum’s collection. However, nowadays, Elgin is regarded as a thief by many Greek people.They see him as a criminal who stole their heritage. Many of the original Parthenon marbles can be found in London and some are in the Louvre in Paris. Greek exhibits mostly consist of plaster casts of the precious marbles, but there is an ongoing attempt to recover the lost treasures from abroad.
An idealised view of the Temporary Elgin Room at the Museum in 1819, with portraits of staff, a trustee and visitors. (Public Domain)Top Image: Underwater archaeologists explore the wreck of Mentor, Lord Elgin's ship that sank off Kythera due to the heavy weight of the Parthenon marbles. Source: John Fardoulis and Alexandros TourtasBy Natalia Klimczak
November 15, 2016
Recently Discovered Scratched Stone in Denmark Could be One of The Earliest Maps in History
Ancient Origins
Reports of existing archaeological discoveries are pouring in lately from Scandinavia. A puzzling stone found in a ditch on Bornholm, a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, could be one of the earliest maps in human history according to archaeologists and researchers at the National Museum of Denmark. The recent find, however, was not complete. It is made up of two pieces and one piece is still missing. As the magazine Skalk reports, the stone was discovered during archaeological excavation work at the Neolithic shrine Vasagård, where scientists have previously unearthed similar ancient stones inscribed with rectangular patterns filled with different rows of lines and shading.
The discovery was made on the island of Bornholm, Denmark (
flickr
)Excavations of the paddock since the early nineties have discovered many broken flat stones inscribed with patterns of radiating straight lines, called "sun stones" or "solar stones”. Archaeologists have claimed that these artifacts were most likely used in the rituals of the followers of a Neolithic sun-worshipping religion that existed almost five millennia ago.
By 3500 BC locals had set up farms in several parts of Northern Europe where they built groups of houses with wood and stone, surrounded by fields. They grew wheat and barley, which they ground into flour. Some farmers grew beans and peas. Others grew a plant called flax, which they made into linen for clothes. The early farmers also went hunting and gathered nuts and berries to eat, but they spent most of their time working on their farms. For that reason they often worshiped their own Gods or Mother Nature to be generous with them and for that purpose they organized rituals in which they possibly used these stones.
Not a “Solar Stone” But a MapThe recently found stone is filled with lines that look like rays too, but it is not like other “sun stones”. It is probably something else. Unlike previous and similar findings, Flemming Kaul, an archaeologist and senior researcher at the National Museum, is almost certain after examining closely the artifact, that the stone does not show the sun and the sun’s rays, but displays the topographic details of a piece of nature on the island as it appeared between the years 2900 and 2700 BC.
“There was one particular stone that seems to be rather complicated, and we all agree that it looks like some sort of a map — not a map in our modern sense, but a stylized map,” Kaul told Live Science. " I could see some similarities with rock carvings from the Alps in northern Italy, dated to the same period of time, which are interpreted as symbolic landscapes — and that is what I believe we have found now."
The stone disk found on Bornholm. Photo by Marta BuraStill a “Ritual Stone”Flemming Kaul called the newly found artifact a stone "without parallel" and speculates that it was also used in rituals, where it was possibly crushed. He suggests that both the map stones and sun stones were used together in rituals to impact the effects of the sun on the fertility of a particular landscape. He says, “Often when ritual objects have had a certain life cycle, then they are deposited at a sacred place, perhaps also to enhance the magic of the ritual which has just been performed with them," and adds, "And of course, when they are broken, then they are not working more in the human world — but they are still working in another spirit world, by being placed in the ditches of these sacred sites.” [via Live Science].
The Interpretation of the Map Stones Could be DebatableFor the end, Kaul acknowledges that the interpretation of the map stones could be somewhat controversial and expects to find more map stones in the near future that will give us a better idea of their role and significance. Kaul told Live Science, "About 20 years ago, after the first solar stones were found, I wrote about it for Skalk – and even the editor of the magazine didn't believe it. Now, after 20 years, we have found more than 200 solar stones, and they are one the most important things from Bornholm; so let's wait a couple of years to see if there are more map stones to come."
Top image: The engraved stone found in Denmark, which may be a Stone Age map. Credit: Bornholms Museum/Skalk Magazine
By Theodoros II
Reports of existing archaeological discoveries are pouring in lately from Scandinavia. A puzzling stone found in a ditch on Bornholm, a Danish island in the Baltic Sea, to the east of the rest of Denmark, could be one of the earliest maps in human history according to archaeologists and researchers at the National Museum of Denmark. The recent find, however, was not complete. It is made up of two pieces and one piece is still missing. As the magazine Skalk reports, the stone was discovered during archaeological excavation work at the Neolithic shrine Vasagård, where scientists have previously unearthed similar ancient stones inscribed with rectangular patterns filled with different rows of lines and shading.
The discovery was made on the island of Bornholm, Denmark (
flickr
)Excavations of the paddock since the early nineties have discovered many broken flat stones inscribed with patterns of radiating straight lines, called "sun stones" or "solar stones”. Archaeologists have claimed that these artifacts were most likely used in the rituals of the followers of a Neolithic sun-worshipping religion that existed almost five millennia ago.By 3500 BC locals had set up farms in several parts of Northern Europe where they built groups of houses with wood and stone, surrounded by fields. They grew wheat and barley, which they ground into flour. Some farmers grew beans and peas. Others grew a plant called flax, which they made into linen for clothes. The early farmers also went hunting and gathered nuts and berries to eat, but they spent most of their time working on their farms. For that reason they often worshiped their own Gods or Mother Nature to be generous with them and for that purpose they organized rituals in which they possibly used these stones.
Not a “Solar Stone” But a MapThe recently found stone is filled with lines that look like rays too, but it is not like other “sun stones”. It is probably something else. Unlike previous and similar findings, Flemming Kaul, an archaeologist and senior researcher at the National Museum, is almost certain after examining closely the artifact, that the stone does not show the sun and the sun’s rays, but displays the topographic details of a piece of nature on the island as it appeared between the years 2900 and 2700 BC.
“There was one particular stone that seems to be rather complicated, and we all agree that it looks like some sort of a map — not a map in our modern sense, but a stylized map,” Kaul told Live Science. " I could see some similarities with rock carvings from the Alps in northern Italy, dated to the same period of time, which are interpreted as symbolic landscapes — and that is what I believe we have found now."
The stone disk found on Bornholm. Photo by Marta BuraStill a “Ritual Stone”Flemming Kaul called the newly found artifact a stone "without parallel" and speculates that it was also used in rituals, where it was possibly crushed. He suggests that both the map stones and sun stones were used together in rituals to impact the effects of the sun on the fertility of a particular landscape. He says, “Often when ritual objects have had a certain life cycle, then they are deposited at a sacred place, perhaps also to enhance the magic of the ritual which has just been performed with them," and adds, "And of course, when they are broken, then they are not working more in the human world — but they are still working in another spirit world, by being placed in the ditches of these sacred sites.” [via Live Science].The Interpretation of the Map Stones Could be DebatableFor the end, Kaul acknowledges that the interpretation of the map stones could be somewhat controversial and expects to find more map stones in the near future that will give us a better idea of their role and significance. Kaul told Live Science, "About 20 years ago, after the first solar stones were found, I wrote about it for Skalk – and even the editor of the magazine didn't believe it. Now, after 20 years, we have found more than 200 solar stones, and they are one the most important things from Bornholm; so let's wait a couple of years to see if there are more map stones to come."
Top image: The engraved stone found in Denmark, which may be a Stone Age map. Credit: Bornholms Museum/Skalk Magazine
By Theodoros II
November 14, 2016
Tourist Attraction Will Transport You Back in Time to Ancient Hittite Village
Ancient Origins
An exciting new project is on the way for the ancient Hittite capital of Hattusa. The village will be recreated so visitors can experience what daily life was like for people who lived in the Hittite kingdom about 3,500 years ago.
Hurriyet Daily News reports that Turkey’s forthcoming tourist attraction is the result of decades of research on the ancient site of Hattusa. The Hittite center is in what is now the Bogazkale district, in the heart of a national park. It is known for its treasures, monumental gates, statues, and inscriptions. On the world map of ancient cities, it is one of the richest archaeological sites. The texts that were discovered at Hattusa consist of official letters, legal codes, descriptions of cult ceremonies, literature, oracular prophecies, and other interesting documents.
The site is surrounded by 6 kms (3.73 miles) of walls and it is one of the most important sites in Turkey. It has been recognized as a World Heritage site by UNESCO since 2001. Over the last few decades, archaeologists have unearthed 31 temples, granaries, and many other buildings in Hattusa. Now, the project to rebuild the Hittite village is being conducted by the Bogazkale District Governor's Office and led by the District Gov. Osman Aydogan.
Mysterious Tunnel Unearthed in the Legendary Capital of the HittitesHattusa: The Cursed City of the Hatti and the Hittite Empire
Hattusa, the Hittite capital. (Flickr/
CC BY 2.0
)The Hittite village project will be constructed in a field measuring 7,000 square meters (75347 sq. ft.) It will cost over 1 million Turkish Liras. Aydogan and the leaders of the Middle Black Sea Development Agency (OKA) believe that the project will help the site bring in more visitors from around the world.
Osman Aydogan said the village will depict the reality of life 3,500 years ago:
The Great Temple in the inner city of Hattusa. (
CC BY-SA 2.0
)A few months ago, archaeologists unearthed one of the site’s most fascinating architectural elements. As Natalia Klimczak reported on August 23, 2016 for Ancient Origins:
Archaeologists announced the discovery of an ancient tunnel which is located in Alacahöyük, one of the most important centers of the Hittite Empire - Hattusa. It is a key excavation site for modern Turkey. According to Hurriyet Daily News , the tunnel is 2,300-years-old and it was a secret passageway known as a potern.
3,500 year-old stone houses uncovered in AnatoliaUnveiling the Hittite Hasawa – A Forgotten Priestess, Healer, and OracleThe excavations were led by Professor Aykut Çınaroğlu from Ankara University, along with a team of 24 researchers. They discovered a tunnel during works on a sanctuary unearthed in 2014. The discovery also confirms that there was more than one secret tunnel in Hattusa. As Çınaroğlu said:
Ancient tunnel found inside Geval Castle. (
Konya Life
)The site of Hattusa was discovered in 1835 by W.C. Hamilton, but the first regular excavations did not take place until 1907 when they were carried out by the Ottoman archaeologist Makridi Bey. Work was continued in 1935, during the rule of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In 1997, Professor Çınaroğlu became the director of the campaign.
Hattusa is a site full of treasures and is mentioned in history books due to the rich correspondence between the Hittite kings and other rulers, like the pharaohs of Egypt. The site contains many important places, including pre-Hittite royal tombs dating to 3,000 BC. It has yielded stunning artifacts such as weapons, gold and silver containers, jewelry, bronze and clay animal sculptures, chairs, belt buckles, and gold leaf-covered figures. One of the most famous symbols of the Alacahöyük site is the Sphinx Gate at the south of the city, which consists of two great sphinxes facing outward. This feature is dated back to 1,400 BC.
The Sphinx gate at Alacahöyük. (
Public Domain
)Top Image: Lion Gate, Hattusa, Turkey. Source: Bernard Gagnon/CC BY SA 3.0
An exciting new project is on the way for the ancient Hittite capital of Hattusa. The village will be recreated so visitors can experience what daily life was like for people who lived in the Hittite kingdom about 3,500 years ago.
Hurriyet Daily News reports that Turkey’s forthcoming tourist attraction is the result of decades of research on the ancient site of Hattusa. The Hittite center is in what is now the Bogazkale district, in the heart of a national park. It is known for its treasures, monumental gates, statues, and inscriptions. On the world map of ancient cities, it is one of the richest archaeological sites. The texts that were discovered at Hattusa consist of official letters, legal codes, descriptions of cult ceremonies, literature, oracular prophecies, and other interesting documents.
The site is surrounded by 6 kms (3.73 miles) of walls and it is one of the most important sites in Turkey. It has been recognized as a World Heritage site by UNESCO since 2001. Over the last few decades, archaeologists have unearthed 31 temples, granaries, and many other buildings in Hattusa. Now, the project to rebuild the Hittite village is being conducted by the Bogazkale District Governor's Office and led by the District Gov. Osman Aydogan.
Mysterious Tunnel Unearthed in the Legendary Capital of the HittitesHattusa: The Cursed City of the Hatti and the Hittite Empire
Hattusa, the Hittite capital. (Flickr/
CC BY 2.0
)The Hittite village project will be constructed in a field measuring 7,000 square meters (75347 sq. ft.) It will cost over 1 million Turkish Liras. Aydogan and the leaders of the Middle Black Sea Development Agency (OKA) believe that the project will help the site bring in more visitors from around the world.Osman Aydogan said the village will depict the reality of life 3,500 years ago:
“Because the ancient city is 3,500 years old, our artifacts are basic ones. We designed a big Hittite village to be built with Hittite architecture. Their daily life will be revived in the village and tourists will be able to spend the night there. Just like in the Hittite [times], we will build stone and adobe structures with a lion’s gate. It will have a backyard, shops, king’s room, prison, bakeshop and iron work shop.”Hattusa is one of the most fascinating sites of ancient Anatolia. The city still holds many secrets, but researchers found enough information about its history for the tourist attraction to be created.
The Great Temple in the inner city of Hattusa. (
CC BY-SA 2.0
)A few months ago, archaeologists unearthed one of the site’s most fascinating architectural elements. As Natalia Klimczak reported on August 23, 2016 for Ancient Origins:Archaeologists announced the discovery of an ancient tunnel which is located in Alacahöyük, one of the most important centers of the Hittite Empire - Hattusa. It is a key excavation site for modern Turkey. According to Hurriyet Daily News , the tunnel is 2,300-years-old and it was a secret passageway known as a potern.
3,500 year-old stone houses uncovered in AnatoliaUnveiling the Hittite Hasawa – A Forgotten Priestess, Healer, and OracleThe excavations were led by Professor Aykut Çınaroğlu from Ankara University, along with a team of 24 researchers. They discovered a tunnel during works on a sanctuary unearthed in 2014. The discovery also confirms that there was more than one secret tunnel in Hattusa. As Çınaroğlu said:
''This new potern proves the existence of other poterns in Alacahöyük. We are carrying out excavations right now; we have not finished yet. We started from the gate opening to the sanctuary, trying to open it. This is a potern from nearly 2,300 years ago. We have dug 23 meters so far but think that it is longer. Cleaning work is continuing, too. We will see what we will find in the end. Poterns were placed under the castle, extending into the city. We have previously found a cuneiform tablet here, featuring a king who explains to priests what to do during ceremonies. This secret tunnel might have had a sacred function.''The researchers said that the discovery was very exciting for the team, and they are going to continue excavations in the new season.
Ancient tunnel found inside Geval Castle. (
Konya Life
)The site of Hattusa was discovered in 1835 by W.C. Hamilton, but the first regular excavations did not take place until 1907 when they were carried out by the Ottoman archaeologist Makridi Bey. Work was continued in 1935, during the rule of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. In 1997, Professor Çınaroğlu became the director of the campaign.Hattusa is a site full of treasures and is mentioned in history books due to the rich correspondence between the Hittite kings and other rulers, like the pharaohs of Egypt. The site contains many important places, including pre-Hittite royal tombs dating to 3,000 BC. It has yielded stunning artifacts such as weapons, gold and silver containers, jewelry, bronze and clay animal sculptures, chairs, belt buckles, and gold leaf-covered figures. One of the most famous symbols of the Alacahöyük site is the Sphinx Gate at the south of the city, which consists of two great sphinxes facing outward. This feature is dated back to 1,400 BC.
The Sphinx gate at Alacahöyük. (
Public Domain
)Top Image: Lion Gate, Hattusa, Turkey. Source: Bernard Gagnon/CC BY SA 3.0
