As one does when back in the home country, I spent Christmas with the family. And what better way to start the festive morning, than with a quick trip to some awesome stone circles at Grange, Co. Limerick.
The locals keep an eye on the site and you pay a small fee at the gate to enter
Just a short drive outside of Bristol are the beautiful stone circles of Stanton Drew. I accompanied Prof. Mark Horton and our enthusiastic third years on a fieldtrip that introduced secondary school students from Merchant's Academy to the world of Archaeology.
It was cold and windy, but nothing could dull Mark's excitement as he raced through thousands of years of history in just an hour. Students got hands on with the stones, climbing on top of the monuments and seeing the scale in person was quite impressive. They were amazed to hear how far away the source of the stonework was, and surprised to hear that it was once filled with timber posts. They ventured their own ideas on interpretation, and I must admit we were very impressed with some of their ideas - a bright bunch this lot!
Pof Mark Horton
Merchant's Academy students at Stanton Drew
As the sun set we headed to three stones behind the Druid's Arms pub. One appears to have fallen down over the ages. Mark tried out some experimental archaeology and his idea that the semicircular shape could have acted as a sound projection (video footage, below). Great fun and especially engaging as it was interactive. We also have plans to try and get students from the school to come on site to Berkeley during the summer.
Mark Horton laughing in front of a giant straw Minion... of course
I may not agree with every aspect of his ideas*, but it is outside the box thinking like this that leads to new breakthroughs in archaeology.
*does it work when not on concrete?
THE oldest ground-edge tool in the world has been discovered in Arnhem Land, prompting scientists to reconsider exactly when the technique of grinding to make tools sharp entered the Stone Age.
Unearthed from a sandstone cave in a remote part of south-west Arnhem Land in May, the basalt axe piece measuring 4 centimetres in length has been radio-carbon dated at 35,000 years old.
The discovery is significant as it predates by at least 5000 years the oldest known examples of other ground-edge implements from Japan and Australia, which have been dated at 22,000 to 30,000 years old. By comparison, the earliest ground-edge axes from Europe, West Asia and Africa are about 8,500 years old.
