Moray building site yields Iron Age finds

From Archaeology Daily News:

ARCHAEOLOGICAL finds at a Moray building site have been described as exciting by experts.

Burial memorials are among the evidence of an Iron Age settlement uncovered on the latest Springfield Properties housing development on Grantown Road, near Forres.

Archaeologists said some finds could hold key evidence for research into the neolithic period, sometimes referred to as the New Stone Age. They include pottery, metal and ironwork which show people occupied the area before it became an Iron Age farm.

Construction work is on hold until Edinburgh-based AOC Archaeology completes its examination of the Knockomie Meadows site.

The finds suggest a late Iron Age occupation from around 600AD, with evidence of a food storage pit, round houses and fencing for animals.

The site is thought to have been occupied during neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman times. Previous digs in a field next to the current site in 2007 and 2008 indicated people lived in the area more than 2,000 years ago.

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Rare sheep die in animal attack

From the BBC News:

Five breed rare sheep have been killed in two separate attacks at a Cambridgeshire education centre.

The Celtic (Soay) sheep were in a herd of 10 at Flag Fen Bronze Age Centre, an archaeology site in Peterborough. There are few of the species left in England.

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‘Rare and Significant’ find declared as treasure

Today, “TheComet” news for North Herts reported of a collection of Bronze, Iron Age and Roman artefacts that are considered both ‘rare’ and ‘significant’. Items dating back to the Iron Age include pieces of armour, but there are also a variety of other finds such as numerous coins, pottery and animal bone fragments.

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Hill fort dates back 3,000 years

From the BBC News:

Archaeologists have discovered that a hill fort in Denbighshire may be almost 3,000 years old.

Experts excavated Moel y Gaer in the Clwydian Range after tests suggested the Iron Age settlement (700 BC to 34 AD) might be older than first thought.

Samples of metal slag and dry stone facing taken from an entrance suggest parts may date back to the Bronze Age (2,300 BC to 700 BC).

It is hoped carbon dating will identify the exact age of the samples.

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Getting the early wheel turning on Irish bogs

From the Irish Times:

NEXT TIME a set of gleaming alloys or slick Pirelli tyres catches your eye, spare a thought for our ancestors. To get themselves rolling, they had to get creative with a tree and an axe, writes CLAIRE O’CONNELL

We don’t know much about prehistoric vehicles here, but archaeological digs for new road developments have been rolling back the years, offering clues about how people travelled from A to B in the old days.

One excavation in particular – carried out in 2006 ahead of building the Dromod-Roosky bypass on the N4 – revealed a network of wooden trackways and platforms criss-crossing through an area of bog.

The trackways date from around 3,600BC up to 800AD, explains consultant archaeologist Caitríona Moore, a director on the dig that summer at Edercloon, Co Longford, for the Cultural Resource Development Services. “It was in a little area of reclaimed raised bog along the side of the former N4,” she recalls. “Just underneath the grass was intact bog, which has high water-levels and low oxygen, so the trackways were very well preserved.”

The wooden structures, which were built through the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages and into to the early Christian period, would have allowed pedestrian access into the bog, possibly to find food and plants, explains Moore.

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Digging up the past at Maiden Castle

From the Dorset Echo:

FAMILIES and history lovers will be blazing a trail to Dorchester for a Bronze Age festival at Maiden Castle.

They will be digging up the past at the ancient monument just outside the county town on the weekend of September 19 and 20.

The free weekend will include living history, arts, crafts and workshops South Dorset Ridgeway Heritage Project officer Sarah Harbige said: “Experimental archaeologists and living history experts will demonstrate aspects of Bronze Age life including metal work, house building, textiles and food.

“Members of the Ancient Wessex Network and guests from further afield will also be on hand to show how the past and landscape continues to inspire artists today.

“There’s even a chance to make your own Bronze Age pottery beaker with Bill Crumbleholme, the Beaker Folk Potter.”

Visitors will also have the chance to meet archaeologists and try their hand at excavating some artefacts on a dig at the site.

On the Sunday, visitors can bring along interesting items and artefacts from home for an expert to identify.

The Portable Antiquities Scheme finds liaison officer will be on the site from 11am to 3.30pm.

Storyteller Graham Rogers will be on hand all weekend with tales of life in ancient times.

Maiden Castle is best known as one of the biggest Iron Age hill forts in Europe.

The Iron Age dates to 2,000 to 3,000 years ago, but Maiden Castle is surrounded by much older sites dating to Bronze Age and Neolithic times.

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