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"Theme park creator's plan to make henges a tourist draw
THE man who created Lightwater Valley theme park wants to turn the ancient Thornborough Henges into a tourist attraction."

George Chaplain, of heritage campaign group, TimeWatch, who was at Wednesday’s meeting, said: "Mr Staveley's proposals were not quite as frightening as they could have been."

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Originally posted by hopski:
Zahi reveals the latest find from HisThe Valley of the Kings

Egypt Today

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Originally posted by hopski:

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Originally posted by hopski:
Zahi reveals the latest find from HisThe Valley of the Kings

Egypt Today

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An ancient settlement in Gwynedd is being saved for posterity thanks to the detective work of a solicitor turned history hunter.

Kelvin Dent, the Clerk to the North Wales Police Authority, is a passionate amateur archaeologist in his spare time,

He rekindled his love of archaeology when he embarked on a GCSE course in the subject.

And while researching a project, which helped him achieve an A grade, Kelvin re-discovered an Iron Age settlement.

The location, between Bangor and Caernarfon, is being kept secret for fear it will be invaded by trophy hunters armed with metal detectors before it can be given statutory protection. Kelvin, aged 55, who lives in Bangor, said: “I absolutely loved doing the course. It was two hours every Wednesday evening and the tome used to just fly by.

It was so interesting because we were talking about bumps and hollows in the ground but in a more scientific way than I was used to looking at them.They were a grand bunch of people and the tutor, Julie Ellis, was wonderful. She inspired all of us and filled us with enthusias.

The site that I chose is one that I used to pass every day on the way to work. I used to look across the field and see what appeared to be a circle of bumps

I thought it looked really interesting and I was convinced it was an old site. I never bothered to do anything about it but the project was the catalyst to do more research into it.”

He managed to track down the owner who gave permission to go on site in order to do drawings, take photographs and measurements.

It became clear that this was an Iron Age settlement, occupied by the Celts several centuries BCE and it was a defended settlement, hence the bumps which were the ramparts around it.

It is a relatively small site, probably the size of a football pitch. It's circular and has a channel or a moat around it.

It would have had embankment all around it and the entrance would probably have been built up a bit more than the rest.

“There's evidence of a rectangular stone hut in the middle of the site for shelter. There would have been enough room for the stock to be taken in at night so they wouldn't be eaten by animals or stolen by rustlers.

I suppose the stone building would have had a roof of some sort and might have had one or two extended families living there.

I wrote to CADW because the site was being eroded, not deliberately but because livestock was walking all over it. I asked them to do something about it - either acquire it or schedule it as an ancient monument.

They wrote back and said they'd recently had some funding to carry out work in relation to Iron Age Defended Settlements such as this.

It was their intention to do a survey of it and, hopefully, they'll take it into management with an agreement with the landowner.”

He went on:

“That would mean them putting up a sign to say what it is and make sure that it remains as part of our heritage in North Wales.

I am absolutely delighted. To have it recognised as an Iron Age site and have them say they were going to do something about it was absolutely wonderful.

I felt that as a result not only was I doing a project which helped the GCSE but I was also achieving something constructive as well.

What's even more exciting about this site is that local people are convinced the site has Roman connections.

I just wonder whether the Romans who had a road going from Caerhun across the mountains to Segontium, which passes near this site, might have taken the site over and built a wooden watchtower so they could keep a look out on the road.

We're in the realms of speculation which makes archaeology so exciting but if we can establish that it's a Defended Iron Age site with Roman connections, that would be jackpot day."

Anything connected with the Romans is really tasty and we'd have Tony Robinson with his Time Team here tomorrow.”

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Originally posted by roger davies:

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Originally posted by brazilian:
What are you Roger, the Time Team Forum police? What does it matter if the odd post appears more than once?

Sod off!