On Sunday 18 December 2016, I set off with Terence Meaden from our base in Rosscarbery Co. Cork, Ireland to Sheep's Head Peninsula in West Cork in search of the Caherurlagh Prehistoric holed stone. After arrival at the old butterhouse building at the Black Gate in Kilcrohane, it took us approximately an hour to locate the elusive stone, signposted 20 metres south of the Sheep's Head Way walking trail, arriving shortly before sunset. The setting sun, which had earlier been revealed in all its glory for a few short minutes, was to be obscured by cloud during our visit.     The hole in the stone is narrower on one side than the other. The man with a bigger hand put his through the wider side and the ... Read More

On Sunday 18 December 2016, I set off with Terence Meaden from our base in Rosscarbery Co. Cork, Ireland to Sheep's Head Peninsula in West Cork in search of the Caherurlagh Prehistoric holed stone. After arrival at the old butterhouse building at the Black Gate in ... Read More

A guest review of Dr. Terence Meaden's recently published book Stonehenge, Avebury and Drombeg Stone Circles Deciphered, by Simon Banton the archaeoastronomer. Dr G. Terence Meaden, M.A., M.Sc. D.Phil., F.R.Met.S. is a professional physicist, meteorologist and archaeologist with undergraduate and doctoral degrees in physics from Oxford University and an MSc in archaeology from Oxford University. He has made significant contributions to research in solid state physics (1957-1972), tornado climatology (1972-2014) and Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeology (1981-2016), with  over 200 papers and numerous books published.     The complex interplay of light and shadow at megalithic monuments is a mostly unremarked phenomenon. For those people who gather at these sites on significant days of the year, the focus -- and the direction of their gaze -- ... Read More

A guest review of Dr. Terence Meaden's recently published book Stonehenge, Avebury and Drombeg Stone Circles Deciphered, by Simon Banton the archaeoastronomer. Dr G. Terence Meaden, M.A., M.Sc. D.Phil., F.R.Met.S. is a professional physicist, meteorologist and archaeologist with undergraduate and doctoral degrees in physics from Oxford ... Read More

I visited Stoney Littleton Long Barrow near the village of Wellow in Somerset for the first time on a leaden-skied Sunday afternoon on 13th December 2015 and described that visit in some detail here. In chapter 2 on pages 25 and 26 of his recently published book 'Stonehenge, Avebury and Drombeg Stone Circles Deciphered', professor Terence Meaden describes the alignment of the long barrow to the southeastern sun rising in the sky on midwinter's day. He has kindly provided an additional photograph and diagrams below to further illustrate the explanation. The above book argues that a simple method of tally stick counting was sufficient to keep note of the days during the passing year, one of the oldest methods of proto-writing, dating from at least the last Ice Age. ... Read More

I visited Stoney Littleton Long Barrow near the village of Wellow in Somerset for the first time on a leaden-skied Sunday afternoon on 13th December 2015 and described that visit in some detail here. In chapter 2 on pages 25 and 26 of his recently published book ... Read More

On Wednesday 26 October 2016, as I left Devizes with Pete Glastonbury, the photographer and antiquarian who was guiding me to Devil's Den near Marlborough in Wiltshire for a night photography session, the late afternoon skies were leaden and showing little prospect of a clear night sky for the evening ahead. In 2009 Mr Glastonbury similarly guided a gentleman who authors the Northern Antiquarian blog to Devil's Den, resulting in a subsequent highly informative blog post here and an additional article on the cup marks on top of the capstone here.   Below: An undated photograph kindly provided by Pete Glastonbury   [caption id="attachment_3036" align="aligncenter" width="735"] Devil's Den Wiltshire[/caption] Parking was not available at the beginning of the footpath approaching the site from Clatford to the south, ... Read More

On Wednesday 26 October 2016, as I left Devizes with Pete Glastonbury, the photographer and antiquarian who was guiding me to Devil's Den near Marlborough in Wiltshire for a night photography session, the late afternoon skies were leaden and showing little prospect of a clear ... Read More

Wayland's Smithy, along with the White Horse of Uffington, is iconically etched into my mind from a visit as a seven year old child in 1969. A particular moment from that afternoon, clambering into the entrance passageway and chamber with my Uncle Mike -- similarly to hearing of the death of John Lennon, Princess Diana and the 9/11 attack -- is as fresh in my mind today as when it happened on that summer's afternoon 47 years ago. With the benefit of hindsight, it was the actual moment that sparked my subsequent lifelong interest in and yearning to know of our inscrutable prehistoric ancestors.     The chambered long barrow is a little south of the crest of the Berkshire Downs and about a mile ... Read More

Wayland's Smithy, along with the White Horse of Uffington, is iconically etched into my mind from a visit as a seven year old child in 1969. A particular moment from that afternoon, clambering into the entrance passageway and chamber with my Uncle Mike -- similarly ... Read More

Through the eyes of a seven years old child, I experienced my first view of the chalk hill figures of the White Horse of Uffington and the Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset. Since that time so many years ago, each image, like the land itself, has been welded into the core of my consciousness, etching its own unique perception. My first sight of the white horse was during the summer of 1969 visiting relatives at Stanford in the Vale in Oxfordshire. That first view conjured up images of dragons, horses, serpents, monsters and ancient heroes, somehow carved so perfectly and appropriately out of the very fabric of the land itself. There was also an underlying feeling of my spirits being naturally uplifted by the landscape, ... Read More

Through the eyes of a seven years old child, I experienced my first view of the chalk hill figures of the White Horse of Uffington and the Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset. Since that time so many years ago, each image, like the land itself, ... Read More

Above is a view of the iconic early Neolithic West Kennet Long Barrow in Wiltshire from the air, photographed on 8 July 2016. On Friday 8 July 2016, I was given the opportunity to have a bird's eye view of North Wiltshire, flying in an Ikarus C42 microlight airplane from Clench Common airfield south of  Marlborough with GS Aviation. Shortly after take off, the second highest of Wiltshire’s prehistoric camps or hillforts, Martinsell Hill at Oare, came into view. To the lower right of the photograph below is an area on the hill of an ancient flint quarry and pit dwellings. There is an article on the archaeology and history of Martinsell Hill on The Northern Antiquarian blog here.   [caption id="attachment_2544" align="aligncenter" width="743"] Martinsell Hill ... Read More

Above is a view of the iconic early Neolithic West Kennet Long Barrow in Wiltshire from the air, photographed on 8 July 2016. On Friday 8 July 2016, I was given the opportunity to have a bird's eye view of North Wiltshire, flying in an ... Read More

The above photograph, taken by Pete Glastonbury from a microlight aircraft, is of Yarnbury Castle, an Iron Age hillfort in Wiltshire, described by Historic England on Pastscape as 'A multiphase, multivallate hillfort of 28.5 acres. The earthworks were surveyed by RCHME in 1991 and a full descriptive and analytical account can be found. Excavations have recovered Iron Age and Roman pottery, as well as inhumations, in both graves and pits, as well as other human remains. Iron Age and Roman coins were also found. Within the main hillfort is an earlier enclosure 5.2 hectares in area. Intensity of occupation in the main hillfort is demonstrated by the recognition during the RCHME survey of over 130 probable structures, presumably representing the sites of round houses, as ... Read More

The above photograph, taken by Pete Glastonbury from a microlight aircraft, is of Yarnbury Castle, an Iron Age hillfort in Wiltshire, described by Historic England on Pastscape as 'A multiphase, multivallate hillfort of 28.5 acres. The earthworks were surveyed by RCHME in 1991 and a ... Read More

Professor Alasdair Whittle concludes the forward of the English Heritage seminal 2013 publication   Silbury Hill: The Largest Prehistoric Mound in Europe with the following observation: 'Was this the willed vision or the planned creation of a particular group, a lineage say, or a dynasty, or a sect of charismatic sages, who mobilised and motivated the labour for this astonishing construction over a very small number of generations in the rapidly changing circumstances of their times?' Silbury Hill near Avebury in Wiltshire was probably completed around 2400 BC and is situated at the source of the River Kennet, a major tributary of the River Thames. It is approximately 131 feet high and stands as a truncated cone close to the valley floor. It does not appear above ... Read More

Professor Alasdair Whittle concludes the forward of the English Heritage seminal 2013 publication   Silbury Hill: The Largest Prehistoric Mound in Europe with the following observation: 'Was this the willed vision or the planned creation of a particular group, a lineage say, or a dynasty, or a ... Read More

Over recent years I have spent many hours exploring the Stonehenge landscape and the ever present hares are an integral element of that region of Salisbury Plain. They are recorded as being coursed on the Downs around Amesbury in the late 16th century and in the early 19th century, and the coursing was recorded as 'excellent.' Amesbury Coursing Club was formed in 1822, at which time the owner of the land allowed hares to be preserved on the downland near Stonehenge. Elsewhere in the parish was also regularly used for coursing. The Altcar (Lancs) Club held a seven day meet at Amesbury in 1864 and the South of England Club used to meet at Stonehenge. Immediately southeast of Stonehenge is Coneybury Hill, where Coneybury Henge once ... Read More

Over recent years I have spent many hours exploring the Stonehenge landscape and the ever present hares are an integral element of that region of Salisbury Plain. They are recorded as being coursed on the Downs around Amesbury in the late 16th century and in ... Read More