Tuesday, 23 July 2024

Stonehenge Secondary Solstitial Alignment Photographic Evidence

Important and exciting news from Simon Banton: 


Simon Banton

This blog has developed ad nauseum in many posts the idea that as well as the main solstitial alignment to Mid Summer Sun Rise and Mid Winter Sun Set, there is a second one designed into the monument to mark the Mid Winter Sun Rise and Mid Summer Sun Set. 

Building on the theory of Prof. Gordon Freeman Simon noted that "that if you pick your moment, you can find the Moon rising and setting at the points on the horizon where the Sun of 4,500 years ago did, so you can therefore use the Moon as a "proxy" for that ancient Sun and can directly observe how things would have looked when Stonehenge was built." 

"On July 21st 2024, the Moon rose very close to the same position that the ancient Winter Solstice Sun once did, so here was an opportunity to attempt a direct observation of Gordon's idea - was his sightline valid? By calculation, it definitely is but a chance to observe the Moon proxying for the Sun along this line was not to be missed."

Unfortunately I wasn't able to gain permission to do the observation from within the monument itself,...get the data from a position out in the landscape on the projection of the alignment to the NW up towards the Cursus Barrows...certainly higher up in elevation than I would be at the monument, so the Moon appears above the horizon from this vantage point whereas it'd be resting on it otherwise..."

And the result - Spot on

Simon Banton

Reports from the monument itself confirm the sighting.  English Heritage tweeted a photo from Josh Dury

His photo can be enhanced to enable the stones to be clearly seen, and hence his position and the direction of the moon rise to be plotted.


Again spot on.

This Gordon Freeman alignment along the length of the Altar Stone is the the alignment of the Twisted Trilithon and the 81 degree angle other posts here discuss.



Saturday, 20 July 2024

Position of Station Stone 94

Update July 2024 

I have looked again at the position of the marker for Station Stone 94 and I think I was wrong, it appears to be very close the stonehole. I went back to Cleal's plan and over laid the Station Stone excavation plan onto a whole site plan and put a dot on the stone hole. Then overlaid this on to an aerial photo and the dot is on top of the marker. So it looks like the marker is in the right place.







Original Post - May 2016 

Station Stone 94 is a missing stone so we only have its stonehole to establish its position. This stonehole was excavated by Thom and Atkinson in 1978 and its position recorded. The plan is in Cleal et al:


This gives an OS map reference of SU1223342235 which indicates the 1m square the 1m hole is within. GPS coordinates of 51.179220 -1.8263758 . Map link 


 The parchmark of the stonehole is visible in Sharpe's aerial photograph, and can be made out in the more recent one by Adam Stanford:




Recently the UNESCO’s Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative, set out a "Summary of significant astronomical alignments in the Stonehenge WHP, with reference to the sites and components that might carry the OUV of the WHP in relation to astronomy." 

One of them is: "Stonehenge Station-Stone rectangle and the relevant sightlines and horizons: Most southerly moonrise/ most northerly moonset and Midsummer sunrise/ midwinter sunset".

The four station stone positions are in a rectangle that on its longest edge just grazes the sarsen circle and seems to be aligned to astronomical features as above. 

Station stone 94 has recently been marked with a handsome polished sarsen stone in a stainless steel ring. 

From the public path the sight line to the fallen Station stone 91 should be very close to the sarsen circle. On a visit this week trying to align the marker left a large gap. My hat indicates a closer position which seemed to match the plan and photos.



Click any picture to enlarge. 

It would be nice if someone with more time and the right equipment could check if the marker position is correct or not.

See also: http://www.sarsen.org/2015/12/the-position-of-stone-hole-97.html

Friday, 19 July 2024

Mobilizing Workforce for Building Megaliths in Northeast India: Ethnoarchaeological Insights

Singh, O.P. Mobilizing Workforce for Building Megaliths in Northeast India: Ethnoarchaeological Insights from Willong Khullen Village in Manipur

Arch (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11759-024-09507-7





Abstract
 

While ethnoarchaeological studies on megalith-building traditions in a few communities in India’s northeastern region have enriched our knowledge, a knowledge gap remains regarding how traditional societies mobilized the workforce for transporting and erecting stone monuments. This paper aims to fill this research gap with an ethnographically documented case of building a monolith in 2020 in Willong Khullen, a village inhabited by the Maram Nagas (an indigenous Tibeto-Burman ethnic community) in the Indian state of Manipur. After participating in the undertaking, I argue that traditional networks of support among sub-clans and clans in the village, as well as among neighboring and distant villages, may have ensured the free mobilization of workforce. The survey also revealed that work feasts and a grand feast, where the host expends maximum resources, are crucial for accessing social support networks, including the mobilization of labor participants. These feasts serve as a means of reciprocating the labor participants for their voluntary labor and time. The survey results support the claim of the high cost of such undertakings and supplement that feasts may have served similar functions in the past among other Naga communities in the region.

Saturday, 13 July 2024

The Twenty Most Notable Stone Circles in the UK and their Stone Sources

By combining various sources I created a list of the twenty most notable neolithic stone circles, of course there are many others that could have been in the list but this seems to be a representative sample. I have started investigating the sources of their megaliths. For most there are just assumptions, but where there has been research it seems that the stones are very deliberately chosen and brought to the site.
  1. Arbor Low: The stone circle is made up of about 50 large limestone blocks arranged in an egg-shaped pattern assumed to be local but no research on sources has been published. The monument is situated on a Carboniferous Limestone plateau in the White Peak area of Derbyshire
  2. Avebury: Probably local but see Gillings, Mark & Pollard, Josh. (2016). Making Megaliths: Shifting and Unstable Stones in the Neolithic of the Avebury Landscape. Cambridge Archaeological Journal. -1. 1-23. 10.1017/S0959774316000330. for discussion on stone sources.
  3. Beaghmore: No research, assumed local.
  4. Boscawen-Un: No research but assumed sourced from the surrounding Cornish landscape, where granite is naturally abundant. The quartz stone may have been specially selected from a different local source due to its unique appearance.
  5. Calanais: the exact quarry site is not specified but the stones are described as being "of local Lewisian Gneiss"
  6. Castlerigg Stone Circle: Assumed to be sourced locally from metamorphic slate that was naturally available in the area as glacial erratics.
  7. Gors Fawr: The stones at Gors Fawr come from two distinct sources: Half of the stones are made of bluestone, which is sourced from the nearby Preseli Mountains.The other half of the stones are composed of local rock types found in the immediate area
  8. Long Meg and Her Daughters, Cumbria: The rhyolite stones of the main circle were likely gathered from the surrounding landscape. The red sandstone of Long Meg was deliberately brought from a different location, possibly due to its distinctive appearance or perceived special properties
  9. Machrie Moor, Isle of Arran: The circles include a variety of stone types, found on the Isle of Arran. This includes both red sandstone and granite
  10. Merry Maidens: assumed to be local granite.
  11. Mitchell’s Fold: assumed to be dolerite stones from nearby Stapeley Hill approx 2000m
  12. Moel Ty Uchaf Stone Circle: assumed to be local
  13. Nine Ladies Stone Circle: assumed to be local Millstone Grit
  14. Rollright Stones: assumed to be local naturally occurring surface oolitic limestone boulders
  15. Stanton Drew: "There are at least four distinct rock types to be found within the monument site and the origins of the rock types appear to be from geographically as well as geologically diverse areas."https://www.mendipgeoarch.net/stones.html
  16. Stonehenge: many distant sources
  17. Swinside: assumed to be local porphyritic slate
  18. The Hurlers : "During the excavation, geological inspection of the stones which made up the pavement revealed a wide variety: granites, elvan, altered wall rock, vein material, black fault surface rock, phyllite, quartz and mica (Beeson 2013), many with sharp edges forming an irregular lumpy fresh surface. This variety brought colour with pink and orange granites and shiny gold pieces of phyllite. Crystals in the granite were visually inspected and differences were noted, and we learnt that the rocks were sourced from a variety of places. A comparison of the sizes and ratios of feldspar and quartz crystals in the individual standing stones which made up the central and northern circles also provided another surprising insight: there were differences in the parent material which could also suggest the possibility that the granite for the standing stones in at least two of the circles had also come from different sources. Moreover, the rocks in the pavement showed no specific link to the standing stones of the circles. Such new information on the materiality of The Hurlers has potential to reveal new insights about how EBA ceremonial monuments are made (Beeson in Nowakowski and Gossip 2017)";(Investigating Archaeology and Astronomy at The Hurlers 61© 2020 EQUINOX PUBLISHING LTD)
  19. The Ring of Brodgar: The megaliths used to construct the Ring of Brodgar were sourced from various locations across Orkney "at least seven different lithologies". Specifically: Many of the stones were quarried from Vestrafiold in Sandwick, about 8 miles away from the site. Archaeological evidence, including ancient stoneworking tools and remnants of quarried stones, has been found at Vestrafiold.Other stones were sourced from different areas of Orkney, possibly aligned to their points of origin within the circle. One distinctive yellow stone came from an outcrop at Houton in Orphir, approximately 9 miles from the site
  20. Tregeseal East stone circle: Assumed to be local granite
Tregeseal stone circle (geograph 1489127)
Rod Allday / Tregeseal stone circle

As Gillings et al 2016 say: "Whilst it could be argued that the setting of any megalith requires some degree of relocation, even a cursory examination of the monumental literature reveals that when it comes to comment and consideration, not all megaliths are afforded the same degree of interest. Where the component stones seem unusual or exotic with regard to size, shape and/or composition, there is active consideration of where they might have come from and the practicalities of movement. In contrast, when the stones are generic and plentiful, extraction and movement are rarely mentioned at all. Cooney has contrasted these latter ‘mundane’ or ‘routine’ stones with the more academically stimulating blocks that might find their way into megalithic monuments (and thus archaeological narratives). Mundane stone is lithic material that elicits no impulse towards explanation or interpretation on the part of the researcher (Cooney 2009, 64-5; Gillings 2015, 208-10). It is generally unworked, local, ubiquitous and used pragmatically in the process of construction. Local, generally unworked and ubiquitous, the sarsens of Avebury’s monuments often suffer from such mundane ascription. Further, while recent accounts have served to direct academic attention towards the highly charged and significant nature of extracting, moving and erecting stones (e.g. Richards 2013), it could be argued that with the emphasis that is placed upon metaphoric and metonymic significance, there is still a tendency to subordinate these ‘projects of stone’ to a higher goal. For example, Richards has argued convincingly that at Stenness ‘people were not simply moving stones – they were re-ordering a materiality directly related to personal and group identity’ (2009, 62). All that we would add is that they were also moving stones and the precise manner in which this movement was effected may be of critical and direct significance."

  • Cooney, G., 2009. Mundane Stone and its Meaning in the Neolithic, in Materialitas: working stone, carving identity, eds. B. O’Connor, G. Cooney & J. Chapman. Oxford: Prehistoric Society/Oxbow Books, 64–75.
  • Gillings, M., 2015. Betylmania? small standing stones and the megaliths of South-West Britain. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 34(3), 205–31.
  • Richards, C. (ed.), 2013. Building the Great Stone Circles of the North. Oxford: Windgather Press.
  • Neolithic Megalithic Transport - Lessons from Portugal

    Lessons from Portugal on the choice of megaliths for neolithic monuments: "the nearest ones were not used as unique collection site"  Ignoring some local suitable rocks they chose others from further away for apparent "aesthetic/symbolic reasons".

    Vidigueira3
    Roundtheworld, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons


    'Moving megaliths in the Neolithic - a multi analytical case study'  (pdf)

    Boaventura, Rui & Moita, Patricia & Pedro, Jorge & Mataloto, Rui & Almeida, Luís & Nogueira, Pedro & Maximo, Josephine & Pereira, André & Santos, José Francisco & Ribeiro, Sara. (2020). Moving megaliths in the Neolithic - a multi analytical case study of dolmens in Freixo-Redondo (Alentejo, Portugal). 10.2307/j.ctv1zckz4z.4.   In book: Megaliths and Geology Chapter: 1Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing Ltd

    "Conclusions:

    For the studied dolmens - group of Freixo, Godinhos and Candeeira - it were identified nearest mesoscopically compatible outcrops, that is, at mesoscale are compatible with the slabs from megaliths. The distances from dolmen to mentioned outcrop varies between 150 m (e.g. dolmen Quinta do Freixo 1) and ~780 m (e.g. dolmen Casas Novas1). Through field, petrographic and multi-elemental geochemical obtained data, it is noticed that almost never, the nearest ones were not used as unique collection site... 

    .. The complete match including size, shape, petrography and geochemistry was obtained for several dolmens providing for group of Freixo, distances between 800 and 3500 m....

    It is not possible to attribute a reason for one’s provenances to the detriment of another outcrop. It could be related to the immediate availability of the material (loosened blocks) but nevertheless, the gabbro-diorites in the area were not chosen, at group of Freixo, for building purposes. Apparently for aesthetic/symbolic reasons since this lithology occurs as loosened blocks and presents similar sizes/ shapes to those found in medium dolmens of granodiorite. Confirmation of the use of certain outcrops by communities from the Neolithic period will be possible through excavation work."


    This careful choice and collection of specific megaliths in Portugal supports the earlier work of Pope and Miranda which states and then concludes.

    "It is true that some megalith stones were imported. Kalb (1996) stated that specific types of stone were imported over distances up to 8 km for megaliths at Vale de Rodrigo (southwest of the Almendres and Zambujeiro sites). This was consistent with our observations. particularly at Crornleque dos Almendres. where several types of granite were noted. Criado Boado and Fabregas Valcarce (994) contend that adjacent outcrops were seldom used as quarries for megaliths in Galicia. However. minimal damage to surface weathering features on most megalith stones (discussed below) suggested that the stones were not dragged or rolled long distances (at least without the aid of sledges or other mechanical aids)." 

     "Naturally weathered outcrops provided material for these early megalith monuments, a practice possibly used in megalith construction across western Europe. Lack of damage to superficial weathering features suggests that, despite evidence of  importation into locations of differing lithology, the megalith stones were not transported long distances, or alternately, were transported with great care. 

    Pope, G. A., & Miranda, V. C. A geomorphology of megaliths: Neolithic landscapes in the Alto Alentejo, Portugal. Middle States Geographer, 32, 110-124.

    Thursday, 11 July 2024

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    Wednesday, 10 July 2024

    The plague may have caused the downfall of the Stone Age farmers

    NEWS RELEASE 10-JUL-2024
    Picture my own

    The plague may have caused the downfall of the Stone Age farmers


    Peer-Reviewed Publication - University of Copenhagen - The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

    Ancient DNA from bones and teeth hints at a role of the plague in Stone Age population collapse. Contrary to previous beliefs, the plague may have diminished Europe's populations long before the major plague outbreaks of the Middle Ages, new research shows.
     
    In the 14th century Europe, the plague ravaged the population during the so-called 'Black Death,' claiming the lives of nearly a third of the population.
     
    But the plague arrived in Scandinavia several thousand years earlier, and despite several theories suggesting otherwise, the plague might have caused an epidemic, according to new research from the University of Copenhagen.
     
    In collaboration with researchers from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, researchers from the Globe Institute, have analyzed DNA from ancient teeth and bones of 108 individuals who died 5,000 years ago.
     
    "The analyses show that 18 of these individuals, 17 percent, were infected with the plague when they died. Furthermore, our results suggests that the youngest plague strain we identify might have had epidemic potential," says postdoc Frederik Seersholm, who led the DNA analysis.
     
    This means that the plague at that time may have been a contributing factor to the population collapse in the end of the Neolithic, known as the Neolithic decline. This population bust caused large parts of the farming population in Scandinavia and Northwestern Europe to disappear within just a few centuries, 5000 years ago.
     
    "We cannot – yet – prove that this was exactly how it happened. But the fact that we can now show that it could have happened this way is significant. The cause of this population decline, which we have known about for a long time, has always been subject of debate," says Frederik Seersholm.
     
    The archaeological material analysed comes mainly from passage graves in Sweden, but one of the individuals is from a stone cist in Stevns, Denmark.
     
    Ancient DNA provides answers

    The analyses were conducted using a method called "deep shotgun sequencing," which allows researchers to extract highly detailed information from archaeological material, even though ancient DNA is often heavily damaged or degraded. The researchers examined DNA from tooth and bone material from the Neolithic time period, studying both familial relations and diseases in the individuals.
    “We have been able to carry out a comprehensive mapping of plague lineages, and a detailed description of other microbes in the DNA data. At the same time, through these analyses, we have been able to look at the human DNA from a broad perspective to a local one – and right down to the individual level, getting a picture of the social organization that existed back then,” says Associate Professor Martin Sikora at the Globe Institute, who is also behind the study.
    The finding that 17 percent of the individuals whose DNA was analyzed had plague, indicates that the plague was common in Scandinavia during the late Stone Age.
    In one of the analyzed families, at least three plague outbreaks was observed over the six generations in the family that researchers have been able to map.
    “The question of possible kinship relations between individuals whose bones and teeth have been found in megalithic tombs has been debated for at least 200 years. There have been many theories and speculations, but now, thanks to DNA, we have data,” says Karl-Göran Sjögren, Associate Professor of Archaeology at the University of Gothenburg, who was also involved in the new study.
    Frederik Seersholm believes that the new results rules out previous theories suggesting that the population decline could not have been caused by plague.
    “In connection with the population decline in the end of the Neolithic, both war and outbreaks of infectious diseases, including plague, have been suggested. There have been several theories involving the plague, and one of them suggested that the plague could not have caused an epidemic – but that assumption no longer holds,” says Frederik Seersholm.
    JOURNAL Nature

    DOI 10.1038/s41586-024-07651-2

    ARTICLE TITLE Repeated Plague Infections Across Six Generations of Neolithic Farmers

    ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE  10-Jul-2024 

    My Automated Analysis:

    This article discusses a groundbreaking study of ancient DNA from Neolithic farmers in Sweden, revealing repeated plague infections across six generations. Here are the key points:

    1. The study analyzed DNA from 136 individuals buried in a megalithic tomb at Frälsegården, Sweden, dating back to around 5,000 years ago.
    2. Researchers identified a multi-generational family spanning six generations, with 38 individuals directly related.
    3. The study found evidence of repeated Yersinia pestis (plague) infections across these generations, with about 32% of the individuals testing positive for plague DNA.
    4. Three distinct strains of Y. pestis were identified, suggesting multiple waves of infection over time.
    5. The plague strains found were predecessors to those responsible for later pandemics, including the Black Death.
    6. Despite the presence of plague, the population showed resilience, continuing to grow over generations.
    7. The study also revealed insights into the social structure of the Neolithic community, including evidence of polygyny and female exogamy (women marrying into the community from outside).
    8. Genetic analysis showed a gradual increase in Steppe ancestry over time, indicating ongoing population mixture.
    9. The research combined advanced DNA sequencing techniques, including analysis of rare genetic variants and pangenome graphs, to reconstruct family relationships and track plague evolution.
    This study provides unprecedented insight into the impact of infectious diseases on prehistoric populations and the evolution of plague bacteria over time. It also offers a unique glimpse into the social dynamics of a Neolithic farming community.