THE HOLE TRUTH

A burial recently found at Ensisheim, Alsace, contained a skull which had been subject to trepanation. This was dated to between 5200 and 4900 BCE, making it the earliest known example of this surgical technique. Trepanation involves cutting a hole in the skull, exposing the brain. It is believed that this was done to relieve pressure on the brain or to "release evil spirits", though it has also been claimed that the procedure leads to "altered states of consciousness". [Current Archaeology, Vol 13/10 (#154), Sept. 1997, p.389]

ANGEL FROM HELL

So the fiery furnaces pumped out tons of iron to turn a rusty red and stand balefully over Gateshead... Does anybody out there in NE-land like the 'Angel of the North'? I (JB) find it a baleful materialist imposition on the landscape that no amount of angel faddishness will elevate; a post-industrial neo-fascist excrescence that blights both land and taste. Earth harmony? None. Aesthetic lines? Zilch. Golden Mean? Wossat? A feng-shui expert (though nowadays that seems to be anybody who knows the difference between a dragon and a tiger) has warned that 'collapse and calamity' will be the order of the day unless the Angel has a turtle for company in the design. If you have any ideas or feelings about the thing, let us know.

HEARTSEASE FOR THE BRUCE

A casket was unearthed at Melrose Abbey in 1996, containing a mummified heart; the heart was identified as that of Robert the Bruce, as legend states that he wished this part of his body to be buried there (although his body rests at Dunfermline). Though there has of course been debate over the identification, the casket is to be ceremonially reburied at the Abbey on June 24, the 684th anniversary of Bruce's victory at Bannockburn. [Guardian, 24-2-98]

BRONZE SWELTERING

Well, a few generations back Yorkshire hillfolk were smearing their kids with goosefat in autumn, stitching them into their underclothes and leaving it be until the weather warmed in spring... Before that, we're told that the Elizabethans were none too fond of bathing, and we're left to imagine that the further back we go in time the smellier became the human environment. But in the Bronze Age at least things may have been more salubrious, as 64 heaps of burnt stone near water sources in the Yorkshire Dales have been identified as possible sauna-style sweat baths. The mounds are like spoil heaps 8-15m. across and 1.5m. high. Such baths are known in Ireland from the early Celtic period. [Yorks. Post, 10-2-98; Guardian, 11-2-98; Independent, 11-2-98 (cr M. Smith]

MYSTICAL PONTEFRACT

The story goes that someone in West Yorkshire dug up a crystal skull around the turn of the year... The rumour goes that the skull was found in the Pontefract-Hemsworth area by a metal detectorist (why a metal detector should find a crystal skull is not specified), though branch rumours included the usual suspects of bone piles and lost temples. No details have been forthcoming about this, and has anybody out there heard any more? [Yorks Post, 11-1-98]

LEMMINGS NOT SO DAFT

Do lemmings throw themselves off cliffs into the sea at times of population crisis? Well, everyone knows they do. Except a BBC team investigating lemmings in the Canadian Arctic. A warm summer that coincided with documentary making caused a population peak unknown in thirty years - by rights, the lemmings should have gone into free fall, but instead they just basked, grew fat and bred more. Either lemmings have realised something, or... It is thought that 19th-century naturalists couldn't be bothered to check things out, but reported Inuit and Scandinavian lore as fact (but then, where did they get it from?). Norwegian experts have been sceptical of the behaviour for nearly fifty years, since finding that lemmings normally avoid water. As for the famous film clips of suicidal lemmings, it was 1950s Disney, and naturalists believe the company gathered hundreds of the rodents together and herded them off the cliffs, for some real cinema verit_, one supposes. [Guardian, 24-2-98]

FAIRY DELL - A TRUE STORY

Following the two recent films inspired by the 1917 fairy photos of Cottingley in West Yorkshire ('Photographing Fairies' and 'Fairytale - A True Story'); the plans for a fairy museum showing actual photos and other mementos in the village; the acquisition of the actual cameras used by the girls by Bradford's National Museum of Photography, Film & TV (cost £13,000); and the sale of a collection of photos, letters and press cuttings (£1090) to US art dealer John Arieta and two more pictures (£398) to a Sussex man, Ginger Gilmour, we hear that Patchett Homes are planning to build on the actual stream side where Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths met the fairies. The company says it will allow public access over part of the area, which is on private land. [Yorks. Post, 4-2-98, 21-3-98; Guardian, 4-3-98]

MY WAY

The Pope is expected shortly to issue an encyclical (an official letter of instruction circulated to all Catholic bishops) which will inveigh strongly against 'New Age' ideas and beliefs. He is thought to regard the notion of self-realisation, rather than a coming to terms with God or Jesus Christ, as spiritual error, and part of a new system of thought which puts man rather than God at the heart of the world. [Guardian, 26-2-98]

MERRY BAND DISBANDS

The Yorkshire Robin Hood Society has decided to disband, after a chequered history in which an excellent little booklet was produced by Barbara Green, only to be followed by accusations of vampirism and dark deeds at Robin Hood's Grave on the Mirfield/Brighouse border, and growing animosity between the society's members and Lady Armitage, the owner of the Grave and Kirklees Priory (where, according to the ballads, Robin Hood met his death).

Lady Armitage has resisted pressure to open access to the legendary sites, but usually allows access by prior arrangement; the sites are in working farmland, and the area around the old Priory - whose 15th-century gatehouse, though still standing and maintained at a basic level, is nonetheless run-down - has a curiously still and evocative atmosphere. The grave site is also in disrepair; formerly, navvies working on the canal and roads chipped bits off the stone for toothache. Today, the railings surrounding the grave are battered and displaced. [Yorks. Post, 29-1-98]

FORTS & ALL SORTS

A recent study of hillforts along the Ridgeway in Oxfordshire has revealed some unexpected information about these common structures. Since they are all surrounded by high ramparts it was always assumed by archaeologists that they were purely defensive. A series of surveys and trial excavations suggests that in fact hillforts had a range of functions.

Excavation at Segsbury Camp uncovered an Iron Age settlement of roundhouses. The "D"-shaped ramparts enclose a bustling densely-packed community. The only sign of ritual function was a series of pits containing deposits, which were probably related to individual acts of piety. A similar site occurs nearby at Rams Hill, although this site was occupied for longer, from the Late Bronze Age to Romano-British times.

In contrast, the hillfort at Uffington seems not to have been occupied at all. No sign of any structure was found apart from a few pits. This hillfort is, of course, right next to a group of earlier ritual structures. Within the area are a Neolithic long barrow, a group of Bronze Age round barrows and the famous White Horse, currently dated to the Late Bronze Age. About 2 km from Uffington is another curious site known as Hardwell Camp. Unlike the others, it does not occupy a hilltop but is tucked away on a slope, invisible from most viewpoints. Archaeologists were unable to excavate this but its strange position suggests that it had some unusual function.

These findings are complemented by the results of an excavation at a hillfort on a promontory in Sligo. Here archaeologists found that after many years use as a domestic settlement the area was changed to a purely ritual function and used as a cemetery until the arrival of Christianity in the area, around the 8th century CE.

N.B. During the excavation at Uffington, part of the Ridgeway was found to overlie a Late Bronze Age feature, which suggests that this supposed ancient track can be no older than the early Iron Age. [British Archaeology, February 1998. Also Archaeology Ireland Vol. 8 (3),1994]

Swiss archaeo-zoologist Louis Chaix made a surprising discovery when he examined the 7000-year-old jawbone of a brown bear found in a cave on the French/Swiss border. It seems that the bear had been fitted with a muzzle and was possibly kept as a pet (or totem animal?- MH) by the Mesolithic hunters who lived there. The bear was relatively young, about six, when it died, leading to suggestions that it may have been ritually slain. [British Archaeology, February 1998]

Manchester Airport's new runway has allowed archaeologists a chance to look under what was once prime farmland - and will become wasteland. What they have found there are 12000 years of history, ranging from flints to a 1739 fishing weir. The most important discovery is a 2.75 acre Bronze Age village site around Oversley Farm. Some recovered artefacts will be displayed when available at the airport, while others will be distributed around museums in Cheshire. [cr. J.C.Kukla; Guardian, 20-3-98]]

FOLLOWING THE ROYAL LINE

London's Pearly Kings were reconsidering their traditional patriarchal succession at their annual Guild Meeting in May, following the Royal Family's move towards giving princesses equal succession rights. The Pearlies were founded in 1875 by Henry Croft, ratcatcher and roadsweeper, who according to legend found a sunken barge in the Thames full of mother of pearl buttons; he sewed a number of them on to his suit and struck quite a figure as he shimmered down the street. The idea was taken up by the costermongers of east and south London, whose clans elected their heads to be Pearly Kings of their locality, and under Croft's initial influence they became a movement collecting money for the poor. Today the Pearlies get their buttons at big parties held twice a year at the Japanese Embassy. [Guardian, 6-3-98]

A HAUNTING CASE

Period cottage in Hollow Lane, Upper Mayfield, Derbys., only for strong-minded... Andrew and Josie Smith, who have been living in Lowes Cottage for four years, have now taken the previous owners of their home to court for not telling them the place was haunted. A county court has ruled there is a case to answer. The ghosts when in a good mood "tickle your feet in bed or the top of your head when you're watching TV", but when less playful throw objects around and have even allegedly tried to throttle Ms Smith; figures of a young girl and boy and another apparition have been seen. House legend states that a young girl called Ellen was imprisoned, raped and murdered in the cellar in the 19th century, and a young boy hanged himself from the rafters. The couple have obtained witness testimony from various people, including a minister who has exorcised the house five times; against that, the previous owners say they never encountered paranormal activity in 20 years there. The present occupiers admit they were cynical about haunted houses before they moved there, so one wonders if they would have taken it seriously if they'd been told about the ghosts anyway. [Yorks. Post, 5-3-98]

Archaeologists digging at Knowth, on the river Boyne in Ireland, have discovered a number of carved stones which appear to have been taken from an earlier decorated tomb. Many of the blocks were used in ways which obscured the older inscriptions, suggesting that the more ancient building was deliberately slighted. ['Knowth before Knowth', George Eogan. Antiquity 72, 1998, 162-72]

Ongoing Oxford University genetic research is indicating that "anybody who knows that their maternal grandmother was born in the British Isles is almost certain [99%] to be genetically identical to a Palaeolithic ancestor, through a family chain genetically untouched by 'newcomers' such as the Celts...". Britons laying particular claim to one particular cultural heritage or another are therefore being rather superficial. Bill Longsleet of the Anglo-Saxon Society ('dedicated to honouring the Germanic tribes') was quoted that the study "demeaned and insulted" the traditional ideas of Britain and objected to being cast back to the Old Stone Age. The implication is that the succession of invasions has been no more than a slight ripple on our genetic inheritance - our most ancient ancestors have overwhelmed later incursions. [Sunday Times, 22-3-98, 5-4-98 p.24] Another implication is that our link with and perception of the land and 'energy' of these islands reaches further back than any cultural expression we care to cloak it in...

FACE/OFF

NASA's Global Surveyor took the chance during its orbit of Mars to take detailed pictures of the Cydonia region, where features such as the famous Face have inspired visions of an ancient Martian civilisation (see NE 56 & 57), and the inexplicable loss of the Observer Mission just before it was to orbit the planet merely fuelled the mystery. The latest, closer, pictures (which can be seen on the NASA Internet page) have revealed more detail than the computer-enhanced images of the 1976 Viking probe - and less of a face-like image. Richard Hoagland of the Mars Mission has described the new pictures as too poor in quality, and admittedly also we have not seen pictures from the same vertical angle that showed the 'face' last time, but NASA are insisting that it's a natural butte. [Guardian, 8-4-98]

ANCIENT HEBRIDEAN BUILDINGS

Recent excavations in the Western Isles has lead to a new understanding of the development of domestic architecture in this region. During the late Iron Age, people in this region began building elaborate circular structures. The most spectacular of these are the brochs. These two- or three-storied, windowless round towers with hollow walls were originally thought of as refuges during attacks. The new excavations show that they were capped with a conical thatched roof and inhabited all the time. A study of the distribution of brochs, and their humbler cousin, the Atlantic roundhouse, shows that they were evenly spread, each dominating an area large enough to support one family, much as a later croft would. These forms flourished in the last centuries BCE.

Around the start of the Common Era a new style of building was developed, the wheelhouse. These were again round in form, but constructed partly underground. From the centre of each dwelling, walls were built which gradually arched over to form roofs around 20 ft high. These became common in the Western Isles and Shetland but not on Orkney, which continued with the round house/broch tradition. This may be due to the fact that small settlements and villages developed around brochs and roundhouses here. Orkney was in the process of becoming a centre of power and developing in a different direction.

Another aspect of wheelhouses uncovered by the recent excavations was the fact that they were also the focus of ritual activity. A number of pits were found underneath the floor of a wheelhouse at Sollas, North Uist. These contained the remains of a variety of mutilated and cremated animals, possibly sacrificed. The walls of one example at Cnip contained complete pots, bird heads and other animal body parts. When one wheelhouse was abandoned, the event was marked by the ritual deposition of part of a human skull. These activities put one in mind of the later practice of walling up animals, often cats, inside buildings to magically protect them. At one time it might have been speculated that this was another example of a 'Celtic survival'. These days, however, researchers tend to be more cautious. Placing the remains of animals in the architecture is seen as the result of satisfying a deep psychological need and thus likely to reoccur spontaneously. ['Monumental Homes of the Hebrides', Ian Armit. British Archaeology March 1998, p12-13. For more on animals in architecture see The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic, Ralph Merrifield, Batsford 1987]

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