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Posted on 01/04/2012 6:00:46 PM PST by SunkenCiv
The site, known as the Ness of Brodgar, was investigated by BBC2 documentary A History of Ancient Britain, with presenter Neil Oliver describing it as 'the discovery of a lifetime'.
So far the remains of 14 Stone Age buildings have been excavated, but thermal geophysics technology has revealed that there are 100 altogether, forming a kind of temple precinct.
Until now Stonehenge was considered to have been the centre of Neolithic culture, but that title may now go to the Orkney site, which contains Britain's earliest known wall paintings.
Oliver said: 'The excavation of a vast network of buildings on Orkney is allowing us to recreate an entire Stone Age world.
'It's opening a window onto the mysteries of Neolithic religion.'
Experts believe that the site will give us insights into what Neolithic people believed about the world and the universe.
Nick Card, an archaeologist from the University of the Highlands and Islands, said: 'It's an archaeologist's dream site. The excitement of the site never fades.
'This site is a one-off.'
Professor Mark Edmonds from the University of York, meanwhile, describes the excavation as 'a site of international importance'.
Some parts of the temple are 800 years older than Stonehenge, which lies 500 miles to the south in Wiltshire.
The site is very close to the Ring of Brodgar stone circle and the standing stones of Stenness and is surrounded by a wall believed to have been 10-feet high.
Archaeologists found red zigzag lines on some of the buildings' inner walls that they believe is Stone Age art -- the oldest ever found.
So far only around 10 per cent of the site has been examined -- and it could take decades to uncover and analyse everything there.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
It was warmer 8000 years ago than it is today.
Great Thread! Thanks!
Wow. Thanks for these continued postings, Civ. I would love nothing more than to be able to retire...and spend the rest of my days as a volunteer, digging in the dirt on a site like this.
How about sea level in the area. Was it lower making the islands larger?
Hey, it's a new opportunity for archeologists to make stuff up.
In the Penguin translation, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition, this is mentioned in chapter 18.
See also Paul Schneider, Brutal Voyage: Cabeza de Vaca and the Epic First Crossing of North America (2007).
These people were far more advanced than we realized. They may not have had advanced weapons, but apperantly they had barbershops, shavers and strapless bras.
Thanks SueRae, my pleasure. It’s easy to find and sign up for something like that — it’s hard work, and you actually have to pay your own way (cost is like taking a cruise, or a tour of famous sites somewhere like Egypt), but that’s the way some of these digs get done at all, due to lack of funding. I always enjoy the stupidity of people who think archaeologists get wealthy off grants.
I tried, I really did, but the lightning bolt was so slow I took a shower and dressed for work, and was locking the back door before the spark had moved halfway across the room here. That’s some slow electrons. ;’)
Yeah, WHAT?
FR has a religion forum...
The Book of Invasions records (I think, if memory serves, other disclaimers) four waves of settlement of the British Isles, each one named and characterized by some activity or burial practice, or etc. The Celts hit Europe prior to 600 BC (including Galatia, now part of Turkey, and probably best known for Paul’s Letter to the Galatians), and had covered most of the British Isles (including Irelend) by 500 BC. Other places of settlement included Iberia, northern Italy, and other spots.
The Celts in Britain are (or at least used to be) classified by language into P-Celts and Q-Celts; the Irish and Scots are Q, and the Cornish, Welsh, and perhaps the earlier Celtic wave in Ireland P-Celts. The most obvious and frequent example of this is Mac (son of) in Q-Celtic is Mab (or Ap) in Wales. The last native speakers of Cornish died out about a century ago. The last of the Gaelic-only speakers in Ireland are still in the process of dying out, but it’s close.
The Celts moved out of Central Asia (not Germany as is sometimes claimed) as a consequence of their population growth hitting a wall, probably due to natural climate change, the same driving force that pushed IndoEuropean language speakers into Europe in the first place from the same spot. It also pushed IndoEuropean speakers into Iran and the Middle East, India, and into the east.
The upshot is, the Celts were a later follow-on wave of IndoEuropean settlement / invasion of Europe, which continued into the Middle Ages. And speakers of non-IndoEuropean languages followed the same route — the steppes — from east to west (and from west to east) throughout Greek and Roman times, and into the Middle Ages. The cork didn’t get stuck in that bottle until Ivan the Terrible defeated the Muzzie states that had been pushing them around, and put the Russian Empire together. Prior to that time, the Slavs (also IndoEuropean speakers) were part of that settlement / invasion of Europe.
Stonehenge antedates the Q-Celts in Britain, and since there are good dates for the stages of its construction, and good dates for the pre-Q-Celtic cultures (which correspond reasonably well with the descriptions in the Book of Invasions), it remains likely that the P-Celts’ arrival also is subsequent to the construction of Stonehenge — and therefore of this complex in the Orkneys.
:’D
Thanks, one and all, for the intelligent and kind remarks.
” - - -Thanks, one and all, for the intelligent and kind remarks.”
I had no choice, as some of my ancestors probably lived there.
Another big movement deal involves the "Turks" ~ similar to the Indo-Europeans, they moved vast distances, but usually North to South with deteriorating Climate, and South to North with deteriorating political conditions.
Like the Mongols centuries after them the Sakha/Yakuts people swooped down on Eastern India, conquered a lot of territory, ruled much of it, and finally in AD 200 were driven out ~ whereupon they moved right back to where they'd previously lived in Siberia (today, called Yakutia).
During one particularly cold period they moved East and conquered Korea and much of Japan.
Their cousins just to the West of them regularly moved in and out of Western India. Their last big move involved the so-called Seljuks who showed up in Eastern Anatolia. Intriguingly Celtic names show up among their leadership elite at that time.
They were followed by Mongols who made one of the great moves in history ~ they went East, West and South conquering most all before them (except some other Mongols who weren't terribly interested in moving).
The last huge move involved Western Europeans who took over the Americas, destroyed the Turkish Empire and even held India for a while ~ and in WWII, took Japan.
The Germans go so far as to imagining they were the cause of all the disruption.
Well, duh!
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