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3 May 2014
Archaeology

At http://world.greekreporter.com/2014/04/30/egypt-archaeologist-may-have-d… … in downtown Alexandria (not under the sea). The monument was sealed off, it is though, in the 3rd or 4th centuries AD, as a result of Christian repression of paganism.

Over at http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/amesbury-in-wiltshi… … the press release comes with an odd ring – or is it nothing to get in a lather. It is not Amesbury that is ancient but Blick Mead (Vespasian's Camp) situated on a bluff overlooking Stonehange (but within the modern parish of Amesbury). It has been C14 dated to 8820BC – which is way back in the early Holocene. It is likely the people here, or similar people, erected the massive pine posts in the old car park at Stonehenge (which have a similar date). The later siting of Stonehenge can therefore be seen as a continuation of interest in the locality – why this should be is as yet unknown. Not only that, Mesolithic people (prior to the arrival of farmers from continental Europe) were managing the landscape and living in permanent settlements (which is not a lot different to other people around the world at the same cultural level). This, the piece adds, will blow the lid off the Neolithic revolution – but hardly. However, there was something else that was surprising, or lucky (for the archaeologists) in that a huge cache of worked flint was found in a small area, mainly domestic tools. The find dwarfs other discoveries of flint caches and clearly the site was used to manufacture implements that were sold on at fairs and meetings. The ssite was also strategically interesting as the river Avon allowed Mesolithic people to reach the locale by boat – assumed to be the major method of transport at that time. For example a Mesolithic boat yard was discovered on the sea bed of the Solent – beneath Boulder Cliff on the Isle of Wight. 

See also the web site of the University of Birmingham.

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