At https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/3-300-year-old-cremations-found-in-scotland-suggest-the-people-died-in-a-mysterious-catastrophic-event…. one’s first thought – are they making a meal of it? Archaeologists have discovered cremation remains dated at around 3300 years ago, roughly around 1300BC and contemporary late Amarna period in Egypt, which may or may not be relevant. Some 8 people were cremated and buried in 5 urns – at the same time. How do they know this? Apparently the evidence is the fact all the urns were made by a single potter. Why would 8 people die in a small community all at the same time? The urns were also found in a barrow – or burial mound. Possibly reused.
At https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/1-900-year-old-double-scythian-burial-in-ukraine-contains-toxic-red-mineral … for some reason ancient people, going way back in the past, had a thing about the colour red when it came to burying the dead. The Pavilland ‘red lady’ in the Gower is a case in point. They normally used red ochre. However, a Scythian burial on the Ukraine steppe zone, going back to the 2nd or 3rd centuries AD, was no exception. However, it was not ochre. Neither was it vermillion, a substitute used somethimes, but it was cinnabar. This is described as a toxic mineral. It has been suggested cinnabar was used to slow decay of the two bodies, leaving it open for further burials to be inserted at a later date.
At https://dailygalaxy.com/2026/03/cave-426-mile-network-spans-two-countries/ … a 426 mile network of caves lies beneath Kentucky. Mammoth Cave is located beneath rolling hills and is claimed to be the biggest cave system on Earth – until a bigger one is found. Much of it is unexplored.
At https://northernearth.co.uk/near-and-far-horizons-megalithic-networks-across-the-irish-sea/ … this is an amateur project but one that is intriguing. Amateurs go where professionals are fearful to tread. There are still people out there impressed by Alexander and Archie Thom. Why not – they did an incredible amount of research, often in bad weather. Not like their critics sitting inside peering out of the window. Basically, the author was intrigued by two circles of standing stones. One at Bellymena in Co Down and the the other, Swinside, in Cumbria [better known as the Lake District]. One on either side of the Irish Sea and although their exact date in unknown they are typical of the mid third millennium BC. There are some remarkable similarities between the two, such as the large number of stones, up to 60 of them in one and in the 50s in the other. There are another 25 stones positioned, in an arc around a large cairn – and there are outlying stones in the fields outside the circles.
In the Neolithic period there is a lot of evidence to show the people on both sides of the Irish Sea, at this point geographically, were similar in culture, possibly as a result of arriving by sea routes from 4000BC onwards. Yet, the two circles are separated by 100 miles – and they cannot be seen from each other. Instead, the mid point between the two was Snaefull, a big mountain on the Isle of Man. This is visible from high ground close to both circles. An intriguing discovery.