ARCIERE SCOZZESE

Ecco un articolo interessante: all'estero (Scozia, in questo 

caso, una località mal pronunciabile presso Inverness) è stato

trovato uno scheletro incompleto, presumibilmente di 

maschio quasi adulto, accompagnato da alcuni frammenti 

ceramici (2/3 di un beaker alto 20-30 centimetri, il cui 

interno conteneva 'qualche cosa di organico' che sarà 

analizzato accuratamente ed il cui esterno appare essere 

stato decorato forse con una penna d'uccello). Oltre a ciò

(datato a partired ai resti ossei a 4.000-5.000 anni  fa, cioé 

alla prima età del Bronzo) è stato rinvenuto un 'parapolsi' 

('wrist-guard' in Inglese e 'brassard' in francese). Lo si è 

dedotto dalla forma dell'oggetto e dal fatto che presenta fori 

che sembrano proprio quelli atti a fare passare legacci di 

cuoio per fissare il parapolsi all'avambraccio dell'arciere. I 

reperti sono stati fotografati, registrati e quindi spediti ai 

laboratori che ne eseguiranno accurate ed approfondite 

analisi.

Che cosa c'è di strano? Nulla, credo...

Forse il fatto che nessuno - in Scozia - si è presentato per 

leggere il nome di Yahweh nei buchi del brassard...


Ma - si sa - gli Scozzesi non hanno alcuna fantasia: forse gli 

avrebbero riso dietro... 


E credo proprio che avrebbero avuto ragione...



Remains of Bronze Age bowman found in 

Scotland 


Archaeologists have discovered new artefacts suggesting a Highland village resident of 4,500 years ago fought with bow and arrow. 

Holes in the wrist guard could be for leather bindings  

[Credit: AOC Archaeology] 

A Bronze Age burial cist in Drumnadrochit, near Inverness, was found last month, and researchers have now found shards of pottery and a wrist guard, for use when shooting using bow and arrow, at the same site. 
Now work is being done to glean as much information about the finds, and it’s hoped they’ll be able to determine the gender of the skeletal remains. 

The initial discovery was made when workers were preparing the site of NHS Highland’s £1.5 million replacement Drumnadrochit Health Centre. 
Mary Peteranna, of AOC Archaeology Group, has been working on what she described as "significant" finds for NHS Highland. 

She said: "The shards are of around two-thirds of a beaker pot which will probably have been around 20-30cm high. What makes them particularly interesting is that there is some organic material adhering to the base of the pot, so we may find out something about its contents. 

Archaeologists believe the pottery may have been decorated  with a feather quill 

[Credit: AOC Archaeology] 

"The shards have a distinctive decoration which may have been made on the clay before firing in a stabbing movement with something like a feather quill.

 "The wrist guard is also particularly exciting. 
It has holes so that it could be tied to the wrist with a leather strap, and may have been ornamental or functional." 
Heather Cameron, senior project manager with the health board, said: "It is perhaps fitting that the site of what will be Drumnadrochit’s newest public building should have had the remains of what may well have been the community’s first resident. The skeletal remains are 4,000-4,500 years old, dating back to the early Bronze Age.
 "We are particularly excited to have uncovered the pottery and wrist guard in what appeared to be a second grave next to the first, and I think we will be looking to mount a display on the finds somewhere in the new building when it opens at the end of the year." 

The skeletal remains, which may be of an adult or near adult, comprise of most of a person’s long bones along with part of the skull and a number of teeth.
 It is hoped to be able to determine scientifically the sex of the person, and perhaps even the cause of death. 
The artefacts have been photographed, recorded and removed and will now be undergoing specialist, detailed analysis. 
A decision will then be taken about what to do with them.

 Author: Nick Humphreys | Source: Highland News [February 05, 2015]

LA PIETRA PITTICA DI DANDELEITH

In Scozia c'erano i Pitti, o Caledoni. 
La lingua Pittica (Pictish) è persa e sconosciuta. Un eccezionale ritrovamento ha permesso di aggiungere un raro reperto ai pochissimi esistenti fino ad oggi.
Si tratta di un pezzo di granito di circa 1,70 mt e pesante circa una tonnellata.


Archaeologist try to unlock secrets of  Pictish stone 



Archaeologists have released details on what they have described as the most important Pictish stone find to have been made in Moray in decades. 

The Dandaleith Stone [Credit: Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service] 

Weighing more than a ton and stretching to 1.7m, the Dandaleith Stone dates from the 6th to 8th Centuries and was uncovered during the ploughing of a field near Craigellachie in May 2013.
 Because of sensitivities around the location as well as the issue of having to work out how to remove a stone of its size - and where to move it to - archaeologists have revealed little about the find until now. The stone was removed from the field in April this year and taken to the Graciela Ainsworth Sculpture Conservation workshop in Leith for assessment. 

Once this work is completed, the stone will be put on display at Elgin Museum, possibly next year. The precise location where the stone was found remains secret to allow archaeologists to investigate the site for further artefacts. 
Archaeologists are not sure at this stage if the stone was found at the its original location. The site is on the River Spey floodplain, so it is possible that it may have been washed down from another place. 
Archaeologists said that a flood in 1829 called the Muckle Spate would have been powerful enough to shift the pink granite boulder. However, the stone and its carvings are in good condition suggesting it was erected where it was found and not tumbled around in a serious flood. 
Claire Herbert, regional archaeologist at Aberdeenshire Council Archaeology Service, said: "Members of the public regularly contact the Archaeology Service about artefacts they have found, but the reporting of the Dandaleith Stone was something truly unexpected, a real rarity. "I would like to thank the ploughman and landowner for reporting their find to us, and for their continued help and co-operation.
 "To our knowledge, this is a truly unique find which has the potential to alter our understanding of Pictish Symbol Stones. We are privileged to be involved in the continued 
protection of such a wonderful object." 

It has incised decoration on two adjoining faces. The other two faces show no obvious signs of carving. Face one is carved with a large eagle, a crescent and what archaeologists call a V-rod. On face two are mirror case, notch rectangle and Z-rod symbols. 
These are typical Pictish symbols, archaeologists said.

Symbol stones have been found previously at Arndilly and Inveravon.

Disegno della pietra diArndilly

Pietra di Inveravon (sopra) e dettaglio del mirror case (sotto)

However, Dandaleith Stone's symbols on two adjoining faces, aligned on the same orientation, is unusual and may be unique. 
Janet Trythall, vice-president of The Moray Society, said: "We are thrilled at Elgin Museum to have been allocated this fantastic Pictish stone. "It will be a marvellous complement to our existing collection of carved stones and an attraction for a wide range of visitors. "All that remains is to raise the necessary funding for restoration and display, and to overcome the logistical challenges of a piece of granite of this magnitude." 

Source: BBC News Website [August 08, 2014]

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Arte Preistorica nelle Highlands

E' stata trovata - in una zona archeologicamente molto prolifica delle Highlands - una pietra "decorata" con coppelle e cerchi su ambo i lati (un'eventualità piuttosto rara). La datazione presunta è di circa 4-5000 anni fa (Neolitico/Bronzo). I motivi della 'decorazione' non sono certi: potrebbe trattarsi di un po' di tutto, da pietre di confine, a pietre rituali,  fino anche alle 'mappe stellari'. 

Ma gli archeologi Inglesi non si scompongono. Potrebbero anche essere creazioni di antichi pastori, a tempo perso: 'doodlings'.

Annuncio ai naviganti: vorrei segnalare ai miei amici ciarlatani (#armatabrancaleoneshardariana) quanto siano oggi consunte e 'poco leggibili'  le incisioni antiche, che - appena fatte - dovevano invece essere nette e molto più chiare. Teniatene quindi conto, quando produrrete i vostri prossimi lavori!

Prehistoric rock art 

found in Scottish Highlands 




A rare example of prehistoric rock art has been uncovered in the Highlands. Archaeologists made the discovery while moving a boulder decorated with ancient cup and ring marks to a new location in Ross-shire. 

The rock decorated with cup and ring marks [Credit: BBC] 

When they turned the stone over they found the same impressions on the other side of the rock. It is one of only a few decorated stones of its kind. John Wombell, of North of Scotland Archaeological Society (NOSAS), said: "This is an amazing discovery." Susan Kruse, of Archaeology for Communities in the Highlands (ARCH), first discovered the stone at Heights of Fodderty several years ago when out walking. The second set of cup and ring marks were uncovered recently when archaeologists were moving the stone to a new site at nearby Heights of Brae Neil Gunn Viewpoint. 
From the Neolithic or Bronze Age, the art was created between 4,000 and 5,000 years ago. Archaeologists believe the markings may have been made for a number of reasons. 

The newly-discovered markings on the opposite side of the stone [Credit: BBC] 

These include for 

- rituals, 
- as territorial markers 
- or mapping the stars. 

They could even be the "doodlings" of bored, ancient shepherds. Ms Kruse said: "Finding cup and ring decoration on the opposite side has raised a number of tantalising questions. Was the decoration meant to be viewed from both sides or was one decorated side deliberately placed face down? Or was the stone carved at different times?" Mr Wombell, who is leading a project to record rock art in the Highlands and Grampian, said it was an important discovery. He said: "Although some stones are decorated on different faces, I only know of a few other stones with decoration on opposite sides." 

John Wombell and Susan Kruse with the stone at its new location [Credit: BBC] 

The archaeologist said most boulders with markings were too heavy to turn over to find out if they were decorated on the reverse side. The stone in the new discovery was moved by crofters about 200 years ago when they used it for building a dyke. There is a cluster of rock art in the local area. 
A Neolithic chambered burial cairn and round houses dating to the Bronze and Iron Ages have also been found. 
Another major discovery in the area was the Heights of Brae hoard, the largest surviving late Bronze Age gold find in Scotland. 
A farmer uncovered the jewellery while ploughing a field in the 1960s. 

Author: Steven McKenzie  

Source: BBC News Website [February 27, 2014]
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Ricerca con il LIDAR

LIDAR survey 'unearths' 

300 historic Scottish sites

Over 300 new archaeological sites have been found in Caithness – some dating back 3000 years – in a survey which is “beginning to rewrite the history of northern mainland Scotland”.

A LIDAR surbey has revealed over 300 new archaeological sites in Caithness [Credit: AOC Archaeology]

The work was carried out using a technique know as Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) which uses a laser to scan the ground from an aeroplane.

The survey was commissioned by Baillie Windfarm Ltd after it was required to record the landscape surrounding the nationally significant cluster of Neolithic chambered cairns at Hill of Shebster. The company asked AOC Archaeology Group to carry out the work.

The main focus of the survey was Cnoc Freiceadain, a prominent shoulder rising above the northern coast of Caithness, which is the site of a spectacular group of Neolithic monuments, including two long cairns and a series of stone settings.

AOC Archaeology managing director Dr Andy Heald, who has worked in the far north, was delighted with the results.

“As well as providing spectacular new images of the previously-known monuments around Cnoc Freiceadain, the survey revealed over 300 new sites,” he said.

“The most prominent archaeological features detected relate to settlement and agriculture dating to around 3000 years ago on one hand and to post-medieval farming on the other.

“In many areas, the survey has allowed the identification of palimpsests of agriculture and settlement, where medieval and later rig and furrow systems overlie much earlier cairnfields, interspersed with the fragmentary remains of 3000-year-old hut circles and associated enclosures.

“This ground-breaking survey offers an unparalleled opportunity for further study of the development of the modern Caithness landscape. It is also clear from the LiDAR survey that re-analysis of large areas of Highland Scotland is likely to produce numbers of new monuments and that fragments of the prehistoric farming landscape may remain beneath areas of later activity.

“The data set constitutes an invaluable research tool and an unparalleled means of preserving the landscape of 21st century Caithness by record.”

Dr Heald said the far north is well known for its spectacular archaeology but the LiDAR survey has provided a wider, hidden landscape.

“This survey is beginning to rewrite the history of northern mainland Scotland,” he stated.

Dr Heald explained that modern scanners can fire thousands of laser pulses a second and by mounting the instrument on an aircraft very large areas can be covered in high resolution in short spaces of time.

“Nearly a billion points were collected during the recent LiDAR survey. Once the raw data was gathered, it was processed to create very high-resolution elevation models, detailed enough to record field boundaries, walls and ancient monuments, giving an unparalleled view of the archaeology in the area,” he said.

“One of the main aims of the project was to present the results of the Baillie survey online, in a format that allows users to explore the data, identify features of interest and explore monuments that are familiar to them.”

A dedicated website, which showcases the survey results, has been produced, linked to Highland Council’s Historic Environment Record and gives visitors a “virtual tour” of Caithness archaeology.

“The website provides a unique window on Caithness’s past and will be a valuable resource for archaeological research and interested visitors alike,” added Dr Heald.

Author: Gordon Calder | Source: John O'Groat Journal & Caithness Courier[February 20, 2013]