Our universities do wonderful things

Last night I watched a parade of robed chancellors, and listened to the achievements of researchers, and marvelled. Many at the event went on today to receive Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for Higher & Further Education at Buckingham Palace. So much original work across such a wide range of topics is being conducted across the UK, …

Talking archaeology

Warning – this is not a blog. It is a 5,000-word article I wrote early in 2012 in response to a request for a proposed book. Two years later the world of communications continues to move on rapidly. My hope remains that someone will find the article useful, so pending publication of the book, here …

Two army aviators killed

Early this morning 100 years ago, flying from Larkhill just north of Stonehenge, Captain Loraine crashed his Nieuport monoplane during a failed turn. Both he and his passenger Staff-Sergeant Wilson were killed. I’ve written about this before, and the recent removal of the memorial at Airman’s Cross. Here are some further notes and sources. The …

New discovery: TWO photos of the Magpie Musicians at Stonehenge in 1896

A funny thing happened before Stonehenge: Monumental Journey opened (as I write it has two weeks to go). We used a photo previously published twice by English Heritage (Richards 2004, 2007) as purporting to show a protest at Stonehenge by the residents of Amesbury against the fencing of the monument in 1901. I knew nothing …

More on cork henges

I’m stuck in the study, so if anyone is out there with more hands-on knowledge than me perhaps they’ll add to this. The first I saw of the Soane model in Stonehenge: Monumental Journey was when it appeared in the case; that is the one exhibit in the show that I had nothing to do …

No spin at Stonehenge in 1920

Here are two more press cuttings, reporting the start of excavations and restorations at Stonehenge directed by William Hawley in 1919 and 1920. A lot happened in those first few months of what became a project lasting years: stones 6 and 7 in the outer circle were set in concrete, after their pits had been …

What people were saying about Woodhenge in 1927

I’ve been thinking about what was happening at Stonehenge in the early 20th century recently, and unearthed some old cuttings in my library. Here’s one about Woodhenge, I think from The Salisbury Times. It’s strangely coy (“two well-known Wiltshire archaeologists” were, of course, Maud and Ben Cunnington), but it reminds us that everything we know …

Filming in Dorset (& reprogramming the TV)

I'm giving you my essential guide to retuning your TV soon, but first a bit of archaeology. This is Maumbury rings, a nice earthworky sort of earthwork near the centre of Dorchester. It looks how it does now because of corporate curation, remodelling during the Civil War and before that as a Roman amphitheatre, but …

Down the paper chain

It started on Wednesday as the departure of Mick Aston from Time Team, as the Daily Mail ran with British Archaeology’s news. Yesterday the focus shifted to Mary-Ann Ochota, with misleading innuendos about the timing and nature of her departure from the same series. Today it’s moved down the paper chain, and has become a …

Let’s catch up with Mick

There's a lot of interest in Mick Aston's resignation, and quite rightly too. I didn't put his face on the cover of the new magazine for nothing! There's also been some misinformation, and not everyone understands how the media work. So I thought I'd round up the key pieces on the web and add a …