Boltby is a very important ancient site IMO. A gold “hair braid”, was found there, linking it to the Amesbury Archer, buried with two similar hair braids. This also provides a link to the founding of Stonehenge, which helps set a potential scene for a possible “zeitgeist”, of the day.
Category: Bronze Age
Nov 23
The Story of Boltby Scar
- Filed under Brigantes, Brigantia, Brigantia England, Britain, Bronze Age, Celtic Tribes, Defensive Dike, Defensive Walls, Dike, Europe, Fort, Hair Braid - Ring, Hill Fort, Iron Age, Landscape Archaeology, Linear Earthworks, Mining Landscape, Promontory fort, Stories of Brigantia
Aug 02
The hero archetype and Lugh
- Filed under Breogans, Britain, Bronze Age, Castro Hillfort, Celtic Gods, Celtic Life, Celtic Tribes, Dark Ages, Dragons, Early Christian, Early Medieval, France, Giants, Ireland, Iron Age, Lugh, Medieval, Mercury, Mesolithic, Myth and Legend, Neolithic, Palaeolithic, Portugal, Roman, Roman Culture, Roman Gods, Spain, The Devil, Viking, Wales
At its core the “hero” is the figure who steps out of ordinary society, confronts chaos or a monster, and returns (or dies) having secured order for the group. In Jungian and comparative-myth terms it sits in the “warrior-champion” slot of the collective story-board; evolutionists would say it crystallises the survival value of decisive coalition leadership in small bands.
- !Kung, Ache, Achiles, Arjuna, Arthur, Balor's Eye, Bee, Bees, Bhagavad Gita, britain, Buffalo, Castro, Catalhoyuk, Cattle, Cúchulainn, Deity, Divinity, Egypt, Embodiment, France, Galicia, gaul, Geryon, Gilgamesh, Giraffe, Gobeki Tepe, god, Greogans, Haasi, Hadza, Hector, Heel, Heracles, Hercules, Hero, Hero Archetype, Hoan, Hunter Gatherer, Hydra, Integration, Inuit, ireland, Iron Age, Ivory, Kalahari Desert, Kudu, la tene, Lagash, Legend, Lion-Man, Lugh, mammoth, Mercury, MeriamTurtle, Mesopotamia, Monotheistic, myth, Narmer, Naro, Nuliajuk, pagan, Paraguay, Pharoh, Poigs, Proto-Hero, Raven, religion, Roman, Salish, Salmon, San Culture, Seal, Sedna, Serpent, Snake, Sockeye, Sorcerer, Spain, spear, St Michael, Sumer, Synchronicity, T-Pillars, Ulster, Zebra
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Jul 21
Snake Iconography in the British Isles
- Filed under Archaeology, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Mace Head, Neolithic, Passage Tomb, S-curved, Snake Mound
Syncretism through the ages Syncretism, the amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought, has its roots in the ancient world. Thoughts on Celtic Religion – Raimund, Karl To begin with, lets first look at the sources available to us: There are quite numerous sources available, contrary to Read more Hillforts: Defence or Ritual? …
Wincobank Hill Fort
- Filed under Brigantia England, Britain, Bronze Age, Hill Fort, Iron Age, Mesolithic, Roman, Vitrified Fort
This is an oval fort with an internal area of 2.5 acres. A bank, ditch and counterscarp bank are continuous around it except on the N side where ditch and counterscarp have been destroyed.
Dryburn Henge, Cumbria
- Filed under Brigantia, Brigantia England, Bronze Age, Class I, Enclosure, Henge, Late Bronze Age, Neolithic, Ritual Landscape
Dryburn Henge lies on Alston Moor in Cumbria, within the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It occupies a strategic nodal point on the high moor, roughly at NY 760 430, where routes across the Pennine watershed converge. The surrounding terrain is underlain by Carboniferous Great Scar Limestone and interbedded Yoredale shales, with scattered fluvioglacial gravels in valley bottoms.
Kirkhaugh Cairns – Cumbria
- Filed under Barrow, Brigantia, Brigantia England, Britain, Bronze Age, Cairn, Europe, Finds, Funerary Urns, Hair Braid - Ring, Megalithic, Mining, New Sites, Rock Art
This mound is 22ft. in diam. and about 3ft high. It has been built upon a natural knoll which makes the barrow look larger than it is. Excavation showed that the mound has an earthy core with a rubble capping.
What might Stonehenge Mean? Dartmoor and Carnac add to the Picture
- Filed under Barrow, Bell Barrow, Britain, Bronze Age, France, Funerary Urns, Hair Braid - Ring, Landscape feature, Megalithic, Mining, Neolithic, News, Radiocarbon Dating, Smelting, Stone alignment, Stone Circle, Stone Row, Wales
Stonehenge has always been enigmatic, due to its use of those definitive morticed trilithons, all of which where squared of, more like the structures of the Maltese temples and other stone structures closer to Africa, as opposed to those of the rest of Britain and most of the wider North-west European ritual landscape.
- amesbury, Anglesey, archer, boltby, Boltby Scar, britain, Bronze Age, Carnac, Dartmoor, France, Gold Tresses, Great Orme, Hill Fort, Kirkhaugh, Llanymynech, Nabta Playa, nenthead, Neolithic, North Yorkshire, Parys Mountain, Powys, Rouslton Moor, Shropshire, Stonehenge, Tabular Hills, wales, Yorkshire Moors
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Megalithic Stone Monuments in France May Be Europe’s Oldest
- Filed under Britain, Bronze Age, France, Mesolithic, Neolithic, News, Ritual Landscape, Stone Circle, stone circles, Stone Row
The recent University of Gothenburg–led excavations at Le Plasker, and their startling radiocarbon dates of 4600–4300 BC for the Carnac alignments, deserve both applause for methodological rigor and a measured dose of critical scrutiny before we rewrite Neolithic Europe’s storybook.
Jun 27
Prehistoric mounds, cairns and boundary earthworks in Coverdale
- Filed under Archaeology, Barrow, Boundary Marker, Brigantia, Brigantia England, Bronze Age, Burial Mound, Dark Ages, Dark Ages Brigantia, Early Christian, Early Medieval, Guide, Iron Age, Landscape Archaeology, Landscape feature, Motte and Bailey, Mound, New Sites, Roman, Terraces, Visible Remains
A gazetteer of probable prehistoric mounds, cairns and boundary earthworks in Coverdale. It is not complete and is still being researched.
Jun 11
Guide: Ritual/Ceremonial Mounds
- Filed under Anglo-saxon, Bronze Age, Ceremonial Mount, Dark Ages, Early Christian, Early Medieval, Georgian, Guide, Landscape feature, Medieval, Neolithic, New Sites, Norman
These are raised platforms created first and foremost for cult, procession, assembly or conversion—not for fortification or routine boundary-making. They tend to be much more significant and monumental than other mounds and raised platforms. Some are the largest structures known of their type. In Britain, possibly the best known example is Silbury Hill in Wiltshire.
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Announcing: The Brigantian News!
- Roman Road to the West uncovered under Manchester Street 16 July 2025
- What might Stonehenge Mean? Dartmoor and Carnac add to the Picture 3 July 2025
- Megalithic Stone Monuments in France May Be Europe’s Oldest 1 July 2025
- Drumanagh Promontory Fort – First Ever Intact Roman Pot Found in Ireland 5 June 2025
Portable Antiquities News
Copper alloy buckle plate with a tinned surface and deeply incised interlace design. Suggested date: Early Medieval, 850-1000Length: 35.4mm, Height: 27mm, Thickness: 4.7mm [...]
Cast copper alloy buckle with stamped decoration, formed as two horse heads facing away from each other. Tongue survives. Hawkes and Dunning Type IB. Suggested date: Late Roman, 250-410Length: (frame): 17.9mm, Height: 23.6mm, Thickness: 3.4mm [...]
An incomplete silver halfgroat of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) unknown initial mark, 5th or 6th coinage, dating to c.1582-1603. Two pellets behind bust. (North 2016).Diameter 15.8mm, thickness 0.5mm, weight 0.5g. [...]
A Post Medieval copper-alloy jetton of uncertain issue dating to the period AD 1550 - 1750. Rose/Orb type. Mint of Nuremburg.Obverse: Alternating crowns and lis with central rose.Reverse: Imperial Orb within tressure of three arches. [...]
A Post Medieval copper-alloy rose farthing of Charles I (AD 1625-1649), unclear rose type (AD 1636-1644) (North 2287-2290, Spink 3204), London mint. [...]
A Post Medieval silver sixpence of Elizabeth I (AD 1558-1603), not further defined, dating to circa AD 1558-1603. Tower of London mint. [...]
A Medieval silver voided long cross cut halfpenny of Henry III (AD 1216-172), Class 3a, dating to circa AD 1248-150. Moneyer: Nicole; Mint: London. Ref: North 1980: 182. [...]
A Medieval silver voided short cross cut halfpenny of John (AD 1199-1216), Class 4b/c, not further defined, dating to circa AD 1200-1204. Moneyer: Hue; Mint: York.. [...]
Incomplete medieval or early post-medieval gilded copper-alloy mount, perhaps from a box or a piece of furniture. If it was symmetrical when complete, then a little over half is extant. It is flat and has [...]
A Medieval silver voided short cross cut halfpenny of John (AD 1199-1216), Class 5b/c, not further defined, dating to circa AD 1205-1210. Moneyer: Adam; Mint: Northampton. [...]
An extremely worn post Medieval silver penny of Elizabeth I dating to 1578 - 1580. Second Issue, plain cross initial mark. As North Vol 2 (1991), p.135, no.2001. [...]
A post Medieval silver halfgroat of Charles I (1625-49), fourth bust, group D with sceptre initial mark dating to 1646-1649. London mint. As North 2258. [...]
A small medieval cast copper alloy annular or ring brooch, 25mm in diameter. The frame has a rounded cross section, 2mm wide and appears undecorated. The rear portion of a copper alloy pin remains articulated [...]
A Roman silver denarius of Severus Alexander (AD 222-235) dating to AD 222 (Reece Period 11). P M TR P COS P P reverse type depicting Jupiter, cloak behind and over right arm, standing left, holding [...]
[presumed to be] Copper alloy buckle, Borre style [MF]. Traces of decoration or damage. NLM accession number SFWH 13. Suggested date: Early Medieval, 900-1000 Length: 32.9mm, Height: 35mm, Thickness: 3.5mm [...]
An incomplete copper alloy millefiori enamelled plate brooch dating to the Roman period (c. AD 100-200). The remains of the brooch consist of roughly one third of the circular plate. The edge is chipped and [...]
[presumably] Copper alloy Borre buckle with fine brown patina on surfaces. Suggested date: Early Medieval, 900-1000Length: 35mm, Height: 26.3mm, Thickness: 5.3mm [...]
A Medieval silver penny of Edward I (AD 1277-1307), Class 9b, dating to AD 1300-1302 (N 1037). Mint of London. Ref: North 1980: 24. [...]
An incomplete copper alloy plate brooch dating to the Roman period (c. AD 100-200). The object is sub-circular in shape and the edge is heavily chipped. The outer face is decorated with a central cell surrounded [...]
Copper alloy die dividing the circle into three sections. Suggested date: Early Medieval, 700-1000Diameter: 18.46mm, Thickness: 2.03mm [...]
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