Posted on 09/21/2003 3:03:25 PM PDT by blam
5000-YEAR-OLD AXE HEAD FOUND ON STONEHENGE WORLD HERITAGE SITE
By David Prudames 19/09/2003
Photo: field walkers from Wessex Archaeology covered a 90-hectare area in three weeks in search of ancient artefacts. Photo: Elaine Wakefield. © Wessex Archaeology.
Archaeologists have discovered a 5000-year-old polished stone axe head during an investigation of an area that forms part of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site.
Dating back to the Neolithic Age - 3000 to 2500 BC - the axe head was found, along with a leaf-shaped arrowhead, during a three-week field walk of farmland by Wessex Archaeology.
Covering a 90-hectare area, the farmland is situated within a kilometre of both the Stonehenge monument and the stone circle at Avebury.
Tony Trueman of Wessex Archaeology told the 24 Hour Museum the exercise was part of a project to improve the conservation of the area by turning ploughed land into grassland pasture.
"The general point is not to plough up land so close to such important remains, because it damages them," said Tony.
Photo: the Stonehenge World Heritage Site has an unusually high concentration of prehistoric remains. © English Heritage.
Explaining that the conversion to pasture gave archaeologists the chance to look for artefacts turned up by the plough, Tony added that there was only a short window of opportunity.
"After a while the grass gets too high to see anything, so we have to catch the moment before it gets too long."
With its unusual concentration of prehistoric remains, the landscape around Stonehenge is continuously yielding fascinating artefacts.
Although the axe head has not been used, tools of its type would normally have had a wooden haft and would have been put to work cutting down trees.
Photo: tools similar to the axe head would have been put to work chopping down trees to clear land for pasture. Photo: Elaine Wakefield. © Wessex Archaeology.
"The axe head is a very interesting find," explained Andy Crockett, Wessex Archaeology Project Manager, "because it relates to a period in our past when farmers first started to chop down trees to start growing crops and keeping livestock."
Nowadays, farmers are provided with a special grant by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to change the use of land in archaeologically rich areas.
The scheme is also intended to improve the ecology of the area by providing extended chalk grass habitats for birds, insects and wild flowers.
"These projects are a major step towards the long-term conservation of the Stonehenge landscape," added Isabelle Bedu, Stonehenge World Heritage Site Co-ordinator.
no development of any kind can be attempted within 30 miles of the site itself
It would seem nobody has told East Devon District Council this, since they're currently planning a new town of 40000 houses only seven miles from the Jurassic Coast! It would also come as rather a surprise to the many other smaller-scale developers currently building along this busy coastal strip.
Well, that's the situation in Utah. The UN attempted to designate the site, the state and property owners sued, the Fed'ral Gubbmnint under Clinton stepped in, injunctions flew fast and furious, and the thing is still tied up in Federal Courts. And will be for years to come.
I would like to hear some sophisticated analysis of why it is of any significance that an old axe head was found at this site? We have plenty of old axe heads. The article says little beyond that it was found while plowing. So... does anyone attach any particular significance to an old axe head being found on this site?
These National Treasures no longer belong to the American Citizens
I understand Carter & Clinton giving away our country - but Reagan??!! Why?!?!
World Heritage Sites
1978 Mesa Verde National Park (CARTER)
1978 Yellowstone National Park (CARTER)
1979 Everglades National Park (CARTER)
1979 Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve (CARTER)
1979 Grand Canyon National Park (CARTER)
1979 Independence Hall National Historical Park (CARTER)
1981 Olympic National Park (CARTER)
1979 Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve (CARTER)
1980 Redwood National Park (CARTER)
1981 Mammoth Cave National Park (CARTER)
1983 Great Smoky Mountains National Park (REAGAN)
1983 San Juan National Historical Site (REAGAN)
1984 Statue of Liberty National Monument (REAGAN)
1984 Yosemite National Park (REAGAN)
1987 Chaco Culture National Historical Park (REAGAN)
1987 Hawaii Volcanos National Park (REAGAN)
1995 Carlsbad Caverns National Park (CLINTON)
1995 Waterton Glacier International Peace Park (CLINTON)
It's called One World Government!!
The same reason that Bush is not doing anything about swarms crossing out southern border.
All tied together
Skull and Bones
Council of Foreign Relations
UN
Bilderberger Group
Look it up!
Anybody know why over 100 of the most powerful men in the world meet in secret in a secret location once a year - they are not there discussing pu**y!
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