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Feb. 17th, 2011 07:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
endlessraritiesWell, Neil Oliver's A History of Ancient Britain lived up to expectations last night. It made the Neolithic sound really exciting (as well it should) and of course it mentioned the Ancestors (hoorah!). West Kennet Long Barrow made a welcome appearance, as did the Stonehenge Cursus, and there was a brief excursion across the Channel to Brittany, and the Mother and Father of all megalithic monuments, Les Alignements at Carnac.
And I learned something! I never knew that the Carnac standing stones were Mesolithic, and the recovery of early Neolithic dates from south-west Ireland and Orkney was news to me, too, though the latter came as no surprise, because the pottery experts have been arguing for a few years now that the earliest examples of Grooved Ware decoration come from Britanny and Orkney...
It's doing well so far, and next week we'll be progressing into the Bronze Age...
And now it's time for 'A View From The Office':-
And I learned something! I never knew that the Carnac standing stones were Mesolithic, and the recovery of early Neolithic dates from south-west Ireland and Orkney was news to me, too, though the latter came as no surprise, because the pottery experts have been arguing for a few years now that the earliest examples of Grooved Ware decoration come from Britanny and Orkney...
It's doing well so far, and next week we'll be progressing into the Bronze Age...
And now it's time for 'A View From The Office':-
It looks idyllic enough, but... How can I describe today's experience? Unpleasant is too mild. Absolutely dire is closer the mark. There was a biting wind, and that lovely mist in the distance proved to be piercing horrible rain. Yesterday, I'd have coped. Because I was recording the building, I spent as much time inside as I did out. Today was a watching brief. I had to hang around in the cold and the wet waiting for the builders to remove a later external staircase. I was assured it wouldn't take very long, but in the end, I was there three and a half hours. When the time came for me to sign my timesheet, my signature was as convincing as Guido Fawkes' was after his racking.
I was glad to escape to my 20th century toilets after that.
Here's the site, which will of course be featured in this month's 'Castle of The Month' this weekend:-
I was glad to escape to my 20th century toilets after that.
Here's the site, which will of course be featured in this month's 'Castle of The Month' this weekend:-
And lastly, a piece of bad news. I was told today that one of my favourite local buildings, the early nineteenth century mansion which is the clan seat of my marital family, has fared badly through the winter. Thieves broke in and stole lead off the roof, and the resulting water ingress has meant that the magnificent plasterwork gracing the main public rooms has deteriorated so much that it will have to be removed. It looks like I'll be sent in next week to record it one last time before it's taken down.
I'm a bit gutted about this. This was the first building I ever surveyed and it taught me an awful lot. I watched the builders tear it apart bit by bit then, when it got to the stage when they were going to restore it, the recession hit and everything was put on hold. I've been waiting anxiously for news of a disaster at the old place, and now it's happened.
Ah, well. At least it was thoroughly and exhaustively recorded before disaster struck. It's not much consolation, but it helps a bit.
I'm a bit gutted about this. This was the first building I ever surveyed and it taught me an awful lot. I watched the builders tear it apart bit by bit then, when it got to the stage when they were going to restore it, the recession hit and everything was put on hold. I've been waiting anxiously for news of a disaster at the old place, and now it's happened.
Ah, well. At least it was thoroughly and exhaustively recorded before disaster struck. It's not much consolation, but it helps a bit.
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Date: 2011-02-17 08:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-17 08:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-17 08:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-17 08:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-17 09:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-18 06:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-18 06:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-18 07:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-18 09:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-19 10:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-18 01:43 am (UTC)Here's hoping you're warmer tomorrow. I'd send you some of our excess warmth if I could, possibly in exchange for a bit of rain.
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Date: 2011-02-18 06:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-18 05:55 am (UTC)So very sorry to hear about mansion. I hope you are able to get there next week one last time.
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Date: 2011-02-18 01:29 pm (UTC)I was surprised by the Mesolithic date for the Carnac site - I thought that it was only after the introduction of agriculture that communities had the resources for big-scale projects. (But I probably learnt that from Time Team, so no doubt it's suspect...)
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Date: 2011-02-18 06:34 pm (UTC)That argument was of course put forward for the henges and causewayed enclosures. But Carnac?? I was surprised by the fact that there seemed to be such a contrast between the domesticated Neolithic and the wild Mesolithic- I'd thought there was increasing evidence for the management of wild resources, e.g. the burning of woodland to encourage new growth where red deer will congregate, etc. I suppose the never-ending tug-of-war between the advocates of assimilation and imposition of Neolithic ideology will run and run...
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Date: 2011-02-19 04:36 am (UTC)