everderame

os anões de Łódź

2012-01-11T00:50:00.005-02:00

Łódź é uma cidade no centro da Polonia. É a terceira cidade da Polônia, mas não creio que seja nem de longe a terceira destinação do país. Łódź é uma cidade industrial que conheceu seus dias na virada do século XIX para XX, estimulada pela indústria têxtil. Depois da segunda guerra viveu uma era senão de estagnação, de crescimento modesto.

a estação ferroviária, atualmente (2012) em reformas.

algumas das inúmeras fábricas foram restauradas e transformadas em lofts. mas quem quer viver numa fábrica?

os charmosos bondes de Łódź

Apesar de ter sofrido menos os estragos da segunda guerra do que Varsóvia ou Cracóvia, Łódź perdeu parte significativa de sua população - que era composta por alta porcentagem de judeus, a maior parte deles operários da indústria.
Mas isso fica para outro post.

Łódź é também a terra dos anões de garagem.
Durante o século XIX até mais ou menos 1916, existiu em atividade uma fundição que produziu esses anões de garagem.

A função básica dos anões era limitar a entrada da garagem, evitando assim que carruagens ou carros muito largos entrassem.

existem diversos modelos desses protetores de garagem. de fato, se os anões são algo relativamente raro dentro da paisagem da cidade (existem cerca de vinte deles nas ruas de Łódź), outros modelos mais simples abundam pela cidade.

existem alguns sites que organizaram a localização dos anões na cidade, com especial destaque para http://krasnolodzki.blogspot.com/

o retorno do sobrinho do xerife

2012-01-04T13:41:00.002-02:00

na noite do reveillon me embebedei e acabei exagerando nas resoluções de ano novo:
com vocês o retorno deste blog, pelo menos no que diz respeito aos duendes poloneses.

september 21

2009-12-28T20:35:00.000-02:00

Day 21

Today I woke up really early to join the tour to Orkney Islands. We left Inverness 6:00 am, so, well, that was not very funny. It took me a while to get easy, but then I had to remember I was going to Orkney, and that today is my last day traveling, after 10 weeks or so. Tomorrow I must return to London, and in a few days back to São Paulo.

The day was cold, but we did not catch rain, nor the rain has caught us.

Orkney is an archipelago in the north of Scotland, consisting in around 70 islands, depending on what call an island (that’s what they say). There is great concentration of Neolithic, Bronze and Iron age settlements. Apparently there were a whole society running there as far as 5.000 years ago.

I was in a tour, so I did not could get to all the places I wanted, but for this I should stay one week there, I suppose. So, I could reach some of the highlights, and it was not bad.

After a short stroll through Margareth’s Hope, we passed through the little islands of Scapa Flow and Burray, to head to the Mainlands.

Crossing the island, we get to Kirkwall before going to Skara Brae.

Skara Brae

This is the most complete Neolithic residential site found so far. it is composed of seven houses and a working place, with all the furniture and devices used by the users. There is no register of religious services like burials or bones. The houses have a similar format, although there are two phases of occupation, spanning 600 years of use: from 3100 to 2500 BC. Skara Brae was left intact by his inhabitants, probably for climatic changes, as it is known the temperature droped 10 degree celsius in Scotland’s Bronze age. The site was discovered in 1850 by Vere Gordon Childe, after a storm uncovered one of the turf roofs of one of the houses. It’s been carefully excavated and there is still working in progress going on there. There is a replica of one of the houses that helps to understand the complexity of their houses and living. Amongst the objects found there, there are stone balls and some other decorated stone objects with no much meaning.

Skara Brae

seals

Ring of Brodgar

After that we went to the stone circle called Ring of Brodgar, dated from Neolithic period. Brodgar is estimated to consume impressive 80.000 hours of work, and in its original design had over 60 standing stones in circle. There is a massive number of them fallen on the ground, probably by nature events like thunders. There is something remarkable in Orkney stone circles and it is their sharp angles and straight designs. There are very unlikely shapes for those stones. There is a ditch and there are some mounds around the ring, suggesting some link between them. On the background there are some mountains that are the perfect frame for them. Not far there are some standing stones, marking the path.

The Stones of Stenness

A few yards from there, there is another stone circle from the same period and sharing some features, called Stones of Stenness. The circle originally had 12 stones, but today there are but a few, but the ones that are still there are very impressive. The stones are from the tallest I’ve seem in Britain, probably the same size from Stonehenge. The menhirs are thin and appear to defy the surroundings. Inside the circle there is an altar with pieces of slabs and a “S” shaped stone notably smaller from the others.

Maes Howe

Close to the Stones, a bit northeast, there is the Neolithic passage chamber of Maes Howe. It is a remarkably well preserved chamber which was invaded at some point in the 12^th century by Vikings which left their marks there like runic phrases and even a drawing of a dragon. The construction from the internal chamber resemble somewhat the Newgrange passage, without the decoration. From the outside, Maes Howe is much less impressive, but it is not a small mound.

look inside here

The site is aligned to the winter solstice, but in most of December the light enter there in the dawning of the day. There is no register of human remains in these sites apart from a few bones which disappeared. Probably there were never someone buried there. Special features is a triangular stone that would serve to block the passage, but there is no much proof of it.

Kirkwall

cathedral

After this we went to the city of Kirkwall where I could see the Romanesque cathedral and some pieces in the museum of the city, specially some Pict’s carved stones and a very special whale bone carved by Vikings.

florabunda

viking design

Kirkwall and the whole Orkney Islands are highly suscetible to climate changes, just as it has happened in the past and again in recent years. like now, for instance.

map from Orkneys

kirkwall

The journey ended at 21:00hs back in Inverness. It was a very desgasting day, but a lovely one. Tomorrow I will be back to London, where I will concentrate in my return.

september 20

2009-12-28T20:11:00.000-02:00

Day 20
Edinburgh
It was early in the sunday morning when I was looking for an open coffee for a breakfast. That's when I saw the bus ready to go to Edinburgh. It was sunday, so I SHOULD NOT do anything serious, so I went to Edinburgh and came back the same day at night. The trip was fine, but a little tiring after 4 hours to go and other 4 to come back.
My main idea was to pay a visit to the "stone of destiny", the national symbol of Scotland. This is where the knigs of Scotland would be coronated but the stone have been in England for more than 700 years. It's been given back to the Edinburgh Castle in 1996. I've been succeded to visit, but could not take photos.

september 19

2009-12-27T23:52:00.000-02:00

Day 19

My travel is getting close to the end, and sometimes I feel a bit tired. Today I got really relaxed and took some time before waking up. As today I had no time pressure and I was a bit tired, I woke up 8:10. At this point I realized I really need a break from myself.

But well, I had to change accomodation, so I did, and decided stay one more night to book myself in a tour to Orkney. That’s right, I could not leave without a try. So Monday morning I will joint the tour. It will be a bit too short, I guess, because I’ve been through the north coast, and Orkney is quite far.

After that I had the idea to hire a bike for the day, so I went down to it. My idea was going to Clava burial chambers, also called Balnuaran of Clava where there are a great concentration of burial chambers a few miles from Inverness.

I had a map, I had a bike, so I went there. It was not easy, but I made it. First I had to get to the big hill where the Jacobites fought their last battle. After that the road go downhill to a valley and there is the Clava chambers are.

Balnuaran of Clava

Clava is a complex of several burial chambers, and other stone monuments without precise meaning. There are many sites around Clava that cannot be visited because it is in private lands. Of course I’ve been searching for them.

But Clava itself is very interesting. The three main constructions there are some of the best of their kind. They resemble the ones I’ve been visiting the previous days: Corrimony and Camster Round Cairns. There are three main round cairns, two of them burial chambers, and one of obscure significance, apparently used for ceremonies. There is indication that this central cairn, which contains no entrance had distinct stones of colors, creating colored areas. Other stone circle nearby from a distinct period has color patterns given by the nature of the stones. This are the first use of color I’ve seem so far.

There were sucessive occupation of the cairns aswell constructions from later periods. The main burial chambers did not host more than one person inside, which is very unusual. The chambers again are aligned to the winter solstice.

Both burial chambers have stone circles around then and both have kerbstones in the base. In the third cairn the circle of stones make the same structural role. This cairn also features two long barrels that ends in two menhirs in opposite sides of the circle.

The two burial chambers have collapsed, so no one is chambered nor keeps its original passage. Both have some cup marks, but there is an special kerbstone in the first chamber which contains more of those cup marks than all the others in the whole area, located in the opposite side of the entrance.

Around Clava there are other sites of interest, like a standing stone, some cairns and rocks together. Not far from this notable amount of stone monuments, there is another site that deserves attention, called the Milton of Clava is a burial mound with a standing stone in front of it. As the other Clava monuments, is positioned along the river. Just beside it there are remains unexcavated of what is supposed to be an early medieval church. There is a standing stone that alignes with the stone in the cairn.

standin stone

Milton of Clava

Druid Temple

After leaving the Clava, I decided look for the Druid Temple that I had lost the other day. It was not easy to find it, as it is sited inside a farm, behind it.

I entered there with my bike, and nothing happened. Until now entering in private proprieties has proved not to be a problem in Britain, and there goes more than two mounths.

The Druid Temple is one of the most disturbing places I’ve been so far. At first sight simply make me totally confused. It is the most strange stone circle ever! The stones are very close one to each other, like they’ve been kerbstones from a round chamber. I’ve counted 25 of these stones.
Maybe it was a "Cairn" still in process, that was left, or assaulted later. Inside there is another stone circle like an altar. Outside other stone circle, much wider. There is a clear entrance to the inner circle. The whole site looks a bit abandoned. Trees and weeds are everywhere. So it makes the site even more confusing for the eyes. But the place has something like an atmosphere that makes it very pleasant to be, on the top of a mountain looking the city and the sea below. This should been an even more fantastic site when the Druid Temple was constructed.

Leaving there I’ve been looking for other places without luck until I decided go back to town. I still been to the Saint Andrews Cathedral just to look after the sculptures, and actually found what I was looking for: a Green Man. It was definely a great day.

september 18

2009-12-27T23:10:00.000-02:00

Day 18

Once in Inverness, nothing better than visit the Loch Ness. The lake is about 8 kilometer southwest of the city, connected by the river through a canal, and then to the North Sea.

It must have been a big engineering enterprise to do the canal, as it connects the Loch Ness to the Loch Lochy, the Loch Linnhe to the west side of the country. It follows the geological fail that runs along the lochs. That makes the area instable and subject to earthquakes. The last was so close as 2005.
Of course, there is a tour in Inverness that takes you there. What actually made my mind to take it was that the tour would take us to the Corrimony Cairn, which in other way I would never get there. Corrimony is far and there’s no easy access to the area. And the opportunity of visiting the Loch Ness is something one should say yes.
So I took the bus and did the whole tour that included a tour in the “Loch Ness Visitor Center”, that make you sure you are not about to find any Plesciosaurus there, although are eager to sell you everything related to it and more...

Corrimony Cairn

Next visit was the Corrimony Cairn, 8 and half miles from there. The Cairn was built in the Bronze Age, some 4.000 years ago. It follows pretty much of the same features of the

Camster Round Cairns, with a distinction: an eleven stone circle around it, that would relate it with the Bryn Celli Dou in Wales. But while there the stones were removed, apparently for a switch of the local religious preferences, in Corrimony they seem to be part of the whole thing. It consists in a round cairn, covered in stones with a narrow and low entrance to a round chamber. There is a stone circle around it.

The structure collapsed at some point, so the ceiling is uncovered now. The cairn were bounded by a circle of kerbstones, but there is no much trace of them for the same reason. Today only the entrance stones are apparent.

The cairn is said to be aligned to the winter solstice, but of course, I had no means to prove it. There are studies linking the astronomical symbolism with the orientation of some sites. Unfortunately, the evidences were not enough to give substancial support for such theories apart from Newgrange and Bryn Celli. Mostly other sites carry such complex alignments that is almost impossible to make it clear if they are intentional or just random. Sounds familiar? This is the same problem we have in finding Ley Lines.

Another curious features of the Corrimony Cairn is some carving in the stones, some in cup shape marks - in a slab that apparently were displaced and now lay in the top of the cairn, and in one of the stones of the circle. This are three lines forming an arrow. There are some other carvings that I could not tell if it was intentional or not. Both were clearly drawn in the stones. No slab was left inside the chamber, which is unlikely, and makes one wonder if it was not taken. The slab on the top of the cairn could be a capstone or a lintel inside the cairn, maybe the excavators that worked there in the 50’s could tell us a better story.

Uquhart Castle

The next stop of the visit was the Uquhart Castle, that takes hold of the whole scenary over the lake. It is the place that holds the power from the area since the age of the Celtic tribes. It is said that Saint Columba been to the place when it was the house of a Celtic chief of the area. From there it changed from hands a couple of times, were attacked by Edward II from England, were taken by force by the Norse-Irish family MacDonald, and later were given to Sir John Grant of Freuchie, chief of the Clan Grant by King James IV.

Later it was deliberately blown in the time of the Jacobine revolts. What we have now is just the ruins of that time, like many castles in the United Kingdom. The place is well located in the middle of the lake, in its wider area.

The tour experience is not the best but seems to be the best way to get to some places. I still want to do the Orkney trip, on Monday. I hope it works. Until there, I must go to Clava, which is close, and deserves a visit, and some other places around.

back to Inverness

september 17

2009-12-27T19:06:00.000-02:00

Day 17

Woke up early and worried about time. I had to get to the Tourist Information Centre before 9:00 to get into the tour that would go around the coast until the very north of Scotland (without Orkney and Shetland). On the tour it was included visiting some of archeological sites, that I was interested. Actually, I was more interested in that than in anything else. Although not booked, I managed to join the tour. I always states that I don’t like tours. I mean, it’s not for me. If I have the time and the means I’d rather go alone. Nothing personal. But I must agree, this time it was a good tour, although it wasn’t focused in archeological sites. I could see a lot of places that I would not without the tour.

I could see some of the places where are some archeological sites, but not actually went there. This is taking a tour.

Dornoch Cathedral

We did a short stop at Dornoch, and I had some time to visit the tiniest cathedral in Scotland. There are not too many cathedrals in Scotland actually. This was founded by Saint Gilbert, Bishop of Caithness in 1224 by his own expenses, and was consecrated in 1239, though most of what is seem today is not actually from this time. The building was reformed at least two times, and there is a lot of XVIII century there. It is really small for a Cathedral, and its most interesting feature are the corbets around the building. Not many, enough to give some of those medieval feeling to it.

I always think medieval allegories funny somehow, although I suspect, it was not intended to be funny. Surreal figures are all around the cathedral, with special attention to a boar like figure, a Green Man in the entrance, and some other quite mysterious figures.

Cairn Liath

My first good surprise of the day was the Cairn Liath, or “gray stone” in Gaelic, a Broch well preserved close to the sea. It was the first Broch I saw, and they look a bit with the Irish round fortress from some time later. The difference is that the Broch are smaller (would be enough room for a family, but not much more) and taller.

The Cairn Liath was 10 meter high, though today we see less than half of his original height.

The walls are quite wide, making it a very difficult place to assault. There is only one entrance, and some paths you can use to climb to the second floor, if you don’t want to use the stairs there.

Originally it would have wood stacks around supporting a light roof, making it a kind of shelter, again resembling the Irish early medieval age fort.

Cairn Liath stands in front of the sea, in a very important position, needless to say, but originally it should look even more, as there were no roads close to it.

We followed our way to look after some deers – that never appeared, visited some lost ports and obscure villages, until we get into a not less obscure road to Camster Round Cairns.

Camster Round Cairns

These chambered tombs are amongst the best preserved in Britain, and date from the Bronze Age. The site is known since the 19^th century and have been visited – and expoiled- since then. In the interior were related to have some pottery and bones when in 1856 some antiquarians break in the chamber. There is an older round chamber and a longer one, with two entrances, related to this first.

They look quite the same style: a stone wall with an entrance, and a round cover of loose stones, in the case of the first cairn, and a long round structure in the second. The site has been restored, so now there is a concrete ceiling, although the stone walls are all there.

The passages are narrow and it is difficult to enter. One has to crawl at some points, in two of the three entrances. The passages take to an internal hall. There are some slabs inside, suggesting three spaces or altars, but in a small area. I was informed that the site faces the solstice of the winter, like Newgrange.

When they were build the site was much warmer, and farming was taking place in the area. It seems that through time the weather got colder and wet, making it difficult the farming as the forest died and the soil lost nutrients. The area I which the cairns are located are soft and boggy. They are located in a high and isolated area, close to what is today a pine forest (reforested area).

As we went over the coast I could locate other two Brochs that unfortunately we could not stop. We went to John O' Groots, quite close to Orkney, and we could actually see it!
Tomorrow I will try go to some Inverness favourite: the Loch Ness. As I arranged to stay in a hostel for another two nights, I believe I will try to reach Orkney for at least one day by plane. Not sure if it will work, but I am here, have the time and some money. It is the end of my travel, so I could not imagine anything better. Let’s see how it will work.

the monster of Inverness

september 16

2009-12-27T14:42:00.000-02:00

Day 16

I pick my things and came to Inverness by bus. The journey is magnificent: Scotland highlands is such a beautiful sight. It make me a bit sad for I have no much time left. Inverness, like Glasgow has a lot of red stone buildings, like some cities from England like Birmingham. Cities like York and Bath has more grey limestone. Inverness like Glasgow is very vivid and looks busy. The city is quite close to two important water sources, the Loch Ness, an incredibly deep, long and thin strip of water and the Moray Firth which connects with the North sea, apart from the river Ness, which cuts the city.

I got a B&B for three nights, an Ordenance Survey from the area, an small book on the Picts, and some music, as I was very curious to know what they listen here. I had this curiousity in mostly places I’ve been, and whenever possible I would acquire something. I am listening some Scottish songs now.

The museum just besides the Tourist Information Centre was my natural choice of visit as I was a bit tired already, and had planned a short trip to a site nearby.

They have a nice collection – and to be honest the only I’ve seen so far- of Pict carved stones, and they are beautiful. As the Picts continued to live in the Highlands without the Roman disruption that ocurred in England and Wales, it can be difficult to date some of their carvings. But they can be considered at least from the Iron Age.

The Roman by the way won all the battles they fight against the Caledoneans, this means, the people from Roman would never win the war, and never settled in the Highlands. If an inhabitant of the area were captured alive, it would be sold as a slave.

There is a Pict fort just outside the museum, you can see by the window. In this place were found vitrified stones indicating that the place it would be burned from time to time, and then occupied again.

Another objects of the collection: the usual amount of flint, hand axes and bronze axes found in almost every collection. Iron swords, pottery and other ceremonial objects, and last but not least, some stone balls. They have two in the collection, made in gray stone.

It is quite strange that nobody even tries to explain their existence, they are just those mysterious objects.

After that I tried to reach some “Castle Earthworks”, as it appears in my OS, but no much luck. I just get to the place, but it is a Golf camp and horse training place. I get to some places where it could be name “earthwork”, but this basically means "anything".

I got tired to look for it, and tomorrow will go for some more specific search (like chambered cairn, or whatever).

Not bad at all, the city fancies me, it is beautiful and there’s a lot to do. I sure want to visit the lake and the sea.

september 15

2009-12-27T11:23:00.000-02:00

Day 15

I was afraid to have bad weather in Scotland, but I’ve been lucky so far. Yesterday and today we had beautiful days in Glasgow, apart from a short cloudy mid-day interlude.

I went to the station, where I bought the ticket for tomorrow (I hope Inverness prove to be a good choice). Actually it would be better to go to Orkney Islands, but I have this will to see some more of the lands of Scotland besides really worried about the weather. Orkney is reputedly the most important place in Scotland pre historical society.

In my map Inverness is not in bad position though, as it contains a lot of Neolithic monuments. It can be interesting, I am just not sure. Nearby there is the world famous Loch Ness, where I expect NOT to see any monster around.

My day in Glasgow was not meant to find anything relevant to my research, I must admit. I just wanted to see the city and walk around, see some of the collections here, nothing serious, really. I am in a this new place and I want to enjoy it at least one day.

I went to St.Mungo’s Cathedral, built around 1277, unusually a bit excentric to the city center. The Cathedral is being reformed, but it was possible to visit. Although a truly 13^th century building, it don’t show the usual medieval allegorical exuberance in stone carvings. Mostly are merely decorative, exception made to some detail in the outside and a ruined Green Man that is on display amongst other stone pieces in the sacristy.

Nevertheless the Cathedral is a beautiful building, with some nice spaces, like underground chapels and accesses.

The most important collection in Glasgow besides the Hunter Collection, is the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, which is not very far from the University.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

It contains mixed yet well organized items that goes from Second World War airplanes and skeletons of extinct animals to Dutch, French and Italian paintings, sarcophagus and a design center. This miscellanea include some pre historical material very interesting to me: flints, stone balls, and other specific Scottish pre historical objects.

red deer, now extinct

It is necessary to say that the human settlement in Scotland is not perceptible until some time after the end of the Ice Age. The land was too frozen to allow permanent human settlers to survive. At this period, before agriculture, life depended largely on seasonal products like nuts and fruits, hunting and fishing. The society was always able to move whenever necessary to take advantage of the distinct resources of food.

In a frozen Scotland man could only arrive after 11.000 years ago, and first traces of humans are found around 8.500 B.C., as the climate was warmer.

So the first humans there were already modern humans, organized in a hunter-gatherer society. In Scotland the fishing and oyster collecting were crucial for the survival of those first settlers. The trade with Ireland and England was effective and it is possible to find flint objects from distinct places, as far as Central Europe.

In time is possible that this society have received the new concepts of agriculture and farming animals in the Bronze age era, but it seems that in Scotland while some of the these innovations were quite fast to spread like pottery, others like farming took a while until being absorbed by the society. This can reflect that some of the necessities were already fulfilled. Whatever the reasons the society of Scotland, as in Ireland, Wales and England evolved in their own distinctive way, although is possible to note that there were trade between them.

In Scotland like in Ireland there is a remarkable number of stone carvings and cup marks (round marks in the stones), while there is not such a feature in England, and only a pair in Wales.

Again the graceful stone balls are found in the collection, quite similar in size as in pattern of those I’ve seen before in London, Wales, Ireland and in Glasgow Hunterian Collection. At Kelvingrove there are three of them.

The equivalent to them in the architecture would be the Brochs, round towers which is only possible to find in Scotland and in distant places like South Italy. These round towers are not to be confounded with the Irish round towers that date from early Christian times, in general around the years 700 and 800. The Scottish Broches are from the Iron age, barely a thousand years before, and are quite distinctive. The Brochs are much wider in the base, and have a double wall inside. It was suggested that it was built in a way to shelter the animals when necessary, and the people would stay in a higher floor.

Other original feature were the Crannogs, houses from the Iron age built in artificial islands in lakes, making it quite inaccessible from the outside unless you reach by boat.

I hope I will be lucky enough to see some of those it in the next few days.

day 14, september

2009-12-26T10:40:00.001-02:00

Day 14

I decided use my last days of the travel to know Scotland, or at least what I can in the time that I still have. After a week in London I was ready to go again. I could do most of what I have planned and some of my trips were really remarkable. There are some things that could have been better, but if I have to choose, I would not change much. The surprises are always welcome in researches like mine.

I left London via Euston to Glasgow at 9:30 and arrived in Central Glasgow exactly at 14:00. The trains in England are famed for its very good timing, and they should. Despite of being half-sleep and my bad location in most of the journey, I could appreciate the landscape. At some point we had more hilly and reforested (Pinus) landscape. Amongst the few cities I could spot, Carslile call my attention for the medieval remains and looked a bit more interesting place. It is where Hadriann Wall starts and crosses the country, wisely devised where the land gets strait. The wall was constructed to create a barrier against the raids of the Celtic hoards.

The Roman invasion in Scotland by Agricula around the year 80, and reached as far as Glasgow and Edinburgh, where a previous wall was constructed (the Antonine Wall), but it could not go much further. It was very expansive to keep the war against the Caledonians and other tribus, and after a while the Romans had to refrain. As Agricula left the northern position, the position was lost and the wall was left into ruins.

The city as we know today was founded in the 6^th century by St. Mungo, an early Christian preacher. There is no much traces of early settlement in Glasgow, but some miles around is possible to find several remains of older civilizations.

After my regular booking and going to the B&B, I tried to visit the Hunter Collection here in Glasgow. Looking for pictures from the John Hunter Collection that I have visited in London, I’ve discovered that his brother William Hunter had this famous collection at the Glasgow University, so it was a good day to visit it.

Dr. William hunter was a pioneering obstetrician and teacher, apart of collector. His collection is of wide scope and today is one of the most important in Scotland. Apart from the Hunterian Museum, the Zoology Museum, the Anatomy and the Art Gallery are shown very close, and are held by the Glasgow University. The University was founded in 1451, and have a very neat building.

To me was of particular interest to see the pottery used in bronze age time to bury ashes and bones. Mostly are marked with patterns in the outside, made with sticks and sometimes with the fingers. Some studies suggests that the distinct patterns that can mean something about the identity of the person buried, as some sort of identification.

There are abundance of flints, hand axes and spears of all shapes and sizes, as the collection incorporated some Irish pieces too. The insulation lead the Irish tools to have some distinction from the English and the Scottish ones.

The same independent development can be said about some objects that are only observed in Scotland, specifically the stone balls that the Hunterian Collection has more pieces than any other collection I’ve seem so far. These stone balls richly and originally decorated has no explanation of use so far. They are some of the most beautiful and mysterious objects of the stone age, and the fact that no theory can even be proposed for them, make it even more exciting. I’ve seen them at the British Museum and at Dublin Museum. Some of the patterns are repeated, suggesting some tradition in doing it.

There are some bronze age findings of excavations like pottery, beads, bone remains. It is quite interesting to see them together, although out of the original context.

The collection has some good skull fossils of the Homo family, and they trace a short story containing the Homo Sapiens (200.000 until now), the cast of an Homo Erectus (from 70.000 to 1.8 million years ago), a cast of an Homo Habilis (2 million year) and of an Austrophitecine (2.5 million years ago).

There is a skull from an excavation in 1900 in Clachaing falls, at the Arran island. It is called the Clachaig skull, and was founded amongst the remains of other fourteen men, women and children. Studies proved that it was from the Neolithic age, between 4.000 and 2.500 BC.

There is a lot more in the collection, as it spans a really wide range of interests. I still must see the rest of it, and probably will do tomorrow. There are also some other collections in the city worthy to visit. I know there are some archeological sites around the town, but they all seem very difficult to reach as long I know. So I will concentrate in the city and some collections. It seems that there are good material here and in two days I must go to Inverness where it seems that there are a lot to see in the field.

I did not mentioned yet, but Glasgow looks a gorgeous city, and I had a very good time walking around here today. So I want to enjoy it better than spend the day in somewhere far and get back tired and late.

Tomorrow I will know if it was a good decision.

Day 13

2009-12-04T19:47:00.000-02:00

Day 13 of September, Sunday.

I finally did nothing but organizing my life this Sunday. And you want to know something? My feet were dry most of the time.

The photos here are from the beautiful walk on saturday.

day 12

2009-12-03T00:12:00.000-02:00

Day 12

The Long Man, Wilmington

Saturday morning, I had accorded to go with my friend Katherine Bash to the Long Man in Wilmington. Katherine was somehow following the whole process of my project since the beginning, and her ideas are important to me. I had a good time with her even without showing specifically something finished. She is one of those persons that have an inspiring effect in the whole thing.

We met at Victoria Station and went to Eastbourne, way down south. Eastbourne was one the few places that Katherine know in the U.K., so I’ve been feeling a bit guilty when she mentioned it. She’d been at the city – which is a seaside boulevard, and at the Seven Sisters, a series of chalk cliffs not far from there. For my easy, she have never been to the long man and had no knowledge of it before. Even better.

We took the train to Polegate and a cab from there to Wilmington. It proved a good choice, as we get there so fast.

The Long Man is a chalk drawing at a hill side, depicting a man with two poles or in an alternative interpretation – and very poetic indeed- someone opening a gate. The graphic picture don’t allow too much precision, but it is not necessary: the Long Man is one of extreme fanciness.

The figure is quite long, a bit more of 69 meters, and it is considered the largest figure of its kind. It is not mentioned until the 17^th century, and in those old times it was a relief covered with grass. Today it is an inlaid drawing in the ground, made of regular shapes –looks like concrete, although I did not get so close to know, painted in white. The lines are scored by some of those concrete shapes in order to not slide from its position.

So one can imagine the much it has changed since then.

Modern interferences can be quite annoying for the ones which researches, as it never again will have the original appearance. To be strict no site excavated will ever be the same after being excavate, but some of interferences are quite strong. Enough is to remember the Newgrange façade and imagine if it ever been that way, despite of all the hard work and good will of the team working there.

Again, we don’t know how old is the Long Man. The site is one of the most astonishing I have seem, in one side a hill that is seem for miles in most direction you look at. A mountain chain at the left of the drawing links both places very clearly. Earthworks in the chalk are seem all around. A little flat top hill and ditch at the foot of the drawing is very connected to it.

At the other side of the mountain, there is a wonderful valley and it is very easy to spot the sea at no long distance from there. The whole mountain is made of chalk and it is indeed a very unusual, to say less. The white floor all around covered in green by the grass is a very strange sight. We’ve been wandering if the stones associate with the chalk could be useful for any industry, like fling for instance.

On the top of the hill, another very clear round ditch and barrel, several earthworks of all kinds. The Hill is the highest place in sight and is a very influential point in the landscape. And in the stone age it is clear that these points were to be used quite frequently, for ceremonial and later for settlements.

Looking at the map later, I could find some of the most visible Ley Lines ever. There are barrels, ditches, tumulus all along both the mountains. No doubt the Long Man , if is not an ancient figure, is placed in the right place to be one.

It was great to be with someone in this little field investigation. I believe Katherine enjoyed as much as me, and it was not the Eastbourne she knew, even though it was so close to it.

day 08 to 11

2009-11-26T22:47:00.001-02:00

Day 09

Blackheath

On the 08 I went visit my friend Elaine and obviously I got completely lost in the train line and got hours late in Blackheath. We always have so many good conversations and as the time was passing, she was kind enough to invite me to sleep in her house, otherwise I would spend other few hours going back home. Next day I could enjoy a visit to Greenwhich park which is just around the corner.

And what a corner: I’ve been said – but could not get any proof of it- that Blackheath was named after the black plague mass burials were done there. That would be the reason why the lands never been sold or used in any other way. If the plague were caused by other factors than the bubonic pest (like anthrax, for instance), it would be possible a new contamination. The counter argument for this idea would be that although is possible that Blackheat camp contain black plague pits, is quite possible that each parish has its own pit. It can be said that the rocky ground and the high hill of Blackheath would not be a natural choice for a mass burial. At this point I just prefer to leave things buried as they are. The black plague killed thousands of people in London in 1348-49, and came back quite often, notably in 1665-66. the exact reasons for the plague cannot be traced so far, but quite possible that the bubonic pest, caused by bite of the rat’s flea is the main responsible associated with the dirtiness of the city.

some links about the matter:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackheath,_London

http://blackheathbugle.wordpress.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Death_in_England

http://blackheathbugle.wordpress.com/2008/08/10/are-people-buried-beneath-blackheath/

and this particular one:

http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/plague/experts.html

Blackheath was also the stage for the Climate Camp in August, where hundreds of people have camped for a few days to held workshops and discussions about the climate changes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climate_Camp

But the main vocation of the place seems to be a residential and quiet place, with a big empty grassy square.

Greenwhich

About Greenwich Daniel Lima have posted here:

http://standingoftheshouldersofgiants.blogspot.com/2009/09/historia-de-greenwich-bem-resumida.html

I should had write this before, and as days passed and I have lost the details.

I get to Greenwich park before the observatory was open which give me time to explore.

There are ruins of roman buildings there and some nice view over the Thames.

please don't step the roman ruins

It was the beginning of the autumn, so the first trees had colored leaves.

The Royal Observatory has a lot of good astronomical machines and some very important clocks and instruments for measuring. There is all Harrison’s clock. From there all the clocks would relate.

The only reason to get here is to reset my time. I am in London and must do things here, meet people and organize me. Think about the rest of the travel, which places are important to go.

Day 10

The Hunter Collection

Today I met my friend Katherine Bash in her studio in Goodenough College. Actually we met a lot this year. She took me to visit the Hunter Gallery a collection of the anatomist from the 19^th century John Hunter. His collection is now in care of the Medicine School in London and in display is possible to see Hunter’s collection enlarged with a lot of new acquisitions.

It seems that the collection and the building were bombed at the Second World War, so don’t ask me how they recover the objects. They are mostly anatomic samples of animals and humans, showing the best possible the medicine advances of the time. There are some wood timbers with veins and nervous system over it that is just fantastic.

There are thousands of items in display. I would say the collection has a taste for the bizarre and the unusual. One of the items showed is the impressive skeleton from an Irish giant man called Charles Byrne, 2.31 meter high. Other items like the portrait of an incredibly fat person (would weight 300 kilos), a black African child with white spots in his body, the skeleton of the smaller person in the world, and so on. It is a nice place to visit, but not exactly to bring children.

Day 11

The Serpentine Gallery

http://www.serpentinegallery.org/
http://www.serpentinegallery.org/2008/06/jeff_koons_popeye_series2_july.html

Day 07, 08

2009-11-16T20:06:00.001-02:00

Day 07, 08

eire/england

The travel took something like twelve hours from Galway to London: bus, train, ferry, train, train, tube, bus, walk home. When I arrived I was barely dead.

Back to London, time to rest and organize my studies, books, update my research and put life in order. I had some of my clothes stinking and other totally wet.

In London there's friends to meet, and fresh ideas to new plans. Life in London has its own timing.

I finally met Daniel

Again, there will be gaps in this diary.

day 06

2009-11-13T23:29:00.000-02:00

Day 06

In my last day in Galway, I decided going to the Aran Islands, three limestone islands not far from here. There are ferries quite frequently, and I wanted to see the famous Dún Aengus, or Dún Aonghasa, an iron age fort on the top of a cliff in the bigger of the Aran Islands, Inishmore.

There are other pre historical sites in Inishmore, including other forts and megalithic tombs. It's raining everyday now, so I had my new umbrella and rain clothes.

Getting to Inishmore is not difficult, you get tickets in town and at 9:00 you get a bus to the port. It takes about an hour to get there and there is still some time until the boat takes off and then some 40 minute in the sea.
After get there I went for information bureau and found in to the map places I wanted to go. Dún Aengus is very famous, so I though it would be not that hard to get there. There was a megalithic tomb that I find in the map and went after that.

The weather was very, very bad. The wind just destroyed my umbrella and in minutes I got soaked. So I continue anyway.
I took one of the roads and start walking. I had the map in my head, so I choose one of the possible roads, the one that runs by the sea. I've found the right way to walk up to the ruins of a former lighthouse.

the area seem from above, the Dun, the tomb and the lighthouse

lighthouse

ruins of the lighthouse

There is possible to see a round fort like the one in the Burren, called Dún Eochla fort which is not very different from the images of Dún Aengus. Dún Eochla was built between 500 and 800 AD, dating from the early Medieval period, and is located in the highest point of the island. It was repaired in the 19^th century.
It was a good experience to be there, because it give me shelter from the rain as it may have done to the original settlers before me.

Dún Eochla fort

Just beside the Dún, there is a small wedge tomb, which not much information anywhere. Even in the turistic information they did not know about it. it has the same style from the Poulabrone, and in fact are somewhat alike, with thin and rectangular stones. It was in bad shape, actually like it was intended to be restored in a bad way. It made me think if it was really a tomb for a while.

wedge tomb

The weather was really hard so followed the trail looking for the other tomb, but as I could not find it though I found some beautiful cliffs, I took the way to Dún Aengus. But the rain did not allow me to get there, although I was not far from it.

Dún Aengus is a iron age fort that stands in the border of a cliff, and it produces a dramatic view, when seem from the top. It is been used since then and reconstructed some times. The actual fort was not built in the edge of the cliff, but some hundred meters from it. The cliff fell and parts of the fort fell with it. Today there is half of it remains.

this is Dún Aengus on a nice day

Tomorrow I must spend most of the day going back to London. I had good experiences here in Ireland, but bad weather all along. I think it’s been raining everyday for 12 days now. I could not explore so much as I wanted, but I could see some especial things here. Hope I can come back with more time.

Day 05

2009-11-12T10:17:00.001-02:00

Day 05

Water spirit feelings

Springin' round my head

Makes me feel glad

That I'm not dead

(jim pepper)

THE BURREN, DAY 2

The day was dark in the morning, announcing rain. The forecast from yesterday had changed at some point and announced rain too. But I had a plan and a man with a plan is always something to look at. Yesterday I noticed a guy hiring bikes in Ballyvaghan, so I had to try to reach Poulabrone megalithic tomb again. So I just made the as yesterday, but this time I hire a bike- and of course did not went to the cave. Actually I had to go to the cave the day before, as I was very curious about it. It is one of the biggest of the world, and one of the best preserved show cave in Europe. Well, I don’t agree with the new entrance they made for that, and actually got a bit disappointed with the turistic scenary around, but one only can say that after going there – and supposedly paying 17 euro to enter.

Today I was focused in the tomb. In the way is possible to see several standing stones, cairns and megalithic monuments, and most of them are very usual in the landscape. There are dozens of little stone strange combinations, and many of them are with no doubt modern. Some you just can’t tell, and maybe has a much older history. In a bike is not easy to make photos, and everything you carry adds weight and make your journey more and more uneasy. At some point I had to stop and lay down on the floor (ok, it was the most beautiful sight ever), and many times I just jump off the bike and would carry it uphill.

POULABRONE DOLMEN

In about one hour I arrived at Poulabrone, a dolmen like over a cairn, constructed in the stone age, around 3000 BC. Radiocarbone shows that the 30 bodies buried there died around 4200 and 2900 BC. When excavated it was found a baby buried there around 1500 BC, sign that the place been used for ceremonials for a long span of time.

The dolmen is one of the best preserved in Ireland, “if not the best” according with the signs in the place. Like most of the places here in Ireland, Poulabrone is surrounded by a line and you are not allowed to trespass it, and that no doubt vanishes a bit of the emotion of the place, tough tourist herds can actually endanger the monuments.

I probably would not do it better. Anyway is a tiny and beautiful construction. The capstone is a thin rectangular stone about 1.500 kg, supported by 4 stones equally thin and rectangular. It don’t resembles examples like Arthur’s Stone in Wales.

The area surrounding passed through changes, the most dramatic was the loss of soil, for reasons that I can’t imagine, but only guess that the wind must have helped. The vegetation, basically pines simply disappeared, and today the Burren is almost all stone.

CAHERCONNEL STONE FORT

From there I went to the Caherconnel stone fort. There are dozens of these stone forts in the Burren, and this is one of the largest. The stone fort is a tradition that comes from the iron age, but been increasing during the early medieval period, when the farms get more elaborate. This barely comprises the time between 500 BC to 1000AD.

Of particular interest, this site has been excavated recently and there was found a body of a young lady buried in the 14^th century according with the radiocarbone, but defleshed and with the bones separate like some stone age funerals. If the body was buried at the 14^th century, it should have a Christian burial.

To make it more confusing, it was found near her some flints and beads much like in the Neolithic tradition. Quite difficult puzzle to solve. Since dating are expensive and difficult to do, I don’t think we are going to have a quick answer for that. This was the first time I saw a site just excavated (it happened just last year).

It was not possible to find another cairn I was interested, nor the other tomb. I went on the road with the bike and could go through a plain area at last. I must have biked about 5 kilometers. The cairn should be 500ms. Too bad.
Despite anything this was a quite pleasant part of the day.

That's when I went downhill back to the bike hiker and the last bus back to town, and that was serious. coming back was fun and beautiful, I seen a falcon or something like that, like floating in front of me. No photos, sorry.

Tomorrow head to Aran islands, where there's a cliff fort I want to go, named "Aengus", which is the name of the god of love.

Day 04

2009-10-08T22:37:00.000-03:00

Day 04

THE BURREN

on the way to the burren

I just tried to get to the burial chambers, but had no much luck. It was not difficult to get to the Ballyvaghan. The bus goes following the coast and have some very beautiful sights. The Burren is chain of limestone mountains with a very rocky area with a lot of wildlife. It has been inhabited for quite a while, since it is possible to find remains of stone age people until the iron age, covering thousands of years. It was in the Aillwee, the best known of the Burren caves, that was found evidence of the now extinct bears in Ireland.

In the way it is possible to find stone circles and standing stones around, just lost in the landscape. I’ve been following the road until get to the famous Aillwee cave.

The complex also houses a prey bird project, which includes owls, falcons and eagles. most of the birds are native animals from the Burren. The falcons, eagles and other birds of prey are breed in the center and perform little shows. There is a little zoo in the center too. I am not enthusiast of zoos, but I confess it was beautiful to see those birds close and flying. they have a special relation with the humans.

After that I went to visit the caves in which you got to be in a tour (like everything here...).

the view from outside the cave

The cave that was found in the 40’s by a hunter and its dog, and it was open to public only in mid 70’s. It is one of the biggest natural caves in the whole Europe, and it is only possible to walk around one kilometer of the area inside. It was inside this cave that was found the bear bones which was capital to prove the very existence of the animal. The cave is a world apart: waterfalls, stalagmites, stalactites, weird rocky formations.

After the tour, I realized my time had gone and I had to go back to get the last bus from Ballyvaghan to Galway.

On my way I've found this beautiful ditch and round fort. Would it be an Iron age or early medieval fort? The place was being excavated, but no further information was given so far.

The structure was clear and I figured there are thousands of those in England. It must be almost impossible to excavate all of them and organize this information. That was clear in places like Newgrange and Knowth, where there are so many to dig that some sites are kept closed until the advances of the science can help them better.

After that my time was really short, so I decided to go back to Ballyvaghan, and then to Galway. I could visit the Museum of Galway and see a fine collection of Corraghs, the small boats from people from Ireland. The sillouete of the fishermen carrying the boats is very known around here, and a powerful image. But it wasn’t a very significant day for my research, so maybe tomorrow I have a better luck.

corraghs

the shields of the fourteen tribes of galway

Just beside the Museum there is the famous Spanish Arch, built at the 16th century to protect the city. The name carries a bit of a mystery since there is no proof that it has any spanish relate with it. Maybe it was built to protect the quays from the Spanish Armada.

Spanish Arch

lynch wall

Day 03

2009-10-08T22:29:00.000-03:00

Day 03

In Galway, which is a port city west of Ireland, the third largest city of the island. I quite like this city, when I’ve been here in 1998, and there it goes ten years, I stayed in a very cheap hostel which was on the top of a butcher, so there were a sign in which you could read “Pork Butcher Hostel”, although it was two distinct business. At that time I had other interests, so not only I have changed as the city did too. It is said to be the city that grows faster in Europe at the moment. Sure it has now modern spots, but some of the old stuff are still there. Some houses, some streets, they never leave one’s memories . Today after my arrival I had time to walk around Galway and enjoy the alleys and the port.

the pork butcher hostel

The city was founded by the Normans in the 12^th century, but there are hints of much older occupation, and it is generally accepted that 7000 years ago there were already people living here. From its foundation, the city was informally ruled by fourteen families from England, which organized the trades and the port activity. It’s been under seize in 1652 in the civil war.

a house of one of the fourteen tribes

South of Galway is located The Burren, a National Park, a rocky area of 15 square kilometer, containing no less than 90 stone monuments, although only a few are spot in the Ordnance Survey. No wonder, I have found monolithic sited not in the Ordnance Survey myself.

I have noticed that is not easy to get there if you are not in a tour. Quite bad. I will try it anyway, because I definally don’t like tours. It’s like being rushing all time and it really don’t give you enough room to think about. Mostly of my questions about Newgrange only appeared after I leave the place.

Tomorrow I will see how it works. Most of my information until now were not very encouraging.

day 02

2009-10-03T22:02:00.000-03:00

Day 02

Another rainy day (now they are six or seven in a row, quite depressing) and I went to the train station quite close to my B&B to get the guided tour to Brú na Bóinne, the valley of the river Boyne, where stands Newgrange, Knowth, Dowth and other 40 pre historical mounds, cursus and other landmarks.

As there were not many people into the tour, I just decided spare my money and go by myself to the place, first to Drogheda and from there to Donore. As Newgrange is very known, there is a bus line that literally takes you inside the park. Newgrange is a National Monument, and there is no access to it unless through the park or if you live there. There is a strange mixture of private and archeological sites. As I mentioned before, Newgrange is not the only place of interest there, but is the most known.

NEWGRANGE

The area is still not totally excavated, and several small mounds are just kept closed until there are proper ways to dig it. There are around 37 around the area, which is way too much for a single place. The other concentration like that can only be found in Stonehenge or Avebury, which are major sites. So we must consider Brú na Bóinne a major site too. Unfortunately there is no access to most of the mounds, and even to Newgrange and Knowth – the two sites possible to visit- it is only possible with a guided tour. So that is, in the end I could not escape my guided tour. They probably have reasons for that: the site is precious, and although is considered World Heritage Site by Unesco, not always been like this. Marks of graffitti are all around Newgrange, especially from the 19^th century, when the site was kept unprotected.

Rocky Art at Newgrange

From the beginning, the story goes like that, the Neolithic people of the place, at 3.000 BC (this is some centuries before the Great Piramids and Stonehenge), that people that were some of the first farmers in Ireland, those guys which lived around 28 to 35 years old, and that were a bit too short because of their life conditions, and they had a very hard life, these guys with no metal tools, only stones, no horses, only men, again, these guys constructed an amazing very impressive mark in the landscape. For this, they brought stones from far, probably by the river (Ireland was mostly forest right then), each weighting several tons, after finding it in a spot, working it and transporting by human power and then boats. The finality of all that was to create a place for their dead, a ceremonial place where they could lay their bodies and make ceremonies for them and for the gods. They needed several years to make the whole structure, but the plane was clear since the beginning: this is one of the few sites that can be said it has a specific function. Newgrange was constructed in order to mark the transition of the time.

Newgrange is a passage tomb, which means a big mound with side decoration ( 97 carved stones), a front wall in quartz stone and an entrance. This entrance has a very decorated carved stone before you actually get to the passage and a window on the top. The passage is narrow and long – it must have around 40 meters up way – and leads to a cruciform hall with three burial chambers. Though the passage is narrow and low, the hall has something like 5 meters high, built with stones overlaps, like a dome. The structure supports the weight of several tons, and remained intact after 4.000 years abandoned.

What is remarkable in this place is that in the winter solstice, this mean, the shortest day of the year the sun enters through the narrow passage and reaches the center of the tomb for something like 15 minutes. Of course this don’t happens only in that very precise day, but also in the few next and before. The fenomena was first witnessed (in modern times) by the archeologist Michael J. O’Kelly in december 1967. This gives a whole sense of sacred place to Newgrange, and adds a new idea of their planners.

In some other passages tombs this property happens again, like in Bryn Celli Ddu, in Wales – which also have some few carved stones and in some aspects resemble Newgrange. This was enough for a new turn in the researches on the Neolithic sites. Unfortunately, not many sites share such precision as Newgrange.

the interior of the passage grave in Newgrange

There were distinct phases of occupation of the Newgrange site, as like happened with Stonehenge. After the place been left by their builders, it decayed and was incorporated by the landscape, but several other traces indicates that it’s been in use after that. There is a Woodhenge just beside it, and a cursus. All around there are small mounds, which indicates that the area surely had been used for sacred rituals.

Not far from Newgrange, there other site that shares some of its features, named Knowth.

KNOWTH

This site though is known since the 40’s has only been fully excavated –and opened to public visitation- in 2002. This means, is quite new and unknown from the public. The site is from the beginning breathtaking.

There is a central circular mound surrounded by other 18 little and medium (in other context I would say big) mounds. Knowth has some of the most striking carved stones surrounding it, in a total of 127. The patterns are basically geometrical, spirals, and diamonds.

Knowth was constructed around 2.500BC and like Newgrange, was left and was incorporated by the vegetation around. The site was taken by the Iron Age Celts, which turn it into a fort with two ditches. Later the Normans built a village on the top of it. The Vikings have been there twice in 963 and some years later while raiding the little villages along the river. Only in the 60’s the site was cleared and initially excavated.

inside the Knowth passage

Rocky Art at Knowth

The site has two passages, possibly related with summer and winter solstices rituals. Although not as clear as Newgrange, it shares its main axis.

Inside the chamber it was found what is considered one of the finest stone age sculpture, a flint mace which depicts a head, not much bigger than 10 centimeters, and is in show at the museum I visited in Dublin, just yesterday. There is a replica in the Visitors Centre in Brú na Bóinne. There is a little museum there with models and replicas – and of course some original pieces too, to introduce the sites of the area.

models of Newgrange's evolution

Founds in New Grange includes some of the best carvings of the Neolithic period.

At this point, the pictures will speak for me, as I am quite tired. Tomorrow I will try to go to Galway, or Ennis, where there’s more waiting for me.

september day 01

2009-10-03T21:16:00.000-03:00

September, Day 01

holyhead by the sea

Yes, I decided come to Ireland. It was no easy decision, as I had to carry all my stuff again, and move again (another day, another hotel), go somewhere and find a place, etc.

Not easy at all.

The boat is an incredible experience. This monster that crosses the sea as if it is nothing, carrying inside its belly people, cars, buses, trucks...

My arrival was easy, and I took a train to central Dublin. I’ve been here ten years ago, or so. The city changed to my eyes, look much modern and different. Things here look a bit more expensive than in England, but maybe is my idea. Everything here is in Euro, so it is another value. I did not get the best exchange rate I guess, but only the one I could find.

By other hand the B&B is the more expansive since the hotel in the first night in Penzance, the most of all. Anyway, I just have to enjoy and try to be economical. And remember, it is not everyday you have this privilege to come to this place.

I am here because Ireland has a vast megalithic heritage, and a very special development in the area, so I decided that a quick drop would not be a bad idea. I tried to seize the day, so I went directly to the History Museum, which has a very interesting collection in pre historical Ireland. Unfortunately photos were not allowed, so I can’t share it with you.

But they have interesting pieces from the stone and bronze period, including a vast amount of golden pieces, mainly adorns; a huge boat of almost 15 meter carved in one oak trunk; some bronze cauldrons, weapons, swords and axes. Some amazingly carved stones with spirals and graphic patterns, much more elaborate than the ones seen in Wales. A very special stone hammer (that should be cerimonial) carved very precisely and careful. The people in that age were enough skilled to produce all sort of day to day and ceremonial objects as well monuments and architecture. Ireland is punctuated with mounds, burial chambers and stone circles. The stone carving had a special development here, and been incorporated by the posterior settlers. But this is a very long history, that must be told later... The collection continues through the Iron Age with a beautiful collection of mummies, mostly human sacrifices, although not 100% proved. I said beautiful? Well... a very nice collection indeed.

http://www.museum.ie/en/exhibition/prehistoric-ireland.aspx

Gundestrup Cauldron

They have some pieces dedicated to the Celts – of course, and a replica of the famous Gundestrup Cauldron, a Celtic relic which is kept at the National Museum of Copenhagen.

Tomorrow I planned go in an excursion (yes, I hate that) to Newgrange, which is the most famous burial chamber in Ireland. I am decided to take the excursion because it take the whole day, so it is not a short visit apparently, and it goes not only there, but to other places around. Sounds good. I am so tired of walking in the mud that a bit of bus’n’guided luxury would be nice. Wanna come?

off topic: tube map design

2009-09-26T21:18:00.000-03:00

the guy that created the london tube map must be a genius

link for the Travel Time Tube Map
http://www.tom-carden.co.uk/p5/tube_map_travel_times/applet/

inspired in Oskar Carlin's
http://www.oskarlin.com/2005/11/29/time-travel

Day 31

2009-09-25T05:14:00.000-03:00

Day 31

August 31, rainy morning in Holyhead. I had some plans for a productive day, as it might be my last day here. I was determined to face the rain and visit some places of my interest here, mainly the Parys Mountain, a copper mine close to Amlwch. But again I was not fortunate as today is some kind of bank holyday (no one could explain me exactly what is it), so like the day before, there would be limited bus services and most of the places would be closed. The idea of another day like the day before was not much appealing to me.

holyhead, bank holyday humdrum

HOLYHEAD
So I decided visit some sites close to Holyhead that I had missed, or just left for a day like today. One of them is a major feature, the Trefignath burial chamber, and the other, quite close is a standing stone called Ty Mawr, not far from there. As the weather was hard, I took my umbrella and bought a new bag and shoes in an open store. The soles of my shoes were getting thinner and thinner as the time passed, and started to soak up at any rain, and that was making me mad. There’s nothing worse than cold wet feet in rainy days. So far I had to buy an umbrella, new shoes, new bag and new coat because of the rain. That’s English Summer. Everything I wear smells and are wet most of the time. I am not someone about to complain, but in days like that feels sorry for yourself.

After my new improvements, I just went on and as the sites were around one mile of the town, I could find the right road with no mistake. The first I’ve found was the standing stone. It was 9 feet high, in the fashion of the others I’ve seen around, thin on the side and wide in the front. Ty Mawr is in the Anglesey Aluminum state, so in one way, it was well kept, and the access was easy. It seems that all the surrounds belong to them.

STANDING STONE
The standing stones are mainly more recent than the burial chambers and their meaning are quite unclear. They just stand in the landscape and like the stone circles don’t say much of their meaning. Some try to find astronomical alignments to the stone circles, but the standing stones can’t tell this story. They can be very significant in the Ley lines theory, as they spot the landscape very precisely, and can be a mark in a pathway or old road. Or like in the Nordic tradition, they can be erected in homage of an important person, but there’s no hint of this anyway.

standind stone

TREFIGNATH BURIAL CHAMBER

getting close to the chamber

The Trefignath burial chamber is a very special one. It is composed from three distinct phases of occupation. It must have been covered in stones, but today there is no much of this old feature. The group dates from around 3000 BC, based on the remains of pottery found by the excavations made in 1978 and 1979 in the older chamber. The other two must be some centuries later.

three entrances to the chambers, distinguished in time

this is the phase III of occupation, and the most beautiful

From the second phase, it is possible to recognize the entrance, but today in bad shape, as it had fall down. It clearly had a capstone and side slabs. The best preserved and more interesting is the third phase tomb. It has the double feature of the Plas Newydd, and entrance with lateral slabs. In Plas Newidd it would lack both the entrance slabs as the more integrated assemble of Trefignath. This kind of entrance is said to be found in south Scotland, and adds depth to the entrance. Trefignath seems to comprise several traditions in the same place, although used in different periods of time.

the first occupation

...and the second phase

STONE AND GRASS

STANDING STONE

After that, I still tried to go after other Standing Stone that should not be so far, and that I possibly could reach walking. On the side of the road I still found a third standing stone not signed in my Ordenance Survey. This was less significant than Ty Mawr but no less interesting to me. It had some 1.50 meter high (5 feet), and stand in the top of a little mound. I just had the time to see it and go back to the road when the rain got me really hard. I had to take my umbrella, find a shelter and wait for some 30 minute until it was possible to go back to town (because at that point I lost any interest in go on). My umbrella got into pieces by the wind, it was very unpleasant situation. After that I decided for a light day back to Holyhead, packing for traveling tomorrow. Going to Ireland or go back London, I still don’t made my mind. Should I stay or should I go?

I left here my broken umbrellas

Day 30

2009-09-24T20:48:00.000-03:00

Day 30

Another rainy morning in Holyhead. I got the same super breakfast, and went to the bus stop. Not so early this time, because on Sundays there are less services, so I had to be organized. I checked the bus routes to get to Moelfre, and resulted that the only possible connection was going through Porthaethwy, an from there going back in direction to Amlwch. The connection and my sense of direction proved perfect until there. Right stop, right bus and right stop before Moelfre. There are a few places near by, but basically there are two of particular interest. One is the burial chamber named Lligwy, and the other is a British village from the Roman times.

LLIGWY BURIAL CHAMBER

The Lligwy burial chamber is nice example of Neolithic work. It was excavated in 1909 and founds of around 30 persons were found there. Probably it dates from 2500 to 2000 BC, and were covered with a mound or stones. If so, again is one of those examples of mixed styles that are current in North Wales. The capstone is massive measuring about 5 by 5 meters and it said to weight 40 tons. The entrance is aligned with the North.

If is possible to trace a history of how the megalithic monuments evolved, it should be from the dolmen like structure, to burial chambers and passage mounds, and then to standing stones and stone circles. |The chalk drawings are linked with this time too, which comprises the end of the Neolithic age. The iron age forts are the last of the structures, and mostly don’t carry any religious meaning. These forts always make me imagine that this must have been a violent time in Britain, with more enclosed and defensive communities.

Lligwy must be dated around the end of the dolmen era to the burial mounds age. Most of North Wales monuments have mixed features which can be related with the time of transitions they were built, but also with distinct cultural elements from the people which lived there, like we see in Bryn Celli Ddu burial chamber.

12th CENTURY CHURCH

the church

... and the view

Not far from Lligwy there are two other interesting sites. One is a small church from the 12^th century built in stone and restored in the 16^th century and that is in ruins. One may wonder why to built a church in such a desolated place, but it seems that the church was the only parish church in miles, so it might been necessary. From the 16^th century improvements there is an underground chamber that looks pretty much as a refuge or a storeroom.

DIN LLIGWY

Quite close to the Neolithic chamber and the Medieval church there are the remains of an enclosed settlement from the Roman age. From this site were excavated several pieces Roman pottery and iron pieces, suggesting that there were a forgery there and that iron pieces were fabricated. Most of the findings were made in a particular house, so all leads to believe that there was a working place.

The village is called Din Lligwy, “Din” meaning an enclosed site. The site were built in different stages, as the fashion of the houses suggest. It is dated from the 4^th century, during the Roman occupation in Wales, so we can assume that they had contact and worked for the Romans. But they were not Romans, as it can seem by the structure of the houses. They were built in a polygonal structure, and there are seven structures, two of them round and the others (not all of then were houses) rectangular. The width of the walls could reach 1.50 meters. Amongst other features, some of the stones had very special holes in it, suggesting some specific use, probably for holding wooden stacks or to structure the roof. They are all around, suggesting a usual feature.

houses of the late iron age period

these marks in the stone certainly had a practical porpouse

After leaving Din Lligwy I went after some other places pointed in my map, but it was impossible due to the rain. After a while I was totally wet and been lucky enough to get to the road close to a bus stop in time to go to Bangor before going back to Holyhead. Unfortunately I was unable to enjoy much under the rain. So I went home and it was the best I could do.

I must remember to rest on Sundays.

day 29

2009-09-24T16:41:00.000-03:00

Day 29

“La vida te da sorpresas, sorpresas te da la vida”

Saturday morning in Holyhead, I had it all planned: wake up around 8:00, find a breakfast (yes, find one, since the owner of the B&B I am in have broken her forearm and therefore can’t cook) and get the 25 to Rhosneigr. By the way, yesterday I found a very good breakfast one, a funny little place but today I met the guy in front of his business and he told me he would take his breakfast before working! Too early for a Saturday.

I could find another one, and with much better and expensive food. I don’t mind, since my money situation is not bad so far.

BARCLODIAD Y GAWRES

Barclodiad y Gawres

In Rhosneigr I wanted to see the famous Barclodiad y Gawres (which means “The Giantess’s Apronful”) burial chamber. This is a remarkable seaside mound covered in turf, with internal passageway and carved stones inside. What is notable in this particular chamber – and other that I could visit this very same day, is the Irish influence in the carving stones. These are the only two examples known so far in whole Wales and England. The interior of the chamber is the bigger I’ve seem so far. It’s been built in a cross shape, with the stones around. The chamber was restored not long ago, and a new concrete roof was added. I must confess I don’t fancy it much, as it looks too modern, with all those ancient stones inside.

the entrance

inside de chamber

But I could not enter there actually, for two reasons. As the interior of the chamber been vandalized, two measures were taken to prevent further attacks. First, the inscribed stone were removed and sent to Cardiff Museum, so what is seen there is a copy. Not a shame, if you think in the importance of the piece, and the vulnerability of the site. Second, the entrance was closed and it is only possible to be visited in weekends between 12:00 and 16:00hs, which was not the case. I arrived there at 9:50, so I did not wanted to wait two hours in the cold, and it was cold.

just beside Barclodiad y Gawres, there were this strange mound

I decided take a walk instead and went far in the coast until get close to the next city, Abreffraw. There I could take the 42 to Lanfair Pwllgwyngyll to find a burial chamber over there. The Ordnance Survey has been very useful so far, as I can spot places with much greater precision, although sometimes is not easy to find then anyway, and I can find other ones that are not mentioned in other maps or guides.

also known as llan-something

DOLMEN

This was the case of this lost and ruined dolmen in a sheep field. It must have been massive judging by its remains. The capstone was really big. I’ve been imagining that the owner must have look at this bunch of stones as a Greek gift, as it only bring people to his property, and in the end it is just rocks laid on the floor. It is very difficult to imagine what it may looked like before it had fallen, but it look like it have been very tall, or had two part, like the one I will describe next, because the stones on the floor were very large.

dolmen colapsed

All along the south coast of Anglesey Island, there is an astonishing view of the Snowdonia mountains, which stand in the other side of the Menai Strait.

PLAS NEWIDD

plas newidd

Following the coast is possible to enter in a park in which there is another chamber, from the same category of the first, but in very different situation. The dolmen at Plas Newidd is beautifully cared, and stands in front of a castle, close to the Strait. It is not a usual chamber of its kind because it is composed by two dolmens altogether, one large enough to be stand under the capstone and a little one, no much higher than 1,50m. Both structures look like they were built to create an ascending line from the ground.

dolmen at plas newidd

isn't it photogenic?

BURIAL CHAMBER

Close to the park there was still another burial chamber that I almost missed, as it stands in another private property. With the help of the map and my intuition I found it. I had seem a mound with an oak tree chopped some yards ago in the road. When I realized I had walked too much to find it, I decided to come back for that mound. And there it was, with the entrance facing the Strait, so backwards to the road. I entered the property and been circulating the mound. It had fences around, and a gate which was locked, sign that it must have been vandalized. It is sad to see the chambers locked, because most of them are in open spaces until now, apparently with no major problems. But it look that is not always like that. The mound is big and had some trees planted on the top and beside. There is the remains of a big oak tree that been cut. It is not unusual to find trees on the top of burial mounds. In this case, the chamber does not enter into the mound, but marks a kind of gate, with nothing inside.

entrance of the chamber

BRYN CELLI DDU

Another of the most famous burial sites in Anglesey is Bryn Celli Ddu. Most of the sites I’ve been visiting here are quite unique. A fort that uses the mountain to create precipices, a bronze age village in two phases, two standing stones, a burial mound with inscribed stones, a double burial chamber. I could expected nothing less from this site, and I have not been disappointed.

parcially closed entrance

Bryn Celli Ddu is a burial mound with a curious history. It was first conceived as a stone circle, or a Henge sometime around 3000 BC. It had ditches around and a circle with 14 stones and probably other two in the center. Not much after that the Henge was deliberately destroyed and much of its stones were used to built a communal burial chamber with a passageway through it. The reasons for this are not clear. It may indicate a change in the beliefs of the people, or that the site were taken by another people with distinct religious costumes.

this single stone gave a completely new interpretation to the whole site

In front of one of the sides of the passage (the one which is not possible to enter), there is a stone with zigzag pattern carved on it, suggesting again the Irish influence on the area. That stone had around 1,50m and it was much wider in one direction than the other, as the two standing stones from yesterday .

Brynn Celli Ddu

the open entrance

this slab is quite impressive

inside the tomb

The site been excavated in 1928 and it was rebuilt again. In the reconstruction some structural improvements were made, like some concrete bars on the top. Probably the size of the mound was bigger than it is seem now, according with the information in the place.

needless to say, I did not eat these berries anymore

STANDING STONE

Close to Bryn Celly Ddu (translated as The Grove of the Dark Chamber) there is a standing stone inside a private area. As I had invaded two private areas only on that day, and another the day before, I just decided to go in. The stone is surrounded by a lot of smaller stones. It gets so close to Bryn Celly Ddu, that is difficult to imagine with no relation one to other. The menhir looks like the two standing stones I saw the day before, tall and thin in one direction. It was getting late and I was tired, so I decided take the bus back to Holyhead, via Llangefni, where I could take the 4X back home. Anglesey has a lot to be seen, and it is great to be here. I feel in the right place.

standing stone close to Brynn Celli Ddu

Day 28

2009-09-13T14:55:00.000-03:00

Day 28

“I can see for miles and miles”

First morning in Holyhead and I was a bit lazy to wake. When I did, it was chilly and windy. It seems that here is always like this. But I had clear that I had to seize the day and took my maps and information to go Caer y Twr, the Iron age hillfort which stands at the top of Holyhead Mountain. It don’t stand very far from the city, so I just went walking.
On the way I could find the place where the rocks were taken to the construction of the breakwater. This monumental work designed by James Meadow Rendel took 28 years to get done. Now there’s only a huge empty space close to the mountain.

the big hole in the mountain

A kind of railroad was built to take the stones to the shore, where it would be thrown in the ocean. The brick factory built nearby provided special bricks to cover the waterbreak.

THE BRICK FACTORY

brick factory

There is the site where there is the remains of the vitrified brick factory. The kilns were able to burn up to 18.000 bricks at one time and employed 100 persons. After the waterbreak was finished the production decreased and the prices fell down. Even though the factory continued in activity for a long time. The factory was held by William Wild and sons that’s been working from the 1901 until 1973.

CAER Y TWR

The way uphill was a bit hard, but the view was amazing. Caer y Twr is a natural fort, as it stands up the hills, but it’s been modified by human hand. It was made more difficult to get to it, as it is surrounded by precipices. From the top is possible to see the whole Holy Island. It is an incredibly windy place where you must be careful not to fall. The place was the last refuge of the Celts defeated by the Roman army. Once in the top the Romans built a watchtower there.

the roman watch tower in the top of the mountain

one of the entrances for the fort

the silver stones of caer y twr

Caer y Twr

That’s when the rain came and I had to find a shelter somewhere. It was a bad time of the day. I decided go back to the city and wait. The rain did not last longer, so I went to Ty Mawr hut group.

TY MAWR

The Ty Mawr is a little village or farm that’s been in use since at least 1500 BC for more than a thousand years. Its location facing the sea in one side and the mountain in the other is breathtaking. There are around 50 round huts found in the area, divided clearly in two stages: the round dug in the ground without floor, and other which comes up of the ground and have stone floor, plus a more elaborate farm scheme. Ty Mawr gives a hint of how the Bronze and Iron age people organized and lived together.

the pattern of the walls

some of the huts

the second stage of construction

the floor covered in stones

PENRHOS FEILW

Just a walk from there is possible to reach the Penrhos Feilw standing stones, two menhirs which is said once formed the center of a stone circle.
The group must have been from early Bronze age, dating around 2.000 to 1500 BC. As it stands so close to Ty Mawr is hard not to associate both. Penrhos Feilw stands like a frame to the mountain in the background. Both stones are in a quite similar position, facing the north-south axis and much thinner in the east-west axis. They get up close to 3 meters high and around 80 cm wide, a bit wider at the bottom.

the two menhirs

Today I was able to do the northeast of the island, tomorrow I will try to make the area west and south, and then go to the other cities. I hope the rain don’t get too hard.

The houses with turf roof, that I saw today in Ty Mawr are used until today in Aran Islands. Apparently the Vikings also had the same fashion.

Day 27

2009-09-13T07:20:00.000-03:00

Day 27
HOLYHEAD
I wake up early in the morning and took my way to Euston Station, where the trains depart to North East and Wales, and apart some delays, I could take the 9:10 (which actually departed 9:25) to Holyhead. It was a four and half hour travel, not bad to cross the country.
It was a good feeling going back to road. I was missing it. In London I had time to organize things and visit collections, get books but there’s nothing like going to the places where the monuments are. It’s like the gap between language and experience, both are necessary at some point.

My eyes were sharp enough to spot a Tor in the side of the road, and after a while another one in a very outstanding mark in the field. Both mounds were around the same size and shape, but one was much more taken by the vegetation, while the other was very much a grassy hill. They were big enough to be seem from miles, maybe as big as Silbury Hill. Where this strong alignment would lead? It could be a Ley. Just their shapes in the landscape were strong enough to call the attention, and would not be mistaken.
It took me some time to find it in the map, and I am not sure if I did. I know I've been close to Oldbury Camp’s Hartshill, an Iron Age hill fort. This is an impressive place, look the photo.
In the hill there is a chalk drawing of a horse, dating from the 30's and restored not long ago.

Hartshill

It is possible that this marks in the landscape were intended to spot places of significant importance like mines or metal deposits, settlements, meeting places, sacred places and so on. We can never forget that we are dealing with monuments of different ages and their intentions may vary.

holyhead

I’ve been to Holyhead ten years ago, or should I say, I was in a coach that passed through Holyhead ten years ago. But anyway I could remember some of the beautiful country side views, especially the area close to Holywell, which turns into a kind of muddy desert. It is actually the mouth of the River Dee going into the sea. This is the northern border of Wales and England.
Another special site in the coast is Llandudno, where the fortified (medieval?) walls enclose the whole city. It looks impressive as we pass through the tunnels that surround it. There is a copper mine nearby called Great Orme that’s been used since the Bronze age, this means barely 2.500 to 800 BC. Copper is the main metal to produce bronze, and the mines were very important places for the people living around. They should be able to extract it and to work it, which would demand high skills to achieve the right temperature to melt the metals. The copper requires specially high temperatures to work, more than gold or silver, for instance. The metal industry was of great importance for those people, and in fact lots of settlements were placed close to mines (Cornwall is a good example).

holyhead port

When the train finally arrived in Holyhead, I went after a B&B, and although I could find then, I could not meet anyone to deal, so I used my old Tourist Information Bureau strategy and could find not only a close and cheap one, as lots of information and nice people to speak for a while. It’s not always like that. I tried to do some more serious exploration, but due to the extremely bad weather it was impossible.

the roman fort and st. cybi church

Holyhead was founded around the year 200 and 300 by the Romans interested in the goods of the area (metal, basically). As there were a Celt settlement there (and in almost the whole Wales), the Romans had to expel them, not without some fight. The city grew around the Roman fort built facing the sea. Inside the fort there is a church dedicated to St. Cybi, build in the 13th century, but it may be older than that. Even after the Romans depart, the fort been in use to avoid the raids of Irish pirates from the 5th century on and the Vikings assaults some time later.
Now the link with Ireland is of great importance to the city. In the 19th century the need of better roads linking London and Dublin made necessary the opening of the A5 road, completed by Thomas Telford in 1826.

abandomned houses close to the breakwater

the house of John Hawkshaw close to the breakwater

The port also was reconstructed and in 1845 it was constructed the biggest breakwater in the world (today remains the bigger in Europe), with 2.4 km. This huge work made possible to shelter ships from storms. Two lead civil engineers were working on the breakwater: John Hawkshaw and James Meadows Rendel.

construction of the breakwater

The area has a big tide variation, so further improvements were necessary to make the ferry travel to Dublin possible. That is much of what the city is about today.
But there’s a lot around too, that been left behind. Ancient people been here and left their mark. This was one of the most important areas to look for ancients constructions. I am here for this.

days 25,26

2009-09-13T06:23:00.000-03:00

25, 26

Thames

these were not very enthusiastic days, really. My friends are still not in London, so used the time to finish some works that were hanging since I left São Paulo. Most of them are finished now, but I spend two days in it. In other hand I had a meeting with Adam Knights, a manager for the Visiting Artists Program (www.visitingarts.org.uk). They’ve been working together with the British Council, but not anymore, and yet they have this kind of good relation between them, so basically he wanted to be sure that I was ok, and if I needed anything. It was good lunch and nice conversation on the top of Tate Modern. Some of his questions could make me think a bit more about my work, as I had to explain it to someone... not easy sometimes, but I am happy that he was experienced with residencies programs, so I think we could have an open conversation.

sun line in tate modern

St. Paul's Cathedral from Modern Tate

the monument

Then after some walking through Tate Modern and Central London, I've found the Cristopher Wren's Monument, built to inaugurate the new city. After the plague of 1665 and the fire of 1666, London was remodeled much - but no totally- in the plans of Cristopher Wren. This inaugurates a modern era in the city, with wider streets and a modern concept.
I think speaking with Adam could help me to see London in a different way, and understand this as a city of many layers. Tomorrow (the 27th) I am going to Holyhead, northeast of Wales, where I expect to spend the next few days. I am going by train, because the coaches get there at an incredible bad time ( 0:40 and 1:20 am). The coaches to Holyhead must have its time adjusted with the ferries, as the city is the port to Ireland.

Let’s see what’s come from that.

Day 24

2009-09-11T08:10:00.001-03:00

Day 24

Still in London, I went to the Natural History Museum to see the human fossils there (if there were some), as I am tracing human history, and specially concerning the Neanderthal that supposedly been the first human to settle Britain.

But before get there, I had the chance to see the “Roman” house at Lower Grosvernor Garden, and realized, there is actually two of those houses there, but no explanation of what it is at all. There’s no much reference of it nowhere, even at the internet. Maybe they are not so important.

NATIONAL HISTORY MUSEUM

From Grosvernor I made my way to the Museum, which was really crowded. Probably is like that everyday, because there were nothing exceptional, just lots of kids, and security counters.

I could find easily what I was looking for, a small summary on record fossils of the human evolution, from the apes to the other extinct humanoids. It was a clear approach, showing most of the features and the way it changed during millions of years.

I must return to this theme, as I am reading a lot about it now, and the theme is fascinating. How we became humans and what does it mean that. I think it used to be theme of more zealous debate, apart of the religious approach, of course. But by fossil evidence it’s been possible for scientists make a lot of assertions and hypotheses too.

The main investigation on the fossil records of the museum is what makes us humans and which features we share with which of member of the family. The main idea is trace back the fossil features and placing them in a family tree, distinguishing the closer and far relatives amongst the big apes we take part.

proconsul africanus

proconsul's jaws, note the advanced tooth and the big molar

sivapithecus sivalensis

another sivapitecine

The Sivapitecines lived around 14 and 8 million years ago. the hard enamel teeth suggest they are related with homo sapiens family. Their fossils were found in Turkey and in South Asia.

paranthropus family

australopithecine family

paranthropus

The Paranthropus had strong jaws and were found to live in East african savannas. It had strong jaws to chew dried leaves, but his brain were not so big. It was possibly easy prey for other animals.

australopithecine family

australopithecus reconstituition

The Australopithecus They have been confounded with the Paranthropus family, and must have lived 3.9 million years ago in Ethiopia. They are considered the commun ancestral of the genre Homo and Paranthropus. Their brain size was 35% smaller than the Homo, don't had fire and their hability with tool should not be any greater than any chimp.

austraslopithecine jaw

plesianthropus transvaalensis also called australophitecus africanus are mainly found in the transvaal area, near pretoria

lucy

the homo habilis

The homo habilis lived in Rift valley in Tanzania around 2.5 to 1.5 million years ago and were probably the first creatures to use tools, which make them closer to men in the evolutionary scale. It were found stone tools related with animal butchery. As some of the tools do not relate with the stone from the surroundings it is imagined they would carry it with them.

homo georgicus, the first homo found outside africa

homo fiorensis from java

neanderthal or homo neanderthalensis

The Homo Neanderthalensis were close human relatives that lived together with the Homo Sapiens for some time. They had stone tools, burials for their dead, large brains and their traces could be found in whole Europe. They became extinct around 22.000 years ago, but there is no indication of violent conflicts between the Neanderthals and Humans. Their language apparently were much less developed than the Homo Sapiens.

neanderthal and human skulls together

Neanderthal skulls

The Cro Magnon is considered a Homo Sapiens Sapiens, and were the first human to reach Britain when it wasn't an island yet. With the end of the Ice Age, drastic changes took place in Britain, in a span of a few years. England became an island, and lost a lot of ground to the sea. Scotland defrost and a significant area of it raised from the sea. Forests grew and new specimens appeared and other became extinct. The Cro Magnon must have been in contact with other Sapiens that reached Britain by boat in the end of the Ice Age. This was a time of significant development in human culture.
It is uncertain exactly when modern humans appeared in Britain, but there's no evidence of their presence before the 29.000 BC, and older remains than those of the "red man" in Wales.

cro magnon skull

ceremonial burials is an human caracteristic

art is considered an human atributte

modern human skull

The modern humans are quite like we are when you compare their brain size, head format, habilities with tools, and some aspects of the culture. They were hunter gatherers, they had fire technology, and made burials for their dead. It would take thousands of years before metal intruments or agriculture arrive in Britain.

This small chart helps to summarize the early human development, I got in this site

COMMON NAME HISTORICAL NAME DATE RANGE

Old Stone Age Lower Palaeolithic 350,000 - 70,000 BC

Middle Palaeoloithic 70,000 - 30,000 BC

Upper Palaeolithic 30,000 - 10,000 BC

Middle Stone Age Mesolithic 10,000 - 4,000 BC

New Stone Age Neolithic 4,000 - 2,500 BC

Bronze Age 2,500 BC - 800 BC

Iron Age 800 - 43 AD

In general it can be accepted human presence in Britain from the Middle/Upper Palaeolithic onward. This corresponds to the Ice Age, and the life conditions in this time must have been harsh. The end of the Upper Palaeolithic and the Middle Stone Age corresponds to the very beginning of the agriculture, which must have reached England around the New Stone Age. The first farmers in Britain were responsible for the Burial Chambers and most of the Calendary Monuments erected. It was when time counting and burial ceremonies were most important. That's when the forests started to be cleared for agriculture.

I found a book from an author that interests me, Jared Diamond, called “The Rise and Fall of the Third Ape”, and it is one of the many I got to read...

From the museum, I went to visit the Alfred and Victoria Collection, but I could not enjoy much really. My head was really miles away.

MITHRAS TEMPLE IN LONDON

After a brief lunch I headed for the Mithras Temple, the remains of an Roman temple that was found in 1954, during an excavation to the construction of Bucklesburry House. The remains were transported to the site where it is now, at Queen Victoria Street, and reconstructed as it appeared when was found, 18 feet below the new site.

Temples to Mithras were typically built underground, or in a cave, or under an existing building. They were intended to symbolise the cave where Mithras killed the primordial bull and released powers of life and creativity to the world. The temples of Mithras have no windows, and have two side benches, where people would sit and take a ritual meal.

The worship to Mithras was usual amongst the roman troops, and inicially came from Persia. It is considered now an iniciatory order, with seven ranks. The rite would change according with the place where it was practiced. In some places there are records of women taking place of the cult.

There is no original Mithraic text remaining, and most of what we know about come from a papyrus from the 4th century.

The Temple dates back the 2^nd century and is very simple: rectangular shape, with two corridors sided by columns, no more than 6x 18 meters, an altar in the back with a rounded apse behind it. The Mithras shows how the Roman buildings were built, with strong structure. It was probably demolished in one of the several London raids after the 5^th century, by the Normans, the Anglo Saxons, the Danes... Sometimes brick and stone were important material to build other houses or monuments.

And then after some London slow traffic (it takes ages to go from place to place) back home.

day 23

2009-09-09T19:58:00.000-03:00

Day 23

It was a sunny Sunday (!), and I decided go to the Museum of London. One thing leads to other: as I have found a very mysterious little building on the Grosvenor Park near to Victoria Station on Friday, and I had the impression – by the style of the construction and the ornaments that it could be an ancient Roman little chapel, or something like that, I started browsing in the internet for it. I could find no information about, but descovered that in fact there is remains of an old temple in London and some pieces of it in the Museum of London. Even better, the museum have a whole area dedicated to the remains of London before the Romans. So again I feel that there were something to me there.

ST.PAUL'S CATHEDRAL

St. Paul's Cathedral

As the museum is quite close to the Saint Paul Cathedral, I could take a long walk around the Thames and visit the Cathedral too. The Cathedral was rebuilt after the fire of 1666 by Christopher Wren and despite of the classical approach is the most important Baroque monument of London. English architecture never were very fond on Baroque style, for it was when the Church of England was trying to establish its own concepts based on reformist ideals. Excesses and exuberance definitely were not the way of that era. However the mixture of classical proportions, hugeness and baroque light and shadow is an interesting one, and somehow precursor of the Neoclassical movement.

THE MUSEUM OF LONDON

The Museum of London, just a few blocks from there is very modern, like the area surrounding it. It is being restored so only a section of the collection is on show at the moment, but the “London before the Romans” was there.

There is a good display of information and artifacts, and all sort of remains, since actual skulls and bones to stone flints and bronze hand axes.

objects found in thames banks shows that there were people living there long before the romans arrive

religious statuary in ancient london

ceremonial axes of polished flint

burial ceramic pots with decoration, part of neolithic burial ceremony

It is interesting to learn that despite of what is claimed, there were people living in the banks of Thames since a long time ago, and sure enough, they have met the Romans.

The Romans arrived in England in 43AD, and their first capital was Colchester, but soon they started to build a new city along the Thames. The name London (or Londinium) was a native one so it is quite right to assume that not only Britains been in peaceful contact with them, as the Romans influenced and were influenced by them. How it was this first meet in unknown, but sure enough at some point there were resistance. The first Roman settlement were completely destroyed in the year 60 AD by the Queen Boudica from the Iceni, a tribus at North East of London, with the Trinovantes of Essex. Together they burnt and destroyed three Roman settlements in retaliation for their abuses.

findings along the thames includes bronze axes, the shield and the helmet shown at british museum (replicas)

London were rebuilt and flourished as a trade city and Roman capital for other 400 years, when the Romans left England. I could not find much information about the little building at Grosvenor, but could actually find a Sarcophagus of a young lady which similar shell patterns in it, so maybe I am not totally wrong.

roman sarcophagus of young lady found in london, with patterns of shells and "X"

Norman carving quite similar to the one close to St. Non's

I could find a Norman pattern carved in a stone that resemble to one that I found close to Saint Non’s church, so I think they can be related.

The museum goes on along the history, from the black plague, the great fire of London, to the religious Reform and the civil war. I always have the feeling I have a lot to learn here.

the black plague of the 14th century decimated the population of europe and been specially lethal in england, where it killed approximately half of london's population

norman statuary

oliver cromwell's mortuary mask

the three days of fire

the old st. paul's cathedral in flames

the fire of 1666, three days that burned the city

after the fire were necessary the construction of pubs to house the people that had lost their houses. this was in the front of one of them

some tried to explain the reasons for the fire: the pope's vengeance against the church of england or god's wrath against the gluttony?

last days of summer