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Stonehenge dig starts today
12:20pm Monday 31st March 2008
Comments (15)WORK began today on a major research excavation to investigate the bluestones at Stonehenge.
English Heritage has agreed to the excavation following the granting of Scheduled Monument Consent by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
The last time an excavation was allowed inside the stone circle was in 1964.
The excavation at Stonehenge will last for two weeks until April 11.
During this time Stonehenge will be open as normal and visitors will be able to observe up close the excavation as it happens on plasma screens inside a special marquee.
The excavation, led by renowned Stonehenge academics Professor Tim Darvill of University of Bournemouth and Professor Geoffrey Wainwright, President of the Society of Antiquaries, aims to provide a more precise dating of the Double Bluestone Circle, the first stone structure that was built on the site.
A trench measuring around 3.5 metres by 2.5 metres will be dug in a previously excavated area on the south-eastern quadrant of the Double Stone Circle with the hope of retrieving fragments of the original bluestone pillars.
Samples obtained from this excavation will be tested using more advanced technology such as radiocarbon dating and will throw light on how long the Circle was in use for, when it was dismantled and reused in later stages of Stonehenge's construction.
Dr Simon Thurley, chief executive of English Heritage, said: "The bluestones hold the key to understanding the purpose and meaning of Stonehenge.
"Their arrival marked a turning point in the history of Stonehenge, changing the site from being a fairly standard formative henge with timber structures and occasional use for burial, to the complex stone structure whose remains dominate the site today.
"English Heritage has a duty to encourage the best research on historic properties under our care. This is a tremendously exciting piece of research that will help us find out considerably more about the important questions concerning the bluestones and I look forward to the results of their work."
BBC Timewatch in association with Smithsonian Networks will fund the excavation and post excavation analysis and will also film it for broadcast on BBC2 in the autumn.
Your Say YourWiltshire Times
Garry Denke, Plano, Texas, USA says...
4:21pm Mon 31 Mar 08
Not only are Moses and Aaron's corpses beneath Heelstone but the gold Mercy Seat, the gold Ark of the Testimony, the gold Table of Shewbread, the gold Candlestick, the gold Ephod, the gold Breastplate and the gold Altar of Incense also. According to DI's new 2004 ground-penetrating radargrams all seven (7) are packed inside of the brasen Altar of Burnt Offering 4 ft (1.2m) under Heelstone, with that southernmost gold Ark of the Covenant long axis being east-west. G-D old 1656 core samples indicate the gold Table of Shewbread as northernmost and gold Altar of Incense inside the brasen Altar of Burnt Offering in the center, 4 ft (1.2m) below the Heelstone's base, at Stonehenge.
Garry Denke
Garry Denke, Plano, Texas, USA says...
5:14pm Mon 31 Mar 08
A large 8'x8'x4' artifact below Heelstone at Stonehenge? Other than a core sample of it (1656), a magnetic survey of it (1984), an electromagnetic (EM) conductivity survey of it (1984), and a seismic refraction survey of it (1984); no other tangible proof of it being in Scroll Trench where it is circled by Heelstone Ditch exists, save and except for: an electrical resistivity survey of it (1994), a ground-penetrating radargram of it (2004), confirmation geophysical surveys of it (2004), and a confirmation core sample of it (2004). Should this 8'x8'x4' artifact below Heelstone be removed before being stolen? It is right next to a paved highway for God's sake!
Garry Denke
Dodgy Dave, Packs Croft Meadows says...
9:34pm Mon 31 Mar 08
Garry Denke, Plano, Texas, USA says...
11:03pm Mon 31 Mar 08
Dodgy Dave wrote:Will the March 31st - April 11th, 2008 excavation reveal why Stonehenge was made? The first Bluestone excavation won't, but the last Sarsen excavation will. G-D's Rock Collection was built to house G-D's Art Collection which is on display beneath the Heel Stone. Purpose being to fund The Pagan (A303 - 5.5 km), The Druid (A344 - 3.0 km), and The Wiccan (A360 - 1.5 km) three (3) tunnels, and Airman's Corner Stonehenge Vistors' Centre.
Just a load of old stones put there by people that Moses didn't believe in. If Moses did end up under there, he clearly upset someone. London gangs probably.
http://maps.google.c
om/maps?q=Airman's+C
orner,+Stonehenge
G-D
Grant, Marlborough says...
11:34pm Mon 31 Mar 08
Your still mad...
moonrakin_wurzel, Trowbridge says...
1:28am Tue 1 Apr 08
http://www.ufos-alie
ns.co.uk/cosmicstone
henge.htm
I bet they'll find a prehistoric pack of Woodbine cigarettes........
walter, wilshur says...
6:36am Tue 1 Apr 08
Alf, Warminster says...
10:49am Tue 1 Apr 08
Wiltshireflag Man, Trowbridge says...
12:16pm Tue 1 Apr 08
What I would like to hear is Garrys thoughts on crop circles, which is far more relevant for us Wiltshire folk.
Alf, Warminster says...
2:19pm Tue 1 Apr 08
Disgusted of, Westbury says...
10:16am Sat 5 Apr 08
Knock the whole bloody lot down and put up a statue of Russell Hawker in its place.
Garry Denke, Plano, Texas, USA says...
3:27pm Thu 10 Apr 08
http://www.bbc.co.uk
/history/programmes/
stonehenge/
Ordovician Bluestones from Preseli Hills and Carboniferous Whitestones from Wales Tors were brought 250 km to Stonehenge to teach Coal Exploration Mining. Bluestones and Whitestones were not placed in a random order; instead they mirror Preseli Hills and South Wales Coalfield geology. Eighty-two (82) rocks of Ordovician Bluestones were set at Stonehenge in two concentric rings the inner oval being spotted dolerite and the outer circle being rhyolite, tuff, and dolerite. Fifty-six (56) mounds of Carboniferous Whitestones were set at Stonehenge in a concentric ring inside Fifty-six (56) separate holes mounded with biomicrite nearest the Coal Exploratory Mine Ditch (best spot for exploration).
Mapping of Preseli Hills quarries and South Wales Coalfield mining sites by DENOCO INC the dolerites are from the Carn Menyn outcrops, the rhyolites and tuffs are from the surrounding Ordovician Volcanic dikes, and the biomicrites are from the outlier Carboniferous High Tor mounds alongside South Wales Coal Measures. Fly ash studies inside an 800,000-year-old Crosskeys (Pontycymer) cave show Coal energy as the Ancient campfire fuel preferred.
Stonehenge was (and still is) a Coal Exploration Mining School. "The Ancient Message" is clear as crystal Do not hunt for Coal fuel near Ordovician dolerite ridges; Do hunt for Coal fuel near Ordovician rhyolite and tuff walls; Hunt for Coal fuel near Carboniferous biomicrite Whitestone mounds.
http://www.coalpro.c
o.uk/images/coalmap.
gif
Heating Stones.
Garry Denke, Plano, Texas, USA says...
1:29am Sat 12 Apr 08
"The Ancient Message" is clear as crystal - Do not hunt for Coal fuel near Ordovician dolerite ridges; Do not hunt for Coal fuel near Ordovician rhyolite and tuff walls; Hunt for Coal fuel near Carboniferous biomicrite Whitestone mounds.
http://upload.wikime
dia.org/wikipedia/co
mmons/7/78/Geologica
l_map_of_Great_Brita
in.jpg
Thanks!
Garry Denke, Plano, Texas, USA says...
4:27pm Mon 14 Apr 08
Wiltshireflag Man wrote:Now that Timothy Darvill, Archaeologist and Geoffrey Wainwright, Archaeologist have confirmed Stonehenge broadly mirrors South Wales geology as proposed by Garry Denke, Geologist in the '70s, here are more geological, paleontological, and geophysical papers from their reading list.
Do not try Alf, Garry from Texas is an expert in Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism and unless you have studied as a Geologist or Geophysicist, you probably will not understand his theories, What I would like to hear is Garrys thoughts on crop circles, which is far more relevant for us Wiltshire folk.
1) Denke, G.W. 1973. Stonehenge Phase I: An Openpit Coalfield Model; The First Geologic Mining School. (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) GDG, 73: 1-56.
2) Denke, G.W. 1975. Invertibrate Paleontology of the High Tor Limestone (Lower Carboniferous) and the Upper Senonian Chalk (Late Cretaceous) of Stonehenge. (Arizona State University) GDG, 75: 1-7.
3) Denke, G.W. 1977. Possible Source Areas of the High Tor Limestone (Early Mississippian) Fill of the Aubrey Holes and Heel Stone Ditch in Europe. (Arizona State University) GDG, 77: 1-24.
4) Beus, S.S. 1984. Fossil Associations in the High Tor Limestone (Lower Carboniferous) of South Wales. (Northern Arizona University) Journal of Paleontology, 58: 3; 651-667.
5) Denke, G.W. 1984. Mid-Dinantian (Waulsortian Facies) High Tor Limestone: The First Stones Transported to Stonehenge from the South Wales Coast. (Arizona State University) GDG, 84: 1-4.
6) Denke, G. 1984. Magnetic and Electromagnetic Surveys at Heelstone, Stonehenge, United Kingdom. (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) GDG, 84: 5-42.
7) Lees, A. and Miller, J. 1985. Facies variatian in Waulsortian buildups, Part 2; Mid-Dinantian buildups from Europe and North America. (Revised) Geological Journal, 20: 159-180.
8) Geologist, Denke, G. 1986. The Paleontology of Stonehenge, England. (Arizona State University) GDG, 86: 1-3. (State of Texas, County of Stonewall, Book 393, Pages 848-853)
Archaeology is a fascinating subject. Enjoy.
http://www.archaeolo
gy.co.uk/index.php?o
ption=com_content&ta
sk=view&id=402&Itemi
d=26
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Grant, Marlborough says...
1:48pm Mon 31 Mar 08