Heritage Open Days 2009 - Get Your Neolithic On!
You want to make good use of the Heritage Open Days 2009 which run from September 10th until the 13th, but you're not quite that into the Roman Britain events? Luckily there's a large offering for prehistoric England too, all of which you can enjoy for free on these merry days. A selection of activities, guided tours and ancient sites to visit:
Sat 12/09 - Pagham Harbour Flint Knapping, West Sussex
An introduction to flint knapping
Location: Visitor Centre, Selsey Road, Sidlesham, Chichester, West Sussex, PO20 7NE
Flint knapping is the process of making stone tools (i.e. arrowheads, projectile points, hand axes, etc.). The ancient art of flint knapping has been around for about 4 millions years. Flint knapping has evolved as man has evolved. And it was not until recently that man quit knapping for survival purposes.
The ECHO project offers an introduction to flint knapping, for anyone with little or no experience of this traditional craft. They ask you to bring an old towel and a packed lunch and mention to not wear shorts, skirts or sandels. Only a limited amount of placed are available and pre-booking is required, for this please telephone 01243 641508.
Organized by the ECHO project.
Sat 12/09 & Sun 13/09 - Grimes Graves, Norfolk
Visit the Prehistoric 'Grimes Graves' Flint Mine
Location: Lynford, Thetford, Norfolk, IP265DE
Do not be fooled by the name. Grimes Graves is not a cemetery. It is actually a group of Neolithic flint mines in Norfolk, England. Experience an unforgettable visit to Britain's only accessible prehistoric flint mine, dug by Stone Age miners 5,000 years ago. Descend over 10 metres to the galleries where flint was mined for tools and weapons. Wonder at the courage and ingenuity of our distant ancestors and discover over over 400 shafts, pits, quarries and spoil dumps forming a lunar landscape amid the unique Breckland environment.
The mines were first named Grim's Graves - meaning the pagan god Grim's quarries, or 'the Devil's holes' - by the Anglo- Saxons. Excavations in 1870 found them to be flint mines dug over 5,000 years ago, during the later Neolithic and early Bronze Ages. What the prehistoric miners sought here was the fine quality jet-black flint 'floorstone', which occurs some nine metres below surface level. This was prized as an easily 'knapped' material for axes and other tools - and much later elsewhere for well-sparking musket flints. Digging with red-deer antler picks, they sank shafts from which radiated gallery-tunnels, following the seams of flint.
If you want to visit the excavated mine shaft, you must ensure you are wearing the appropriate shoes when you arrive: high heels are not allowed. Visitors will only be allowed to descend into the mine shaft if they are wearing flat shoes.
Organized by English Heritage.
Sat 12/09 & Sun 13/09 - Kits Coty, Kent
Visit the remains of a megalithic Dolmew burial chamber
Location: Blue Bell Hill, Maidstone, Kent, ME207EZ
All that remains of Kits Coty are three large standing stones and a capstone making up part of the chamber of a long barrow. The mound is roughly 70 metres long and is still about 1 metre high. The main axis is slightly south of east. There are many myths and legends associated with the site and some splendid views of the Medway Valley.
Kits Coty House, dated to between 4300 and 3000 BC, is one of the best known megaliths in Britain. It is accessed by a track at the junction of the Pilgrims Way and Rochester Road: park in layby off Rochester Road and just west of the Lower Bell Public House. Head uphill along Chatham Road. Halfway up you come to a footpath heading downhill to the left. Walk along this footpath for a few hundred yards until you come to a gap in the hedge where you can see Kits Coty.
Organized by the Tonbridge & Malling Borough Council
Sat 12/09 & Sun 13/09 - Barwick in Elmet Iron Age Fort, Leeds
Guided tour through the Barwick in Elmet Iron Age Fort
Location: Hall Tower Field, Barwick in Elmet, Leeds, West Yorkshire
Barwick in Elmet comprises the earthwork and buried remains of a large Iron Age univallate hillfort and a twelfth century motte and bailey castle. After the Roman period it may have been the chief stronghold of the Kingdom of Elmet. Various finds have been uncovered including coins dating to the second century BC and first century AD.
Guided tour of this largely unvisited hill fort with its Norman fortifications inside it. The fort is 'hidden' in the centre of the old village. Tours last about an hour and start every 30 minutes. Last tours begin at 1600 hrs. Meet at Hall Tower Field which is about 100 metres west of the Maypole. The full tour involves steep climbs and stiles. Special short tours available for people who cannot climb steps or stiles. Stout footwear is advised.
Organized by the Barwick-in-Elmet Historical Society
Sat 12/09 & Sun 13/09 - The Lexden Tumulus, Essex
The Lexden Tumulus, an Iron Age Barrow
Location: 30 Fitzwalter Road, Colchester, Essex, CO3 3SY
The Lexden Tumulus Burial Mound is late iron age, being dated to around 10 BC. It associated with Addedomaros, a king of the Trinovantes tribe. The grave goods give an insight into the extent of Romanisation of the local aristocracy more than 50 years before the Claudian invasion. There were 17 wine jars, chain mail and a coin of Augustus struck in 17 BC which had been mounted as a portrait medallion. Other items included a statuette of Cupid and figurines of bull, boar and griffin.
Organized by the Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service
Sun 13/09 - Archaeology Walk over Holmbury Hill, Surrey
Discover the Holmbury Hill Fort and the lesser-known Iron Age enclosure at Felday.
Location: Hurtwood Control Car Park No. 1, Radnor Road, Peaslake, Dorking, Surrey
Very little is known about the way of life of the people in this part of Surrey before the Romans arrived. They used iron, grew corn, had coinage, made pots and in north-west Surrey at least, lived in round houses. One recent suggestion sees a population which farms further north taking their grazing animals - pigs, perhaps cattle and sheep - into summer pastures in the then heathy Hurtwood and wooded Weald. The fort could have been used by those looking after the beasts, as well as a refuge if required. Another view sees the prominent hill-top as having a religous purpose of some kind.On the summit of the hill a double rampart encloses an uneven area. The banks and ditches are well defined where the approaches are gradual. Amongst the items discovered at the hill fort are baked clay sling-bullets used for hunting. The sling-stones would also hit attackers who had reached the bank between the two ditches, the so-called 'killing field'.
Walk with Judie English of Surrey Archaeological Society looking at the Holmbury Hill Fort, the lesser-known Iron Age enclosure at Felday and evidence of 20th century military use. The guided tour starts at 14h30 at the Hurtwood Control Car Park and lasts 2,5 hours.
Organized by the Mole Valley District Council
Sun 13/09 - The Whitehawk Enclosure, East Sussex
Explore one of Britain's earliest Stone Age monuments
Location: East Brighton, Brighton & Hove, East Sussex
Situated in a commanding position above East Brighton, lies one of Britain's earliest Stone Age monuments. The hill top here was chosen some 5,000 years ago as the site for a ceremonial enclosure, an area for undertaking feasting, burials and activities of a ritual nature. Up to five of circular ditches have been traced on the hill and these have been shown to have regular interruptions in their courses. Similar arrangements are known from other sites within Britain, all dating to the late Stone Age.
This curious and obviously non-defensive arrangement gives these sites their name: causewayed enclosures. Dating to 3,500 B.C, they represent the earliest ritual circles in northern Europe and predate later Neolithic enclosures like Stonehenge and Avebury by up to 1,000 years. They also represent the first visible enclosing of large communal spaces in the archaeological record of the region and therefore mark the step-change in the development of Stone Age monumentality and architecture.
A 1-hour guided tour of this unique part of Brighton & Hove's heritage will be given by Dr Matt Pope of the UCL. The tour will provide an introduction to the layout and significance of the Whitehawk enclosure. Please wear stout shoes, some uneven terrain. Over 16 onlys. Tours start at 9pm & 11pm, but due to a limited capacity, pre-booking is required. Be quick, as the Hollingbury Hillfort tour with Dr Matthew Pope is already fully booked!
Organized by Dr Matthew Pope and The Regency Town House.
Heritage Open Days 2009 has more prehistoric events scheduled for this weekend: look them up using their calendar or start at the beginning. If you prefer events focussing on Roman Britain, we've shortlisted the most promising ones.
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