Dr Stan Beckensall first became interested in rock art in the mid-1960s, when he visited the large rock art block at Old Bewick in North Northumberland. What he saw so excited him that he has devoted his leisure time to studying similar art in the British Isles. His main career has been as a teacher, headteacher, and trainer of teachers.
His academic career began when he moved from a Stoke-on-Trent high school to Keele University, from which he was one of the first graduates with a BA (Hons) in English and History and a Diploma in Education in 1954. He was later honoured as one of their most notable ex-students (along with Kofi Annan's son and the Bishop of Lichfield), for his work in rock art.
Submitted by Brian Dolan on Thu, 11/19/2009 - 17:16
Thirty years in the making, the €130 million euro New Acropolis Museum is a stunning, if controversial, addition to Athen's famous architectural landscape and at the same time a provocative statement of intent by the Greek people. In a fascinating talk in Dublin last night, Professor Dimitrios Pandermalis, President of the new museum took an enthralled audience on a tour of the history, architecture and intentions of the spectacular building.
Submitted by Sean Williams on Thu, 09/24/2009 - 11:16
Forget Stonehenge - the Autumn/Winter megalithic collection is in, and it's green. Loughcrew, in County Meath, Ireland, is one of the country's most important heritage sites, and twice yearly crowds flock from far afield to see its most famous feature, when the equinox sun shines directly on the Cairn T chamber's beautiful backstone.
While there weren't 36,500 people in attendance, or the grandiose policing policies that go with Stonehenge on the solstices, visitors to the megalithic complex on Sunday morning were treated to an intimate and touching experience.
As these photos and video from Newgrange.com show, those who donned their fleeces at dawn were treated to a wonderful sunrise.
Loughcrew is an important megalithic complex near Oldcastle, in the central Irish county of Meath. It comprises a number of burial grounds and tombs dating back to around 3,300 BC. Known in Irish as Sliabh na Cailli ('Mountain of the Hag'), the area includes Loughcrew Passage Tomb, which is one of the four main passage tomb sites in the country. The area is divided up into three parts: Carnbane East, Carnbane West, and a less well-preserved part at Patrickstown.
Loughcrew, which is sometimes written as Lough Crew, is possibly best known for its rock-cut petroglyphs, which include some intriguing designs, such as leafs, circles and lines. Cairn T in Carnbane East is positioned so that the sun shines directly onto its chamber's backstones at the spring and autumn equinoxes. This is similar to the better known lighting at Newgrange, Ireland's most famous passage tomb.
Two bog workers in the Irish county of Kildare – John Fitzharris and Martin Lane – made a remarkable discovery when harrowing one day last May. They spotted a strange white streak in the dark brown peat. “We got down to have a look,” said Fitzharris, speaking to the Leinster Leader. “We knelt down and felt something hard and started to dig it out with our bare hands. We could smell it. And it was attracting crows.”
It turned out to be an oak barrel, cut from a tree trunk, full of 3,000 year old butter. “We couldn’t believe it,” added Lane.
Author and photographer Rupert Soskin is no stranger to stone circles. He visited and recorded more than 100 of them for his latest book, Standing With Stones. In this article, written specially for Heritage-Key.com, he argues that there is a whole megalithic world out there just waiting to be experienced.
Ask anyone to name a megalithic site and it's fairly certain that the first name to anyone's lips will be Stonehenge. Any visitor to this jewel of the Salisbury Plain will most likely have shared their time with vast numbers of tourists. Coaches, buses and hundreds of cars filled with curious people flock to the site, making it almost impossible to experience its grandeur with uncluttered views. This is all the more extraordinary when one considers that Britain is home to many thousands of megalithic sites, most of which remain deserted.
Author and photographer Rupert Soskin is no stranger to stone circles. He visited and recorded more than 100 of them for his latest book, 
