Prehistoric Geography

 

One for the diary as this is some time off. Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Land use in the Solent Drainage System. An illustrated lecture by David Field, to be held at the Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes from 2:30pm on Saturday, 20 November 2010.

“The River Avon and its tributaries drain a substantial portion of central southern England and has widely influenced activities within and beyond its catchment area. Using evidence provided by artefact distribution coupled with the location of archaeological monuments across the landscape, David Field will place the archaeological evidence from Wiltshire into a broader context and introduce new perspectives of the well-known Neolithic and Bronze Age material.”

More here – http://www.wiltshireheritage.org.uk/events/index.php?Action=2&thID=529&prev=1

Druidic ‘stone circles’ – Pontypridd Rocking Stone

As the sun, so shy, speeds on to hide behind the western hills
I stand within this
Ancient circle with its rugged stones
Pointing to the sky
Like the digits on the clock of time –
The time that has refused to move,
As if the keeper of this heather hearth has gone to bed
Remembering not to lift
The fallen weights of Time and Space.

The first verse of one of Iolo Morgannwg’s poem, some would call him a fantasist who created an idea or vision of a Celtic Druidic order in the 18^th century.  

His first meeting of the bards was on Primrose Hill in London, where he had erected twelve stones called the Great Circle and a central altar stone known as the Maen Llog, this was in 1792. It is said of Iolo that he constructed an “elaborate mystical philosophy which he claimed represented a direct continuation of ancient Druidic practice.  His use of laudanum may have contributed to this fabrication, though many of his writings  fall between a small truth and a large imaginative myth that he wrote!

In 1795, a gorsedd meeting took place at the Pontypridd Rocking Stone, near Eglwysilam in Glamorgan.  This was a huge slab of natural slate stone (the Maen Chwyf), and this stone became a meeting place, though the circles were yet to be put up.

The word gorsedd, which in Welsh means throne, but is also loosely used as a coming together of bards.  Julian Cope in his book The Modern Antiquarian says of this rocking stone ‘that it stands high on the ground overlooking the confluence of the two great sacred rivers Rhodda and Taff,’ and that this gorsedd stone must have had great significance in prehistoric times. The stone is surrounded by two circles   plus an avenue but the circles are   not prehistoric, and it now sits in a pleasant landscape next to a small cottage hospital.  Photographs can be seen here on the TMA site…

Article by Moss