Traditionally in the Christian church, tomorrow sees the beginning of the ‘12 Days of Christmas‘, a period of ‘giving’ as celebrated in the eponymous song. Bang up to date, Apple have recently released an iOS ‘app’, presenting a free gift to users for each of the twelve days: music, apps, e-books etc. We wait to see if there are any gems there, but somewhat doubt that any heritage related items will be presented.

However that may be, in this spirit of giving (and as an apology for not having seen our Advent Calendar idea through to completion) we have decided to share with our readers an image a day, over and above our usual daily posts. Each image has been taken from www.geograph.org.uk, a project which was set up to photograph every kilometre square on the UK’s National Grid. All pictures have been freely given to the project, and are available for re-use under a Creative Commons Share-Alike license. The pictures we’ve selected have been chosen to show the variety and scope of our ancient heritage, covering sites from Cornwall in the south, through to Scotland in the far north.

So starting from tonmorrow morning, check out the Heritage Journal to see which photos and sites we’ve selected. We hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed selecting them!

In the meantime, we’ve knocked together a short quiz to occupy you whilst waiting for a large gentleman in a conspicuous red suit to break into your house via the chimney tonight, and whilst overindulging in all that tomorrow has to bring. Answers will be published in a couple of days’ time. How many can you get right? (To keep the kiddies off your back whilst you’re thinking, here’s something to print out for them to colour in!)

christmas-tree-clip-art

PEOPLE

  1. In March, one of the Time Team regulars was named ‘Archaeologist of the Year’. But which team member gained the honour?
  2. Who first proposed the ‘Three Ages’ (Stone, Bronze, Iron) dating scheme as used in modern archaeology?
  3. Which of the following have not appeared in our ‘Antiquarians’ series: a) W. Stukeley, b) W. Camden,  c) J. Leland, d) W. C. Borlase, e) J. Aubrey, f) R. Colt-Hoare.
  4. Richard Carew was famous for his ‘Survey of Cornwall’. In which year and where was he born?
  5. Professor Mick Aston sadly passed away earlier this year, but (without looking it up!) in which month did he leave us?
  6. What do Roger Penny, Tom Robinson and William The Conqueror have in common?

PLACES

  1. Wayland’s Smithy, Hetty Pegler’s Tump and Belas Knapp are all types of which class of barrow?
  2. Which ancient monument is said to be the birthplace of Queen Guinevere?
  3. Which ancient site is known as “The Druid’s Wheel” ?
  4. From a stone at which ancient monument is Arthur said to have drawn Excalibur?
  5. A Bronze Age “crystal” pavement was uncovered for the first time in almost 80 years in September this year. Where?
  6. Name at least 4 of the iron age hill forts / enclosures visible from the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

EVENTS

  1. In which year was the Piltdown Man hoax perpetrated?
  2. What was built sometime in the winter/spring of 3807/3806 BC?
  3. What was found this year at the Ness of Brodgar earning it’s discoverer a bottle of Whisky?
  4. The worlds oldest Bog Body was discovered in 2011, it was revealed this year that he suffered a typically violent bog body death. Where was he found?
  5. What was the name of the expedition and cave where an excavation revealed over 1000 hominid fossils in South Africa in October and November of this year?

No prizes, it’s all just a  bit of fun!