Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 1d

Keep on knapping in the free world...

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 3d

Just a reminder to fellow archaeologists that if you're publishing a paper that draws on someone else's work, even if only a teensy bit, please acknowledge and cite. And for those who think they've heard me say this before, yes - it's West Kennet again.

1

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 6d

Yes. 1932 is anonymous but I can confirm from other sources that OGSC was responsible. Philips is named in the intro in 1951, which is a little unusual. KP Oakley, G Clarke, RJC Atkinson, IA Richmond and RLS Bruce Mitford were also thanked for 'valuable assistance and advice '.

2

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 6d

Here are the timelines from 1951. They didn't feature in earlier editions.

The first two timelines from the 1951 edition. The first, on the left, covers the period from 550,000 BC - the start of the Palaeolithic - to, for some reason, AD 50,000. The second, on the right, takes a closer look at the period from 10,000 BC - the start of the Mesolithic - to AD 2,000.

The third timeline from the 1951 edition, taking a closer look at the period from 2,500 BC - the start of the Neolithic - to AD 2,000. On the right are key events and developments in Britain, such as Urn People, La Tene Invasions, and the defeat of the Armada. On the right are mostly European events, such as the fall of the Minoan empire, Attila the Hun, and the discovery of America.

3

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 6d

There's a steady increase in size - 1921 was basically a pamphlet and map; 1932, written by Crawford, was 36 pages; 1951, written by Charles Phillips, was 68 pages. The 1932 ed. says the guide was designed "to assist in recognising antiquities at sight" during fieldwork, so not exactly "beginners".

1 3

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 7d

Sale, not scale.

1

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 7d

Here's the 1932 and 1952 editions. I've only seen the 1921 original in the British Library - it was issued to the OS archaeology division's honorary correspondents rather than being on general scale, and came with a sample map sheet focused on Marlborough.

Front cover of the booklet entitled "Field Archaeology: some notes for beginners issued by the Ordnance Survey". It was published in the Ordnance Survey Professional Papers series as number 13. The cover is what, I believe, was referred to as buff (referring here to the colour, of course), and contains the tille and publishers details, plus crest.

Front cover of the 1952 edition of the Ordnance Survey's "Field Archaeology: Some notes for beginners issued by the Ordnance Survey". It is similar to the 1932 edition, but the crest is smaller, and much of the publishers info is now inside. The colour is also slightl different - a more earthy tone.

2 5

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 11d

I found him less convincing.

1

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 11d

People my age learned road safety from a talking squirrel (and his mother).

1 1

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 14d

Amesbury to Shrewton road, later the A344. Stonehenge is off camera to the right. As well as being a prize winning photograper, Clarissa was an expert dowser, and undertook experiments published by the Society for Psychical Research into thought communication over distance (ie telepathy). (2/2)

2 5

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 14d

For #StandingStoneSunday, I was going to post one of Clarissa Miles' photos from Stonehenge in 1901. She was the photographer during architect Detmar Blow's operation to straighten Stone 56, and William Gowland's excavations, but instead, here's a passing shepherd and his sheep on the (1/2)

A black and whte photograph showing a shepherd and his dog, in mid-1901, standing in the middle of a trackway that crosses the photo from centre left to bottom right. Scattered around on the grass either side of the track are numerous grazing sheep. THe landscape beyond is open pasture with a couple of plantations of trees on the slightly higher ground in the distance. Clarissa Miles' photos of Detmar Blow and WIlliam Gowland's work at Stonehenge in 1901 were included in both of their reports. Those photos have been republished many times since, often without crediting the photographer. Sets of her photos exist in various archives, including WIltshire Museum, Devizes, and the National Record Office at Kew. In the latter, each print is attached to a copyright declaration form submitted in Clarissa Miles' name.

3 8 20

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 21d

The Heel Stone at Stonehenge, late August or early September 1881 (plus milestone - London 80, Amesbury2). Photo by JJ Cole, architect to then-owner Sir Edmund Antrobus (3rd baronet) and first published in Cole's "The People's Stonehenge" (privately publ. 1895). #StandingStoneSunday

A black and white photo of the Heel Stone at Stonehenge. The view is from a short distance to the southeast. The stone is leaning slightly to the left (i.e. towards the centre of the photograph). The landscape beyond is largely open grassland. Just behind the stone is the track from Amesbury to Shrewton that later became the A344. Just left of centre is the much smaller milestone. John Jenkins Cole, who took the photograph, was an architect who undertook work for the then owner of Stonehenge, Sir Edmund Antrobus (3rd baronet - there were four successive owners, all called Sir Edmund Antrobus). In the summer of 1881, Cole was asked by Antrobus to examine the condition of the monument in the wake of concerns about the stability of some of the stones. During the course of this survey he took several photographs, including this one. He published several in 1895 in his own booklet 'The People's Stonehenge'. Several have been used on numerous occasions subsequently, often without credit.

1 15

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 21d

If true, it has more of a Thurley-era feel to it.

2

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 21d

I'm struggling a bit with the idea of EH being active in Wales.

1 5

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · 23d

There's some coverage of this in the Office of Works' archives as well (quote from historicengland.org.uk/research/res...)

Extract from the report 'Restoring Stonehenge' (link in next post) about this matter.

There was indeed some communication between the Office of Works and the British Museum over this matter in 1913. Lionel Earle, then Permanent Secretary to the Office of Works, wrote to Frederic Kenyon of the British Museum asking for details of Antrobus’ offer, noting in passing that Antrobus clearly has “a strong antipathy to the Office of Works – whether general or to someone in particular we none of us know” (Earle to Kenyon, 20th June 1913:TNA WORK 14/213). Kenyon replied the following day:
“The Trustees have never had a definite offer before them with regard to Stonehenge, but they have been asked whether, if an offer was made to them, they would, or could, entertain it. The enquiry came to us through Sir H. Read, who has been acting as intermediary between Sir E. Antrobus and the proposed purchasers, with whom the Trustees have had no direct communication. The Trustees’ answer, after consultation, was that their legal powers would not entitle them to hold such a property as Stonehenge; and there the matter ended as far as they were concerned. It would of course be possible for outside parties to hope that parliament should confer on the Trustees additional powers for this purpose; and if there were no other way of acquiring Stonehenge for the
nation, I think the Trustees would assent… I think it was their view (and it certainly is mine) that the… solution would be for Stonehenge to be placed under the administration of your office; and the Trustees would only accept it if they were generally agreed that that was the only way of securing a result which they, like everybody else, regard as desirable, namely the acquisition of Stonehenge for the nation.
“It would be a great pity if this result is not attained somehow; but, as you know, Sir E. Antrobus is a very touchy person and a difficult customer to handle” (Kenyon to Earle, 21st June 1913: TNA WORK 14/213)

1 2

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · Sep 12

When I first saw this, I assumed this was a [insert collective noun - a Down?] of Sussex people - agree about the Curwens. I don't see Piggott, Crawford or Keiller (and don't really see what the last two at least would be doing there).

1 2

Reposted by Martyn Barber

Benjamin Thomas White @btwhite.bsky.social · Sep 11

I've written a piece about the bomber's view of the past: how aerial archaeologists of the Middle East have looked at the region's past through the eyes (and lenses) of people who bomb it in the present. In fact they're sometimes the same people.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk/empire-decol...

The Bomber's View of the Past

Discover the influence of Antoine Poidebard on aerial archaeology and his complex role in French colonial history.

www.historyworkshop.org.uk

1 25 40

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · Sep 6

That would be some spectacle.

3

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · Sep 6

Either spectacles means something of an older style, or glasses means something that holds sherry.

1 2

Reposted by Martyn Barber

Laura McAtackney @lauramca.bsky.social · Sep 2

Given the EAA has gone back on excluding Israeli institutions from the conference - and is also trying to prevent @archagainstaparth.bsky.social from protesting in their sessions - it’s time to walk away until they can find their moral compass. blacktrowelcollective.wordpress.com/2025/09/02/b...

BTC Call for Action – EAA

URGENT ARCHAEOLOGISTS: YOUR EAA PARTICIPATION Last week the executive board of the European Association of Archaeologists took the decision, in light of the ongoing genocide of the population of Ga…

blacktrowelcollective.wordpress.com

3 25 67

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · Sep 1

I wish I'd never seen Halloween 3 - you've just kicked off my annual battle to keep that song out of my head.

1 1

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · Sep 1

I can't get past the idea of a paper on Corded Ware and Bell Beaker chronology being described as "kick-ass".

1

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · Aug 28

Denisovan?

2 8

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · Aug 27

Like a loud and annoying commercial break interrupting a really good film.

1 4

Martyn Barber @martynjb.bsky.social · Aug 24

Another scan of an old photo - Carnac, September 1989. It was pretty dry that summer, wasn't it? The person in the centre, Jo, was a little shorter than me, if that helps with scale. #StandingStoneSunday

A colour photo looking across the rows of standing stones at Carnac. The ground is mostly shades of light brown, either grass or areas where the grass has been worn away by tourists' feet. The stones themselves are mostly a kind of grey-brown in this light. In the distance can be seen trees on slightly higer ground. In the centre of the photo, among the stones, is a single individual dressed mostly in black, acting as a highly unsuitable scale. A drawing-pin hole can be seen in each corner of the photo as a result of it being pinned to a noticeboard sometime in the past.

4