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The Modern Antiquarian Forum » Ecclesall Woods » Ecclesall woods, new RA find. ? |
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megadread 1202 posts |
Jul 04, 2010, 15:26
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Does anyone have it's location yet. ? I'm bloody itching to take a look at it. : /
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megadread 1202 posts |
Edited Jul 05, 2010, 15:24
Jul 05, 2010, 14:22
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Just had a 40 minute chat with the discoverer John Gilpin, what a nice chap. He's given me the location but asked me not to visit the site yet for reasons i can't go into. What i can say is the rock sounds very interesting, the designs seem to be very different to the known one discovered in 1983, the Star newspapers description of the RA seems a bit crap by all accounts, it is partly buried though so not all the RA is yet visible. Surprisingly, well for myself anyway, this new find isn't anywhere near the other example, not even in the same piece of woodland. Obviously i don't have any pics but John has some good ones and he's promised to e-mail me them, as soon as i get them i'll stick em up.
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megadread 1202 posts |
Jul 05, 2010, 17:23
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Forgot to mention, there's also a third portable stone that's been removed from the woods for safe keeping. I have no description of it as yet but do know where it's being stored, i'll go take a look when i have time, hopefully tomorrow.
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Chris Collyer 849 posts |
Jul 06, 2010, 13:07
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megadread wrote: ...asked me not to visit the site yet for reasons i can't go into... a third portable stone that's been removed from the woods for safe keeping... I have no description of it as yet but do know where it's being stored... It all sounds very cloak and dagger Geoff ;-) If they've asked you to keep the info under your hat for now then fair enough, but I wonder if that portable stone is the one that came to light a few years back and then seemed to disappear off the radar. If they are protecting stones from damage/theft or part of an ongoing archaeological investigation I can understand them not revealing locations but it would be good if they could actually bring out reports of findings for the public at the end of it! It sometimes seems to me that the archaeological world can be very proprietorial and possessive about its research, either not releasing information to the public, only making it available to other professionals or sometimes being deliberately vague about locations as if we can't be trusted not to damage a site, I reckon archaeos are often thinking more of their reputations and career paths than of benefiting the wider community. I'm not suggesting that's what going on here Geoff and there's probably info that you've been asked not to reveal but it's frustrating when they dangle these shiny carrots in front of us - 'we've found something really great but we're not going to let anybody look at it' sort of thing. If your contact is ok with you posting pictures of the stones then that would be great and hats off to you fella for taking the time and effort to find out about them - keep up the good work :-) -Chris (appologies for the rant, it's not aimed at anybody just a general frustration at the archaeological world in general)
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Littlestone 5386 posts |
Edited Jul 06, 2010, 18:56
Jul 06, 2010, 15:05
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(appologies for the rant, it's not aimed at anybody just a general frustration at the archaeological world in general) 100% with you on that Chris. Recent shenanigans at Bluehenge, Silbury and now possibly Marden, where everything is/was hush hush until the local 'expert' gets his or her book on the shelves illustrates the point. Let's hope these people (the experts) are not writing in taxpayer's time, and at the taxpayer's expense, only to profit from those writings (or broadcasts) when they finally get round to sharing their findings with the public.
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Chris Collyer 849 posts |
Jul 06, 2010, 16:19
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I don't have an issue if the archaeologist wants to profit from books and brings them out resonably quickly, if I was in their situation I might want to do the same. It would be nice if they would release enough information so we could come to our own conclusions while we wait though. What worries me is when people sit on information for years or just never publish it and it ends up in a filing cabinet somewhere only accessible to professionals and academics. It seems even the pro's get anoyed as well, in their case it's the data held by the commercial sector, have a look at this - http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100407/full/464826a.html The amount of information that we (ie the public) have direct access to must be tiny compared to the accumulated knowledge that's held in notes, papers and reports stuffed in drawers that may never see the light of day. In the case of these stones that Geoff's chasing up it seems there's stuff going on that he's been asked not to repeat, which like I said is fair enough, and at least he's making some headway but my point is that he shouldn't have to be chasing people for information. If the archaeologists have made a discovery at least give us more than a vague press release (we'll buy the book when it come out anyway!) -Chris
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megadread 1202 posts |
Jul 06, 2010, 16:22
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Totally understand the frustration, i was hoping to go and see the RA immediately, thing is if i don't comply with the wishes of certain people doors will close that must remain open. There is a schedule to release more info but it's a game of waiting for EH to record the piece first, as i've said it's partly buried and the consequences of someone going along and digging the bugger up could be disastrous, what if there's further archaeology in the covering soil. ? Last thing i wanna do is wait to an age to see a discovery like this but what can i do, it is hinted there are other unknown pieces that could come to light. Only this afternoon i've been to see the stone that was moved from the woods to a council compound, sadly (?) there's nothing on it that i can see, bloody good job too as it's been damaged severly in the move, though i'm certain if it did contain RA it would have been handled more carefully. http://i49.tinypic.com/f4r042.jpg http://i47.tinypic.com/k9uxvn.jpg (Tape is at 12 inches) Of course now i know the location i could go stomping in there, i am tempted but there are very good reasons not to, believe me. Sorry.
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Chris Collyer 849 posts |
Jul 06, 2010, 18:08
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megadread wrote: thing is if i don't comply with the wishes of certain people doors will close that must remain open. Fair do's Geoff megadread wrote: There is a schedule to release more info but it's a game of waiting for EH to record the piece first At least that's good news even though we've got to wait for it, my worry was that we'd never hear anything about the stone again, hence my previous ranting. megadread wrote: it is hinted there are other unknown pieces that could come to light ha! now I'm dribbling, must be those carrots they keep dangling again :-) That stone in the pictures is a bit of a strange one isn't it, I wonder why they thought they had to move it as it doesn't exactly look that portable to me. I don't know what kind of rock it is (ganister?) but apart from around the top it looks very fresh - like it has been quarried fairly recently. Maybe only the top part was exposed when they decided to move it then they found it went deeper than they thought. As for any carvings, is it a trick of the light or are there faint cup marks on the top surface (or is it just my 'eye of hope' seeing things that aren't there?) megadread wrote: Sorry. Hey you're a star fella, thanks for all the work you've put in. Guess we've just got to wait and see what EH do next. -Chris
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megadread 1202 posts |
Jul 06, 2010, 18:41
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well i searched the compound thoroughly and that was the only rock i could find, i was told it was outside so unless it's been moved into a container which the site manager said it deffo hadn't then thats the one, just hope there's nothing on the bottom. As for cups, faint or otherwise, deffo not mate, though i see what you mean. (posted from phone in asda : ) )
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Rockrich 448 posts |
Jul 06, 2010, 21:16
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Does sound intriguing. EH wouldn’t normally record a single panel themselves, unless it was an elaborate stone in danger or something significant about its context. ......... "it is hinted there are other unknown pieces that could come to light" .......‘tis in or near a cairn(s) init :)
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