Is Stonehenge, the only English Stone Age monument?
A trip to the Salisbury area will take you to a centre of prehistoric England. Everybody has heard of Stonehenge but Avebury Ring is also an amazing prehistoric stone circle and well worth a visit. It is the Britain’s biggest stone circle originally made of 100 stones that wraps around two smaller stone circles. English Heritage have called it “One of the greatest marvels of of prehistoric Britain”. Nearby is the impressive West Kennet Long Barrow, the largest and most accessible Neolithic chambered tomb in Britain.Built in 3650 BC, it was used for over 1000 years!
Posts on Pre-Historic
Bones, stones , pots and relics, one of the best museums to get close to your ancestors at Corinium museum in the Cotswolds. It is , by far, one of the best museums to get see prehistoric, Roman and Saxon remains. There are so many things to see and so many information boards that it is impossible not to learn a huge amount about our ancestors. It gives visitors an opportunity to handle replicas such as in the two photos above. You will be able to get a close look at archaeological discoveries that are regularly discovered with great excitement on tv programmes but then are taken off to be studied in private at universities. The Neolithic and Beaker people pottery are good examples of this, whilst at this museum, you can see all the decoration on their pots and begin to see how different decorations show different periods of prehistory. You can see various graves that have been reconstructed and appreciate the work of archaeologists carefully uncovering such finds to get the full picture and maximum information from their dig.
Where did our ancestors live when they came down from trees? Where did Cave men live if there weren’t any caves about? They had to build them. At Butser Ancient Farm, you will see an amazing collection of reconstructed houses from the Neolithic period, five thousand years ago to the Saxons in the early medieval period. You can look closely at the building techniques, styles and materials from the different time periods. It is one thing to see artist versions in books but it is a very different thing to see a reconstructed building based on actual examples and then walk inside it. At Butser you can also see how the interiors were furnished and decorated. There is even an amazing reconstructed Roman villa for you to wander through. Butser Ancient Farm is full of exceptionally friendly and helpful staff who love the place, are very knowledgeable and are very keen to tell you all about it. You will come away with an improved knowledge of living spaces over thousands of years, an enhanced love of history and some excellent stories.
Din LLigwy hut group is an amazing 3rd -4th century settlement that few people have heard of or visited! The foundations of two round huts and several rectangular buildings surrounded by a five feet high stone wall. The whole thing covers an area of approximately half an acre and is situated on a low hill that once had good views over Anglesey but now is partly secluded by a small wood. This is an incredible site when considering all of the buildings on view. All of it can be explored in a very peaceful part of the countryside. In our opinion, if this was in mainland Wales or in a populated area elsewhere in Britain, this large archaeological site would be a very popular tourist destination with an exhibition centre and and an entrance fee.
Visiting Bryn Celli Ddu takes you back to the Neolithic period, 5000 years ago when farming had come to Britain . Cadw who look after this monument describe it as the best known prehistoric monument on Anglesey and one of the most evocative archaeological sites in Britain.You have a wonderful opportunity to go inside a Neolithic tomb burial chamber. Inside the mound is a narrow passage which ends in a small chamber where human bones, arrowheads and carved stones were found. If you visit Bryn Celli Ddu before sunrise on the longest day of the year, aka the summer solstice, you will see that the rising sun’s rays shine directly down the passage way to illuminate the chamber where the human remains were once placed. This is the only example of this alignment in Anglesey.
This is the largest Norman Keep in Europe built on top of the remains of the great temple of Claudius the conquering Roman Empire. Objects from over 2000 years including the Iron Age, Boudicca’s uprising, the finest display of Roman glassware rivalling that of the British Museum, are here along a gruesome dungeon section focusing on the BloodY Mary burning people at the stake, Matthew Hopkin’s witchfinding, There are countless invitations to touch objects and children’s activities include a roman chariot race simulation, 4 dressing up stations, use of tablets to compete an electronic quiz and creation of a mosaic.
Visiting London? The Museum of London, is one of the best museums in the UK and is free. You can see amazing objects from thousands of years of life in London, from a Mammoth tusk to a pilgrims badge representing a visit to St Thomas Becket’s tomb. You can get up close to those objects and see their little details. The displays are bright and informative. There are rooms set out as though they were from a Roman villa placing Roman finds in context. Several models are on display such as London’s Roman forum and Basilica as well as the original gothic St Paul’s Cathedral