Archaeology .....or 'old stuff' !

[peanut]

hows that for a topic that is in no way related to motorcycles lol

What Archaeological remains are there near you that can you photo your bike against and tell us a bit about ?

I was watching a vlog of a XS650 online buddy the other day which was essentially a video tour of a Roman Villa site that he had passed on one of his rides. I found it very interesting as I have been researching the Roman Remains around my locale for the past 50 years .

Within 3 miles of my home there are 5x known Roman Villa complexes , a Roman Equine Fort and quarry, The longest Roman road in Britain the Fosse Way several Roman bridges and mills and lots more to be discovered. Ten miles away at Ilchester there was a huge Roman Town and in the Other direction Dorchester another substantial Roman Town and fortification.

Some of these sites have been excavated on TV by the Time Team. One of the largest villas at Dinnington was excavated twice by Time Team such was its size and importance. (The Big Dig)

Naturally i went along to all of them and trampled all over everything taking pictures. I Got a right royal bollocking off one of the diggers about damaging the mosaic floor I was standing on at the time . I looked at his steel toe' ed hod-nailed boots and then at my soft Reeboc trainers and responded to him with the immortal words

' You cannot be fookin serious ? !' ........................

 

[member28833]

Peanut I am so jealous of your history adventures . Here on the WestCoast USA history is so young.
Fort Vancouver grounds , where all the fur trapping and trading was so early by the French and then the Brits here (Hudson’s Bay) for Beaver pelts for the top hat craze, is walking distance from my Columbia River area condo.
I am learning much here and search all over . From Pearson airfield to the early WWII ship yards here .
I’ll follow and post more .. @ work
-RT

 

[member28833]

“Pre history” or before recorded history here is even more intriguing here to me. The Native American population along the Columbia River was large for many thousands of years.
Petroglyphs and Pictographs are both in the Pacific Northwest . Though hard to find.
I’ve spent countless hours in the high desert to the east of the mountains investigating where natives traveled and hunted. Wish I could post my arrowhead collection pics ..

 

[peanut]

How far back do the native American Indian tribes go I wonder.
All of that History will have been passed down generation to generation in songs, dances and stories and very little written down unfortunately.

I whould think that native Indians predate Roman times ? lots of exciting things to search for out in the deserts , fossils, meteorites Petroglyphs Dinosaurs fantastic !

 

[member28833]

“Paleo” people were as the ice age ended.
They came down the coast from Alaska which was actually warmer then .
Archeologist date people here at least 14,000 years ago by dating woven sandals found in caves, tools, fire pit remains, and even poop
North America “pre history” is fascinating to think about knowing how advanced Europe already was.

 

[gggGary]

Sauk county had thousands of indian mounds though many or most have been destroyed. Not burial mounds, exact purpose not understood. The road cut the legs off this one well over 100 years ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Mound

 

[peanut]

Sauk county had thousands of indian mounds though many or most have be destroyed. Not burial mounds, exact purpose not understood. The road cut the legs off this one well over 100 years ago.
View attachment 142329 View attachment 142330 View attachment 142331

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Mound

congrats on being the first to post a pic of your bike against an Historic site

Such a shame to see such a lack of respect for indigenous people but its the same historically all over the World unfortunately.

 

[650Skull]

View attachment 142297 “Pre history” or before recorded history here is even more intriguing here to me. The Native American population along the Columbia River was large for many thousands of years.
Petroglyphs and Pictographs are both in the Pacific Northwest . Though hard to find.
I’ve spent countless hours in the high desert to the east of the mountains investigating where natives traveled and hunted. Wish I could post my arrowhead collection pics ..

This might be of interest then.........https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news...o-discovery-of-new-group-of-ancient-siberians

An article on Paleoamericans.......https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news...ribes-in-the-americas?ucam-ref=read-this-next

 

[nighthog]

Well, like Peanut I'm spoilt for choice in my area as I live about 13 miles from Bath and have the pleasure of driving/riding through the Avebury stone circle every trip home from work. Everyone has heard of Stonehenge, but Avebury is every bit as spectacular and just as old (or even older).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avebury
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/avebury/
http://www.stone-circles.org.uk/stone/avebury.htm
And Silbury hill is off to the left as you head out of the circle towards Beckhampton, which also has West Kennet Long Barrow close by. Further along on the way to Calne, I pass the Iron Age hill fort of Oldbury Castle on my left ...

So, I'm lucky - we have everything from Jane Austen to the Roman to ancient history on my doorstep

 

[peanut]

Well, like Peanut I'm spoilt for choice in my area as I live about 13 miles from Bath and have the pleasure of driving/riding through the Avebury stone circle every trip home from work. Everyone has heard of Stonehenge, but Avebury is every bit as spectacular and just as old (or even older).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avebury
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/avebury/
http://www.stone-circles.org.uk/stone/avebury.htm
And Silbury hill is off to the left as you head out of the circle towards Beckhampton, which also has West Kennet Long Barrow close by. Further along on the way to Calne, I pass the Iron Age hill fort of Oldbury Castle on my left ...

So, I'm lucky - we have everything from Jane Austen to the Roman to ancient history on my doorstep

I lived in Bath, Bathampton and Freshford many moons ago and I really miss the place except for the tourists !.....

The missus and I are planning to visit the Roman Baths before the year is out

 

[nighthog]

Better start saving now then, cos it ain't cheap! Bloody good, though

 

[xjwmx]

Archeological U.S.A. is a lot more mysterious, I think. Everything is Stonehenge They recently finished the latest excavation at Boonesborough to establish the actual position and dimensions of the fort. Ridden there many times, but no pics. The road out there is great riding, narrow, twisty, steep cliffs to go off of. A couple of little restaurants with bike nights, not surprisingly. Our friend Weekendrider came through and I turned him onto that. We didn't get together then and I can't remember why. Just seem to remember he was rushed. He did take that ride though.


I do some fun then and now stuff using Google street view sometimes. One great one is Rouen castle in France, and the location of Joan of Arc's trial. There's a map that superimposes the castle walls and rooms on the current street plan. Hop on street view and you can stand on the sidewalk in the former trial room... And see a couple of no access places that have conspiracy theories about them.

 

[peanut]

Better start saving now then, cos it ain't cheap! Bloody good, though

Most of what we see above ground is a Victorian rehash unfortunately

I actually bathed in the Roman baths back in the late 70s
Once a year they used to hold a special occasion called 'The Roman Rendezvous ' They would put on a band and some fancy catering and if you were lucky enough to buy a ticket you could bathe in all the hot baths cold baths plunge pools etc.

Because it was held at night time in the Winter months you could lean back against the stone edge of the hot Bath and look up at the stars with all the statues looking down on you from the parapet and imagine what it must have been like for the Romans 2000 years ago..amazing.

They shut the baths soon after because of Legionaires bug.