Antiquity 54

How secure are the foundations of 'megalithic astronomy'? Thom's plan of Kintraw differs in some important ways from Simpson's version; and fresh survey of Unival by Ruggles and Norris shows reasonably close agreement with Scott's plan and several important discrepancies with Thom's. Independent resurvey of large numbers of the sites currently being used in theoretical discussions is urged.

The site was discovered when a lake was drained and the peat harvested from the lake bottom. Total excavation of over 2000m2 produced nearly 200 microliths (mostly rods, 'needle points' etc), polished stone axes and other implements, together with debris from hearths. Four 14C dates in the range 7000-6400 bc were obtained. Discovery of such sites in the 'barren' Irish midlands has obviously been hampered by peat growth and lack of field walking.

Briefly reports experiments on firing of pottery in bonfires, without pits or clay domes. Control of the burning rate proved the most difficult operation, but the best arrangement was a wooden 'chamber' piled round with tinder and covered with a wooden log wigwam. Windy days had to be avoided. Up to sixteen vessels could be fired in twelve hours using 40-50kg of fuel.

'The entire subject of brochs and our approach to them is in need of a radical review'. Excavation of Bu Broch (Orkney) revealed the interior fittings to divide hearth and service area from the rooms around it; this was a defended farmhouse for a single family, with 14C dates of about 500 bc. The results suggest that many 'secondary' interior and exterior features of excavated brochs could well be primary. Moreover some brochs were heavily defended settlements of up to 250 people, so the type covers a wide spectrum.

Two finds of bronzes from presumed wreck sites have considerable implications for understanding BA metal distribution frameworks, cross-Channel links, and shipping organization. The 190 bronzes from Langdon Bay near Dover are interpreted as a cargo of scrap, originally artefacts from several distinct areas of France. Seven bronzes from Moor Sand, Salcombe date to the Middle/Late Bronze period in France, and may also originate in a wreck.

Questions the orthodox view that Scandinavian BA boats (1200-600 BC) were hide-covered frames. Study of rock carvings, and of ethnographic and archaeological parallels, suggests boats were of sewn planks and had Siberian and Eurasian rather than European affinities. D G

Argues that the oppidum of Cassivellaunus referred to by Caesar was not his capital, but one of many tribal strongholds (a situation paralleled in Gaul). No evidence exists for capitals at this time, although they can be inferred by the time of the Claudian invasion. D G

Arguments for astronomical significance of megalithic settings have hitherto been applied to individual sites but not to whole groups of closely related monuments. Analysis of the azimuths of fifty Scottish recumbent stone circles suggests that the axis of each ring was directed towards the moon; and there may have been an association 'moon-quartz-death'.

Some of the rusticated sherds from British Beaker domestic sites are best paralleled among Dutch 'potbeker' pottery, already recognized as an Anglo-Dutch phenomenon, and presumably reflecting frequent North Sea contacts. D G

Sherborne's street plan suggests a D-shaped enclosure at its core, possibly the Lanprobi recorded as a 7th century grant.

Counters the mistaken view that the 5th/6th century and later defences of Dinas Powys were refurbished Iron Age or Roman ramparts.