Francesco Menotti of Basel University has some new thoughts on the remains of a huge structure that were found in Monmouth, Wales. It had been thought that the three trenches containing complete trees could have been the foundation of a large prehistoric house that had been set on top of a Bronze Age mound of stones. Rather, Menotti suggests that the beams were part of a large platform from the late Iron Age or the early Roman period. “What the platform (or surface) was used for, and what (if anything at all) was constructed on top of it, is pure speculation, considering the scant amount of archaeological evidence at the moment,” he added.

A genetic study of modern Britons suggests that the Welsh are a relatively distinct group dating back to the last Ice Age, some 10,000 years ago. Within Wales, people from the north are more genetically similar to the Irish, and those from the south have genes that resemble those of people from France. “We don’t really have the historical evidence about what those genetic inputs were,” explained Peter Donnelly of Oxford University. The mountains of Wales may have kept the populations isolated.

Two anchors have been recovered from a German ship in Ireland’s Cork Harbor. Dubbed the Aud, the ship had been running guns to the Irish during the 1916 rebellion when it was captured by the British and scuttled. “It’s a wonderful day and a historic occasion for everyone involved. There was quite a flotilla that accompanied us out to sea, made up of people from Cork, Kerry and Waterford who have followed this project,” said marine archaeologist Laurence Dunne.

The Nez Perce had been ordered onto reservations by the U.S. government in 1877, but many resisted and clashed with the Army periodically while heading toward Canada. Archaeologists from the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service are working with volunteers to look for the route taken by the Nez Perce when they escaped the U.S. Army’s 7^thCavalry that September. “We want to figure out how the Nez Perce got off that mountain and crossed into Montana. We want to figure out where the route is so we can preserve and protect it for future generations,” said Jim Evans of the Nez Perce Trail Foundation.

A 25-year-old Idaho man will receive prison time for using spray paint to deface rock art created by the ancestors of the Nez Perce at the Red Elk Rock Shelter. Restoration work will cost $100,000, but conservators will not be able to return the images to their original, pristine condition. Two additional men were sentenced for this crime earlier this year.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Wednesday, June 20, 2012. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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