Why did the builders of Stonehenge, West Kennett Long Barrow and Silbury Hill disappear….?

  I have just been watching an episode of Blowing up History, in which the prehistoric stone monuments at Stonehenge, West Kennett and Silbury Hill were investigated. The discovery of a large upturned bell-shaped pottery jar at West Kennett led to the revelation that it was the work of the so-called Beaker People of Europe,…

Bone Detectives start with Thanet’s Bronze Age secrets….

I have just watched the first episode of Bone Detectives: Britain’s Buried Secrets, featuring Dr Tori Herridge and the delightful Raksha Dave, whom I remember from Time Team, but who is now much in TV evidence. In this new series we’re promised episodes from different periods and different places all over Britain, but this first…

Oh, to be a mudlark on the Thames foreshore, and find a priceless Richard III artefact….

As Ricardians, we know only too well that moment when we were first inspired by Richard III’s story. It just happens, out of nowhere, and remains forever as strong as that first second. The thought of becoming a detectorist and finding something exciting from Richard’s time is enticing, but (to me) what is even more…

Rhoda Edwards, Author of Ricardian Books, Dies

The Ricardian author of “Some Touch of Pity” died on November 27th, 2018 at the age of 78.  When researching this interesting woman, one finds only a solitary photograph of her which accompanied the book when it was published in 1976.  The photo here was taken by Stephen Lark of the Murrey and Blue blog…

London: 2000 years of history (channel 5)

Who let Dan Jones out? At least, as in his last outing, he is accompanied both by a historian (Suzannah Lipscomb) and an engineer (Rob Bell), narrating and illustrating almost two millennia of the city’s past. In the first episode, we were taken through the walled city of “Londinium” being built and rebuilt after Boudicca’s…

MYTH TO REALITY: VORTIGERN’S CAVE IN MARGATE

Margate is rightfully known for its famous, undatable Shell Grotto, which has been known as a folly, a Roman mithraeum and even a Phoenician temple.  However, FAR lesser known is another set of caverns, known as Vortigern’s cave. Probably dating between the 1600-s-1700’s, these caves have been closed on and off for several hundred years;…

Julius Caesar Comes to Kent

Recent archaeological excavations in Kent by the University of Leicester have pinpointed  the probable landing point for Caesar’s invasion of Britain. No full study on this important historical event has taken place  in the last 100 years and it was widely thought amongst academics that both of Caesar’s incursions into Britain had been regarded as…