Ancient Britain was a peninsula until a tsunami flooded its land-links to Europe some 8,000 years ago. Did that wave help shape the national character?
The coastline and landscape of what would become modern Britain began to emerge at the end of the last Ice Age around 10,000 years ago.
What had been a cold, dry tundra on the north-western edge of Europe grew warmer and wetter as the ice caps melted. The Irish Sea, North Sea and the Channel were all dry land, albeit land slowly being submerged as sea levels rose.
But it wasn't until 6,100BC that Britain broke free of mainland Europe for good, during the Mesolithic period - the Middle Stone Age.
Read more here.
Showing posts with label britain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label britain. Show all posts
Monday, January 09, 2012
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Bronze Age shipwreck found off Devon coast
The trading vessel was carrying an extremely valuable cargo of tin and hundreds of copper ingots from the Continent when it sank.
Experts say the "incredibly exciting" discovery provides new evidence about the extent and sophistication of Britain's links with Europe in the Bronze Age as well as the remarkable seafaring abilities of the people during the period.
Archaeologists have described the vessel, which is thought to date back to around 900BC, as being a "bulk carrier" of its age.
Read more here.
Experts say the "incredibly exciting" discovery provides new evidence about the extent and sophistication of Britain's links with Europe in the Bronze Age as well as the remarkable seafaring abilities of the people during the period.
Archaeologists have described the vessel, which is thought to date back to around 900BC, as being a "bulk carrier" of its age.
Read more here.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Britain's biggest Roman villa uncovered on Isle of Wight
One of the largest and best-preserved Roman villas yet discovered in Britain has been unearthed by archaeologists.
Built 1,800 years ago on the Isle of Wight, the building is as vast as an Olympic swimming pool and shaped like a church.
“It would have sung out the status of the owner,” Sir Barry Cunliffe, Emeritus Professor of European Archaeology at Oxford University and head of the excavation, told The Times yesterday. “It's a very impressive building, absolutely magnificent. It could have been seen for miles around.”
Read more here.
Built 1,800 years ago on the Isle of Wight, the building is as vast as an Olympic swimming pool and shaped like a church.
“It would have sung out the status of the owner,” Sir Barry Cunliffe, Emeritus Professor of European Archaeology at Oxford University and head of the excavation, told The Times yesterday. “It's a very impressive building, absolutely magnificent. It could have been seen for miles around.”
Read more here.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Friday, August 01, 2008
Ancient rock carvings discovered
More than 100 new examples of prehistoric art have been discovered carved into boulders and open bedrock throughout Northumberland and Durham.
The 5,000-year-old Neolithic carvings of circles, rings and hollowed cups, were uncovered by volunteers.
Read more here.
The 5,000-year-old Neolithic carvings of circles, rings and hollowed cups, were uncovered by volunteers.
Read more here.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Depicting a 10,000-year-old landscape
Armed with a map depicting a 10,000-year-old landscape submerged beneath the North Sea and fresh evidence from nearby sites, archaeologists are realizing that early humans were more territorial than was previously thought.
Read more here.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Iron Age mystery of the 'Essex druid'
Grave near Colchester could be the first burial site of an ancient mystic ever to be discovered in Britain
As sacred priests, their duties included teaching, law enforcement and possibly even burning people to death in giant wicker men. Druids dominated British culture with their mysterious magical rites in the centuries before the Roman invasion.
For such an important band of men, however – it could take 20 years to train to be a druid, according to some sources – hardly anything is known about them. That could be about to change now, though, after what is thought to be the first discovery in Britain of a druid grave.
Read more here.
As sacred priests, their duties included teaching, law enforcement and possibly even burning people to death in giant wicker men. Druids dominated British culture with their mysterious magical rites in the centuries before the Roman invasion.
For such an important band of men, however – it could take 20 years to train to be a druid, according to some sources – hardly anything is known about them. That could be about to change now, though, after what is thought to be the first discovery in Britain of a druid grave.
Read more here.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
CCTV and fingerprinting could NOW be used in exam halls
Boy the powers that be in England will do and say anything to get underage people fingerprinted, won't they? (See this post about fingerprinting airline passengers, or this "describing how the British government intends to go about "coercing" its citizens onto a National Identity Register". ).
It does exhibit a shocking disregard for the rights of those who can not yet stand up for them.
Schools are considering introducing CCTV cameras and fingerprint checks to trap exam cheats.
Students scribbling vital facts on their shirtcuffs or hiding cribsheets in pencil cases would be easily identified under the crackdown planned by the Examination Officers Association.
It also hopes to cut the number of claims from pupils that they were given the wrong instructions by invigilators.
Read more here.
It does exhibit a shocking disregard for the rights of those who can not yet stand up for them.
Schools are considering introducing CCTV cameras and fingerprint checks to trap exam cheats.
Students scribbling vital facts on their shirtcuffs or hiding cribsheets in pencil cases would be easily identified under the crackdown planned by the Examination Officers Association.
It also hopes to cut the number of claims from pupils that they were given the wrong instructions by invigilators.
Read more here.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Bronze Age burial 'with beer mug'
A 4,000-year-old Bronze Age skeleton has been unearthed by archaeologists working on a site in east Kent.
Canterbury Archaeological Trust said the curled-up skeleton was an example of a "Beaker" burial because of the pottery vessel placed at its feet.
Education officer Marion Green said the "beautifully decorated" pot could have been "a type of beer mug".
Read more here.
Canterbury Archaeological Trust said the curled-up skeleton was an example of a "Beaker" burial because of the pottery vessel placed at its feet.
Education officer Marion Green said the "beautifully decorated" pot could have been "a type of beer mug".
Read more here.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Put young children on DNA list, urge [U.K.] police
Why don't these people just say they want everyone fingerprinted and their DNA on record..because that would be unpopular...
So, they'll do it bit by bit..a school here, an airport there. Then will come that time when you will stand out as strange if you *won't* be fingerprinted. "He must be hiding something..."
Primary school children should be eligible for the DNA database if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life, according to Britain's most senior police forensics expert.
Gary Pugh, director of forensic sciences at Scotland Yard and the new DNA spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said a debate was needed on how far Britain should go in identifying potential offenders, given that some experts believe it is possible to identify future offending traits in children as young as five.
'If we have a primary means of identifying people before they offend, then in the long-term the benefits of targeting younger people are extremely large,' said Pugh. 'You could argue the younger the better. [Well yes, as an underage person cannot stop this invasion of privacy, or even understand its long term consequences. How convenient...] Criminologists say some people will grow out of crime; others won't. We have to find who are possibly going to be the biggest threat to society.'
Pugh admitted that the deeply controversial suggestion raised issues of parental consent, potential stigmatisation and the role of teachers in identifying future offenders, but said society needed an open, mature discussion on how best to tackle crime before it took place.
Wonder how one sided any "discussion" would be?
Read more here, you fucking criminal.
So, they'll do it bit by bit..a school here, an airport there. Then will come that time when you will stand out as strange if you *won't* be fingerprinted. "He must be hiding something..."
Primary school children should be eligible for the DNA database if they exhibit behaviour indicating they may become criminals in later life, according to Britain's most senior police forensics expert.Gary Pugh, director of forensic sciences at Scotland Yard and the new DNA spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said a debate was needed on how far Britain should go in identifying potential offenders, given that some experts believe it is possible to identify future offending traits in children as young as five.
'If we have a primary means of identifying people before they offend, then in the long-term the benefits of targeting younger people are extremely large,' said Pugh. 'You could argue the younger the better. [Well yes, as an underage person cannot stop this invasion of privacy, or even understand its long term consequences. How convenient...] Criminologists say some people will grow out of crime; others won't. We have to find who are possibly going to be the biggest threat to society.'
 |
| "society needed an open, mature discussion on how best to tackle crime before it took place" |
Pugh admitted that the deeply controversial suggestion raised issues of parental consent, potential stigmatisation and the role of teachers in identifying future offenders, but said society needed an open, mature discussion on how best to tackle crime before it took place.
Wonder how one sided any "discussion" would be?
Read more here, you fucking criminal.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Ice Age axes found in North Sea
Axes from the Ice Age used by mammoth hunters when the North Sea was dry have been found from under the water off the Norfolk coast.
Dutch amateur archaeologist Jan Meulmeester found the 100,000-year-old hand axes in gravel dredged from eight miles (13km) off Great Yarmouth.
Read more here.
Dutch amateur archaeologist Jan Meulmeester found the 100,000-year-old hand axes in gravel dredged from eight miles (13km) off Great Yarmouth.
Read more here.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Heathrow airport first to fingerprint
"The data will be destroyed after 24 hours. It will not be made available to the police or anyone else. This is purely for border and immigration control."That is a lie and we all know it. And here all along I thought only criminals got fingerprinted. Silly me, I forget we are all suspects now.
Millions of British airline passengers face mandatory fingerprinting before being allowed to board flights when Heathrow’s Terminal 5 opens later this month.
For the first time at any airport, the biometric checks will apply to all domestic passengers leaving the terminal, which will handle all British Airways flights to and from Heathrow.
The controversial security measure is also set to be introduced at Gatwick, Manchester and Heathrow’s Terminal 1, and many airline industry insiders believe fingerprinting could become universal at all UK airports within a few years.
Read more here.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Possible Druid Grave found
Druids belong to the realm of myth -- archaeologists have never been able to prove their existence. But now researchers in England have uncovered the grave of a powerful, ancient healer. Was he a druid?
Read more here.
Read more here.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Druid Grave Unearthed in U.K.?
Historical records tell of a mystical, priestly and learned class of elite individuals called Druids among Celtic societies in Britain, but there has been no archaeological evidence of their existence. Until, perhaps, now.
A series of graves found in a gravel quarry at Stanway near Colchester, Essex, have been dated to 40-60 A.D. At least one of the burials, it appears, may have been that of a Druid, according to a report published in British Archaeology.
Read more here.
A series of graves found in a gravel quarry at Stanway near Colchester, Essex, have been dated to 40-60 A.D. At least one of the burials, it appears, may have been that of a Druid, according to a report published in British Archaeology.
Read more here.
Friday, February 08, 2008
Sharia comments trigger criticism
The Archbishop of Canterbury has come under fire after appearing to back the adoption of some aspects of Sharia law in the UK...
...He said adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law could help social cohesion. For example, Muslims could choose to have marital disputes or financial matters dealt with in a Sharia court.
What, are you nuts?? Separate courts?? Are you fucking insane??
Dr Rowan Williams said the UK had to "face up to the fact" some citizens did not relate to the British legal system.
Then that is a problem "some citizens" have to put up with.
"there's one law for everybody and that's all there is to be said, and anything else that commands your loyalty or allegiance is completely irrelevant in the processes of the courts - I think that's a bit of a danger".
No, statements like this are the real danger. Do any world leaders today ever crack open a history book?
The Muslim Council of Britain said it was a complex issue in need of debate, but stressed it would only involve a "small aspect" of the law.
Ahhhh! no no no!
Read more here.
...He said adopting parts of Islamic Sharia law could help social cohesion. For example, Muslims could choose to have marital disputes or financial matters dealt with in a Sharia court.
What, are you nuts?? Separate courts?? Are you fucking insane??
Dr Rowan Williams said the UK had to "face up to the fact" some citizens did not relate to the British legal system.
Then that is a problem "some citizens" have to put up with.
"there's one law for everybody and that's all there is to be said, and anything else that commands your loyalty or allegiance is completely irrelevant in the processes of the courts - I think that's a bit of a danger".
No, statements like this are the real danger. Do any world leaders today ever crack open a history book?
The Muslim Council of Britain said it was a complex issue in need of debate, but stressed it would only involve a "small aspect" of the law.
Ahhhh! no no no!
Read more here.
Monday, February 04, 2008
Quarter of Brits think Churchill was myth: poll
UKTV Gold television surveyed 3,000 people.
3,000 very dumb people.
Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll out Monday which showed that nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real.
The survey found that 47 percent thought the 12th century English king Richard the Lionheart was a myth.
And 23 percent thought World War II prime minister Churchill was made up. The same percentage thought Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale did not actually exist.
Three percent thought Charles Dickens, one of Britain's most famous writers, is a work of fiction himself.
Indian political leader Mahatma Gandhi and Battle of Waterloo victor the Duke of Wellington also appeared in the top 10 of people thought to be myths.
Meanwhile, 58 percent thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Holmes actually existed; 33 percent thought the same of W. E. Johns' fictional pilot and adventurer Biggles.
3,000 very dumb people.
Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll out Monday which showed that nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real.
The survey found that 47 percent thought the 12th century English king Richard the Lionheart was a myth.
And 23 percent thought World War II prime minister Churchill was made up. The same percentage thought Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale did not actually exist.
Three percent thought Charles Dickens, one of Britain's most famous writers, is a work of fiction himself.
Indian political leader Mahatma Gandhi and Battle of Waterloo victor the Duke of Wellington also appeared in the top 10 of people thought to be myths.
Meanwhile, 58 percent thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's fictional detective Holmes actually existed; 33 percent thought the same of W. E. Johns' fictional pilot and adventurer Biggles.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Teaching Patriotism
Ekk
The subject of teaching Britishness in schools has taken a fresh twist with claims that patriotism should be taught as a "controversial issue".
The government wants children to develop a sense of British identity through history lessons.
But academics at the Institute of Education say pupils should not be encouraged to love Britain because it has a "morally ambiguous" history.
They also found just 9% of teachers think schools should teach patriotism.
Read more here.
The subject of teaching Britishness in schools has taken a fresh twist with claims that patriotism should be taught as a "controversial issue".
The government wants children to develop a sense of British identity through history lessons.
But academics at the Institute of Education say pupils should not be encouraged to love Britain because it has a "morally ambiguous" history.
They also found just 9% of teachers think schools should teach patriotism.
Read more here.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Leaked UK gov't doc reveals plan to "coerce" Brits into national ID register
Via Boing Boing:
Phil from the UK anti-ID-register group NO2ID sends in this nugget -- note the call to action there. We've got a sensitive government document revealing the British government's plan to trick us into a database state and we need as many copies as possible, as quickly as possible!
1.2MB PDF Link
UK campaigners NO2ID this morning enlisted the help of bloggers across the world to spread a leaked government document describing how the British government intends to go about "coercing" its citizens onto a National Identity Register. The 'ID card' is revealed as little more than a cover to create a official dossier and trackable ID for every UK resident - creating what NO2ID calls 'the database state'.
NO2ID's national coordinator, Phil Booth, exhorted bloggers, freedom lovers and anyone who gives a damn about personal privacy to mirror the annotated document on their site.
"The charade is over. While ministers try to bamboozle the British public with fairytales about fingerprints, officials are plotting how to dupe and bully the population into surrendering control of their own identities."
"Biometric ID cards are a sham; a magician's flourish to cover the biggest identity fraud there has ever been."
Phil from the UK anti-ID-register group NO2ID sends in this nugget -- note the call to action there. We've got a sensitive government document revealing the British government's plan to trick us into a database state and we need as many copies as possible, as quickly as possible!
1.2MB PDF Link
UK campaigners NO2ID this morning enlisted the help of bloggers across the world to spread a leaked government document describing how the British government intends to go about "coercing" its citizens onto a National Identity Register. The 'ID card' is revealed as little more than a cover to create a official dossier and trackable ID for every UK resident - creating what NO2ID calls 'the database state'.
NO2ID's national coordinator, Phil Booth, exhorted bloggers, freedom lovers and anyone who gives a damn about personal privacy to mirror the annotated document on their site.
"The charade is over. While ministers try to bamboozle the British public with fairytales about fingerprints, officials are plotting how to dupe and bully the population into surrendering control of their own identities."
"Biometric ID cards are a sham; a magician's flourish to cover the biggest identity fraud there has ever been."
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