A cluster of minute, perforated seashells found in a cave in South Africa may be some of the earliest human attempts at making jewellery, a symbolic demonstration of people being part of a group or their status within that group. The seashells are among a range of other artefacts dated as being 70,000 years old.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=vn20081121054843530C280787

An undulating ribbon of fire-cracked stones, 60 metres in length, has been discovered in Herefordshire during the construction of a new road system. Dating to approximately 2,000 BC, the find is being described by archaeologists as ‘unique in Europe… and of international significance’.

http://www.24dash.com/news/Local_Government/2007-07-04-Major-Hereford-archaeological-find-to-be-unveiled

The fantastic summer of English crop circles may now be nothing more than a wonderful memory but elsewhere in the world comes news of the first ever recorded crop circle from Brazil. Maybe not the most spectacular examples but a fascinating report nonetheless.

http://www.cropcircleconnector.com/inter2008/brazil/brazil2008b.html

For some the relationship between the spirits of the departed and stone monuments is not a new subject. A recent discovery in Turkey gives us new insight into an ancient community’s beliefs about the afterlife and the monumentalising of their ancestors.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081118071136.htm

This summer saw an archaeological team revisit the Ring of Brodgar on the Orkney Islands, the third largest standing stone circle in Britain. The team revisited the site of an earlier 1973 excavation with the aim of trying to establish a more accurate date to the stones, provisionally placed at around 4,000 to 4,500 years ago. An abundance of artefacts were discovered that will provide evidence for the advanced dating techniques established since the earlier excavation. 

We now just have to find out the purpose of this incredible site!

http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/nwh_gfx_en/ART62367.html

The Great Pyramid at giza holds many mysteries and foremost amongst them is how an ancient civilisation could have moved two million blocks of limestone into position. Now research inside a little-known cavity within the pyramid may offer us some clues.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081114-pyramid-room.html

Through the use of simple geometric shapes, Edward Nightingale believes that he has unravelled the key to the sacred geometry of the Giza plateau. According to Nightingale’s theory, the principles used by the builders of these incredible monuments show a far greater knowledge of mathematics and physics than ever imagined.

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080928/NEWS/809280321

News today from Dr. Zahi Hawass’ website announcing the discovery of a new pyramid at Saqqara and is believed to be that of 6^th Dynasty queen Sesheshet.

http://www.guardians.net/hawass/Press%20Releases/queens_pyramid_saqqara_11-08.htm

Recent research conducted at Kilmartin Glen, home to some of Scotland’s richest prehistoric sites, has found that climate change between 1100BC to 200BC may have forced out the inhabitants of this sacred landscape. A barren gap appears in the archaeological record, which contains 350 ancient sites, including burial cairns, rock carvings and standing stones

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article5110828.ece

In the second of Andre Douzet’s article on the church at Rennes-le-Château, we learn about how Saunière as a young man would explore the local countryside and during these long walks may have discovered an area of worked stone, which may have been used as a small necropolis. Did he later revisit this site and extract some of the stone to re-work into the porch of the church at Rennes-le-Château? And what may have this symbolised?

http://www.perillos.com/porch_2.html