Stonehenge vandalized

Suspected souvenir hunters broke into Stonehenge and vandalised the ancient monument, English Heritage has said.

A hammer and screwdriver were used to take a small chip the size of a 10p piece from the side of the Heel Stone.

English Heritage said further damage was prevented by security guards who spotted the two men at the 5,000-year-old site in Wiltshire.

Police believe the vandals could be the same two people caught on CCTV acting suspiciously a few days earlier.


BBC article

At one time, chisels would be handed to people visiting Stonehenge, so they could chip away at the ancient monument to get their own souvenirs.


But the practice has been outlawed since 1900, when landowner Sir Edmund Antrobus decided the site needed protecting and introduced charges


Further BBC commentary

Merry Meet 2007

Hello to those of you who came here from the Merry Meet flyer. While I'm running behind on getting the Cafepress graphics up and running, I will have some photos of the stones at the U Mass Sun Wheel soon. Please bookmark and stop back!

As we walked through fields of prayer

Just west of Aberdeen, a forgotten megalithic landscape could contain written evidence of an ancient Mediterranean connection. But it definitely contains memories of a once sacred landscape, which became the Pictish heartland. ARTICLE

Philip Coppens explores the Scottish megalithic features which hang onto their integrity precariously, as civilization spreads over the ancient lands of the River Don.

Thanks to The Daily Grail

New Stone Circle Revealed in Shetland Islands

A team of archeologists from Bath University has uncovered an early Bronze Age or late Neolithic stone circle on the island of Foula, one of the Shetland Islands. The circle is oriented to the midwinter sunrise. Foula (population 30) has the world's largest colony of Great Skuas, known locally as "bonxies."

Bath and Camerton Archaeological Society (BACAS)
http://www.bacas.homecall.co.uk/

Foula (Visit Shetland site)
http://www.visitshetland.com/area-guides/foula/

Fridgehenge Put on Ice

Fridgehenge, the Santa Fe, New Mexico version of Stonehenge which is made out of 100 refrigerators, is being taken down due to safety concerns. The steel circle was created a decade ago by Adam Horowitz.

The Fortean Times blog links to a Flickr page with some lovely, evocative images of Fridgehenge in better days.

I found myself wishing that Horowitz left a fridge powered up. When you opened the door on the solstice you'd find a trilithon hanging down inside it that would neatly frame the fridge light, as a sort of fractal Stonehenge. Maybe have a pound of Land O' Lakes butter on the door?

http://www.forteantimes.com/blogs/editorial-blogs/news/915325/fridgehenge-dismantled.thtml

Thanks to The Daily Grail