| FOGS News Volume XIII number 1 Candlemas 2002 |
|
| Return of the Light |
| IMBOLC (Christian Candlemas) brings new light, the rise of spring, bird activity, anticipation of the warmth |
| and fecundity to come. While markers within Neolithic stone circles were probably well-known to the |
| contemporary population, we sometimes forget that each stone had its solar as well as its lunar function. We |
| sometimes forget to experience sunset at all these days. Sunset at Easter Aquhorthies W of Inverurie is always |
| a revelation. At Imbolc it is defined by a clear shadow of the recumbent 'window' group falling on two stones |
| to the north of the shimmering jasper stone at the modern entrance. As sunset approaches, one is mesmerised |
| by the advancing shadow as it creeps towards the two smaller circumference stones. Just at the moment of |
| sunset, they align exactly and then both sun and shadow are extinguished. The jasper stone alone, it seems, |
| holds a memory of the light, continuing to twinkle and gleam until dusk. Its quality of reflecting light must indeed |
| have been revered. Other miracles of light seem to happen at this time, significant to much later civilizations. The |
| Hill of Barra, NJ803 257, has no known stone circle, but was an enclosed ramparted settlement of the Iron Age |
| which continued as a hilltop stronghold in the Pictish era. From its summit, accessible via the Bourtie-Meldrum |
| Community Walk, at least five stone circles are visible, but most compelling is the uninterrupted view of Mither |
| Tap of Bennachie. Around 5pm, weather permitting, for 10 nights in mid-February the sun and Mither Tap do |
| a dance. For the week of Imbolc, Bennachie's mass engulfs the sun, swallowing the orb low into Mither Tap. |
| But midway through this time period, a change occurs and she agrees to spit the sun back out! On February |
| 17th, the sun starts its sunset roll into Mither Tap, is received by the mother mountain at 5pm and reappears |
| seven minutes later on her northern crag. This rebirth, even to time-worn eyes, is a surprise. Mother mountain |
| has given birth to the sun! One dimly understands the joy of celebration, seasonal change.The sun is almost |
| playful in this rite of passage, setting for the next week in more of a roll than an extinction, as each of the peaks |
| in turn along her broad back gets to swallow its fire. |
| ©2002 Marian Youngblood |
|
| Ringing in Changing Seasons |
| A FEW weeks of unseasonable fine weather called for a FOGS-run experiment at Garioch stone circles. There |
| are many 18th & 19thCC references to ringing stones at Grampian circles - among them Easter Aquhorthies, |
| Balquhain, the Standing Stones of Dyce and Arnhill, Tillytarmont. For good measure a few were tried, especially |
| where the surrounding stones remain complete, giving an amphitheatre of sound. A musical instrument was |
| played within the inner 'sanctuary' or preciinct enclosed by the recumbent stone and flankers, while listeners |
| stood and walked to various points within the circle. At Easter Aquhorthies and Loanhead of Daviot, the best |
| point for receiving the sound was on a mound [E.A.] or stone platform [Loanhead] marginally to N of centre |
| where string chords or voice reduced to a whisper were quite audible. At E.A there is a kind of 'tuning fork |
| stone' projecting inwards from the centre of the massive recumbent; it may have been set strategically as a |
| sounding board because the human voice carries remarkably from this stone - its vibrations not only |
| reverberating through the circle amphitheatre, but also creating a secondary echo resonance. This was |
| repeated at Loanhead, where there is no such 'sounding' stone, but where the recumbent is split in two. |
| Hands clapped between the two slabs resulted in echoes felt by participants throughout the inner circle. Again |
| the voice experiment was tried at Kirkton of Bourtie circle - a damaged monument with much stone clearance |
| clutter, and while resonance was felt, much of the effect seemed to disperse with no amphitheatre to 'capture' |
| the sound. Ultra- and infra-sound experiments recently replicated by groups in south Britain and at New |
| Grange in the Boyne valley with much sophisticated equiment, gave sonic waves graphically recorded; the |
| effect on the observers was tantalising and exciting enough to suggest yet another side to the rituals enacted |
| by Neolithic celebrants to mark the changing seasons. |
|
| Charting the Nation |
| 'CHARTING the Nation' is a three year collaborative digital imaging and cataloguing project, whose primary |
| aim is to widen access via the web to historic maps of Scotland and associated archives 1590 to 1740. It is |
| led by two researchers at the University of Edinburgh, Charles Withers and Andrew Grout. |
| http://www.geo.ed.ac.uk/charting/ |
|
| UMOs |
| HENRY Moore Institute Leeds is currently showing a rare glimpse of Unidentified Museum Objects on loan |
| from the British Museum. They include the unique phallic Portsoy whetstone, a carved ball and a Burghead bull. |
| Sadly the exhibition will not travel farther north and so any FOGS keen to see the rarities will have until the end |
| of the month to visit the Henry Moore Institute, Headway, Leeds. For non-travellers, details on the British |
| Museum website at http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/ |
|
| Roman discoveries at Birnie |
| TWO surprise hoards of Roman coins have been found in an Iron Age context at Birnie, Moray. In last year's |
| excavation, curator of Iron Age and Roman archaeology with the National Museums of Scotland Fraser |
| Hunter was delighted when a pot of denarii turned up in excavations at an Iron Age settlement outside Elgin. |
| It was broken, but contained some 300 coins dating to the reign of emperor Severus, last to attempt conquest |
| of Pictish Caledonia, nearly 1800 years ago.Early this year another clay pot was unearthed - this one entire |
| and undamaged - only 10 yards away from the former hoard. Both are in NMS undergoing conservation and |
| examination. |
|
| 'Spiritual' Tourism |
| FOGS has added its voice to two national bodies attempting to moderate the state-dominated attitude to |
| digging up the past. It is based on our members' respect for sacred sites in our own area and on the premise |
| that laser scan and sonic technology [archaeoptics and infrasound] can arguably be used to better effect than |
| digging into and disturbing a sacred space with the possibility of loss of 'finds'. 'Spiritual' tourism - one which |
| takes account of people's need to visit a site for its sacredness in an atmosphere conducive to contemplation is |
| supported by the Cruithni Charter, ASLaN (AncientSacred Landscape Network) & countryside organizations, |
| including SNH, Friends of the Earth, Council for Rural England and others concerned for the historic landscape. |
| As ever, our view puts emphasis on education, in order to prevent degradation or defacement. |
| URLs: |
| http://www.sacredsites.org.uk |
| http://www.rollrightstones.co.uk/images/aslan2.jpg |
| http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/news-events/ |
