any fans of the neolithic?

[wayward bob]

must-see programme

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod...ent_Britain_Special_Orkneys_Stone_Age_Temple/

i knew nothing about this discovery, it's massively awesome

 

[ViolentPanda]

Good, wasn't it? A nice condensation of the state of "popular" knowledge on the neolithic too, although the rather unsubtle use of the phrases "long before the Pyramids" and "long before Stonehenge" did make me smile a bit. Not at all Scots-centric, that narrator!

 

[wayward bob]

tbf i reckon he had a right to be

 

[weepiper]

Neil Oliver is massively annoying and there was a bucketload of conjecture going on there (bloody archaeologists and their assumptions that absolutely everything must be 'ritual') but it's a fascinating site. I have been there some years before this was known about and I'm not buying their 'journey from the land of the living to the land of the dead' thing, chiefly because Maes Howe (the chambered tomb) is at what he said was the end of the land of the living, the other side of the Stones of Stenness. The whole area's worth a visit, the Ring of Brodgar is very impressive and quite fascinating on a number of levels, the stones themselves have loads of old graffitti on them saying things like 'Magnus Drever was here 1798'

 

[wayward bob]

i was wondering that about maes howe too - i get the tomb and the settlement mixed up - the settlement's skara brae isn't it?

and yeah mr b always winces at ritual, but they usually have a reasonable amount of evidence/context to go on. for example the artefact assemblages from different sites can indicate different activities/uses - spindle whorls belong to domestic settings and mace-heads don't

i liked the giant bbq though - 400 cattle was it?

 

[weepiper]

yeah I do think it wasn't a domestic/living quarters sort of site anyway, the polished axe heads were not the equivalent of broken crockery and empty tin cans, were they. I was interested in the hearth in the doorway.

Edit, yes Skara Brae's like a little village, we didn't see that which I regret. I've just had a look in my photo album from the trip and I forgot that Maes Howe also has graffiti inside, but it's viking graffitti carved in runes

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Neil Oliver is massively annoying

Understatement of the decade. He's almost the Bono of Archaeology.

 

[boohoo]

Ohhh - something for me to watch! I went to Orkney this year - really enjoyed looking at the ancient monuments - particularly the Isbister Chambered Cairn (tomb of the Eagles) and Skara Brae.

 

[wayward bob]

Understatement of the decade. He's almost the Bono of Archaeology.

i've never seen him before, so i managed to overlook him in the general total awesomeness

 

[boohoo]

and yeah mr b always winces at ritual, but they usually have a reasonable amount of evidence/context to go on. for example the artefact assemblages from different sites can indicate different activities/uses - spindle whorls belong to domestic settings and mace-heads don't

i liked the giant bbq though - 400 cattle was it?

Frances Pryor mentioned that by calling something ritualistic, it made things make sense. I wonder if in the future they find the scorch marks of burnt out sofa's in town centres and dead cats galore in people's back yard, it'll all get called ritualistic.

 

[weepiper]

Understatement of the decade. He's almost the Bono of Archaeology.

a pal of mine that I was at university with had this as her fb status after this programme: '

Why is it that Neil Oliver has to present all the interesting history programmes? Can't abide his hair flicking and breaking up. Sentences. In random. Places.'​

 

[boohoo]

a pal of mine that I was at university with had this as her fb status after this programme: '

Why is it that Neil Oliver has to present all the interesting history programmes? Can't abide his hair flicking and breaking up. Sentences. In random. Places.'​

It does feel like it's the same old presenters. Dan Cruickshank for over excited architecture, Bettany Hughes for standing looking pretty in the Ancient world, anything Celtic throw Neil Oliver at it, history for the people - roll out Tony Robinson.

 

[weepiper]

It does feel like it's the same old presenters. Dan Cruickshank for over excited architecture, Bettany Hughes for standing looking pretty in the Ancient world, anything Celtic throw Neil Oliver at it, history for the people - roll out Tony Robinson.

another friend of mine does all the Gaelic historical/archaeological shows for BBC Alba. I wish they'd give her some of the ones in English too.

 

[Spud Murfy]

Neil Oliver is massively annoying

Heh he's always striding about manfully on telly, usually on some rocky promontory. See also Brian Cox's Sickly Smile of Wonder at the cosmos. I blame the telly producers and the presenters for meekly going along with what they're told to do: can you put your foot on top of the stone cairn this time Neil?

 

[ViolentPanda]

Understatement of the decade. He's almost the Bono of Archaeology.

It's the hair. It's so melodramatic.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

...and he favours the Monarch of the Glen pose and all...

 

[danny la rouge]

 

[Voley]

lol

 

[Voley]

I hope all Scottish people do this. I bet danny does.

 

[toggle]

Neil Oliver is massively annoying and there was a bucketload of conjecture going on there (bloody archaeologists and their assumptions that absolutely everything must be 'ritual') but it's a fascinating site. I have been there some years before this was known about and I'm not buying their 'journey from the land of the living to the land of the dead' thing, chiefly because Maes Howe (the chambered tomb) is at what he said was the end of the land of the living, the other side of the Stones of Stenness. The whole area's worth a visit, the Ring of Brodgar is very impressive and quite fascinating on a number of levels, the stones themselves have loads of old graffitti on them saying things like 'Magnus Drever was here 1798'

ritual= we don't have a fucking clue but need to say something, according to my archaeology tutor.

 

[toggle]

Heh he's always striding about manfully on telly, usually on some rocky promontory. See also Brian Cox's Sickly Smile of Wonder at the cosmos. I blame the telly producers and the presenters for meekly going along with what they're told to do: can you put your foot on top of the stone cairn this time Neil?

was he wearing that fucking black leather coat this time?

 

[danny la rouge]

I hope all Scottish people do this. I bet danny does.

I drove past that building today. (It's Stirling Castle). I should have stopped and done the pose.

 

[wayward bob]

I drove past that building today. (It's Stirling Castle). I should have stopped and done the pose.

it's prolly illegal not to

 

[Voley]

I drove past that building today. (It's Stirling Castle). I should have stopped and done the pose.

I can't help thinking that photo's lacking something. I can't decide if it's a shooting stick or a bottle of Buckfast.

 

[weepiper]

I can't help thinking that photo's lacking something. I can't decide if it's a shooting stick or a bottle of Buckfast.

It needs an enormous codpiece

 

[Voley]

It needs an enormous codpiece

That's it! Nail on head. It'll look like he's doing a pelvic thrust. Anyone care to do the Photoshop honours?

 

[wayward bob]

It needs an enormous codpiece

it already has an enormous cock

 

[Spud Murfy]

was he wearing that fucking black leather coat this time?

No I think he had his Berghaus jacket on. I bet Berghaus give him free clobber.

Robert Carlyle would be better in the role - he looks wiry and tough.