Stonehenge - New Discoveries - talk in Shaftesbury by Mike Parker Pearson: 19th May 2016

Shaftesbury and District Archaeological Group has arranged for Mike Parker Pearson to give a talk entitled "Stonehenge - New Discoveries" on Thursday 19th May at 7.30pm at Shaftesbury Town Hall. Mike is Professor of British Later Prehistory at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London and has excavated on archaeological sites around the world from Madagascar to Easter Island, to Orkney.

Mike led the Stonehenge Riverside Project from 2003 until 2009 and, with his team, revolutionised our understanding of Stonehenge, discovering a new henge and the settlement where Stonehenge's builders may have lived. The project collected three archaeological awards, while he received the UK Archaeologist of the Year award in 2010, and in 2012 he published a detailed book about the site which received glowing reviews.

Mike has since directed another major project in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, including the excavation of a Bronze Age settlement where he found the first evidence for mummification in prehistoric Britain. He is well known for his work on funerary archaeology and has written many books on this and other subjects.
By jspiteri  | Blackmore Vale Magazine

The Stonehnege Tourist Guide

The mysterious objects found in Stonehenge woman's grave are going on display at the visitor centre.

Mysterious jewellery and belongings of a woman so important she was buried at a prime spot overlooking Stonehenge are going on display at the monument's visitors' centre for the first time.

Archaeologists and historians are still baffled by some of the items found alongside the body of a woman buried in one of the dozens of burial chambers that line the ridges all around the horizon from Stonehenge.

But of all the barrows and graves that have been investigated, none have produced more incredible, well-preserved or mysterious artefacts than the one of the woman of Normanton Down.

This Easter the objects are going on display for the first time at the Stonehenge Visitors' Centre, with tourists asked to ponder what they could be and why they might have been buried with her.

Full story and image gallery in The Western Daily Press

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When is the Spring Equinox? Why does it mark the start of spring?

THE equinox is celebrated around the world and marks the start of spring. But what is it?

Pagans, revellers and druids greet the sun at Stonehenge

When is the equinox? 

The spring equinox, also known as the vernal equinox, is set to take place on Sunday March 20 2016. 

The date marks the official start of spring, according to an astronomical calendar based on the Earth's orbit of the sun. 

Another equinox in September marks the start of autumn as the nights become longer than the days.

What is the equinox? 

The equinox is an astronomical event in which the sun crosses the celestial equator - the projection of the Earth's equator into space.

On the date of the equinox, both day and night are around the same length around the globe. Afterwards, the day is longer than the night. 

The word equinox is derived from the Latin equi, which means equal, and nox, which means night. 

How is the equinox celebrated? 

Druids and pagans mark the equinox by gathering to greet the sun at the ancient stone circle of Stonehenge in Wiltshire. 

The equinox is a significant solar festival in the pagan calendar and is associated with fertility and renewal. 

It also helps mark Easter, Passover and the Persian new year known as Nowruz.

What is the equilux?

On the date of the equinox itself, the length of day and night are only nearly equal.

The equilux is the date when day and night are exactly equal and took place on Thursday March 17 2016.

It always occurs a few days before the spring equinox and a few days after the autumn equinox.

When do the clocks go forward? 

Britain's clocks will go forward at 1am on the last Sunday of this month, March 27. 

The changing of the clocks means an hour less in bed. It marks the start of more the daylight in the evenings, but less in the mornings. 

By ALICE FOSTER
Full story in the Daily Express

If you wish to visit Stonehenge at Sunrise on the Spring Equinox and do not have tranport.  Solstice Events U.K are offerimg their usual transport / tour service from London and Bath.

Follow us on Periscope for live coverage on the Stonehenge Equinox #Stonehenge

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