According to the geologists, the river wash or head affected just eight boreholes in the Stonehenge bottom region of the A303 (SU14SW25, SU14SW79, SU14SW80, SU14SW99, SU14SW97, SU14SW60) and indeed looking at SU14SW25 in detail the diagram shows clearly the ‘topsoil’ again made up of the same sand, clay and gravel is 0.80m deep and the head is another 0.4 m deep, yet another borehole just 36m away shows just 0.22 of topsoil and just 0.17m of head, four times smaller. If we look at boreholes outside the map region such as SU14SW61 - 210m to the east of the centre of the maps main river wash deposit we find NO TOPSOIL or HEAD, in the opposite direction SU14SW56 240m to the west we find the same.
This would suggest the map is correct and the head deposit maybe as suggested hill wash - but let’s take a closer look!
The deposits found at the two extremes have what is known as Chalk Grade V deposits - so what is that you ask yourself? Well the description is ‘ structureless chalk composed of slightly sandy silty subtriangular fine to course gravel, weak to medium in density, white with occasional black speckling, matrix is light brown’.
To put this into layman’s terms, you have ‘structureless chalk’ - it is broken and has been moved from the chalk bed, probably by a river cutting into it. Sand silt and gravel we now know is head or alluvium, whatever you wish to call it and the matrix is brown in colour which you would expect from the residue of a river bank. The bedrock is Chalk and chalk is solid and white - so how far down do we need to go to find the bedrock untouched by water?
On the borehole to the east SU14SW61 silt and sand is found in the chalk all the way down to 6m, even at 12m down the report reads of “occasionally thinly in filled with silty sandy comminuted (broken) chalk”.
Are they really suggesting that the ancient river did not flow near over this area?
Borehole data from Stonehenge Bottom
And what of the other borehole SU14SW56? At 14m below the surface we still do not find the bedrock but “weak to very weak thinly bedded light brown to brown silty fine to medium grained sandstone. Silt of chalk, sand is sub-rounded… in filled with brown silty sand”. Again this shows that groundwater was on this spot in prehistoric times. In fact if we go to the extremes of the borehole area SU14SW76 some 500m to the west of the maps centre we even find the return of topsoil, head and structureless chalk, down to 1.1m.
Clearly the prehistoric river was not just 80m wide but more like 1000m wide, better known as a kilometre. So armed with this proof of evidence we can move forward to show how these rivers affected our prehistoric past, putting aside the idea of ‘hill wash’ as being more ‘eye wash’ than real substance.
Moreover, geologists had noticed that from a topographical perspective, ‘River Terrace Deposits’ for the River Avon had, in certain areas, the highest terraces in the district of Salisbury, which were between 30m and 45m above the floodplain of the lower Avon – in other words, at some point in the past, the River Avon flowed approximately 40 metres higher than it does today, the height of a small office block. One of these River Terraces has been carbon dated some 300m from Durrington Walls, Scaife (in Cleal and Pollard 2004) reported pollen found in peat and alluvium sediments had a carbon date of 8300 - 7200 BCE (GU-3239) support our observations of this area. If this level of flooding was reproduced today, it would flood Stonehenge Bottom and make Stonehenge a peninsula.
Peat
Peat (turf) is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation. One of the most common components is Sphagnum moss, although many other plants can contribute. Soils that contain mostly peat are known as a histosol. Peat forms in wetland conditions, where flooding obstructs flows of oxygen from the atmosphere, reducing rates of decomposition.
Bogs are the most important source of peat, but other less common wetland types also deposit peat, including fens, pocosins, and peat swamp forests. There are many other good words for lands dominated by peat including moors, muskeg, or mires. Landscapes covered in peat also have specific kinds of plants, particularly Sphagnum moss, Ericaceous shrubs, and sedges (see bog for more information on this aspect of peat). Since organic matter accumulates over thousands of years, peat deposits also provide records of past vegetation and climates stored in plant remains, particularly pollen. Hence they allow humans to reconstruct past environments and changes in human land use.5
Peat forms when plant material, usually in marshy areas, is inhibited from decaying fully by acidic and anaerobic (lack of oxygen) conditions. It is composed mainly of marshland vegetation: trees, grasses, fungi, as well as other types of organic remains, such as insects, and animal remains. Under certain conditions, the decomposition of the latter is inhibited, and archaeologists often take advantage of this.
Peat layer growth and the degree of decomposition (or humidification) depend principally on its composition and on the degree of waterlogging. Peat formed in very wet conditions accumulates considerably faster, and is less decomposed, then that in drier places. This allows climatologists to use peat as an indicator of climatic change.
Unlike sub-soils, such as head and alluvium, most peat bogs can be accurately carbon dated - this is central to my hypotheses. The result of carbon dating concludes that peat bogs in Britain were formed after the flooding caused by glaciers melting at the end of the last Ice Age over 10,000 years ago.
If my hypothesis is correct, there should be more peat here in Britain than in similar countries to the South, as the Isostatic Transformation (landscape compression contributing to the flooding) would have a higher percentage of peat as these islands (that we now know as Britain and others to the East and North East of Europe) were affected to a greater degree by raising Groundwater tables and making them marshier, wet and waterlogged more than other less affected countries.
Percentage of the country that has peat
According to the European Soil Bureau Network 10.9% of the total land surface in Britain is peat. In comparison, France, our nearest Southerly neighbour, has only 0.6% and Spain, a mere 0.1% although they share very similar sub-soils and prehistoric foliage. This clearly shows that Britain has 18 to 100 times greater peat deposits than any of its Southerly neighbours.
The reason for this inconsistency is that the ice cap lay on the North West side of Britain during the Ice Age. As the ice melted, Britain was consumed by the flood waters which didn’t reach past the English Channel and within Britain itself, the North West region suffered from the greatest amount of flooding. Consequently, the greatest deposits of peat can be found in the North West region of Britain.
In addition, the ratio of peat to land mass in Ireland is an incredible 16.5% - almost the same as that found in Scotland, 16.3%. Remember, both counties would have taken the full weight of the ice cap during the last Ice Age, together with the North West region of Britain.
Proof of Hypothesis No.6
Abnormally high peat deposits in Britain, compared to our ‘southerly’ neighbouring countries bears testament that the British landscape was in recent times (last 9,000 years) must have been flooded for an extensive period.
Case Study - Star Carr
Star Carr now lies under farmland at the eastern end of the Vale of Pickering. During the Mesolithic the site was near the outflow at the western end of a paleolake, known as Lake Flixton. At the end of the last ice age a combination of glacial and post-glacial geomorphology caused the area drained to the west (away from the shortest-distance to the sea at Filey). The basin filled by Lake Flixton was probably created by glacial ‚scarring’.
The site is preserved due to Lake Flixton in-filling with peat during the course of the Mesolithic. Waterlogged peat prevents organic finds from oxidising and has led to some of the best preservation conditions possible (such conditions have preserved the famous bog bodies found in other parts of northern Europe). As a result of such good conditions archaeologists were able to recover bone, antler and wood in addition to the flints that are normally all that is left on sites from this period. The finds in the peat are dated to 8700
BCE.6
In conclusion
We have shown that if we delve into the deep geology of Britain we find that it has suffered a catastrophic disaster during and after the last ice age which we are just recovering from. This climatic disaster left the land we see that is dry and green today as a land of islands that was surrounded with lakes and gigantic rivers for thousands of years after man had returned to these shores.
This process can be seen in our last case study on the Somerset Flats as it not only shows that the raised groundwater levels after the last ice age continued for some considerable time and that archaeological artefacts found in this period are causing major problems in understanding as the traditional models do not reflect the reality of our history.
CASE STUDY - SOMERSET FLATS
The Somerset flats are a strange paradox to any rational person studying the area. A paper by the Somerset County Council on the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Period clearly states that;
The Early Mesolithic (as defined for present purposes) covers most of the first “epoch”. In the Late Glacial and Early Holocene, the ameliorating Palaeolithic and Mesolithic climate was reflected by a rapid rise in sea level of c.1cm per year, with a drop in this rate after c.7000–6500 BP (c.5990–5350 cal BCE).
Sea level rose from c.35m below present mean sea level (MSL) at c.9500 BP (c.9130–8630 cal BCE), reaching c.5m below MSL in the Bristol Channel by c.4000–3800 cal BCE (the rate of rise having slowed by c.4000 cal BCE).
At the time of the Mesolithic, the Somerset Plain was between 5m and 35m above the sea level - so why was it flooded?
Let’s see what Wikipedia makes of this paradox?
`The Somerset Levels, or the Somerset Levels and Moors as they are less commonly but more correctly known, is a sparsely populated coastal plain and wetland area of central Somerset, South West England, between the Quantock and Mendip Hills. The Levels occupy an area of about 160,000 acres (650 km2), corresponding broadly to the administrative district of Sedgemoor but also including the south-eastern part of the Mendip district. The Somerset Levels are bisected by the Polden Hills; the areas to the south are drained by the River Parrett, and the areas to the North by the rivers Axe and Brue. The Mendip Hills separate the Somerset Levels from the North Somerset Levels. The Somerset Levels consist of marine clay `levels’ along the coast, and inland (often peat-based) `moors’ agriculturally, about 70 percent is used as grassland and the rest is arable. Willow and teazel are grown commercially and peat is extracted.
One explanation for the county of Somerset’s name is that, in prehistory, because of winter flooding humans restricted their use of the Levels to the summer, leading to a derivation from Sumorsaete, meaning land of the summer people. A Palaeolithic flint tool found in West Sedgemoor is the earliest indication of human presence in the area. The Neolithic people exploited the reedswamps for their natural resources and started to construct wooden trackways, including the world’s oldest known timber trackway, the Sweet Track, dating from the 3800s BCE. The Levels were the location of the Glastonbury Lake Village as well as two Lake villages at Meare Lake. Several settlements and hill forts were built on the natural `islands’ of slightly raised land, including Brent Knoll and Glastonbury. In the Roman period sea salt was extracted and a string of settlements were set up along the Polden Hills.’7
Winter Flooding - so how do we know that?
Somerset flats 5000 BCE
The most recent paper by Dr Richard Brunning shows that in 8300BCE the entire region was covered with over 100 islands. But if the Sea level was below the land surface - by at least 5m, how did it flood, even in winter? The amount of rain needed to flood this area is equivalent to a far eastern monsoon - and if it rained that much in Somerset, it must have rained the same throughout Britain?
The only logical answer is that the rivers feeding this ‚delta’ were flooded with excess water from the ice age that had raised their groundwater levels by about 30m. This would allow sufficient groundwater to flood the Somerset Levels before flowing into the Sea some 5m below the land level.8
Proof of Hypothesis No. 7
The Somerset flats are well known to have flooded in the recent past because of sea intrusion. But during the Mesolithic Period, the sea level was 5-35m lower than today. The 100+ islands reported by Dr Brunning can only exist if the water was fresh water from local rivers, due to higher ground water levels.
What is more interesting is that the same site showed us quite clearly why academic argument needs to be questioned and should never be taken as correct.
Somerset was the site of the UK’s oldest open-air cemetery, the county council says;
“Recent radiocarbon dating of two skulls found at a sand quarry in Greylake nature reserve near Middlezoy in 1928 revealed them to be 10,000 years old. The council said the find was made under its Lost Islands of Somerset project by a team investigating the archaeology of the Somerset Levels. Since their discovery, the skulls have been held at Bridgwater’s Blake Museum.
The new findings show that by around 8,300 BCE, hunter-gatherers were burying their dead on what was once an island amid the Levels. All the other human remains from this early period in Britain have been found in caves such as Aveline’s Hole in Somerset which is the largest Mesolithic burial ground in the UK.”
Somerset County Councillor Christine Lawrence, cabinet member for community services said: “Somerset’s wonderfully rich heritage plays a big part in attracting visitors. I’m delighted that this project has thrown new light on to these exciting finds.”
“This was amazing news and was just the result we were hoping for,” added Dr Richard Brunning, from Somerset County Council’s Heritage Service who is leading the Lost Islands of Somerset Project. “It shows that a Mesolithic hunter-gatherer group was operating from the island and burying its dead there. Such open-air cemeteries are extremely rare in Europe and this is the only one known from the UK.”
Flint tools were also found in large numbers on the site in the 1950s suggesting that it was used as a long-term camp site. The Lost Islands of Somerset Project team will carry out more analysis on the skulls and tools to ascertain how this ancient community lived and died.9
Quite interesting until you read between the lines and then some disturbing questions arise; these skulls were discovered in 1922 - why is it taken 80 years to realise that the find was important? The good doctor claims that they were a burial - so did they find the rest of the skeleton and if so what position where they buried in? What ages were the skulls - are we looking at a family or ancestors over a period of time?
So what can we truly assume from this evidence?
Well looking at the online archive I can tell you that only the skulls were found so burial is unlikely and as the original discoverer believed them to be victims of the Sedgmoor battle burials of the 16th century - we can now see why it took 80 years for someone to carbon date the skulls.
As you see when archaeologists get it wrong - they can do it big time!
The doctor talks of the skulls being buried on Somerset islands. Unfortunately I have found the exact site where the skulls were found and the profile shows that the quarry is not on an island - nice try!! What they have found is a result of a boat accident in 8300BCE, as you can see these would be islands close to the site and no doubt they were either sailing to or from Glastonbury via Priest Hill which contains a Long Barrow at Collard Hill.
Sorry to say, just another case of when academics just get it wrong due to them trying to tow the accepted path of scientific nonsense rather than looking at the facts and coming to their own conclusions. This is not the first time that the ‚experts’ have got it all wrong - the Visitors Car Park Post Holes found in 1966 and classified as late Neolithic (the same date as Stonehenge) - it was an eagle eyed student (without a PhD or MSc) who realised that the wood found, pine did not exist in the late Neolithic Period - it was only then that the samples were sent for carbon testing. Where it would still be sitting now and
my hypothesis would have no real evidence.
How many other samples have yet to be discovered??
This is why I question all academic research, not because they don’t understand but they want to keep their jobs and be employed in the future as they have mortgages to pay and children to feed, so they will reflect the ‚accepted dates and theories’. This is institutional self regulation - we see it with the financial services and with the media. It is neither the truth nor full disclosure.
The Stonehenge Enigma (Prehistoric Britain Book 1) Page 6
