Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Friday 16 December 2022

Understanding more about the world of Stonehenge


Live Science has a report about the latest research on a burial found in 1801 about ten miles from Stonehenge, and long interpreted as that of a shaman and his wife. The finds are now in the Devizes Museum. This new research has found evidence suggesting that the tools in the grave had been used for gold beating. That fact may well suggest a more complex social role for the couple, and to the religious dimension of metallurgy in early societies.  

The wider implication is a further pointer to the landscape around Stonehenge as a ritual one, and that the whole complex of stones, earthworks and burials was a major focus of cult activity and devotion for many centuries.
 


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