Skilled female potters travelled around the Baltic nearly 5000 years ago

These are Neolithic Corded ware pottery recovered in Southern Finland

[Credit: Elisabeth Holmqvist-Sipilä]

Was it the fine pottery itself, or the artisans who made it, that moved around the Baltic Sea region during the Corded Ware Culture of late Neolithic period? Are the archaeological artefacts found in Finland imported goods or were they made out of Finnish clay by artisans who had mastered the new technology? These are the questions researchers are trying to answer in the most extensive original study of archaeological ceramics ever undertaken in the Nordic countries.

Researchers mapped the arrival routes of pottery and people representing the Corded Ware Culture complex (c. 2900-2300 BCE) into the Nordic countries by identifying the areas where the pottery was made.

Corded Ware pottery was very different from earlier Stone Age pottery. It represented a new technology and style, and as a new innovation, used crushed ceramics -- or broken pottery -- mixed in with the clay.

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Ramsey Island: New survey finds 'Bronze Age' site

Ramsey Island is owned and managed by the RSPB

New archaeological sites on a small island off the coast of west Wales have been discovered.

The laser scan of Ramsey Island uncovered a "hidden" landscape thought to date back to the Bronze Age.

The survey, taken from the air, has also seen a detailed 3D model of the two mile-long beauty spot made for the first time.

Experts say the data could also be used to see if climate change affects the environment on the island.

Royal Commission archaeologist Dan Hunt described the findings as "incredible".

He added: "It has presented us with a stunning view of the island in enormous detail."

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The archaeologists sorting out Orkney's Neolithic bones

Archaeologists excavating Neolithic tombs in Orkney are used to finding jumbled collections of bones

A new study could potentially transform our understanding of the way Neolithic people dealt with their dead.

Archaeologists excavating Neolithic tombs in Orkney are used to finding jumbled collections of bones that seem unconnected.

Now, work by Dr Rebecca Crozier, from the University of Aberdeen, suggests whole bodies were placed in the chambered structures.

She said they could have been dismembered after being buried.

She told BBC Radio Orkney: "What we're trying to do is look at all the bones and try and understand why they are in the mess that we finding them in.

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Site of huge Iron Age feast celebration found on Orkney

Windwick Bay at South Ronaldsay, close to the site of the massive cliff top feast held more than 1,700 years ago. PIC: www.geography.co.uk

Archaeologists have identified the site of a huge Iron Age feast on Orkney where more than 10,000 animals were cooked and eaten in a vast cliff top celebration. 

Tests have shown that horses, cattle, red deer and otters were on the menu at the gathering above Windwick Bay, South Ronaldsay, more than 1,700 years ago.

Archaeologists from the University of the Highlands and Islands have been working at The Cairns for several years. 

A large number of jewellery fragments and tools have already been discovered at the site, where the remains of an Iron Age broch and metalworking site can be found, with recent radiocarbon tests carried out at a midden - or rubbish tip - nearby.

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Utrecht’s history goes back 11,000 years, archaeologists say

The history of Utrecht begins at least 8,000 years earlier than was previously thought, local broadcaster RTV Utrecht reported this week. 

The discovery was made when archaeologists were digging at the site of the Prinses Máxima Centrum for children with cancer ahead of its expansion. 

The dig yielded traces of human habitation and objects from the early Stone Age, with some indications that Utrecht started as far back as 11,000 BC. 

‘There have been prehistoric finds in Leidsche Rijn and Hoograven, particularly from the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. But this discovery means the history of Utrecht started 8,000 years earlier than the history books tell us,’ Utrecht alderman Kees Geldof told the broadcaster. 

Not only were older indications of a human presence found at the site but the dig also showed evidence that the site had been inhabited without interruption throughout the Stone Age.

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15,000-year-old artefacts discovered along Scotland's Aberdeen bypass

Artefacts and structures found during archaeological excavations on the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route/Balmedie to Tipperty (AWPR/B-T) project are shedding light on land use and settlement in the north east over the past 15,000 years, including Mesolithic pits, Roman bread ovens, prehistoric roundhouses and a cremation complex.

A beaker from the Chalcolithic period; a fluted carinated bowl from early Neolithic times;
impressed ware from the middle Neolithic 

[Credit: Transport Scotland]

Since the archaeological excavations were completed, specialists have been analysing the artefacts and samples recovered from the various sites and will be detailing the results in a new limited edition book due to be published later this year.

Keith Brown, Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work said: “When complete, the AWPR will help to reduce congestion, cut journey times, improve safety and lower pollution in Aberdeen City Centre, as well as enable local authorities to develop public transport solutions."

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