Book Review – A Neolithic Universe by Jonathan Morris

This is, without doubt, the most totally bonkers, dazzlingly brilliant, and entirely plausible theory about the purpose of Stonehenge that I have ever read. It manages to explain every aspect of the monument — its location, orientation, construction and purpose in an entirely practical way that demonstrates how the Neolithic builders possessed sophisticated knowledge of metrology and geodesy and built the monument as a physical expression of the cosmos on earth. Jonathan Morris is an engineer who has worked on major projects such as the Chek Lap Kok airport in Hong Kong, so his hypotheses here are entirely plausible and … Continue reading Book Review – A Neolithic Universe by Jonathan Morris

Cochno: Compared

(This is a follow-up article to my earlier blog posts about the Cochno Stone, Re:Covering Cochno and Cochno-Revealed) The future of the Cochno Stone has been very much under discussion recently, due to sterling efforts by Glasgow University archaeologist Kenny Brophy to engage the local community with the process of deciding exactly what should be done with the stone. The main options are: Uncover it and leave nature to take its course, Leave it buried, Make a replica using the LIDAR and photogrammetric data gathered last year by Scottish Ten and Factum Arte, then either cover the stone with the … Continue reading Cochno: Compared

Labyrinths of the British Isles

If you are looking for a labyrinth to walk on World Labyrinth Day, here is my Google Earth placemark file of ‘Labyrinths of the British Isles’, recently updated and now including over 180 labyrinths in Scotland, England, Wales, N. Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The last time I worked on this was about five years ago, and it is quite impressive seeing the number of new labyrinths that have appeared in that time. Each placemark contains details about the labyrinth, and where appropriate access details and contact number so you can check availability. You can access the file using … Continue reading Labyrinths of the British Isles

Space-Clear Your House for Hogmanay

With the end of the year upon us, it’s a good time to have a good clear out and tidy up in the home in readiness for the New Year. This is one of many Scottish traditions carried out at Hogmanay and it is known as ‘redding’ the house. The New Year should bring a completely fresh start, so the entire house is cleaned and the dirt swept out of the back door along with the ‘auld year’. At midnight on Hogmanay, the back door is left open to allow the stagnant energies of the Old Year out, and it … Continue reading Space-Clear Your House for Hogmanay

A Labyrinth For Glasgow

(and a stone circle too!) There have been some considerable developments to Glasgow City Council’s plan to redevelop Sighthill park into an athlete’s village for the 2018 Youth Olympics. Having lost their bid to host the event, the athlete’s village idea has been abandoned but the Council are still planning to proceed with a housing development in the area, necessitating the removal of the stone circle. However, largely as a result of pressure from the community and discussions between circle builder Duncan Lunan and the Council, a compromise agreement has been reached whereby the circle will be removed and reconstructed … Continue reading A Labyrinth For Glasgow