Dorset Archaeology Day 2025 looks to have an interesting line up

@pastparticipate.bsky.social @museumofsomerset.bsky.social @bristoluni.bsky.social

Just two days to go until the SANHS 2025 Annual Archaeology Day at Wells and Mendip Museum! Tickets are £15 and include refreshments. Please note we are not able to take bookings via the SANHS office now, but you will be able to pay on the door on Saturday.

Come and hear about our archaeological project on Tenants Hill and in the Valley of Stones. Dr Anne Teather will be giving an update on our results so far. To book please visit our events page www.pastparticipate.co.uk/events #archaeology #sarsen #prehistory #dorset

Susann Palmer was a women of multiple talents. She ‘retired’ to Portland in the 1980s and successfully set about uncovering it's prehistory. Amanda Wallwork will be talking about her at Female Foundations: The Lives and Legacies of Women in Earth Science. #IWD2025 #Portland #Dorset #archaeology

Come and hear Rachel talk about Peggy Piggott: Female Foundations: The Lives and Legacies of Women in Earth Sciences 8th March 2025 Dorford Centre, Dorchester All welcome. £45pp to include a buffet lunch. fb.me/e/5j5flHsFW www.reachequality.org/events For tickets email [email protected]

Come and join us in celebrating the significant contributions women have made to our understanding of the past on #IWD2025 Female Foundations: The Lives and Legacies of Women in Earth Sciences 8th March 2025 Dorchester To book tickets email [email protected]

This is just one talk of many, come and join us for a really interesting day

Do you like looking at old maps? Would you like to help us with some ‘quick fire’ desk-based mapping to look for potential sarsens? ww.pastparticipate.co.uk/things-to-do #dailysarsen #archaeology #geology #prehistory #farminginprotectedlandscapes

Past Participate have joined forces with Reach Equality CIC and The Dorchester Associate for this Day School. Booking details in the image. www.reachequality.org/events #women #geology #archaeology #earthsciences #IWD2025

The Hell Stone is a Neolithic Long Barrow that had a ‘make-over’ in the mid C19th. It would have originally looked similar to the Grey Mare and Her Colts. For more on Dorset barrows visit www.pastparticipate.co.uk/post/long-barrows #25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #southdorsetridgeway#TombTuesday

This stone appears isolated and is standing on its head. Look at the orientation of the banding. What happened to the other stones from this field? #25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #sarsen #valleyofstones #southdorsetridgeway #FarminginProtectedLandscapes

The Nine Stones, near Winterbourne Abbas is a small stone circle made with sarsens, probably from the #valleyofstones. #25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #stonecircle #solstice

One of our volunteers surveyed this stone in the summer. It looks as though it might have been used for grinding something, at some point! #dailysarsen #25sarsensofchristmas #valleyofstones #grindingstone #fundinginprotectedlandscapes #heritagefunduk

These sarsens appear to be underneath a field lynchet. There has long been speculation over the date of the field systems in the Valley of Stones? #25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #valleyofstones @NaturalEngland @heritagefunduk.bsky.social

A rather large sarsen was used for the grave stone of John Galpin, a vicar in Portesham who died in 1681. I think it's this one currently covered in ivy. Does anyone have photos before the ivy grew? #25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #tombtuesday #portesham #dorset

6 stones were recorded by Piggott at the Hampton Stone circle in 1939. In 1965 Wainwright were recorded 28 during excavation, none were in their original settings! #25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #prehistory #megalithicmonday

These stones are on the top of the ridge. They must have been brought up here by people but we don't know when. They have been left in this arrangement by a modern farmer! #25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #FarminginProtectedLandscapes #StandingStoneSunday

This is a map showing the extent of the natural sarsen field on Tenants Hill. People may have moved large stones across significant distances for specific purposes but they were unlikely to have carried the smaller ones. #25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #FarminginProtectedLandscapes

What should you expect to find when digging around sarsens? More sarsens! We excavated a small area near the polissoir, and found many, many, small sarsens underneath the topsoil. #25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #sarsen #Neolithic #valleyofstones #FarminginProtectedLandscapes

Sarsen Street Furniture? We think these kerb stones in Abbotsbury are made out of sarsen stone. If anyone is walking past, give them a poke and let us know. Very hard probably = sarsen. #25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #sarsen #FarminginProtectedLandscapes #Abbotsbury #HeritageFundUK

We’ve focused our research so far on the Valley of Stones, but there is also a natural deposit of sarsen stones in Portesham, just down the way. These have been built into the infrastructure of the village #25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #FarminginProtectedLandscapes #portesham #HeritageFundUK

In 1908 these stones were described as ‘a collapsed dolmen’ by the Dorset Field Club. We hope to investigate further-it is an unusual location for this type of monument. #25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #valleyofstones #FarminginProtectedLandscapes #TombTuesday @heritagefunduk.bsky.social

This is one of the stones that kicked off Jim’s thinking about sarsens on Tenants Hill. It is buried at the bottom of a hedge bank. #25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #FarminginProtectedLandscapes @heritagefunduk.bsky.social

This small circle of stones in the Valley of Stones is the remnants of a bronze or iron age house. The house itself would have been built out of wood, just using the stones for additional external support. #25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #sarsen #valleyofstones #FarminginProtectedLandscapes

This is a typical sarsen stone in the Valley of Stones. You can clearly see the different layers of geological deposits. #25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #sarsen #Livingamongstthesarsens #valleyofstones #FarminginProtectedLandscapes @heritagefunduk.bsky.social

When is a circle of stones not a stone circle? When it forms a D shape and has house platforms nearby. This is probably a medieval sheep enclosure. #25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #sarsen #valleyofstones #FarminginProtectedLandscapes

This stone is huge. It’s a contender for the largest stone in the Valley of Stones. Interestingly it has avoided being broken up. Why has it survived? #25sarsensofchristmas #dailysarsen #sarsen #valleyofstones #dorset #FarminginProtectedLandscapes @naturalengland.bsky.social

This is a stone we have affectionately called ‘the turtle stone’. It is one of 18 in the Kingston Russell Stone Circle. #25sarsensofchristmas © Rebecca Pullan #sarsen #Neolithic #southdorsetridgeway #FarminginProtectedLandscapes @englishheritage.bsky.social

The Grey Mare and her Colts is a Neolithic burial monument. 4 large sarsens were placed in front of the entrance once it was no longer used. #25sarsensofchristmas #sarsen #Neolithic #southdorsetridgeway #TombTuesday #FarminginProtectedLandscapes @Gorwellfarm © Past Participate

The Moot Stone marks the meeting point of 4 parish boundaries: the word Moot means ‘Meeting place’. It has been moved slightly in recent times; but was probably first erected in prehistory. #25sarsensofchristmas #sarsen #FarminginProtectedLandscapes #megalithicmonday © Past Participate

We’re recording more than 1500 sarsens in the Valley of Stones, Dorset. Follow us for the next 25 days to hear what sarsens can tell us about people in this landscape. #25sarsensofchristmas #sarsen #FarminginProtectedLandscapes @naturalengland.bsky.social @historicengland © Historic England