1.
Menai Strait
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The Menai Strait is a narrow stretch of shallow tidal water about 25 km long, which separates the island of Anglesey from the mainland of Wales. The strait varies in width from 400 metres from Fort Belan to Abermenai Point to 1,100 metres from Traeth Gwyllt to Caernarfon Castle and it then narrows to about 500 metres in the middle reaches and then it broadens again. At Bangor, Garth Pier, it is 900 metres wide and it then widens out, and the distance from Puffin Island to Penmaenmawr is about 7.5 kilometres. The differential tides at the two ends of the strait cause very strong currents to flow in both directions through the strait at different times, creating dangerous conditions, one of the most dangerous areas of the strait is known as the Swellies between the two bridges. Here rocks near the surface cause over-falls and local whirlpools, which can be of danger in themselves. This was the site of the loss of the training ship HMS Conway in 1953, entering the strait at the Caernarfon end is also hazardous because of the frequently shifting sand banks that make up Caernarfon bar. On the mainland side at this point is Fort Belan, an 18th-century defensive fort built in the times of the American War of Independence, the present day channel is a result of glacial erosion of the bedrock along a line of weakness associated with the Menai Strait Fault System. The result was a series of linear bedrock hollows across the region, the tidal effects observed along the banks of the strait can also be confusing. A rising tide approaches from the south-west, causing the water in the strait to flow north-eastwards as the level rises, the tide also flows around Anglesey until, after a few hours, it starts to flow into the strait in a south-westerly direction from Beaumaris. By the time this happens the tidal flow from the Caernarfon end is weakening, a similar sequence is seen in reverse on a falling tide. This means that slack water between the bridges tends to occur approximately one hour before high tide or low tide, theoretically it is possible to ford the strait in the Swellies at low water, spring tides when the depth may fall to less than 0.5 metres. However, at times a strong current of around 4.8 knots is running, making the passage extremely difficult. Elsewhere in the strait the minimum depth is never less than 2 metres until the sand flats at Lavan sands are reached beyond Bangor. The tides carry large quantities of fish, and the construction of Fish weirs on both banks and on several of the islands, helped make the Strait an important source of fish for many centuries, eight of the numerous Menai Strait fish weirs are now Scheduled monuments. Because the strait has such unusual tidal conditions, coupled with low wave heights because of its sheltered position, it presents a unique. The depth of the channel reaches 15 metres in places, and it is very rich in sponges. The waters are also a proposed Marine Nature Reserve, much of the land on Anglesey at the eastern end of the strait is designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty. Beaumaris Bangor Caernarfon Menai Bridge Y Felinheli Just north of the bridge on Anglesey is the famously named Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Chambered tomb
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A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interree than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could also serve as places for storage of the dead from one family or social group and were used over long periods for multiple burials. There are numerous terms for them depending on the period, design, most were constructed from large stones or megaliths and covered by cairns, barrows or earth, but the term is also applied to rock-cut tombs and wooden-chambered tombs covered with earth barrows. Grave goods are a characteristic of chamber tomb burials. In Neolithic and Bronze Age Europe, stone-built examples of burials are known by the generic term of megalithic tombs. Chamber tombs are often distinguished by the layout of their chambers and entrances or the shape and material of the structure that covered them, a wide variety of local types has been identified, and some designs appear to have influenced others. Mycenaean chamber tomb V-shaped passage grave Cruciform passage grave Clava cairn Other types, Domus de Janas Dysser Medway tomb Shaft and chamber tomb Piccolo, ancient Stones, The Prehistoric Dolmens of Sicily
4.
Neolithic British Isles
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The Neolithic British Isles refers to the period of British, Irish and Manx history that spanned from circa 4000 to circa 2,500 BCE. The final part of the Stone Age in the British Isles, it was a part of the greater Neolithic, or New Stone Age, during the preceding Mesolithic period, the inhabitants of the British Isles had been Mesolithic European hunter-gatherers. Around 4000 BCE migrants began arriving from central Europe and these migrants brought new ideas, leading to a radical transformation of society and landscape that has been called the Neolithic Revolution. The Neolithic period in the British Isles was characterised by the adoption of agriculture, to make room for the new farmland, these early agricultural communities undertook mass deforestation across the islands, dramatically and permanently transforming the landscape. At the same time, new types of stone tools requiring more skill began to be produced, the Neolithic also saw the construction of a wide variety of monuments in the landscape, many of which were megalithic in nature. These constructions are taken to reflect ideological changes, with new ideas about religion and this investigation began amongst the antiquarians of the 18th century, intensified in the 19th when John Lubbock coined the term Neolithic. In the 20th and 21st centuries, further excavation and synthesis went ahead, dominated by figures like V. Gordon Childe, Stuart Piggott, Julian Thomas, the period that preceded the Neolithic in the British Isles is known by archaeologists as the Mesolithic. During this period, Britain was still attached by the landmass of Doggerland to the rest of continental Europe, the site is still in early stages of excavation but is expected to yield major contributions to knowledge of the period. Meldon Bridge Period The period that followed the Neolithic is known by archaeologists as the Bronze Age, the Neolithic is largely categorised by the introduction of farming into Britain from continental Europe, from where it had come originally from the Middle East. Archaeologists disagree about whether the transition from hunter-gatherer to agricultural society was gradual, over a period of centuries, or rapid, There are a number of options. Groups of pioneers could have set off from the continent in one-off small-scale invasions, or people might have arrived after a long-term and eclectic mixture of contacts down the continental coast from Denmark to France. Or gatherer-hunters might have traveled by boat to the continent and brought back the animals, the reason for switching from a hunter-gatherer to an agricultural lifestyle has been widely debated by archaeologists and anthropologists. Ethnographic studies of farming societies who use basic tools and crops have shown that it is a much more labour-intensive way of life than that of hunter-gatherers. It would have involved deforesting an area, digging and tilling the soil, storing seeds, the Neolithic agriculturalists deforested areas of woodland in the British Isles in order to use the cleared land for farming. Notable examples of forest clearance occurred around 5000 BCE in Broome Heath in East Anglia, on the North Yorkshire Moors and also on Dartmoor. Such clearances were performed not only with the use of stone axes, nonetheless, in many areas the forests had regrown within a few centuries, including at Ballysculion, Ballynagilly, Beaghmore and the Somerset Levels. For instance, it has suggested that farmers collected all the elm leaves to use as animal fodder during the winter. These areas saw an intensification of production, and larger settlements
5.
Scheduled monument
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In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation used for protecting heritage assets from damage. The protection given to scheduled monuments is given under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, a heritage asset is a part of the historic environment that is valued because of its historic, archaeological, architectural or artistic interest. Only some of these are judged to be important enough to have legal protection through designation. There are about 20,000 scheduled monuments in England representing about 37,000 heritage assets, of the tens of thousands of scheduled monuments in the UK, most are inconspicuous archaeological sites, but some are large ruins. According to the 1979 Act, a monument cannot be a structure which is occupied as a dwelling, as a rule of thumb, a protected historic asset that is occupied would be designated as a listed building. Scheduled Monuments are defined in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979, in England, Wales and Scotland they are often referred to as a scheduled ancient monument, although the Act defines only ancient monument and scheduled monument. A monument can be, A building or structure, cave or excavation which is above or below the surface of the land, a site comprising any vehicle, vessel, aircraft or other moveable structure. In Northern Ireland they are designated under separate legislation and are referred to as a historic monument or a monument in state care. The first Act to enshrine legal protection for ancient monuments was the Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1882 and this identified an initial list of 68 prehistoric sites, which were given a degree of legal protection. This was the result of strenuous representation by William Morris and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, which had been founded in 1877. Following various previous attempts, the 1882 legislation was guided through parliament by John Lubbock, the first Inspector of Ancient Monuments, as set up by the act, was Augustus Pitt Rivers. At this point, only the inspector, answering directly to the First Commissioner of Works, was involved in surveying the scheduled sites and persuading landowners to offer sites to the state. The act also established the concept of guardianship, in which a site might remain in private ownership, however the legislation could not compel landowners, as that level of state interference with private property was not politically possible. The Ancient Monuments Protection Act 1900 extended the scope of the legislation to include medieval monuments, in a speech in 1907, Robert Hunter, chairman of the National Trust, observed that only a further 18 sites had been added to the original list of 68. Charles Peers, an architect, was appointed as Inspector in 1910 in the Office of Works becoming Chief Inspector in 1913. The job title Inspector is still in use, scheduling offers protection because it makes it illegal to undertake a great range of works within a designated area, without first obtaining scheduled monument consent. However, it does not affect the owner’s freehold title or other interests in the land
6.
Prehistory
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Prehistory means literally before history, from the Latin word for before, præ, and Greek ιστορία. Neighbouring civilisations were the first to follow, most other civilisations reached the end of prehistory during the Iron Age. The period when a culture is written about by others, but has not developed its own writing is known as the protohistory of the culture. By definition, there are no records from human prehistory. Clear techniques for dating were not well-developed until the 19th century and this article is concerned with human prehistory as defined here above. There are separate articles for the history of the Earth. However, for the race as a whole, prehistory ends when recorded history begins with the accounts of the ancient world around the 4th millennium BC. For example, in Egypt it is accepted that prehistory ended around 3200 BC, whereas in New Guinea the end of the prehistoric era is set much more recently. The three-age system is the periodization of prehistory into three consecutive time periods, named for their respective predominant tool-making technologies, Stone Age Bronze Age Iron Age. The notion of prehistory began to surface during the Enlightenment in the work of antiquarians who used the word primitive to describe societies that existed before written records, the first use of the word prehistory in English, however, occurred in the Foreign Quarterly Review in 1836. The main source for prehistory is archaeology, but some scholars are beginning to more use of evidence from the natural and social sciences. This view has been articulated by advocates of deep history, human population geneticists and historical linguists are also providing valuable insight for these questions. Human prehistory differs from history not only in terms of its chronology, restricted to material processes, remains and artifacts rather than written records, prehistory is anonymous. Because of this, reference terms that use, such as Neanderthal or Iron Age are modern labels with definitions sometimes subject to debate. Palaeolithic means Old Stone Age, and begins with the first use of stone tools, the Paleolithic is the earliest period of the Stone Age. The early part of the Palaeolithic is called the Lower Palaeolithic, evidence of control of fire by early humans during the Lower Palaeolithic Era is uncertain and has at best limited scholarly support. The most widely accepted claim is that H. erectus or H. ergaster made fires between 790,000 and 690,000 BP in a site at Bnot Yaakov Bridge, Israel. The use of fire enabled early humans to cook food, provide warmth, Early Homo sapiens originated some 200,000 years ago, ushering in the Middle Palaeolithic
7.
Wales
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Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and it had a population in 2011 of 3,063,456 and has a total area of 20,779 km2. Wales has over 1,680 miles of coastline and is mountainous, with its higher peaks in the north and central areas, including Snowdon. The country lies within the temperate zone and has a changeable. Welsh national identity emerged among the Celtic Britons after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, Llywelyn ap Gruffudds death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of Englands conquest of Wales, though Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to Wales in the early 15th century. The whole of Wales was annexed by England and incorporated within the English legal system under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542, distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism, Welsh national feeling grew over the century, Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and the Welsh Language Society in 1962. Established under the Government of Wales Act 1998, the National Assembly for Wales holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, two-thirds of the population live in south Wales, mainly in and around Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, and in the nearby valleys. Now that the countrys traditional extractive and heavy industries have gone or are in decline, Wales economy depends on the sector, light and service industries. Wales 2010 gross value added was £45.5 billion, over 560,000 Welsh language speakers live in Wales, and the language is spoken by a majority of the population in parts of the north and west. From the late 19th century onwards, Wales acquired its popular image as the land of song, Rugby union is seen as a symbol of Welsh identity and an expression of national consciousness. The Old English-speaking Anglo-Saxons came to use the term Wælisc when referring to the Celtic Britons in particular, the modern names for some Continental European lands and peoples have a similar etymology. The modern Welsh name for themselves is Cymry, and Cymru is the Welsh name for Wales and these words are descended from the Brythonic word combrogi, meaning fellow-countrymen. The use of the word Cymry as a self-designation derives from the location in the post-Roman Era of the Welsh people in modern Wales as well as in northern England and southern Scotland. It emphasised that the Welsh in modern Wales and in the Hen Ogledd were one people, in particular, the term was not applied to the Cornish or the Breton peoples, who are of similar heritage, culture, and language to the Welsh. The word came into use as a self-description probably before the 7th century and it is attested in a praise poem to Cadwallon ap Cadfan c. 633. Thereafter Cymry prevailed as a reference to the Welsh, until c.1560 the word was spelt Kymry or Cymry, regardless of whether it referred to the people or their homeland. The Latinised forms of names, Cambrian, Cambric and Cambria, survive as lesser-used alternative names for Wales, Welsh
8.
Anglesey
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Anglesey or Ynys Môn is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. With an area of 276 square miles, Anglesey is by far the largest island of Wales, Anglesey is also the largest island in the Irish Sea by area, and the second most populous island in the Irish Sea. The population at the 2011 census was 69,751, two bridges span the Menai Strait, connecting the island to the mainland, the Menai Suspension Bridge, designed by Thomas Telford in 1826, and the Britannia Bridge. A historic county of Wales and later administrated as part of Gwynedd, Anglesey today makes up the Isle of Anglesey County along with Holy Island and other smaller islands. The majority of Angleseys inhabitants are Welsh speakers and Ynys Môn, Anglesey is derived from Old Norse, originally either Ǫngullsey Hook Island or Ǫnglisey Ǫnglis Island. No record of any such Ǫngli survives, but the name was used by Viking raiders as early as the 10th century and was later adopted by the Normans during their invasions of Gwynedd. All of these derive from the proposed Proto-Indo-European root *ank-. It was also spelled as Anglesea. Ynys Môn, the islands Welsh name, was first recorded as Latin Mona by various Roman sources and it was likewise known to the Saxons as Monez. The Brittonic original was in the past taken to have meant Island of the Cow and this view is linguistically untenable, however, according to modern scientific philology. The etymology thus currently remains a mystery, poetic names for Anglesey include the Old Welsh Ynys Dywyll for its former groves and Ynys y Cedairn for its royal courts, Gerald of Wales Môn Mam Cymru for its productivity, and Y fêl Ynys. Numerous megalithic monuments and menhirs are present on Anglesey, testifying to the presence of humans in prehistory, Plas Newydd is near one of 28 cromlechs that remain on uplands overlooking the sea. The Welsh Triads claim that Anglesey was once part of the mainland, historically, Anglesey has long been associated with the druids. News of Boudicas revolt reached him just after his victory, causing him to withdraw his army before consolidating his conquest, the island was finally brought into the Roman Empire by Gnaeus Julius Agricola, the Roman governor of Britain, in AD78. During the Roman occupation, the area was notable for the mining of copper, the foundations of Caer Gybi as well as a fort at Holyhead are Roman, and the present road from Holyhead to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll was originally a Roman road. The island was grouped by Ptolemy with Ireland rather than with Britain, British Iron Age and Roman sites have been excavated and coins and ornaments discovered, especially by the 19th century antiquarian, William Owen Stanley. Following the Roman departure from Britain in the early 5th century, pirates from Ireland colonised Anglesey, in response to this, Cunedda ap Edern, a Gododdin warlord from Scotland, came to the area and began to drive the Irish out. This was continued by his son Einion Yrth ap Cunedda and grandson Cadwallon Lawhir ap Einion, as an island, Anglesey was in a good defensive position, and so Aberffraw became the site of the court, or Llys, of the Kingdom of Gwynedd
9.
Llanddaniel Fab
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Llanddaniel Fab is a village and community in the Welsh county of Isle of Anglesey. At the 2001 census it had a population of 699, increasing to 776 at the 2011 census and it is near the prehistoric monument of Bryn Celli Ddu which was constructed in the late neolithic period. In the east of the community, by the Menai Strait, stands the country seat of the Marquess of Anglesey, Plas Newydd, the house has been owned by the National Trust since 1976. During the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth crisis, many sheep and cattle were slaughtered in the area, the village has its own community council and its county council representative is Hywel Eifion Jones, who has held the post since May 1999. Amenities include a post office, primary school, and a 12-hole golf course, probably the villages most famous son is Tecwyn Roberts, who became NASA’s first Flight Dynamics Officer with Project Mercury that put the first American into space. Roberts was born at Trefnant Bach cottage in Llanddaniel Fab and was a pupil of Ysgol Parc y Bont. St Deiniols Church is a small 19th-century church in the village, the first church in this location is said to have been established by St Deiniol Fab in 616. The current building incorporates some material and fittings from its predecessor, the church is no longer in use, and the village is now served by a church in Llanfairpwllgwyngyll. A Vision of Britain Through Time British Listed Buildings Genuki Geograph Llanddaniel Office for National Statistics
10.
Welsh toponymy
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The placenames of Wales derive in most cases from the Welsh language, but have also been influenced by linguistic contact with the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, Anglo-Normans and modern English. The study of placenames in Wales reveals significant features of the countrys history, Welsh culture and political autonomy has been reasserted increasingly since the mid 19th century. Many place names in Britain, particularly of natural features such as rivers and hills, obvious examples of place names of Welsh origin are the numerous Rivers Avon, from the Welsh afon and place names such as Penrith. Place names from the Western Brittonic-speaking Hen Ogledd occur in Cumbria and these include the name of Edinburgh, from Cumbric Din Eidin Eidins Fort. Welsh remains a language, spoken by over 20% of the countrys population. Like all languages, it has changed over time and continues to do so, for instance by accepting loan words from languages such as Latin. The Welsh language itself has many characteristics unfamiliar to most English speakers that can make it difficult to understand its place names, for example, it uses a number of initial consonant changes in different grammatical circumstances. In relation to place names, this means that, for example, other changes can apply to internal vowels. There are also differences between Welsh and English spelling standards, which have affected how place names are spelled in the two languages, early inhabitants of Wales gave names first to noteworthy natural features, such as rivers, hills, mountains, harbours and shores. The Roman towns which were established were generally fortified and were given the name of castra. Many of these continued as towns after the Romans left, including Caernarfon, Carmarthen, Caerleon, elsewhere, many villages and later towns took their names from natural features. For example, Abergele refers to the mouth of the Gele, Harlech means fair rock, Rhuddlan red bank, and Porthcawl harbour with sea-kale. Aberystwyth means mouth of the Ystwyth, a river a mile or so away from the town centre, many others took their name from religious settlements and clasau established from the fifth century onwards. These generally use the prefix llan, roughly equivalent to parish, most of them are dedicated to their founders, who hailed from local dynasties and were venerated as patron saints. Examples include Llandudno, Llanelli, and Llantwit, following the Norman invasion of Wales, some were rededicated to more generic saints, Llanilar, Llanfoist. A few—usually by mistake—include other elements or none at all, Llan, Powys, Llanharry, other religious placenames include merthyr and eglwys. Over the centuries, Welsh place names have been affected by social. The Industrial Revolution saw the development of new towns and villages
11.
Archaeology
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Archaeology, or archeology, is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities. In North America, archaeology is considered a sub-field of anthropology, archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. Archaeology as a field is distinct from the discipline of palaeontology, Archaeology is particularly important for learning about prehistoric societies, for whom there may be no written records to study. Prehistory includes over 99% of the human past, from the Paleolithic until the advent of literacy in societies across the world, Archaeology has various goals, which range from understanding culture history to reconstructing past lifeways to documenting and explaining changes in human societies through time. The discipline involves surveying, excavation and eventually analysis of data collected to learn more about the past, in broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research. Archaeology developed out of antiquarianism in Europe during the 19th century, Archaeology has been used by nation-states to create particular visions of the past. Nonetheless, today, archaeologists face many problems, such as dealing with pseudoarchaeology, the looting of artifacts, a lack of public interest, the science of archaeology grew out of the older multi-disciplinary study known as antiquarianism. Antiquarians studied history with attention to ancient artifacts and manuscripts. Tentative steps towards the systematization of archaeology as a science took place during the Enlightenment era in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, in Europe, philosophical interest in the remains of Greco-Roman civilization and the rediscovery of classical culture began in the late Middle Age. Antiquarians, including John Leland and William Camden, conducted surveys of the English countryside, one of the first sites to undergo archaeological excavation was Stonehenge and other megalithic monuments in England. John Aubrey was a pioneer archaeologist who recorded numerous megalithic and other monuments in southern England. He was also ahead of his time in the analysis of his findings and he attempted to chart the chronological stylistic evolution of handwriting, medieval architecture, costume, and shield-shapes. Excavations were also carried out in the ancient towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum and these excavations began in 1748 in Pompeii, while in Herculaneum they began in 1738. The discovery of entire towns, complete with utensils and even human shapes, however, prior to the development of modern techniques, excavations tended to be haphazard, the importance of concepts such as stratification and context were overlooked. The father of archaeological excavation was William Cunnington and he undertook excavations in Wiltshire from around 1798, funded by Sir Richard Colt Hoare. Cunnington made meticulous recordings of neolithic and Bronze Age barrows, one of the major achievements of 19th century archaeology was the development of stratigraphy. The idea of overlapping strata tracing back to successive periods was borrowed from the new geological and paleontological work of scholars like William Smith, James Hutton, the application of stratigraphy to archaeology first took place with the excavations of prehistorical and Bronze Age sites
12.
Neolithic
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It ended when metal tools became widespread. The Neolithic is a progression of behavioral and cultural characteristics and changes, including the use of wild and domestic crops, the beginning of the Neolithic culture is considered to be in the Levant about 10, 200–8800 BC. It developed directly from the Epipaleolithic Natufian culture in the region, whose people pioneered the use of wild cereals, which then evolved into true farming. The Natufian period was between 12,000 and 10,200 BC, and the so-called proto-Neolithic is now included in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic between 10,200 and 8800 BC. By 10, 200–8800 BC, farming communities arose in the Levant and spread to Asia Minor, North Africa, Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. Early Neolithic farming was limited to a range of plants, both wild and domesticated, which included einkorn wheat, millet and spelt, and the keeping of dogs, sheep. By about 6900–6400 BC, it included domesticated cattle and pigs, the establishment of permanently or seasonally inhabited settlements, not all of these cultural elements characteristic of the Neolithic appeared everywhere in the same order, the earliest farming societies in the Near East did not use pottery. Early Japanese societies and other East Asian cultures used pottery before developing agriculture, unlike the Paleolithic, when more than one human species existed, only one human species reached the Neolithic. The term Neolithic derives from the Greek νέος néos, new and λίθος líthos, stone, the term was invented by Sir John Lubbock in 1865 as a refinement of the three-age system. In the Middle East, cultures identified as Neolithic began appearing in the 10th millennium BC, early development occurred in the Levant and from there spread eastwards and westwards. Neolithic cultures are attested in southeastern Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia by around 8000 BC. The total excavated area is more than 1,200 square yards, the Neolithic 1 period began roughly 10,000 years ago in the Levant. A temple area in southeastern Turkey at Göbekli Tepe dated around 9500 BC may be regarded as the beginning of the period. This site was developed by nomadic tribes, evidenced by the lack of permanent housing in the vicinity. At least seven stone circles, covering 25 acres, contain limestone pillars carved with animals, insects, Stone tools were used by perhaps as many as hundreds of people to create the pillars, which might have supported roofs. Other early PPNA sites dating to around 9500–9000 BC have been found in Jericho, Israel, Gilgal in the Jordan Valley, the start of Neolithic 1 overlaps the Tahunian and Heavy Neolithic periods to some degree. The major advance of Neolithic 1 was true farming, in the proto-Neolithic Natufian cultures, wild cereals were harvested, and perhaps early seed selection and re-seeding occurred. The grain was ground into flour, emmer wheat was domesticated, and animals were herded and domesticated
13.
Cadw
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Cadw is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. Cadw works to protect the buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage sites of Wales, so that the public can visit them, understand their significance. Cadw arranges events at its properties, provides lectures and teaching sessions, offers heritage walks. Members of the public can become members of Cadw and have such privileges as a magazine, reduced prices at the online shop and free entry to properties. It also offers reciprocal arrangements with similar organisations in other parts of the United Kingdom, Cadw offers employment possibilities and work experience placements. As the Welsh Government’s historic environment service, Cadw is charged with protecting the environment of Wales. Besides these, there were in 2011 in Wales 29,936 listed buildings, also in Wales were 4,175 Scheduled Monuments,6 Designated historic wrecks, and 523 Conservation Areas, these designations means that the buildings or objects concerned are protected by statute. A register of significant Welsh battlefield sites is also under preparation, many of these listed sites are in private ownership, but Cadw has a specific responsibility for the care and upkeep of the 127 historic sites that are in state ownership. Many of Wales great castles and other monuments, such as palaces, historic houses. Cadw has been appointed by the Welsh Government and is the body in Wales to the Ministry of Works. There are 58 Historic Landscapes and 376 Historic parks and gardens in Wales, Cadw is also undertaking urban character studies of urban areas. Eight had been completed by September 2013, combined with a register of buildings and ancient monuments at risk these aim to enable management decision making and grant allocation to strengthen the character of different areas. Cadw operates most of the sites in its care and opens them to the public. In 2010-11 there were an estimated 2 million visits to Cadw properties, in some cases, these are major tourist attractions and offer tours of the monuments, exhibitions and display panels. Cadw also produces books and guidebooks on many of their properties, however many of the sites are unstaffed, free to access, and have interpretation boards to explain their significance. Cadw Membership, formerly known as Heritage in Wales, gives the free admission to all Cadw properties. Other membership advantages are a magazine, reduced prices at the online gift shop. Cadw has also entered into agreements with English Heritage, Historic Scotland
14.
Solstice
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The Solstice occurs twice each year as the Sun reaches its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. The seasons of the year are directly connected to both the solstices and the equinoxes, the term solstice can also be used in a broader sense, as the day when this occurs. The day of the solstice has either the most sunlight of the year or the least sunlight of the year for any other than the equator. Alternative terms, with no ambiguity as to which hemisphere is the context, are June solstice and December solstice, at latitudes outside the tropics, the summer solstice marks the day when the sun appears highest in the sky. Within the tropics, the sun directly overhead from days to months before the solstice and again after the solstice. For an observer on the North Pole, the sun reaches the highest position in the sky once a year in June, the day this occurs is called the June solstice day. Similarly, for an observer on the South Pole, the sun reaches the highest position on December solstice day, when it is the summer solstice at one Pole, it is the winter solstice on the other. The suns westerly motion never ceases as the Earth is continually in rotation, however, the suns motion in declination comes to a stop at the moment of solstice. In that sense, solstice means sun-standing and this modern scientific word descends from a Latin scientific word in use in the late Roman republic of the 1st century BC, solstitium. Pliny uses it a number of times in his Natural History with a meaning that it has today. It contains two Latin-language morphemes, sol, sun, and -stitium, stoppage, the Romans used standing to refer to a component of the relative velocity of the Sun as it is observed in the sky. Relative velocity is the motion of an object from the point of view of an observer in a frame of reference, from a fixed position on the ground, the sun appears to orbit around the Earth. To an observer in a frame of reference, the planet Earth is seen to rotate about an axis. The Earths axis is tilted with respect to the plane of the Earths orbit, an observer on Earth therefore sees a solar path that is the result of both rotation and revolution. At maximum or minimum elevation, the relative motion of the Sun perpendicular to the horizon stops. Outside of the tropics, the maximum occurs at the summer solstice. The path of the Sun, or ecliptic, sweeps north and south between the northern and southern hemispheres, the days are longer around the summer solstice and shorter around the winter solstice. When the Suns path crosses the equator, the length of the nights at latitudes +L° and -L° are of equal length and this is known as an equinox
15.
Blueschist
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The blue color of the rock comes from the presence of the predominant minerals glaucophane and lawsonite. Blueschists are typically found within orogenic belts as terranes of lithology in faulted contact with greenschist or rarely eclogite facies rocks. Blueschist, as a type, is defined by the presence of the minerals glaucophane + +/- jadeite +/- albite or chlorite +/- garnet +/- muscovite in a rock of roughly basaltic composition. Blueschists may appear blue, black, gray, or blue-green in outcrop, Blueschist facies is determined by the particular temperature and pressure conditions required to metamorphose basalt to form blueschist. Felsic rocks and pelitic sediments which are subjected to blueschist facies conditions will form different mineral assemblages than metamorphosed basalt. Thereby, these rocks do not appear blue overall in color.6 GPa, equivalent to depth of burial in excess of 15–18 km, and at temperatures of between 200 and 500 °C. This is a low temperature, high pressure prograde metamorphic path and is known as the Franciscan facies series. Well-exposed blueschists also occur in Greece, Turkey, Japan, New Zealand, continued subduction of blueschist facies oceanic crust will produce eclogite facies assemblages in metamorphosed basalt. Rocks which have been subjected to blueschist conditions during a prograde trajectory will gain heat by conduction with hotter lower crustal rocks if they remain at the 15–18 km depth. In 1962, Edgar Bailey of the U. S. Geological Survey introduced the concept of blueschist into the subject of metamorphic geology and his carefully constructed definition established the pressure and temperature conditions which produce this type of metamorphism. Metamorphism List of rock types List of minerals Blueschist facies - Rock Library Glossary, Imperial College London
16.
Bronze Age
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The Bronze Age is a historical period characterized by the use of bronze, proto-writing, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the principal period of the three-age Stone-Bronze-Iron system, as proposed in modern times by Christian Jürgensen Thomsen. An ancient civilization is defined to be in the Bronze Age either by smelting its own copper and alloying with tin, arsenic, or other metals, or by trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere. Copper-tin ores are rare, as reflected in the fact there were no tin bronzes in Western Asia before trading in bronze began in the third millennium BC. Worldwide, the Bronze Age generally followed the Neolithic period, with the Chalcolithic serving as a transition, although the Iron Age generally followed the Bronze Age, in some areas, the Iron Age intruded directly on the Neolithic. Bronze Age cultures differed in their development of the first writing, according to archaeological evidence, cultures in Mesopotamia and Egypt developed the earliest viable writing systems. The overall period is characterized by use of bronze, though the place and time of the introduction. Human-made tin bronze technology requires set production techniques, tin must be mined and smelted separately, then added to molten copper to make bronze alloy. The Bronze Age was a time of use of metals. The dating of the foil has been disputed, the Bronze Age in the ancient Near East began with the rise of Sumer in the 4th millennium BC. Societies in the region laid the foundations for astronomy and mathematics, the usual tripartite division into an Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age is not used. Instead, a division based on art-historical and historical characteristics is more common. The cities of the Ancient Near East housed several tens of thousands of people, ur in the Middle Bronze Age and Babylon in the Late Bronze Age similarly had large populations. The earliest mention of Babylonia appears on a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad in the 23rd century BC, the Amorite dynasty established the city-state of Babylon in the 19th century BC. Over 100 years later, it took over the other city-states. Babylonia adopted the written Semitic Akkadian language for official use, by that time, the Sumerian language was no longer spoken, but was still in religious use. Elam was an ancient civilization located to the east of Mesopotamia, in the Old Elamite period, Elam consisted of kingdoms on the Iranian plateau, centered in Anshan, and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered in Susa in the Khuzestan lowlands. Its culture played a role in the Gutian Empire and especially during the Achaemenid dynasty that succeeded it
17.
Menhir
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A menhir, standing stone, orthostat, lith or masseba/matseva is a large upright standing stone. Menhirs may be found solely as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones and their size can vary considerably, but their shape is generally uneven and squared, often tapering towards the top. Menhirs are widely distributed across Europe, Africa and Asia, however, they are most numerous in Western Europe, in particular in Ireland, Great Britain and Brittany. There are about 50,000 megaliths in these areas, while there are 1,200 menhirs in northwest France alone, standing stones are usually difficult to date, but pottery, and/or pottery shards found underneath some in Atlantic Europe connects them with the Beaker people. They were constructed during different periods across pre-history as part of a larger megalithic culture that flourished in Europe. Some menhirs have been erected next to buildings that often have an early or current religious significance, one example is the South Zeal Menhir in Devon, which formed the basis for a 12th-century monastery built by lay monks. The monastery later became the Oxenham Arms hotel, at South Zeal, where menhirs appear in groups, often in a circular, oval, henge or horseshoe formation, they are sometimes called megalithic monuments. These are sites of ancient religious ceremonies, sometimes containing burial chambers, the exact function of menhirs has provoked more debate than practically any other issue in European pre-history. Until the nineteenth century, antiquarians did not have knowledge of prehistory. The developments of radiocarbon dating and dendrochronology have done much to knowledge in this area. The word menhir was adopted from French by 19th-century archaeologists and it is a combination of two words of the Breton language, maen and hir. In modern Welsh, they are described as maen hir, or long stone, in modern Breton, the word peulvan is used, with peul meaning stake or post and van which is a soft mutation of the word maen which means stone. Almost nothing is known of the organization or religious beliefs of the people who erected the menhirs. There is not even any trace of these language, however we do know that they buried their dead and had the skills to grow cereal, farm and make pottery, stone tools. Until recently, menhirs were associated with the Beaker people, who inhabited Europe during the European late Neolithic and early Bronze Age — later third millennium BC, ca.2800 –1800 BC. However, recent research into the age of megaliths in Brittany strongly suggests a far older origin, many menhirs are engraved with megalithic art. This often turned them into anthropomorphic stelae, although images of such as stone axes, ploughs, shepherd crooks. With the exception of the axe, none of these motifs are definite
18.
Cup and ring mark
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Similar forms are also found throughout the world including Australia, Gabon, Greece, Hawaii, India, Israel, Mexico and Mozambique. They consist of a depression, no more than a few centimetres across, pecked into a rock surface. Sometimes a linear channel called a gutter leads out from the middle, numerous cup-marked stones have been found in quite all the alpine valleys, comprising Val Camonica, associated with rock drawings. Regarding western alps, the best known are distributed along the Chisone, Susa and Viù valleys, strictly referring to cup-and-rings, it is possible to cite in the western Alps only the Novalesa stone, in the Cenischia Valley, near the Italian-French border. Found in 1988, it shows 4 concentric circles, with a central cup-mark, all around a network of 20 cup-marks, similar patterns are known in Galicia, which has given them the name of Galician style. Precisely dating megalithic art is difficult, even if the monument can be dated. Some cup marks have been found in Iron age contexts but these may represent re-used stones, where they are etched onto natural, flat stone it has been observed that they seem to incorporate the natural surface of the rock. Those at Hunterheugh are mostly connected to one another by gutters that can channel rainwater from one to the next, the markers of this second phase moved the art from natural stones to megaliths as its symbolism was reinterpreted by Later Neolithic and Early Bronze Age people. Their purpose is unknown although some may be connected with stone outcrops exploited by Neolithic peoples to make polished stone axes. A religious purpose has been suggested and we have seen the cup and ring markings on the stone at Temple Wood, and thats on the main stone but we cant interpret them. yet. He created diagrams and carried out analysis of over 50 of the cup and ring markings from which he determined a length he termed the Megalithic Inch. Davis made an effort to build on Thoms start, and to answer the question he posed. It would indeed be a breakthrough if someone could crack the code of the cups, subsequently, Davis investigated the idea that the prehistoric carvers used an elementary method of diameter-construction in laying out the carvings. Another particularly rich source of cup-marked boulders is the Derrynablaha townland on the Iveragh peninsula in County Kerry, one of the most interesting open air Rock Art sites in the Swiss Alps is situated at Carschenna, Rethic Alps, where Latin derived languages melt with German ones. The first engraved rocks were discovered in 1965, during the building of an iron electricity framework, Carschenna engravings are mainly characterized by concentric circles – from 1 to 9 – and cup-marks. Spirals, sun-like figures, riding scenes, and schematic horses are also present, cup-marks joined by long channels usually superimpose the cup-and-rings patterns. Prehistoric Rock Art of County Durham, Swaledale and Wensleydale, ancient Carvings in Britain, A Mystery. ISBN 0-85511-391-X Morris, Ronald W. B.1977, the Prehistoric Rock Art of Argyll
19.
Posthole
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In archaeology a posthole or post-hole is a cut feature used to hold a surface timber or stone. They are usually much deeper than they are wide although truncation may not make this apparent, although the remains of the timber may survive most postholes are mainly recognisable as circular patches of darker earth when viewed in plan. Archaeologists can use their presence to plot the layout of former structures as the holes may define its corners, construction using postholes is known as earthfast or post in ground construction. The components of an archaeological posthole are listed in order of creation and, in ideal circumstances, posthole cut The cut that formed the hole. It is cut from the surface level at time of construction. The sides of the hole may be distorted by later pressure on the post, only careful excavation will be able to distinguish between the original cut profile and any later distortion. The cut needs to be distinguished from the fill in any detailed analysis, in the same way that any pit fill has to post-date the cutting of the pit. Dug up soil Soil excavated from the hole, usually sitting in a next to the hole ready for backfilling. Ideal sequence will be that the dug up soil will have material dug through first at the bottom of the pile, in optimal situations, the location of dug up soil can be detected adjacent to filled postholes, especially where subsoil differs markedly from the surface material. Post Normally a round or squared timber placed in the hole, sometimes a stone may be set in the hole below the post to prevent the post sinking in soft ground or sticks and stones to keep the post properly aligned until it is filled. Many cultures charred their posts to slow rate of decay in situ. This is sometimes mistaken for burning in situ, posts may, in modern times, be soaked in creosote or other decay inhibitors or termite preventatives. The post may survive as an element or have decayed, or been removed, even if decayed there should be a dark organic stain that matches the original dimensions and extent of the post. Posthole fill / Post packing The dug up soil goes back in the once the post is in place. Sometimes structural needs require that the hole is also packed with rocks or smaller sticks to keep the post in desired position, ideally dug out material returns to the pit in its original stratigraphic order but inevitably mixing occurs so that ground layers and posthole layers are distinguishable. Logically not all of the contents of the hole will fit back once the post is emplaced, postpipe or post mould The decayed buried section of the post that remains in situ. Some archaeologists prefer ~pipe where it is predominantly still organic material, Post void Where a pipe has been removed. Postholes are different from stake holes in that the cut is dug for the post rather than created by the driving in of the stake and this means there is some voided space that has to be filled in once the post is in place
20.
Mesolithic
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In archaeology, the Mesolithic is the culture between Paleolithic and Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used for areas outside northern Europe, Mesolithic has different time spans in different parts of Eurasia. It was originally post-Pleistocene, pre-agricultural material in northwest Europe about 10,000 to 5000 BC, in the archaeology of Northern Europe, for example for archaeological sites in Great Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, Ukraine, and Russia, the term Mesolithic is almost always used. In the archaeology of other areas, the term Epipaleolithic may be preferred by most authors, in the New World, neither term is used. Other authors use the term Mesolithic for a variety of Late Paleolithic cultures subsequent to the end of the last glacial period whether they are transitional towards agriculture or not, conversely, those that are in course of transition toward artificial food production are assigned to the Mesolithic. Therefore, care must be taken in translating Mesolithic as Middle Stone Age, subdivisions of earlier and later were added to the Stone Age by Thomsen and especially his junior colleague and employee Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae. John Lubbock kept these divisions in his work Pre-historic Times in 1865 and he saw no need for an intermediate category. When Hodder Westropp introduced the Mesolithic in 1866, as an intermediate between Paleolithic and Neolithic, a storm of controversy immediately arose around it. A British school led by John Evans denied any need for an intermediate, the ages blended together like the colors of a rainbow, he said. A European school led by Louis Laurent Gabriel de Mortillet asserted that there was a gap between the earlier and later, edouard Piette claimed to have filled the gap with his discovery of the Azilian Culture. Knut Stjerna offered an alternative in the Epipaleolithic, a continuation of the use of Paleolithic technology, the start and end dates of the Mesolithic vary by geographical region. Childes view prevails that the term covers the period between the end of the Pleistocene and the start of the Neolithic. If the Mesolithic is more similar to the Paleolithic it is called the Epipaleolithic, the Paleolithic was an age of purely hunting and gathering while in the Neolithic domestication of plants and animals had occurred. Some Mesolithic peoples continued with intensive hunting, others were practising the initial stages of domestication. The type of remains the diagnostic factor, The Mesolithic featured composite devices manufactured with Mode V chipped stone tools. The Paleolithic had utilized Modes I–IV and the Neolithic mainly abandoned the chipped microliths in favor of polished, not chipped, the first period, known as Mesolithic 1, followed the Aurignacian or Levantine Upper Paleolithic periods throughout the Levant. By the end of the Aurignacian, gradual changes took place in stone industries, small stone tools called microliths and retouched bladelets can be found for the first time. The microliths of this period differ greatly from the Aurignacian artifacts
21.
Henge
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There are three related types of Neolithic earthwork that are all sometimes loosely called henges. The essential characteristic of all three types is that they feature a bank and ditch, but with the ditch inside the bank rather than outside. Due to the poor defensive utility of an enclosure with an external bank, the three types are as follows, with the figure in brackets being the approximate diameter of the central flat area, Henge. There is typically little if any evidence of occupation in a henge, although they may contain ritual structures such as stone circles, Henge monument is sometimes used as a synonym for henge. Henges sometimes, but by no means always, featured stone or timber circles, the three largest stone circles in Britain are each in a henge. Examples of henges without significant internal monuments are the three henges of Thornborough Henges, although having given its name to the word henge, Stonehenge is an atypical henge in that the ditch is outside the main earthwork bank. Like an ordinary henge except the central area is between 5 and 20 m in diameter, they comprise a modest earthwork with a fairly wide outer bank. Mini henge or Dorchester henge are sometimes used as synonyms for hengiform monument, an example is the Neolithic site at Wormy Hillock Henge. A Neolithic ring earthwork with the ditch inside the bank, with the flat area having abundant evidence of occupation. Some true henges are as large as this, but lack evidence of domestic occupation, super henge is sometimes used as a synonym for a henge enclosure. The word henge is a backformation from Stonehenge, the monument in Wiltshire. Stonehenge is not a true henge as its ditch runs outside its bank, the term was first coined in 1932 by Thomas Kendrick, who later became the Keeper of British Antiquities at the British Museum. Sub groups exist for these two or three internal ditches are present rather than one. Henges are usually associated with the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, and especially with the pottery of this period, Grooved Ware, Impressed Wares, sites such as Stonehenge also provide evidence of activity from the later Bronze Age Wessex culture. Henges often contain evidence of a variety of features, including timber or stone circles, pits, or burials. A henge should not be confused with a circle within it, as henges. At Arbor Low in Derbyshire, all the stones except one are laid flat and do not seem to have been erected, elsewhere, often only the stone holes remain to indicate a former circle. Later monuments added after the henge was built might include Bronze Age cairns as at Arbor Low and their chronological overlap with older structures makes it difficult to classify them as a coherent tradition
22.
National Museum Cardiff
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National Museum Cardiff is a museum and art gallery in Cardiff, Wales. The museum is part of the network of Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales. Entry is kept free by a grant from the Welsh Government, however, the National Museum of Wales was founded in 1905, with its royal charter granted in 1907. The Cardiff Museum was sharing the building of Cardiff Library, and was a sub-department of the library until 1893, the architects were Arnold Dunbar Smith and Cecil Brewer, although the building as it now stands is a heavily truncated version of their design. The museum has collections of archaeology, botany, fine and applied art, geology, school groups, formal and informal groups can also be accommodated but should book in advance. The National Museum of Art opened in 2011 and these works prefigure the career of the Welsh-born Richard Wilson, called the father of British landscape painting. In 1979 four cartoons for tapestries illustrating scenes from the Aeneid were bought as works by Peter Paul Rubens, but the attribution is now disputed. There is a devoted to British patronage of the 18th century, in particular that of Sir Watkin Williams Wynn. Included is a portrait of Williams-Wynn in Rome with fellow Tourists by Pompeo Batoni, one of his wife by Sir Joshua Reynolds. It includes the largest group of paintings by Honoré Daumier in the world, works by Claude Monet include Venetian scenes such as San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk and examples from his Rouen Cathedral and Water Lilies series. Post-impressionism is represented by Van Goghs late work Rain at Auvers, and by Paul Cézannes The François Zola Dam, the first painting by the artist to be displayed in a British public collection. The two most famous works in the Davies Sisters collection are La Parisienne by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, exhibited in the First Impressionist Exhibition, the art gallery has works by all of the notable Welsh artists, including landscapes by Richard Wilson and the pioneering Thomas Jones. The artistic output of David Jones is well represented, but seldom on display owing to the nature of his works on paper. Waless most prominent contemporary painter, Sir Kyffin Williams, also features in the collection, works by contemporary artists are on rotational display, including those by Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, Frank Auerbach and Rachel Whiteread. Mason, Rhiannon, Museums, Nations, Identities, Wales and its National Museums, Cardiff, University of Wales Press Osmond, John, ed
23.
Passage grave
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A passage grave or passage tomb consists of a narrow passage made of large stones and one or multiple burial chambers covered in earth or stone. The building of tombs was normally carried out with megaliths and smaller stones. Those with more than one chamber may have multiple sub-chambers leading off from the burial chamber. One common layout, the passage grave, is cross-shaped. Sometimes passage tombs are covered with a cairn, especially those dating from later times, not all passage graves have been found to contain evidence of human remains. Passage tombs of the type often have elaborate corbelled roofs rather than simple slabs. Megalithic art has been identified carved into the stones at some sites and this appears to be one of the first uses of the term passage tomb. It is likely that the writers borrowed from the Spanish term tumbas de corredor, which is used for tombs in Cantabria, Galicia, of their list, only passage tombs appear to have widespread distribution throughout Europe. Passage graves are distributed extensively in lands along the Atlantic seaboard of Europe and they are found in Ireland, Britain, Scandinavia, northern Germany and the Drenthe area of the Netherlands. They are also found in Iberia, some parts of the Mediterranean, the earliest passage tombs seem to take the form of small dolmens. In Ireland and Britain, passage tombs are found in large clusters. Many later passage tombs were constructed at the tops of hills or mountains, Newgrange. com World Heritage IE - Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth
24.
Dolmen
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A dolmen is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more vertical megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone, although there are also more complex variants. Most date from the early Neolithic, Dolmens were typically covered with earth or smaller stones to form a tumulus. In many instances, that covering has weathered away, leaving only the skeleton of the burial mound intact. It remains unclear when, why, and by whom the earliest dolmens were made, the oldest known dolmens are in Western Europe, where they were set in place around 7,000 years ago. Archaeologists still do not know who erected these dolmens, which makes it difficult to know why they did it and they are generally all regarded as tombs or burial chambers, despite the absence of clear evidence for this. Human remains, sometimes accompanied by artefacts, have found in or close to the dolmens which could be scientifically dated using radiocarbon dating. However, it has been impossible to prove that these date from the time when the stones were originally set in place. The word dolmen has a confused history, the word entered archaeology when Théophile Corret de la Tour dAuvergne used it to describe megalithic tombs in his Origines gauloises using the spelling dolmin. The name was derived from a Breton language term meaning stone table but doubt has been cast on this. Nonetheless it has now replaced cromlech as the usual English term in archaeology, granja is used in Portugal, Galicia, and Spain. The rarer forms anta and ganda also appear, in the Basque Country, they are attributed to the jentilak, a race of giants. The etymology of the German, Hünenbett, Hünengrab and Dutch, of other Celtic languages, Welsh, cromlech was borrowed into English and quoit is commonly used in English in Cornwall. Great dolmen Passage grave Polygonal dolmen Rectangular, enlarged or extended dolmen Simple dolmen Korean dolmens exhibit a distinct from the Atlantic European dolmen. The largest concentration of dolmens in the world is found on the Korean Peninsula, with an estimated 35,000 dolmens, Korea alone accounts for nearly 40% of the world’s total. Three specific UNESCO World Heritage sites at Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa by themselves account for over 1,000 dolmens, the Korean word for dolmen is goindol supported stone. Serious studies of the Korean megalithic monuments were not undertaken until relatively recently, after 1945, new research is being conducted by Korean scholars. In 1981 a curator of National Museum of Korea, Gongil Ji, the boundary between them falls at the Bukhan River although examples of both types are found on either side. Korean dolmens can also be divided into three types, the table type, the go-table type and the unsupported capstone type
25.
Archaeologia Cambrensis
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Archaeologia Cambrensis is an archaeological and historical scholarly journal that is published annually by the Cambrian Archaeological Association. It contains excavation reports, book reviews, and historical essays, as well as society notes, the journal has included much valuable material on the manuscripts, genealogy, heraldry, toponymy, folklore and literature of Wales. The publication history of the journal is complicated, with inconsistent volume numbering, an index of the journal was compiled by Lily Chitty and published in 1964, in order to make the earlier volumes more accessible. The journal as a whole is in the process of being digitized by the Welsh Journals Online project at the National Library of Wales, on occasions, and particularly in the earlier years articles have been published on the archaeology of other Celtic Lands. Increasingly the Journal has carried articles on excavations and field surveys in Wales. As the 20th century progressed, and more recently in the 21st century, an example of this was in 2005 when the Journal was largely devoted to the “Cistercians in Wales and the West”. Domestic architecture now figures prominently in the Journal, ranging from Stately homes to the Vernacular architecture of Welsh countryside, the evolution of Towns and the development of Urban archaeology in Wales are also covered
26.
Norman Lockyer
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Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer, KCB FRS, known simply as Norman Lockyer, was an English scientist and astronomer. Along with the French scientist Pierre Janssen he is credited with discovering the gas helium, Lockyer also is remembered for being the founder and first editor of the influential journal Nature. Lockyer was born in Rugby, Warwickshire, after a conventional schooling supplemented by travel in Switzerland and France, he worked for some years as a civil servant in the British War office. He settled in Wimbledon, South London after marrying Winifred James and he was a keen amateur astronomer with a particular interest in the Sun. In 1885 he became the worlds first professor of physics at the Royal College of Science, South Kensington. At the college, the Solar Physics Observatory was built for him, in the 1860s Lockyer became fascinated by electromagnetic spectroscopy as an analytical tool for determining the composition of heavenly bodies. He conducted his research from his new home in West Hampstead, in 1868 a prominent yellow line was observed in a spectrum taken near the edge of the Sun. With a wavelength of about 588 nm, slightly less than the so-called D lines of sodium and he named this element helium after the Greek word Helios meaning sun. Terrestrial helium was found about 27 years later by the Scottish chemist William Ramsay, in his work on the identification of helium, Lockyer collaborated with the noted chemist Edward Frankland. To facilitate the transmission of ideas between scientific disciplines, Lockyer established the science journal Nature in 1869. He remained its editor shortly before his death. Lockyer led eight expeditions to observe solar eclipses for example in 1870 to Sicily,1871 to India and 1898 to India, in 1903, Lockyer started a second marriage, to suffragist Mary Thomasina Brodhurst. After his retirement in 1913, Lockyer established an observatory near his home in Salcombe Regis near Sidmouth, originally known as the Hill Observatory, the site was renamed the Norman Lockyer Observatory after his death. For a time the observatory was a part of the University of Exeter, but is now owned by the East Devon District Council, Lockyer died at his home in Salcombe Regis in 1920, and was buried there in the churchyard of St Peter and St Mary. Macmillan and Co. Norman Lockyer, George Mitchell Seabroke, report to the Committee on Solar Physics on the Basic Lines Common to Spots and Prominences Joseph Norman Lockyer, Norman Lockyer. The Orientation of Greek Temples, Nature, v.48, n.1228,11 May 1893, the Rules of Golf, Being the St. Andrews Rules for the Game. Recent and Coming Eclipses Norman Lockyer, inorganic Evolution as Studied by Spectrum Analysis. On the Influence of Brain Power on History, stonehenge and Other British Stone Monuments Astronomically Considered Norman Lockyer, Joseph Norman Lockyer
27.
Maeshowe
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Maeshowe is a Neolithic chambered cairn and passage grave situated on Mainland, Orkney, Scotland. It was probably built around 2800 BC and it gives its name to the Maeshowe type of chambered cairn, which is limited to Orkney. The monuments around Maeshowe, including Skara Brae, were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999, Maeshowe is one of the largest tombs in Orkney, the mound encasing the tomb is 115 feet in diameter and rises to a height of 24 feet. Surrounding the mound, at a distance of 50 feet to 70 feet is a ditch up to 45 feet wide, the grass mound hides a complex of passages and chambers built of carefully crafted slabs of flagstone weighing up to 30 tons. It is aligned so that the wall of its central chamber held up by a bracketed wall, is illuminated on the winter solstice. A similar display occurs in Newgrange and this entrance passage is 36 feet long and leads to the central almost square chamber measuring about 15 feet on each side. The current height of the chamber is 12.5 feet, the original roof may have risen to a height of 15 feet or more. The entrance passage is only about 3 feet high, requiring visitors to stoop or crawl into the central chamber and that chamber is constructed largely of flat slabs of stone, many of which traverse nearly the entire length of the walls. In each corner lie huge angled buttresses that rise to the vaulting, at a height of about 3 feet, the walls construction changes from the use of flat to overlapping slabs creating a beehive-shaped vault. Estimates of the amount of required to build Maeshowe vary. Dating of the construction of Maeshowe is difficult but dates derived from burials in similar tombs cluster around 3000 BC. Since Maeshowe is the largest and most sophisticated example of the Maeshowe type of tomb, archaeologists have suggested that it is the last of its class, built around 2800 BC. The people who built Maeshowe were users of grooved ware, a type of pottery that spread throughout the British Isles from about 3000 BC. Maeshowe appears as a mound rising from a flat plain near the southeast end of the Loch of Harray. Maeshowe is aligned with some other Neolithic sites in the vicinity, in addition, the so-called Barnhouse Stone in a field around 700 metres away is perfectly aligned with the entrance to Maeshowe. This entrance corridor is so placed that it lets the light of the setting sun into the chamber for a few days each side of the winter solstice. A Neolithic low road connects Maeshowe with the magnificently preserved village of Skara Brae, passing near the Standing Stones of Stenness, low roads connect Neolithic ceremonial sites throughout Britain. Some archeologists believe that Maeshowe was originally surrounded by a stone circle
28.
Newgrange
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Newgrange is a prehistoric monument in County Meath, Ireland, located eight kilometers west of Drogheda on the north side of the River Boyne. It was built during the Neolithic period, around 3200 BC, making it older than Stonehenge, the site consists of a large circular mound with an inner stone passageway and chambers. Human bones and possible grave goods or votive offerings were found in these chambers, the mound has a retaining wall at the front, made mostly of white quartz cobblestones, and is ringed by engraved kerbstones. Many of the stones of Newgrange are covered in megalithic art. The mound is also ringed by a stone circle, some of the material that makes up the monument came from as far away as the Mournes and Wicklow Mountains. There is no agreement about what the site was used for and its entrance is aligned with the rising sun on the winter solstice, when sunlight shines through a roofbox and floods the inner chamber. Several other passage tombs in Ireland are aligned with solstices and equinoxes, Newgrange also shares many similarities with other Neolithic constructions in Western Europe, such as Maeshowe in Orkney, Scotland and Bryn Celli Ddu in Wales. After its initial use, Newgrange was sealed for several millennia, however, it featured prominently in Irish mythology and folklore, in which it is said to be a dwelling of the gods, particularly The Dagda and his son Aengus. Antiquarians first began its study in the 17th century, and archaeological excavations took place at the site in the years that followed. Archaeologist Michael J. OKelly led the most extensive of these and also reconstructed the frontage of the site in the 1970s, the mound is 76 metres across and 12 metres high, and covers 4,500 square metres of ground. Within the mound is a passage, which can be accessed by an entrance on the southeastern side of the monument. The passage stretches for 19 metres, or about a third of the way into the centre of the structure, at the end of the passage are three small chambers off a larger central chamber, with a high corbelled vault roof. Each of the chambers has a large flat basin stone. The ceiling shows no evidence of smoke, situated around the perimeter of the mound is a circle of standing stones. Twelve standing-stones survive out of a possible original thirty-five or thereabouts, most archaeologists say they would have been added later, during the Bronze Age, centuries after the original monument had been abandoned as a tomb. Newgrange contains various examples of abstract Neolithic rock art carved onto it which provide decoration and these carvings fit into ten categories, five of which are curvilinear and the other five of which are rectilinear. They are also marked by differences in style, the skill-level that would have been needed to produce them. One of the most notable examples of art at Newgrange are the features found on the entrance stone
29.
Winter solstice
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The winter solstice, also known as midwinter, is an astronomical phenomenon marking the day with the shortest period of daylight and the longest night of the year. In the Northern Hemisphere this is the December solstice and in the Southern Hemisphere this is the June solstice. The axial tilt of Earth and gyroscopic effects of its daily rotation mean that the two points in the sky to which the Earths axis of rotation points change very slowly. As the Earth follows its orbit around the Sun, the hemisphere that faced away from the Sun, experiencing winter, will, in half a year, face towards the Sun. This is because the two hemispheres face opposite directions along Earths axis, and so as one polar hemisphere experiences winter, although the winter solstice itself lasts only a moment in time, the term sometimes refers to the day on which it occurs. Other names are midwinter, the extreme of winter, or the shortest day, in some cultures it is seen as the middle of winter, while in others it is seen as the beginning of winter. In meteorology, winter in the Northern Hemisphere spans the period of December through February. The seasonal significance of the solstice is in the reversal of the gradual lengthening of nights. The solstice may have been a moment of the annual cycle for some cultures even during neolithic times. Astronomical events were used to guide activities such as the mating of animals, the sowing of crops. Many cultural mythologies and traditions are derived from this and this is attested by physical remains in the layouts of late Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeological sites, such as Stonehenge in England and Newgrange in Ireland. The primary axes of both of these seem to have been carefully aligned on a sight-line pointing to the winter solstice sunrise. It is significant that at Stonehenge the Great Trilithon was erected outwards from the middle of the monument, the winter solstice was immensely important because the people were economically dependent on monitoring the progress of the seasons. Starvation was common during the first months of the winter, January to April or July to October, in temperate climates, the midwinter festival was the last feast celebration, before deep winter began. Most cattle were slaughtered so they would not have to be fed during the winter, the majority of wine and beer made during the year was finally fermented and ready for drinking at this time. The concentration of the observances were not always on the day commencing at midnight or at dawn, but at the beginning of the pagan day, also reversal is yet another frequent theme, as in Saturnalias slave and master reversals. Iranian people celebrate the night of the Northern Hemispheres winter solstice as, Yalda night, in this night all the family gather together, usually at the house of the oldest, and celebrate it by eating, drinking and reading poems. Nuts, pomegranates and watermelons are particularly served during this festival, the pagan Scandinavian and Germanic people of northern Europe celebrated a twelve-day midwinter holiday called Yule
30.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
31.
Wayback Machine
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The Internet Archive launched the Wayback Machine in October 2001. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet, the service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a three dimensional index. Since 1996, the Wayback Machine has been archiving cached pages of websites onto its large cluster of Linux nodes and it revisits sites every few weeks or months and archives a new version. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who enter the sites URL into a search box, the intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. The overall vision of the machines creators is to archive the entire Internet, the name Wayback Machine was chosen as a reference to the WABAC machine, a time-traveling device used by the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, an animated cartoon. These crawlers also respect the robots exclusion standard for websites whose owners opt for them not to appear in search results or be cached, to overcome inconsistencies in partially cached websites, Archive-It. Information had been kept on digital tape for five years, with Kahle occasionally allowing researchers, when the archive reached its fifth anniversary, it was unveiled and opened to the public in a ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley. Snapshots usually become more than six months after they are archived or, in some cases, even later. The frequency of snapshots is variable, so not all tracked website updates are recorded, Sometimes there are intervals of several weeks or years between snapshots. After August 2008 sites had to be listed on the Open Directory in order to be included. As of 2009, the Wayback Machine contained approximately three petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of 100 terabytes each month, the growth rate reported in 2003 was 12 terabytes/month, the data is stored on PetaBox rack systems manufactured by Capricorn Technologies. In 2009, the Internet Archive migrated its customized storage architecture to Sun Open Storage, in 2011 a new, improved version of the Wayback Machine, with an updated interface and fresher index of archived content, was made available for public testing. The index driving the classic Wayback Machine only has a bit of material past 2008. In January 2013, the company announced a ground-breaking milestone of 240 billion URLs, in October 2013, the company announced the Save a Page feature which allows any Internet user to archive the contents of a URL. This became a threat of abuse by the service for hosting malicious binaries, as of December 2014, the Wayback Machine contained almost nine petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of about 20 terabytes each week. Between October 2013 and March 2015 the websites global Alexa rank changed from 162 to 208, in a 2009 case, Netbula, LLC v. Chordiant Software Inc. defendant Chordiant filed a motion to compel Netbula to disable the robots. Netbula objected to the motion on the ground that defendants were asking to alter Netbulas website, in an October 2004 case, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, No.02 C3293,65 Fed. 673, a litigant attempted to use the Wayback Machine archives as a source of admissible evidence, Telewizja Polska is the provider of TVP Polonia and EchoStar operates the Dish Network
32.
Amlwch
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Amlwch is a community and the most northerly town in Wales. It is situated on the north coast of the Isle of Anglesey, on the A5025 which connects it to Holyhead, the town has no beach, but it has impressive coastal cliffs. Tourism is an important element of the local economy, at one time it was a busy port, with boats sailing to the Isle of Man and to Liverpool. A number of the date from the 19th century and add to the atmosphere of the town. The local newspaper for northeastern Anglesey is Yr Arwydd, Yr Arwydd is the local Welsh name for Mynydd Bodafon, the paper covers the area surrounding the mountain, and has an image of the summit as its logo. The name Amlwch – a reference to the site of the harbour, Porth Amlwch – derives from Welsh am. According to legend in the Middle Ages, the town developed on a site that had a harbour but was not visible from the sea and it grew rapidly in the 18th century near what was then the worlds biggest copper mine at the nearby Parys Mountain. By the late 18th century, Amlwch had a population of around 10,000 and was the second largest town in Wales after Merthyr Tydfil and it was at this time that its harbour was also extended to accommodate the ships needed to transport the ore. Reception tanks were located ashore and the oil was pumped from there to the refineries on the Manchester Ship Canal, when copper mining began to decline in the mid-1850s, shipbuilding became the main industry with many people also becoming involved in the ship repair and other maritime industries. The town was home to an industry and also had tobacco works. Even after the decline of the mine some chemical industries remained and in 1953 a chemical plant to extract bromine from sea water was built. At the peak of the mining, it is believed that Amlwch had a record of public house to person ratio. It also used to have a station, the terminus of the Anglesey Central Railway which was open between 1864 and 1993. The towns leisure centre is one of the few on Anglesey and has a pool, sports centre. It is situated on Angleseys 125-mile stretch of coast that is designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and the coastal walks and heritage walks provide for unique and spectacular views. The town also has two clubs, Amlwch Town F. C. who play in the Welsh Alliance League. Amlwch has a sea rowing club based in Bull Bay, Trireme Ynys Mon Rowing Club, the club is the most successful rowing club in North Wales, and competes in the Welsh Sea Rowing Association League. It is also home to the secondary school, Ysgol Syr Thomas Jones which Lemmy attended
33.
Beaumaris
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Beaumaris is a former royal borough, a community, and the former county town of Anglesey, Wales. At the 2001 census it had a population of 2,040, the castle was built on a marsh and that is where it found its name, the French builders called it beaux marais which translates as beautiful marshes. To counter further Welsh uprisings, and to control of the Menai Strait. The castle was designed by the Savoyard mason Master James of St George and is considered the most perfect example of a concentric castle, the troublesome residents of Llanfaes were removed en bloc to Rhosyr in the west of Anglesey, a new settlement King Edward entitled Newborough. French and English masons were brought in to construct the castle itself, the charter also specifically prohibited Jews from living in Beaumaris. A requirement that all trade in the area be conducted at Beaumaris meant the town became the main commercial centre of Anglesey. Beaumaris was the port of registration for all vessels in North West Wales, covering not only every harbour on Anglesey, shipbuilding was a major industry in Beaumaris. This was centred on Gallows Point – a nearby spit of land extending into the Menai Strait about a mile west of the town. Gallows Point had originally been called Osmunds Eyre but was renamed when the gallows was erected there – along with a Dead House for the corpses of criminals dispatched in public executions. Later, hangings were carried out at the gaol and the bodies buried in a lime-pit within the curtilage of the gaol. One of the last prisoners to hang at Beaumaris issued a curse before he died – decreeing that if he was innocent the four faces of the clock would never show the same time. The hill leading north from the town is named Red Hill from the blood spilled in that conflict, a native of Anglesey, David Hughes, founded Beaumaris Grammar School in 1603. It became a school in 1952 when Anglesey County Council became the first authority in Britain to adopt comprehensive secondary education. The school was moved to Menai Bridge and only the ancient hall of the original school building now remains. Beaumaris Pier, opened in 1846, was designed by Frederick Foster and comprises a masonry jetty on wooden, the pier was rebuilt and extended to 570 feet after storm damage in 1872, and a large pavilion was constructed at the end which contained a cafe. Today, although the old steamers have long since gone. A marina on the shore of Gallows Point has been proposed. The Saunders Roe company set up a factory at Fryars when it was feared that the main base on the Isle of Wight would be a target for World War II Luftwaffe bombers
34.
Benllech
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Benllech is a small town on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales. It is in the community of Llanfair Mathafarn Eithaf, which has a population of 3,382, the name of Benllech village had been removed by the time of the 2011 census with the community being listed under Llanfair-Mathafarn-Eithaf with the electoral ward being listed under Llanddyfnan. The name Benllech is perhaps a form of penllech, literally head slab or head rock, i. e. capstone or head of the rock, or possibly meaning on slate. Benllech is a beach holiday destination. Winner of the European Blue Flag award since 2004, the shelves and has an abundance of clean yellow sand and looks out toward the Great Orme. The Anglesey Coastal Path and Wales Coast Path pass through Benllech, the award was given to projects of the highest quality design, which have made a positive cultural, social and economic contribution to the local community. The village has a range of businesses which include houses and hotels, camping and caravan sites and several bed. Between 1909 and 1950 there was a station close to the village which was the terminus of the Red Wharf Bay branch line. The old station still exists and several railway bridges can be seen along the road approaching the village. The poet Goronwy Owen was a native of Llanfair Mathafarn Eithaf, lemmy Kilmister, born Ian Fraser Kilmister, lead singer, bassist and guitarist of the band Motörhead, lived here from the age of 10 to the age of 16. Carwyn Ellis, lead singer for Colorama had a nomadic childhood before his family settled in Benllech. Benllech is located approximately 8 miles along the A5025 coast road from both bridges to the mainland and the A55 North Wales Expressway. The nearest mainline station is Llanfairpwllgwyngyll which can be reached in under half an hour on the bus services which run through the village or under 20 minutes by car. The City of Bangor is less than half an hours drive away, the Royal Mail postal code for the area is LL74. Benllech travel guide from Wikivoyage photos of Benllech and surrounding area on geograph Video of Benllech Past and Present by Dafydd Jones
35.
Holyhead
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Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Isle of Anglesey in Wales. It is also a community and a major Irish Sea port, despite being the largest town in the county, with a population of 11,431 at the 2011 census, it is neither the county town nor actually on the island of Anglesey. Holyhead is located on Holy Island, which has a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census and it was originally connected to Anglesey via Four Mile Bridge, so called because the bridge was four miles from Holyhead on the old turnpike Road. In the mid 19th century, Lord Stanley, a local philanthropist, funded the building of a causeway, known locally as The Cobb, it now carries the A5. The A55 dual carriageway runs parallel to the Cobb on a modern causeway, the town centre is built around St. Cybis Church, which is built inside one of Europes few three-walled Roman forts. The Romans also built a watchtower on the top of Holyhead Mountain inside Mynydd y Twr, settlements in the area date from prehistoric times, with circular huts, burial chambers and standing stones featuring in the highest concentration in Britain. The current lighthouse is on South Stack on the side of Holyhead Mountain and is open to the public. The Port of Holyhead has a ferry port. Stena Line, Northern Europes biggest ferry company, operates from the port, Ferries sail to Dublin, in Ireland, this forms the principal link for surface transport from central and northern England and Wales to Ireland. There is archaeological evidence that people have been sailing between Holyhead and Ireland for 4,000 years, Holyheads maritime importance was at its height in the 19th century with a 1.7 mile long sea breakwater. Holyhead Breakwater is the longest in the UK and was built to create a harbour for vessels caught in stormy waters on their way to Liverpool. Holyheads sea heritage is remembered in a maritime museum, the post road built by Thomas Telford from London strengthened Holyheads position as the port from which the Royal Mail was dispatched to and from Dublin on the Mail coach. The A5 terminates at Admiralty Arch, which was designed by Thomas Harrison to commemorate a visit by King George IV in 1821 en route to Ireland, the A55 forms part of Euroroute E22. The Anglesey section was financed through a Private Finance Initiative scheme, with the opening of the railway from London to Liverpool, Holyhead lost the London to Dublin Mail contract in 1839 to the Port of Liverpool. Holyhead is the terminus of the North Wales Coast Line and is served by Virgin Trains. The rail and ferry terminals are connected to the centre by The Celtic Gateway bridge. Holyheads main industry was aluminium-based until September 2009, with Rio Tinto Groups Anglesey Aluminium subsidiary operating a massive aluminium smelter on the outskirts of the town, the jetty is now used by Anglesey County Council to dock cruise ships visiting from all over the world. The jetty is wide enough for coaches to travel down to collect and deliver passengers to the town, the plant relied for its electricity supply on the islands nuclear power station at Wylfa, near Cemaes Bay
36.
Llangefni
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Llangefni is the county town of Anglesey in Wales and contains the principal offices of the Isle of Anglesey County Council. The United Kingdom Census 2011 recorded Llangefnis population as 5,116 people, the town is near the centre of Anglesey, and is on the River Cefni, after which it is named. Its attractions include the Oriel Ynys Môn museum, which details the history of Anglesey and houses the legacy collection of Charles Tunnicliffe. In the west of the town is a secondary school, Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni. The town was formerly named Llangyngar, Welsh for St Cyngars church, Llangefni is a commercial and farming town in Anglesey and in the past Llangefni hosted the largest cattle market on the island. There is a large industrial estate housing a large chicken processing plant - the largest single industrial operation in the town]. The town had a station on the Anglesey Central Railway line which opened in 1864 and it closed in 1964 although goods trains continued to pass through the town until 1993. Although no longer used, the tracks have not been removed, the nearest station is now at Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, five miles away as the crow flies. There are frequent buses to the settlements of Bangor and Holyhead as well as to the smaller towns of Amlwch. By road the town is just 2 kilometres from the major A55 and A5 roads, water for the town comes from Llyn Cefni, a reservoir 1.5 miles to the northwest. Llangefni hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1957 and 1983, and in 1999 gave its name to the Eisteddfod held at the village of Llanbedrgoch. It also hosted the Urdd Eisteddfod in 2004, the town also has a college, Coleg Menai. The local association football club, Llangefni Town, was promoted to the Welsh Premier League at the end of the 2006–07 season, the local rugby club is Llangefni RFC, which plays in the WRU leagues. The club recently gained promotion to Division 2 West, but the WRU then decided to demote the club back to Division 4 North Wales league. According to the 2011 Census, Llangefni is the community with the highest percentage of Welsh speakers on the Isle of Anglesey, and the 6th highest in Wales. 80. 7% of residents aged three and over reported being able to speak Welsh in the 2011 Census, as compared to 83. 8% reporting being able to do so in the 2001 Census. Of those born in Wales,91. 6% of the population could speak Welsh
37.
Menai Bridge
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Menai Bridge is a small town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in north-west Wales. It overlooks the Menai Strait and lies by the Menai Suspension Bridge, built in 1826 by Thomas Telford, with a population of 3,376, it is the fifth largest town on the island. There are many small islands near the town, including Church Island, the Menai Heritage Centre celebrates the world-famous Menai Suspension Bridge, built by Thomas Telford, and the Britannia Bridge, built by Robert Stephenson. The town existed as Porthaethwy for centuries and still has a house which dates from the 17th century, the name derives from Porth + Daethwy. It is likely that a community existed here in Roman times as it is the shortest crossing of the Menai Strait, in the 9th century, St Tysilio lived here as a hermit on Church Island. A ferry across the Menai was first recorded in 1292, when the bridge opened in 1826, the ferry closed, but connections with the sea remained through the import, export and shipbuilding trades. From 1877 to 1920, the ship HMS Clio was docked at Menai Bridge, many local people believed the ship was used for some type of prison, but this was not entirely true. The ship was home to men who were in need of discipline to keep them from getting into serious trouble. The young men on the Clio were not permitted to leave the ship, stories about life on the Clio were commonplace among the residents of Menai Bridge, for many years, some mothers threatened their misbehaving children with being sent to live on the ship. In 1914, Belgian refugees from Mechelen who had settled in the built an promenade out of gratitude for the town’s hospitality. The promenade was built along the Menai Strait from Ynys Tysilio to Carreg yr Halen and was completed in 1916, the ceremonial reopening in 1965 was performed by the only surviving refugee, Eduard Wilhelms. Most of the refugees lived at three houses in Menai Bridge, with 12 housed at the Village Hall in Llandegfan, most of the men were skilled in marquetry. On 12 November 1918, Air Marshal Sir Thomas Elmhirst flew airship SSZ73 under the Menai Bridge following the armistice at the end of World War I, the most important ship business in the 19th century was that of the Davies family from Treborth. At the eastern edge of the town is Cwm Cadnant Dingle which is now by-passed by a bridge constructed in the 1970s. The Afon Cadnant drains into the Menai Strait at this point and this was the location of the landing stage for the Bishops of Bangor who had their residence at Glyn Garth on Anglesey but whose cathedral was in Bangor on the mainland. The Isle of Anglesey Coastal Path passes along the waterfront, Menai Bridge has several churches and chapels, including an English and Welsh Presbyterian church and a Catholic church. The town also has a school, Ysgol y Borth. Menai Bridge is home to the School of Ocean Sciences, part of Bangor University and their research ship, the Prince Madog, is based at the pier when not at sea
38.
Aberffraw
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Aberffraw is a small village and community on the south west coast of the Isle of Anglesey, in Wales, by the west bank of the Afon Ffraw. Access by road is by way of the A4080 and the nearest rail station is Bodorgan, in the early Middle Ages Aberffraw was the capital of the Kingdom of Gwynedd from c.860 AD until c.1170. Under the eponymous Aberffraw Dynasty it came to be the most important political centre in medieval Wales, the Llys remained the symbolic throne of the Kings of Gwynedd from the 9th century to the 13th century. The Royal Annals of Edward I of England show the Llys was dismantled in 1315 to provide building materials for nearby Beaumaris Castle, at the 2011 census, Aberffraw had a population of 620, of which 67. 5% are able to speak Welsh. Attractions near Aberffraw village include Llyn Coron, Barclodiad y Gawres, a Neolithic burial chamber, the church still holds services in the summer and is sometimes used for weddings, with access by boat. The village has a beach, which was awarded the Blue flag rural beach award in 2005. There is a post office in the village, st Beunos Church, Aberffraw, dates from the 12th century and is a Grade II* listed building. The village also has an association football team. An electoral ward in the name exists. This ward also includes the community of Llanfaelog, aberffraws population was 620, according to the 2011 census, a 1. 97% increase since the 608 people noted in 2001. The 2011 census showed 67. 5% of the population could speak Welsh, in Welsh mythology, Aberffraw features as the site of Branwen and Matholwchs wedding festival, where Efnysien maimed Matholwchs horses. A Vision of Britain Through Time British Listed Buildings Aberffraw, historical and genealogical information at GENUKI, geograph Office for National Statistics Ysgol Aberffraw
39.
Bodedern
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Bodedern is a village and community in the west of Anglesey, Wales. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,074, the village has a bilingual primary school, Ysgol Gynradd Bodedern, and a secondary school, Ysgol Uwchradd Bodedern. The villages football team, Bodedern Athletic F. C. play in the Welsh Alliance League, Bodedern lies on the B5109, about 1 mile east of its junction with the A4025 south of Llanfachraeth. About 2 miles to the south, beyond the A55 road lie the villages of Caergeiliog, the Valley Wetlands, an area of lakes and marshes and a RSPB bird sanctuary, lie between these two villages. Bodedern is the closest village to the islands largest natural lake, Llyn Llywenan, the parish church dates from the 14th century and is a Grade II* listed building, being listed because it is considered a good example of a late medieval church with some fine interior fittings. Presaddfed Hall is a small grade II* listed country house which stands amongst woodlands to the north-east of the village at the tip of Llyn Llywenan. The main block was built in 1686 and is joined to a block by a later block built in 1875. A walled garden lies to the east of the house Once the seat of the Lewis family, several of whom served as High Sheriff of Anglesey, it is now a country hotel. Presaddfed Burial Chamber is a pair of Neolithic chamber tombs located a distance northwest of Bodedern near the southern end of Llyn Llywenan. Media related to Bodedern at Wikimedia Commons A Vision of Britain Through Time British Listed Buildings Genuki Geograph Office for National Statistics
40.
Bodffordd
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Bodffordd is a village and community in central Anglesey, Wales. As of the 2011 census, the population was 960. Bodffordd is located just under 2 miles from the county town of Llangefni, on the western edge of the reservoir. It is the nearest settlement to RAF Mona and as a community council, the village was originally called Bodffordd Esgob, the Esgob indicating that it belonged to a bishop, the Bishop of Bangor in this case. Village life once revolved around the windmill just north of the village and this has now been converted into a private residence. Many of these dwellings have fallen into disrepair but the village church. Despite the fact that the village has few facilities, it was chosen to host the 2007 Anglesey Eisteddfod, the village is the site of the Mona Industrial Estate, which in 2009 was given planning permission to build a 25, 000-tonne animal waste anaerobic digestion plant. One of the most well-known people born in the village is Osian Roberts, currently assistant manager of the national team, Roberts had previously managed several national youth teams as well as the senior club, Porthmadog. The Village of Bodffordd has two lakes, ‘Llyn Frogwy’ and Llyn Cefni, the latter is now used as a public footpath, which people use in order to travel to the town of Llangefni. Llyn Frogwy is located behind Bodffordds mill, ‘Melin Frogwy’, which is now privately owned, an electoral ward with the same name exists. This ward stretches over Llangristiolus with a population of 1,534. Media related to Bodffordd at Wikimedia Commons A Vision of Britain Through Time British Listed Buildings Genuki Geograph Office for National Statistics
41.
Bodorgan
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Bodorgan is a hamlet and a surrounding community area on the Isle of Anglesey, Wales, United Kingdom. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, there are 1,503 residents in the ward,72. 7% of them being able to speak Welsh. This increased to 1,704 at the 2011 Census but only 67. 72% of this population were Welsh speakers. The local government community of Bodorgan, including the village of Llangadwaladr, the village is served by Bodorgan railway station, which is located near the hamlets of Bethel and Llangadwaladr to the north-west. It lies on a road to the southwest of the village of Hermon. To the east and south of Bodorgan lies the estuary of the Afon Cefni, Bodorgan Hall is the largest country estate in Anglesey. The house, dovecote and a barn are Grade II listed buildings, media related to Bodorgan at Wikimedia Commons
42.
Bryngwran
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Bryngwran is a village and community in the Welsh county of Anglesey, located on the A5 London to Holyhead trunk road. It lies 8.1 miles west of Llangefni,7.0 miles south west of Llannerch-y-medd and 7.4 miles south east of Holyhead, at the 2001 census the community had a population of 781, increasing to 894 at the 2011 election. Saint Peulans Church stands in a position at Llanbeulan, in the south east of the community. A medieval building, it dates from the 12th century, but was extended in the 14th. The gritstone font dates from late 12th century and it is considered an example of a rural medieval church retaining its simple character and is Grade II* listed. Pandy Treban, a fulling mill in the north of the community. Alun Michael, the First Minister of Wales and leader of Welsh Labour from May 1999 to February 2000, was born in Bryngwran in 1943, a former journalist and youth worker, he was elected to the House of Commons in 1987. As a Home Office minister, he was responsible for steering through Parliament the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, which introduced anti-social behaviour orders. In 2001, he was appointed Minister of State for Rural Affairs, where he oversaw the introduction of the Hunting Act 2004, Michael resigned from Parliament in October 2012 to stand as Police and Crime Commissioner for South Wales, to which he was elected the following month. An electoral ward in the name exists. This stretches beyond the confines of Bryngwran Community with a population taken at the 2011 census of 1,903. Media related to Bryngwran at Wikimedia Commons A Vision of Britain Through Time British Listed Buildings Genuki Geograph Office for National Statistics
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Brynrefail
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Brynrefail is a small village in north-east Anglesey, Wales. It is located in the parish of Moelfre on the A5025 between Amlwch and Benllech. As the settlement is small it has very few amenities. Those it does have include a late 19th-century church, a craft store, a garden centre. The islands only paintball site is located close to the village and Tyddyn Mon, the village is on bus route 62 which runs every half an hour between Bangor and Amlwch. It is the best stop for the beaches of Dulas Bay and Lligwy Bay as well as the nearby camping, four men from the village lost their lives in World War II. Their names are displayed on the war memorial next to the chapel. Photos of Brynrefail and surrounding area on geograph
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Llanidan
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Llanidan is a parish in south-west Anglesey, Wales which includes the village of Brynsiencyn. The parish is along the Menai Strait, about 4 miles north-east of Caernarfon, the parish church of St Nidans is near the A4080 highway, a little to the east of Brynsiencyn. The ruins of a parish church survive. In the Middle Ages, the parish was part of the commote of Menai, an electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward covers land to the north of Llanidan, the population of the ward at the 2011 census was 1,851. Also, Carwyn Williams lived here for a period of time, there is a horse stud, Llanidan Stud, which breeds Welsh ponies of cob type and Welsh cobs and is owned by E. W Jones. Near Brynsiencyn is the Anglesey Sea Zoo, Brynsiencyn is a small village, housing a few hundred people. It has a post office, shop, kebab house and pub, there is also a school and a large chapel
