Poor Britain, instead of luxuriating in the great "Roman" civilization that dragged it out of a primitive tribal existence, (and then the "Rinascimento", that pulled Britain, and all of Europe out of the Middle Ages), it seems to feel such inferiority for having to be so indebted to Italy, that it desperately grasps at "straws" to assert a pre existing high cultural development.

It points to "Silbury Hill", a large tomb earth mounds (maybe 15 ft high--you're kidding?), "Great Orme",  4 miles of mining tunnels (yawn), "Maiden Castle", a huge earth fort, easily overrun by the Romans (unimpressive), "SeaHenge" timbers (so?),  "Stonehenge", and 400 other stone circles (some accomplishment!), "Dover Boat"
(a boat--how novel!) etc.

For almost 400 years, and to this very day, the Brits have expressed a demeaning attitude toward Italy, ever since their ascendancy as the World power, AND being in the envious position of being the predominate language, and in writing IT'S VERSION of history, have chosen to be super ethnocentric, to the great detriment of Italy.

For these last 400+ years, the History and Culture of Italy, to English speaking people is a Void, a veritable Blank. It's fascinating history of being a pawn/prize to all the European powers, it's never ending attempts to throw off the oppressor's yoke, and the great accomplishments in almost every field of endeavor, were as if written in invisible ink.

You may ask, am I not being a little hard on the Brits?? I think not!!
Until their attitude changes, and they correct history, I'm not interested in changing.

They have been so successful that our own Italian American Historians are so "brain washed" that one was recently quoted on the H-ITAM (Italian American History) Bulletin Board: Next 4 Paragraphs... (CAPS are mine).

"Modern Italian history is simply not as "SEXY",...as modern German, French, Russian, British or American history".

"Why is that? I think that, for the last three and half centuries, Italy has been in the BACKWATERS of Western artistic, scientific and political history".

"Ever since the Church put the muzzle on Galileo, the last of the truly great Italian geniuses, it has NOT been SALUBRIOUS for Italian, whether artists, scientists or political theorists, to think OUT OF THE BOX, so to speak."

"Italy DRIED UP. Modern Italian history, in which we Italians should lead, is simply NOT THAT INTERESTING. The Renaissance was a long time ago, the Risorgimento was mostly a FRAUD.."

This from a self proclaimed "authority" whose only known writing about Italian history was about the Secret Police during Fascism, (Yes, ANOTHER Giovanni "one-note" Fascism writer). AND who gave a lecture about "The History of the Risorgimento" based on the perspective of  6 films!!!

Does he likewise get his Philosophy from Chinese Fortune Cookies?????

Of course, Dr.Giorgio Iraci, former Chief of Neurosurgery at the University Hospital in his hometown of Perugia, answered with a series of Messages with Names and Achievements that impressed even those of us who felt rather knowledgeable.

Only Professors Mancuso, Lawton, and Alba, rose to affirm Iraci's evidence.

This same Associate Professor "pseudo authority" who like so many others who have who have shown such an obsession with Fascism,(which I consider Italy bashing, WHEN done SO distortedly and continuously),are also like he, the SAME people who have also been the most virulent in attacking those who attempt to defend the IA community against Negative Stereotyping, such as the Sopranos.

INTERESTING!!!??? "They" support that which depict Italians and Italian Americans in the most Negative Manner.!!!!!  Focus on Fascism and Support the Sopranos.

Are "They" Self Loathing? Trying to gain Acceptance with the Greater community (See, I'm NOT like THEM), or merely Quislings??? Judas????

Or Merely a STRANGE Coincidence????

BRITAIN BC - FRANCIS PRYOR'S TOP RATED UK BRONZE AGE SITES

24 Hour Museum
By Richard Moss
July 27 2004

Francis Pryor's documentary, Britain BC, reveals new ideas about how pre-Roman British culture might have flourished.

With summer finally threatening to make an appearance we revive one of our favourite trails; Francis Pryor's top 10 Bronze Age sites. Most of them are places with a definite outdoor theme - perfect for the long summer holidays!
 

When the Romans finally departed British shores in AD407 they left behind a wonderful legacy of roads, art, villas and steam baths - or at least that's the conventional theory. Some historians have even ascribed the origin of that most venerable of British traditions, the pub, to the Latin invasion force.

But a new Channel 4 documentary series, Britain BC, (first episode February 20) seeks to change our view of the way British civilization had developed prior to their arrival and to restore some of the knowledge we have lost about our thriving, pre-Roman, purely British civilization.

The writer and presenter behind this bold venture is the archaeologist Dr. Francis Pryor. An acknowledged expert on the Bronze Age, a key figure in the discovery of the Flag Fen Bronze Age site and often seen on C4's Time Team, his mission is to show us how British civilization was flourishing long before the Roman Legions invaded our shores.

"As far as I'm concerned the Romans arrived when the story was two-thirds told," says Dr. Pryor. "People have always concentrated on these later arrivals because they are recorded in literature, but we're only just beginning to look at the effect these invasions had on British culture."

With the screening of the Channel 4 two-parter, Dr. Pryor hopes our appetite for British pre-history will be both rekindled and redressed.

"It's very much easier and sexier to show film of the Bayeux Tapestry and people having their legs and arms chopped off," he says of recent British history documentaries, "whereas prehistory tends to be approached by the way of physical remains in the ground."

And therein lies the problem. Britain boasts a vast range of important megalithic and prehistoric sites, but many are inaccessible to the public and difficult to understand, as Dr. Pryor readily concedes. "They are just piles of soil, they are barrows, you've seen one you've seen them all. They only become important when you discover what they stood for and how and why they were placed in the landscape and how they have changed through time."

But with recent developments in the techniques of excavation, archaeologists have begun to correct this imbalance, enabling people like Dr. Pryor to paint more vivid pictures and bring the past alive.

This means there are an ever increasing number of heritage sites that can be visited, enjoyed and understood by the general public and Francis Pryor has given the 24 Hour Museum some of his favourite locations.

Here you can actually see for yourself the rich and dynamic culture that prospered before the Romans, Saxons, Vikings and even the Normans invaded and hijacked the British cultural landscape.

An excellent place to begin any investigation into the forgotten civilization of Britain is the Isle of Orkney. The whole area is unsurpassed as a treasure trove of prehistoric, Iron and Bronze Age sites.

"It's the complete experience for anyone interested in the Iron Age," says Dr. Prior. "You've got a complete landscape. Nothing has been smashed by modern development, so you can actually work out how the various sites related to each other."

Skara Brae is perhaps the most famous site, discovered in 1850, it contains 8 houses of a common design and would have been home to 40 or 50 people. It is believed habitation began around 3,100BC and continued for 600 years.

It is just one in a series of remarkable prehistoric sites that go together to build a complete picture. "They didn't just operate as one-off sites - a tomb or a burial site or whatever it might be, they all work with each other."

One of the most spectacular tombs on the island is Maes Howe, which was built before 2700 BC and is of a type unique to Orkney. The structure is 40 metres long and seven metres wide and the entrance passage is aligned to the southwest so as to be illuminated by the mid-winter equinox.

It is probably the finest megalithic tomb in the British Isles, with a large mound covering a stone-built passage and a large burial chamber with cells in the walls.

There are also major ceremonial sites in the vicinity of Maes Howe. The Stones of Stennes, which date to 2900BC, have a perfect setting amidst the wild moorland. The stones are broken up into two sites: the Ring of Brogar, or Temple of the Sun, and the smaller Ring of Stennis, which represents the Temple of the Moon.

Leaving behind the treasures of Orkney and moving south into the Celtic heartlands of Wales, there is a spectacular site that affords visitors the chance to explore a unique Iron Age environment.With more than six kilometres of tunnels, Great Orme is the largest prehistoric mining complex in the world, and the only Bronze Age mine open to the public.

"I rate it quite possibly as the top visitor experience in pre-Roman Britain," says Pryor. "You actually go deep into the ground and you are in a Bronze Age world. There's nothing recreated."

Visitors venture into this ancient world via a series of narrow Bronze Age tunnels, one metre wide and nearly two metres high before discovering large, spectacular chambers. The surface also features a 4000 year old opencast mine, and a smelting site where copper ore was smelted into copper - just part of the surface archaeology tour that features reconstructions of various mining processes.

Great Orme Mines
Great Orme, Llandudno, LL30 2XG, Wales

Evidence of the thriving British pre-Roman culture is all around us. Our countryside is rich with Iron and Bronze Age bowers, or forts. There are more than 1,350 known hill forts in England, but for Pryor the vast structure of Maiden Castle in Dorset is of particular interest.

"Maiden Castle is well worth a visit because it is so massive, it dwarfs human beings."

Even today, the ramparts of this fortress are frighteningly high and steep. It dates back to around 3500 BC when the first Causewayed camp was constructed on the site. It must have been a terrible prospect for the Roman Second Legion Augusta who actually managed to over-run this fortress in AD44.

The fort covers an area of 47 acres (19 hectares) dominating the landscape for miles around. When excavations were carried out, the bodies of 38 defenders were discovered - laid to rest by their Roman conquerors. Each was given the comfort of a flagon of beer and joint of meat to sustain them in the afterlife.

One of the most important Bronze Age Sites in Europe is Flag Fen. The site was discovered when a mechanical digger working on one of the fen drainage ditches pulled up some timber that appeared to have been split in a very distinctive manner. The team of archaeologists, led by Dr. Pryor, sent the timber for radiocarbon dating and it was returned having been dated to 1000 BC.

"The main thing about Flag Fen is it is so superbly well preserved. The whole place was waterlogged and that means you've got timber, leaves, twigs, pollen, and flowers preserved. That's something that simply doesn't occur on most sites," says Pryor.

Today the site features a visitor centre dedicated to the Bronze Age. The public can view 3,000-year-old timbers in a specially built Preservation Hall, whilst reconstructed Iron Age and Bronze Age Roundhouses allow you to step back in time and see how our ancestors lived. The Museum of the Bronze Age contains artefacts found on the site.

"It's the only place in the world that you can go and view pre-historic timbers still in situ in the ground. We've also done extensive reconstructions; we've reconstructed Iron Age and Bronze Age houses," says Dr. Prior. "We've got animals there and it's also the only place in my knowledge that you can get inside a Bronze Age field system."

lag Fen Bronze Age Centre
Flag Fen Bronze Age Centre, The Droveway, Northey Road, Peterborough, PE6 7QJ, Cambridgeshire, England

Another important setting for Dr. Pryor and an excellent place to visit is the area around Avebury in Wiltshire, which is peppered with megalithic and prehistoric sites.

"It probably had a lot to do with the Avebury landscape," explains Dr. Pryor. "People refer to them as ritual landscapes, but it's a sort of religious theatre, you move from one site to another, experiencing different things."

The village of Avebury in Wiltshire actually gives its name to one of the greatest stone circles in the British Isles.

The Avebury Stone Circle comprises an enormous circular earthwork; 400 m wide, with a deep external ditch with a circumference of over 1200 metres. Inside is a 400-metre diameter circle of immense standing stones, and inside that there are two more stone circles each 100 metres in diameter.

It's a complex and alluring monument, featuring the remnants of stone avenues and up to 600 megaliths.

Alexander Keiller Museum, Avebury
The Alexander Keiller Museum, High Street, Avebury, nr Marlborough, SN8 1RF, Wiltshire, England

The area is also rightly famous for the world's most spectacular stone circle - Stonehenge. You may think you have heard all there is to know about this World Heritage site, but for Dr. Pryor it continues to throw up new insights into the lives of the early Britons.

"We now understand how the Stonehenge landscape may have worked. The key to this is a site that is very similar in its layout called Woodhenge, just over the hill from Stonehenge." Click here to visit the National Trust web page for the area.

Stonehenge
Stonehenge, Wiltshire, England

Wiltshire Heritage Museum
41 Long Street, Devizes, SN10 1NS, Wiltshire, England

Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum
Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum, The King's House, 65 The Close, Salisbury, SP1 2EN, England

"What people are currently suggesting is timber sites like Woodhenge and Seahenge may well have been shrines where people departed this world for the land of the ancestors. These ancestors were represented by stone and the living were represented by wood."

This breakthrough in our understanding allows us to understand how these megalithic landscapes worked. "It's quite complicated, one of the things that has actually come out of our research is how complex these sites are, and how complicated people's religious lives were."

Another important experience that will further illuminate any personal investigation into this hitherto hazy world is West Kennet Long Barrow.

"Again it's near Avebury, and it's well worth going into," says Dr. Pryor. "It's a chambered treat that you can actually walk into. In land terms it's about the same period as Stonehenge."

It originally consisted of a mound 100 metres long with of a core of boulders capped by layers of chalk rubble. It's an elaborate megalithic structure consisting of five chambers opening off an axial passage.

The entrance passage is fronted by a semi-circular forecourt with a flanking facade of massive stone uprights aligned along a north-south axis.

The final stop off point in Dr Pryor's megalithic trail is Dover Museum, which houses the Dover Boat. "It's one of the most important maritime discoveries of the last century - it's incredibly important," explains Dr. Pryor.

The Dover Boat dates from the Bronze Age, around 3,550 years old and would have been capable of crossing the channel, carrying a substantial cargo of supplies, livestock and passengers. It was probably propelled by at least 18 paddlers.

The discovery of the boat in Dover strongly suggests early cross channel trade. The quality of the workmanship suggests a high degree of skill, specialisation and organisation.

Much research work remains to be done on the Dover Boat and all the sites mentioned above - but visitors will be amazed at the mysterious worlds they open up. The range and quality of the heritage sites that tell the story of pre-Roman Britain is constantly expanding and improving.

Dover Museum
Dover Museum, Market Square, Dover, CT16 1PB, Kent, England

As for the best megalithic site to visit in the UK? Dr. Pryor is easily, if unfairly, drawn. "My personal favourite site has to be Flag Fen - I found it and it's part of my soul." But then Francis Pryor invests his subject with a lot of soul as you will understand if you watch his TV series and enter his megalithic world.

Find out more about Megalithic Britain on these two excellent web sites:
www.megalithic.co.uk
www.themodernantiquarian.com

Francis Pryor has written a book called Britain BC, published by HarperCollins.

Britain BC - Francis Pryor's Top Rated UK Bronze Age Sites - 24 Hour Museum
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