News

The headdresses of Star Carr

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NORTH YORKSHIRE, England — Researchers have completed the first scientific study on the techniques used to create the oldest shamanic or ritual headdresses discovered in Europe. The red deer skull and antler artefacts were unearthed at Star Carr in North Yorkshire, England, and date to some 11,000 years ago in the Mesolithic era. When the site was discovered in the 1940s it yielded the largest haul of ritual items from the period ever found in Europe, and it is considered the most important area for Mesolithic study on the continent. Now, 24 headdresses have been analysed under a five-year project led by the University of York. Twenty-one of them were from the original trove and three were discovered by the team during fresh excavations at Star Carr. The University of York’s Professor Nicky Milner, co-director of excavations at Star Carr, said, “These headdresses are incredibly rare finds in the archaeological record.”  She added, “This is the only site in Britain where they are found and there are only a few other headdresses known from Germany.

Living

Building community at the Spirit of the Marsh Festival in Lincolnshire

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THEDDLETHORPE, Lincolnshire — The Lincolnshire Salt Marshes in England are an unforgiving place. The countryside edges the local Wolds and the wind blowing in from the neighbouring North Sea can be bitter. The flat landscape lends itself to breathtaking panoramic skies. This area is steeped in Viking history, a past etched into the landscape in its place names, in which Nordic suffixes such as -thorpe, -gham, -by and -ford abound. Perhaps it’s link to Viking culture also explains the fighting spirit that pervades its history, right up to modern times.

News

Doreen Valiente – Witch, spy and friend to royalty

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[The Wild Hunt welcomes journalist Claire Dixon to our weekly news team. She is our U.K. correspondent and will be covering news and events specifically in that region, as well around the world. To learn more about Dixon’s background and her experience, check out her bio page.]

BRIGHTON, England — The doors opened on an exhibition of artifacts from the Doreen Valiente collection this month, but it was the new biography of the U.K.’s most famous Witch that caused the biggest stir. Why? The book revealed that Valiente had worked at the legendary MI6 spy base Bletchley Park during the Second World War.