dumnonia

Tuesday, 12 January 2016

must

Archaeologists have uncovered Britain's "Pompeii" after discovering the "best-preserved Bronze Age dwellings ever found" in the country.
The circular wooden houses, built on stilts, form part of a settlement at Must Farm quarry, in Cambridgeshire, and date to about 1000-800 BC.
A fire destroyed the posts, causing the houses to fall into a river where silt helped preserve the contents.
Pots with meals still inside have been found at the site.
Live updates about the dig and more stories from Cambridgeshire
Excavating a roundhouseImage copyright Cambridge archaeological unit
Image caption Archaeologists work on a wooden platform as they uncover the houses
Artist's impression of roundhouse
Image caption Artist's impression of what one of the roundhouses might have looked like
Archaeologist Selina DavenportImage copyright PA
Image caption Archaeologist Selina Davenport helped uncover the dwelling
An earlier test trench at the site, near Whittlesey, revealed small cups, bowls and jars.
In addition, archaeologists said "exotic" glass beads that formed part of a necklace "hinted at a sophistication not usually associated with the Bronze Age".
Textiles made from plant fibres such as lime tree bark have also been unearthed.
What did Bronze Age Britons eat and other things the site tells us
However, the roundhouses themselves are now being excavated.
Archaeologists think they have found about five houses but are not yet certain.
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Bronze Age Europe and Britain

Mold Gold CapeImage copyright British Museum Trustees
Image caption Gold cape discovered in Mold, north Wales - a supreme example of Bronze Age art
  • The Bronze Age in Britain lasted from between 2500 and 2000BC until the use of iron became common, between 800-650BC
  • It came after metalworkers discovered that adding tin to copper produced bronze, used for tools and weaponry which were much more hard-wearing
  • The Greek poems of Homer - though composed later - look back to a time when bronze weapons were used
  • In Britain, the Bronze Age lasted until about 800BC. Use of bronze seems to have coincided with fresh migration of people from the continent.
  • Classic Bronze Age remains include sophisticated axes, precious gold objects, and round burial mounds or "barrows" of which many can still be seen in Britain
BBC History - Bronze Age Britain
BBC Bitesize - What was Bronze Age life like?
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The work to uncover the settlement is necessary because there are concerns the water level at the site could fall some time in the future, meaning the remains of the houses cannot be preserved in situ.
Stilts that held up the roundhousesImage copyright Cambridge Archaeological Unit
Image caption The stilts that held the houses can be seen, together with collapsed roof timbers
Bronze Age textilesImage copyright Cambridge Archaeological Unit
Image caption These preserved Bronze Age textiles were made from plant fibres
Dagger found at Must FarmImage copyright PA
Image caption A middle to late Bronze Age dagger was recovered from the site in 1969
Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, which is jointly funding the excavation with land owner Forterra, described the settlement and contents as "an extraordinary time capsule".
He added: "A dramatic fire 3,000 years ago, combined with subsequent waterlogged preservation, has left to us a frozen moment in time, which gives us a graphic picture of life in the Bronze Age.
"This site is of international significance and its excavation really will transform our understanding of the period."
Wooden potsImage copyright Cambridge Archaeological Unit
Image caption After analysing pots found at the site, archaeologists found some contained food
'Amazing Late Bronze Age roundhouses with roof structure and contents preserved, the Peterborough Pompeii'Image copyright Twitter
Pot found at Must FarmImage copyright PA
Image caption Historic England said the site showed a "frozen moment in time"

'Unsurpassed finds'

David Gibson, from Cambridge Archaeological Unit, which is leading the excavation, said: "So much has been preserved, we can actually see everyday life during the Bronze Age in the round.
"It's prehistoric archaeology in 3D, with an unsurpassed finds assemblage both in terms of range and quantity."
Excavated beadsImage copyright Cambridge Archaeological Unit
Image caption Glass beads found during excavation are thought to have been from a necklace
Well-preserved charred roof timbers of one of the roundhouses are clearly visible, together with timbers showing tool marks and a perimeter of wooden posts known as a palisade, which once enclosed the site.
While a number of Bronze Age settlements have been found in the UK, Mr Gibson said none had been as well-preserved as the Must Farm site.
"Most don't have any timber remaining, just post-holes and marks where posts would have been," he said.
"So far this is unique as we have the roof structure as well."
He said there were some well-preserved similar dwellings at Loch Tay in Perthshire, but these were about 500 years later than those in Cambridgeshire, dating from the early Iron Age.
Roundhouse timbers and wallImage copyright Cambridge Archaeological Unit
Image caption Charred timbers can be seen lying over a collapsed wall
Archaeologists digging two metres (6ft) below the modern surface at the quarry also found preserved footprints, believed to be from people who once lived there.
Once all the retrieved items have been cleaned and documented they are expected to be put on public display.
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“Must Farm

Sunken Bronze Age Settlement Is the 'Pompeii' of Britain
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The roundhouse would have looked something like this Celtic Crannog (Credit: Christine Westerback/CC BY SA 2.0)
Sunken Bronze Age Settlement Is the 'Pompeii' of Britain
Sunken Bronze Age Settlement Is the 'Pompeii' of Britain
But the fire and the roundhouse’s subsequent collapse into the river contributed to its extraordinary preservation. Like the intact structures found at Pompeii, the flames helped to carbonize and maintain the wooden beams. Silt at the bottom of the river prevented air and bacteria from chewing away at the wood. And because the inhabitants were forced to leave everything behind, virtually everything remains where they left it. Archaeologists are describing it as a time capsule.

“Everything suggests the site is not a one-off but in fact presents a template of an undiscovered community that thrived 3,000 years ago ‘beneath’ Britain’s largest wetland” — Mark Knight

Posts and rafters stick up from the ground, while footprints of the inhabitants can still be seen in the sediment. A charred roof of a roundhouse remains visible, as are tool marks and a perimeter of wooden posts that once enclosed the site. Experts say the excavations are revealing “the best-preserved Bronze Age dwellings ever found” in the country.
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Sunken Bronze Age Settlement Is the 'Pompeii' of Britain
“A dramatic fire 3,000 years ago combined with subsequent waterlogged preservation has left to us a frozen moment in time, which gives us a graphic picture of life in the Bronze Age,” noted Duncan Wilson, Chief Executive of heritage organization Historic England. He says the site is of “international significance,” and that it’s poised to “transform our understanding of the period.”
The site, located at Must Farm near Peterborough, England, has already produced a treasure-trove of artifacts. Though the excavations are only half complete, the archaeologists have uncovered elaborate textiles made from plant fibers, along with small cups, bowls, and jars that still have their meals inside. The researchers also found glass beads that were attached to a necklace—a sophisticated item of jewelry not typically associated with the Bronze Age. This could mean that the inhabitants were at the upper levels of society.
Sunken Bronze Age Settlement Is the 'Pompeii' of Britain
These glass beads were once part of an elaborate necklace.
“Must Farm is the first large-scale investigation of the deeply buried sediments of the fens and we uncover the perfectly preserved remains of prehistoric settlement,” said Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) Site Director Mark Knight. “Everything suggests the site is not a one-off but in fact presents a template of an undiscovered community that thrived 3,000 years ago ‘beneath’ Britain’s largest wetland.”

It’s prehistoric archaeology in 3D with an unsurpassed finds assemblage both in terms of range and quantity.” — David Gibson

A human skull was also found at the site, but further excavations are required to determine if it belongs to a person who died in the fire. The team also plans to bring in a fire expert to determine if the fire was deliberate (e.g. the result of a hostile tribe) or accidental.
Sunken Bronze Age Settlement Is the 'Pompeii' of Britain
These textiles were made from plant fibers.
Archaeologists have known about the site for decades, but it hasn’t been touched since 2006. Efforts to fully uncover the settlement were given an added sense of urgency after fears emerged that falling water levels could cause the remains to degrade quickly.
The $1.58 million (£1.1 million), 4-year project is being handled by the CAU, who are being funded by Historic England. All items are being sent to labs for further analysis. A detailed paper is expected in a few years, after which time the items will go on public display.
Similar European prehistoric wetland sites have been found before, but nothing quite like this one. Other examples include the ancient loch-side dwellings known as crannogs in Scotland and Ireland, the stilt houses of the Alpine Lakes, and the terps—human-made hill dwellings—in the Netherlands.
“Usually at a Later Bronze Age period site you get pits, post-holes and maybe one or two really exciting metal finds. Convincing people that such places were once thriving settlements takes some imagination,” said CAU Archaeological Manager David Gibson. “But this time so much more has been preserved—we can actually see everyday life during the Bronze Age in the round. It’s prehistoric archaeology in 3D with an unsurpassed finds assemblage both in terms of range and quantity.”
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Saturday, 26 December 2015

Batmanghelidjh

BatmanghelidjhCamila Batmanghelidjh, CBE (/kəˈmɪlə bætmænˈɡɛlɨdʒ/; Persian: کامیلا باتمانقلیچ‎‎ Kamylā Batmanghelych; born c. 1963) is an Iranian-born author and charity executive in the United Kingdom. She is best known as the founder of Kids Company, a charity which, until its financial collapse in August 2015,[1] worked with inner-city children and young people in the UK.


Early life[edit]

Batmanghelidjh was born in Iran. Her mother was a Belgian, whilst her father was the Iranian doctor Fereydoon Batmanghelidj. She was born two-and-a-half months premature, with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, and she was not expected to survive. Her birth was not registered and the date was not noted.[2] Batmanghelidh believes that her severe dyslexia comes from her traumatic birth.[3]
She attended Sherborne Girls School, an independent school in Dorset.[4] She attended the University of Warwick where she received a first class degree in Theatre and the Dramatic Arts.[5] At the age of 25 she was employed as a part-time psychotherapist in a project in Camberwell, south London, funded by Children in Need.[5] She has claimed to have been practising psychotherapy for more than twenty years,[6] although she has apparently no formal qualifications on or membership in professional self-regulatory organisations with regards to psychotherapy.[7]

Charity work[edit]

Place2B school charity[edit]

In 1991, Batmanghelidjh was involved in the formation of The Place to Be (now Place2Be), a charity working with troubled children in primary schools.[8][9] Place2Be had originated from a Southwark Family Service Unit (FSU) "The Place to Be", placing a counsellor in a primary school.[10] Batmanghelidjh left the charity in 1995.[9] She was replaced by Benita Refson.[10] Place2Be now reaches 80,000 children, working in 235 schools across the UK.[11][11]

Southwark's Urban Academy[edit]

Coordinates: 51°29′51″N 0°04′59″W / 51.4974°N 0.0831°W / 51.4974; -0.0831 The Urban Academy was a post-16 educational and life skills academy at 34 Decima Street in, Southwark, south London. It was founded by Camila Batmanghelidjh and was run by her Kids Company organisation. The college ended on 5 August 2015 due to allegations Kids Company has faced in recent years.[12][13][14][15]

Kids Company[edit]

Main article: Kids Company
In 1996, after leaving the Place2Be, Batmanghelidjh founded Kids Company, a charity that provided care to children whose lives had been disrupted by poverty, abuse and trauma. Originally a single drop-in centre in Camberwell, Kids Company claimed that it helped some 36,000 children, young people and families, although this figure is disputed and the organisation is said to have reached only 1,600 children.[16] The charity operated through a network of street level centres, alternative education centres, therapy houses and with over 40 schools in London and Bristol as well as a performing arts programme in Liverpool.[17]
Deborah Orr, in an interview with Batmanghelidgh, reported in 2012 that fifteen independent evaluations of Kids Company had found that 96 per cent of children assisted return to education and employment and an "impact on crime reduction" of 88 per cent.[5]
In July 2015 a report by Newsnight and BuzzFeed revealed that public funding for Kids Company was to be withheld unless Batmanghelidjh was replaced.[18] On 3 July it was reported that Batmanghelidjh would step down as chief executive in the next few months and continue in a "presidential" role.[19][20]
On 5 August 2015, Kids Company closed its operations[21] less than a week after receiving a government grant of £3,000,000. The charity was given the money against the advice of officials, who had raised concerns about value for money and how it would be spent.[22] The charity had announced that it was closing down because "it is unable to pay its debts as they fall due”.[23]
Speaking to the Telegraph newspaper in August 2015, Camila Batmanghelidjh said she hoped Kids Company could make a comeback after some restructuring and once the media storm had died down.[24]
In mid-August 2015, Batmanghelidjh announced that she would be opening a food bank in Lambeth, south London. She said fifty former staff had volunteered to help run the pop-upKids Dining Room in Loughborough Junction to provide food for up to 3,000 children and young people. Approximately 200 people used the service in August 2015. [25][26]

Recent investigations[edit]

As part of a greater investigation by the Charities Commission, the National Audit Office (NAO) and PricewaterhouseCoopers UK (PwC UK) were commissioned by the Commission to investigate the collapse of Kids Company. Mrs Batmanghelidjh was reported to have had a £90,000 salary at Kids Company for 2014-2015.[27][27][28][28] Camilla blamed a media and civil service led smear campaign for the demise of her charity and its "exceptional value".[28][28]

Awards and honours[edit]

Batmanghelidjh receiving an honorary degree from the Open University in 2008
In 2009 Batmanghelidjh was named Businesswoman of the Year in the Dods and Scottish Widows Women in Public Life Awards.[29] She has also received Ernst and Young's Social Entrepreneur of the Year award (2006),[citation needed] Third Sector magazine's Most Admired Chief Executive (2007)[citation needed] and the Centre for Social Justice's lifetime achievement award in 2009.[citation needed] Batmanghelidjh has been awarded honorary degrees and doctorates by several universities including York St John University,[30] the Open University,[31] Brunel University,[32] London South Bank University[33] and Nottingham Trent University.[34]
In February 2013, she was named one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4.[35] She was appointed an honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to children and young people.[36] In September 2014 she became an Honorary Fellow of UCL.[37]

Publications[edit]

  • Batmanghelidjh, Camila (2007). Shattered Lives. London: Jessica Kingsley. ISBN 1-8431-0603-5. 
  • Batmanghelidjh, Camila (2013). Mind the Child. London: Particular Books, Penguin Random House. ISBN 1-8461-4655-0. 

References[edit]

  1. Jump up ^ Rothwell, James (2015-08-07). "Kids Company boss Camila Batmanghelidjh turned HQ into private 'Aladdin's den'". Telegraph. Retrieved 2015-10-16. 
  2. Jump up ^ Rayment, Tim. "The Odd Couple". The Sunday Times date=6 December 2015. p. 2. (subscription required (help)). 
  3. Jump up ^ Interview by Deborah Orr (3 January 2009). "Colourful character: Camila Batmanghelidjh on her unique approach to charity work – Profiles – People". The Independent. Retrieved 22 October 2012. 
  4. Jump up ^ "How to Make a Difference". Howtomakeadifference.net. 3 August 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2010. 
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Deborah Orr, "Colourful character: Camila Batmanghelidjh on her unique approach to charity work" The Independent, Saturday 3 January 2009
  6. Jump up ^ "Camila Batmanghelidjh". UK in Albania. Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Archived from the original on 17 March 2013. 
  7. Jump up ^ "QUENTIN LETTS on colourful Kids Company questioning in Parliament". Mail Online. Retrieved 2015-10-16. 
  8. Jump up ^ Sally Williams (27 September 2007). "Place2B: It's Goood to Talk". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 September 2014. 
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b "The early years of Place2Be". Retrieved 12 August 2015. 
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b "The early years of Place2Be". place2be.org.uk. 
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b "What We Do". The Place2B. Retrieved 2 September 2014. 
  12. Jump up ^ "Mirror Online: The intelligent tabloid. #madeuthink". Icsouthlondon.icnetwork.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-10-31. 
  13. Jump up ^ [1][dead link]
  14. Jump up ^ [2][dead link]
  15. Jump up ^ "Kids Company's Camila Batmanghelidjh Paid Greater Proportion Of Income Than Britain's Top Charities". Huffingtonpost.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-10-31. 
  16. Jump up ^ "The inside story of how The Spectator broke the Kids Company scandal". The Spectator. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015. 
  17. Jump up ^ "Camila Batmanghelidjh: ‘I chose the vocation’". The Guardian. 22 February 2013. Retrieved 2 September 2014. 
  18. Jump up ^ Chris Cook (3 July 2015). "Kids Company's Camila Batmanghelidjh asked to step down by government". BBC News. 
  19. Jump up ^ Patrick Butler (3 July 2015). "Camila Batmanghelidjh to leave Kids Company, citing political 'ugly games'". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 July 2015. 
  20. Jump up ^ John Bingham (5 July 2015). "Kids Company under new Charity Commission scrutiny amid fears for its future". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 July 2015. 
  21. Jump up ^ "Kids Company: '£3m donation withdrawn amid police probe'". BBC News. 6 August 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015. 
  22. Jump up ^ "Kids Company charity in closure warning – BBC News". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-10-16. 
  23. Jump up ^ Oliver Wright (5 August 2015). "Kids Company: Camila Batmanghelidjh lashes out at 'ill-spirited ministers' as she announces the organisation is about to go bankrupt". The Independent. Retrieved 6 August 2015. 
  24. Jump up ^ "Kids Company could return after a 'restructure’". The Daily Telegraph. 11 August 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2015. 
  25. Jump up ^ "Camila opens food kitchen as taxpayer faces £25m Kids Company bill". The Sunday Times. 16 August 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2015. 
  26. Jump up ^ "Is-start-Kids-Company-2-0-Volunteers-closed-charity-open-pop-dining-room-handing-food-parcels-150-people.html". The Daily Mail. 19 August 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2015. 
  27. ^ Jump up to: a b "Kids Company's Camila Batmanghelidjh Paid Greater Proportion Of Income Than Britain's Top Charities". The Huffington Post UK. 
  28. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Kids Company: Ministers had report on charity's spending". BBC News. 
  29. Jump up ^ "Past winners 2009". Womeninpubliclifeawards.co.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2010. 
  30. Jump up ^ Haydn Lewis (14 November 2013). "York St John University degree results – Day 2". The York Press. Retrieved 2 September 2014. 
  31. Jump up ^ "Honorary Graduates 2008". The Open University. 25 April 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2014. 
  32. Jump up ^ "Camila Batmanghelidjh – 2011". Brunel University London. 6 September 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2015. 
  33. Jump up ^ "Camila Batmanghelidjh Honorary Fellowship". London South Bank University. Retrieved 31 August 2015. 
  34. Jump up ^ "Charity leader Camila Batmanghelidjh to receive honorary degree". Nottingham Trent University. 16 July 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2014. 
  35. Jump up ^ "BBC Radio 4 – Woman's Hour – The Power List 2013". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-10-31. 
  36. Jump up ^ "2013 Honours List" (PDF). Gov.uk. Retrieved 2 September 2014. 
  37. Jump up ^ "Honorary Fellows of UCL". Ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2015-10-16. 

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Camila Batmanghelidjh.
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