Brian John

Durham University, Geography, Lecturer (retired)

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Full-time writer and publisher at Greencroft Books. Past employment as geomorphologist with British Antarctic Survey and Lecturer in Geography, University of Durham. Also part-time teaching for Lampeter University and Cardiff University. Author (with David Sugden) of the textbook "Glaciers and Landscape" and many other books (as single author) on the Ice Age, glaciers and glacial processes, and the geography of Scandinavia. Continues to research the glacial geomorphology of West Wales, with an emphasis on the enigma of the Stonehenge bluestones.

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Andrej Dujella

University of Zagreb

Hemin Koyi

Uppsala University

Jana Javornik

University of East London

Graham Martin

University of Leicester

Gwen Robbins Schug

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Gabriel Gutierrez-Alonso

University of Salamanca

John Sutton

Macquarie University

Eros Carvalho

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

Kevin Arbuckle

Swansea University

Jesper Hoffmeyer

University of Copenhagen

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Papers by Brian John

Holocene Book Review: All Our Own Water: Landscape Evolution, Caves and Hydrogeology of Gower

The Holocene, 2022

Waun Mawn and the search for "Proto- Stonehenge

This paper examines Waun Mawn in its regional context, on the northern flank of Mynydd Preseli in... more This paper examines Waun Mawn in its regional context, on the northern flank of Mynydd Preseli in Pembrokeshire. The geology is typical for the area, with outcrops of Ordovician mudstones and meta-mudstones and igneous rocks belonging to the Fishguard Volcanic Group. The landscape has been intensively glaciated on more than one occasion, and glacial and periglacial deposits are widespread. There is an extensive litter of erratic boulders (mostly of dolerite) scattered across the hillside. Many of these boulders have been used in prehistoric stone settings around Waun Mawn, 1 Figure 1. Extract from the old OS 1:25,000 map series, showing topographic and other features around Waun Mawn and Tafarn-y-bwlch. Tafarn y Bwlch and Banc Llywdlos. Included in these stone settings are single and double standing stones, ring cairns, passage and gallery graves, and what appear to be collapsed cromlechs. Parker Pearson (2017, 2019) has claimed that Waun Mawn carries traces of a dismantled &quot;giant stone circle&quot; which provided bluestone monoliths for Stonehenge. The evidence cited in two publications is examined, and does not withstand scrutiny. From examinations of the shallow excavations in 2017 and 2018, it is concluded that there might have been some small standing stones which were later removed or broken up, but it is not demonstrated that there ever was a small stone circle here, let alone a &quot;giant&quot; one. Furthermore, there have been no control studies in the neighbourhood which might demonstrate that the speculative feature has any significance. There is nothing at Waun Mawn to link this site in any way to Stonehenge, and it is concluded that the archaeologists have simply &quot;discovered&quot; what they wanted to find, and have created an elaborate and unnecessary bluestone narrative around it. No evidence has been brought forward in support of the claim that &quot;this was one of the great religious and political centres of Neolithic Britain&quot;.

The Lost Circle at Waun Mawn: a commentary

This commentary relates to an &quot;Antiquity&quot; article on the so-called &quot;Lo... more This commentary relates to an &quot;Antiquity&quot; article on the so-called &quot;Lost Circle&quot; of Waun Mawn in Pembrokeshire, by Prof Mike Parker Pearson and others, which proposed that there was a giant stone circle on this remote moorland which was dismantled and shipped off to Stonehenge as a form of ancestor tribute. The claims made in the article are examined and found to be unsupported by hard evidence. It is suggested that the authors have not established the presence of a stone circle at Waun Mawn, let alone any link with Stonehenge.

Those "bluestone quarries" -- the manufacturing of a modern myth (Greencroft Working Paper No 3)

Carn Goedog and the question of the "bluestone megalith quarry

Geological analyses show that the dolerite sills of the Fishguard Vocanic series on the north fla... more Geological analyses show that the dolerite sills of the Fishguard Vocanic series on the north flank of Mynydd Preseli are geochemically heterogenous, with substantial lateral and vertical variations. Many sills are still inadequately mapped and sampled. The Carn Goedog sill is exposed at the surface at Carngoedog, Carn Breseb and Carn Ddafad-las and at multiple other locations, with a surface outcrop extending over at least 450,000 sq m. While geological differences have been demonstrated between the three main tors, claims of &quot;precise provenancing&quot; of certain Stonehenge fragments to the Carngoedog tor are of questionable validity. Even more dubious is the claim that nine of the Stonehenge bluestone monoliths have been quarried at Carn Goedog, since eight out of the nine are heavily abraded boulders and slabs which look like ancient glacial erratics rather than sharp-edged and fresh pillars extracted from the parent rock. Geomorphological studies on the extensive Carn Goedog tor reveal that it is dominated by terraces, crags and hollows with very little scree. Pillars suitable for use as monoliths are restricted to a few small areas on the tor, in locations difficult to access. Jumbled frost-shattered blocks of all sizes dominate the tor landscape, with dolerite outcrops in various stages of disaggregation and collapse under gravity. There are many boulders and slabs with sub-rounded edges, indicative of either many millennia of weathering or of abrasion and redistribution by glacier ice. Frequent moulded and smoothed surfaces on the tor also indicate that the influence of overriding ice (probably during both the Anglian and Devensian glacial episodes) has been considerable. Examinations of the supposed &quot;Neolithic quarry&quot; site on the south flank of the tor have revealed no traces of quarrying, apart from a few signs of modern activity. All of the features referred to as &quot;engineering features&quot; are found to be entirely natural. Stone tools, if they are correctly labelled as such, owe nothing to quarrying activities, and are present simply because there is a long history of intermittent occupation at this site adjacent to a major routeway across Mynydd Preseli. Soft shale &quot;wedges&quot; supposedly used in the process of extracting fracture-bounded pillars from the rock face are entirely natural; indeed the idea that soft pieces of shale would be hammered into dolerite fractures defies the principles of rock mechanics. Radiocarbon dates ranging from Mesolithic to medieval times do nothing to underpin the quarrying hypothesis. It is concluded that there is no Neolithic quarry at Carngoedog, and that if blocks of spotted dolerite have indeed been extracted and transported away from the vicinity of the tor, the agency was glacier ice. ============================== 1

Craig Rhos-y-felin is NOT shown to be a Welsh bluestone megalith quarry for Stonehenge

The claim by Parker Pearson et al (2015) to have discovered a megalithic bluestone quarry at Crai... more The claim by Parker Pearson et al (2015) to have discovered a megalithic bluestone quarry at Craig Rhos-y-felin in Pembrokeshire is disputed. So is the claim that details of the quarrying process have been discovered. In the view of the author and his research colleagues Downes and Elis-Gruffydd, the claimed engineering features attributed to Neolithic / Bronze Age quarrymen are simply natural features typical of rock faces affected by glacial, fluvioglacial and periglacial processes over a long period of time. No antler picks, hammerstones, bones, flakes, axes or other artifacts which might confirm Neolithic quarrying activity have been discovered at this site. Some of the disputed features appear to have been unconsciously fashioned by the archaeological dig team over five seasons of fieldwork through the selective removal of sediments. There is no direct dating for the extraction of bluestone monoliths; in contrast, it is suggested that the abundant radiocarbon and other dates from the sites have nothing to do with quarrying, but indicate instead a long history of intermittent occupation by hunting and gathering groups.

Decommissioning and jobs

Nuclear Decommissioning and Society, 2019

Book reviews: French, H. M. I976: The periglacial environment. London : Longman. x + 309 pp. £5.50

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment, 1977

The World of Ice

The Ice Age

Report: Geomorphology in the Arid Tropics

Periglacial Environments in Britain

Guide to the Perception of New Geography

A. L. Washburn. Periglacial processes and environments. London, Edward Arnold, 1973. [viii], 320 p., illus. £8.50

Journal of Glaciology, 1976

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Spitsbergen: southern Ny Friesland 1:125,000. [London], Royal Geographical Society, 1962. 10s 6d

Journal of Glaciology, 1964

A case of lost opportunities: experience of aborted small windpower projects in west Wales

IEE Colloquium on Small Wind Power Systems, 1996

Pembrokeshire Coast Path

Stonehenge's mysterious stones

Earth, 2009

Vistulian Periglacial Phenomena in South-West Wales

Ice Age events in South Pembrokeshire

Nature

Holocene Book Review: All Our Own Water: Landscape Evolution, Caves and Hydrogeology of Gower

The Holocene, 2022

Waun Mawn and the search for "Proto- Stonehenge

The Lost Circle at Waun Mawn: a commentary

Those "bluestone quarries" -- the manufacturing of a modern myth (Greencroft Working Paper No 3)

Carn Goedog and the question of the "bluestone megalith quarry

Craig Rhos-y-felin is NOT shown to be a Welsh bluestone megalith quarry for Stonehenge

Decommissioning and jobs

Nuclear Decommissioning and Society, 2019

Book reviews: French, H. M. I976: The periglacial environment. London : Longman. x + 309 pp. £5.50

Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment, 1977

The World of Ice

The Ice Age

Report: Geomorphology in the Arid Tropics

Periglacial Environments in Britain

Guide to the Perception of New Geography

A. L. Washburn. Periglacial processes and environments. London, Edward Arnold, 1973. [viii], 320 p., illus. £8.50

Journal of Glaciology, 1976

Download

Spitsbergen: southern Ny Friesland 1:125,000. [London], Royal Geographical Society, 1962. 10s 6d

Journal of Glaciology, 1964

A case of lost opportunities: experience of aborted small windpower projects in west Wales

IEE Colloquium on Small Wind Power Systems, 1996

Pembrokeshire Coast Path

Stonehenge's mysterious stones

Earth, 2009

Vistulian Periglacial Phenomena in South-West Wales

Ice Age events in South Pembrokeshire

Nature

The Lost Circle at Waun Mawn: a commentary

This commentary relates to an "Antiquity" article on the so-called "Lost Circle" of Waun Mawn in ... more This commentary relates to an "Antiquity" article on the so-called "Lost Circle" of Waun Mawn in Pembrokeshire, by Prof Mike Parker Pearson and others, which proposed that there was a giant stone circle on this remote moorland which was dismantled and shipped off to Stonehenge as a form of ancestor tribute. The claims made in the article are examined and found to be unsupported by hard evidence. It is suggested that the authors have not established the presence of a stone circle at Waun Mawn, let alone any link with Stonehenge.

Download

Those "bluestone quarries" -- the manufacturing of a modern myth

Download

Carn Goedog and the question of the "bluestone megalith quarry"

Geological analyses show that the dolerite sills of the Fishguard Vocanic series on the north fla... more Geological analyses show that the dolerite sills of the Fishguard Vocanic series on the north flank of Mynydd Preseli are geochemically heterogenous, with substantial lateral and vertical variations. Many sills are still inadequately mapped and sampled. The Carn Goedog sill is exposed at the surface at Carngoedog, Carn Breseb and Carn Ddafad-las and at multiple other locations, with a surface outcrop extending over at least 450,000 sq m. While geological differences have been demonstrated between the three main tors, claims of "precise provenancing" of certain Stonehenge fragments to the Carngoedog tor are of questionable validity. Even more dubious is the claim that nine of the Stonehenge bluestone monoliths have been quarried at Carn Goedog, since eight out of the nine are heavily abraded boulders and slabs which look like ancient glacial erratics rather than sharp-edged and fresh pillars extracted from the parent rock. Geomorphological studies on the extensive Carn Goedog tor reveal that it is dominated by terraces, crags and hollows with very little scree. Pillars suitable for use as monoliths are restricted to a few small areas on the tor, in locations difficult to access. Jumbled frost-shattered blocks of all sizes dominate the tor landscape, with dolerite outcrops in various stages of disaggregation and collapse under gravity. There are many boulders and slabs with sub-rounded edges, indicative of either many millennia of weathering or of abrasion and redistribution by glacier ice. Frequent moulded and smoothed surfaces on the tor also indicate that the influence of overriding ice (probably during both the Anglian and Devensian glacial episodes) has been considerable. Examinations of the supposed "Neolithic quarry" site on the south flank of the tor have revealed no traces of quarrying, apart from a few signs of modern activity. All of the features referred to as "engineering features" are found to be entirely natural. Stone tools, if they are correctly labelled as such, owe nothing to quarrying activities, and are present simply because there is a long history of intermittent occupation at this site adjacent to a major routeway across Mynydd Preseli. Soft shale "wedges" supposedly used in the process of extracting fracture-bounded pillars from the rock face are entirely natural; indeed the idea that soft pieces of shale would be hammered into dolerite fractures defies the principles of rock mechanics. Radiocarbon dates ranging from Mesolithic to medieval times do nothing to underpin the quarrying hypothesis. It is concluded that there is no Neolithic quarry at Carngoedog, and that if blocks of spotted dolerite have indeed been extracted and transported away from the vicinity of the tor, the agency was glacier ice. ============================== 1

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Craig Rhos-y-felin is NOT shown to be a Welsh bluestone megalith quarry for Stonehenge

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Waun Mawn and the search for "Proto- Stonehenge"

This paper examines Waun Mawn in its regional context, on the northern flank of Mynydd Preseli in... more This paper examines Waun Mawn in its regional context, on the northern flank of Mynydd Preseli in Pembrokeshire. The geology is typical for the area, with outcrops of Ordovician mudstones and meta-mudstones and igneous rocks belonging to the Fishguard Volcanic Group. The landscape has been intensively glaciated on more than one occasion, and glacial and periglacial deposits are widespread. There is an extensive litter of erratic boulders (mostly of dolerite) scattered across the hillside. Many of these boulders have been used in prehistoric stone settings around Waun Mawn, 1 Figure 1. Extract from the old OS 1:25,000 map series, showing topographic and other features around Waun Mawn and Tafarn-y-bwlch. Tafarn y Bwlch and Banc Llywdlos. Included in these stone settings are single and double standing stones, ring cairns, passage and gallery graves, and what appear to be collapsed cromlechs. Parker Pearson (2017, 2019) has claimed that Waun Mawn carries traces of a dismantled "giant stone circle" which provided bluestone monoliths for Stonehenge. The evidence cited in two publications is examined, and does not withstand scrutiny. From examinations of the shallow excavations in 2017 and 2018, it is concluded that there might have been some small standing stones which were later removed or broken up, but it is not demonstrated that there ever was a small stone circle here, let alone a "giant" one. Furthermore, there have been no control studies in the neighbourhood which might demonstrate that the speculative feature has any significance. There is nothing at Waun Mawn to link this site in any way to Stonehenge, and it is concluded that the archaeologists have simply "discovered" what they wanted to find, and have created an elaborate and unnecessary bluestone narrative around it. No evidence has been brought forward in support of the claim that "this was one of the great religious and political centres of Neolithic Britain".

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