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- Aug 7, 2001
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I couldn't find a thread on this topic, so I'm starting this one: There's a piece on the BBC website:
Scientists uncover St Columba's cell on Iona
Archaeologists say they have identified the remains of the cell of St Columba on the Scottish island of Iona.
They have used radiocarbon dating to place samples of burned wood in the middle of Columba's time there almost 1,500 years ago.
The charred remains of a hut were excavated in 1957, but it has taken until now for science to accurately date them...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-40556985
But I couldn't understand why it turned up in my Cornwall feed...
Long story short: the 1957 excavation was carried out by...
"..a team led by the Cornish historian and archaeologist Charles Thomas.
It was early in a career in which he became the leading archaeologist of early Christianity in Britain and Ireland, with posts at Edinburgh and Leicester universities.
He eventually became the first professor of Cornish studies at Exeter University and a Bard of the Cornish Gorseth"
Which gives me two links to the story. I have visited Iona, in the 1970s, and years later I actually spoke to Charles Thomas on the phone (about a query I had that was nothing to do with Iona or Columba). He also wrote a great book about the history and geology of the Scilly Isles. According to Wiki, he died just last year: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Thomas_(historian)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Thomas_(historian)
He was married to Jessica Mann - the name sounded familiar, so I looked her up on Wiki too:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Mann
"Jessica Mann (born 1937) is a British writer. As a novelist she specialises in the mystery and suspense genres, and 21 of her crime novels have been published since 1971. She has also written several non-fiction books, including Out of Harm's Way, an account of the overseas evacuation of children from Britain in World War II."
So I've probably read some of her work too!
Scientists uncover St Columba's cell on Iona
Archaeologists say they have identified the remains of the cell of St Columba on the Scottish island of Iona.
They have used radiocarbon dating to place samples of burned wood in the middle of Columba's time there almost 1,500 years ago.
The charred remains of a hut were excavated in 1957, but it has taken until now for science to accurately date them...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-40556985
But I couldn't understand why it turned up in my Cornwall feed...
Long story short: the 1957 excavation was carried out by...
"..a team led by the Cornish historian and archaeologist Charles Thomas.
It was early in a career in which he became the leading archaeologist of early Christianity in Britain and Ireland, with posts at Edinburgh and Leicester universities.
He eventually became the first professor of Cornish studies at Exeter University and a Bard of the Cornish Gorseth"
Which gives me two links to the story. I have visited Iona, in the 1970s, and years later I actually spoke to Charles Thomas on the phone (about a query I had that was nothing to do with Iona or Columba). He also wrote a great book about the history and geology of the Scilly Isles. According to Wiki, he died just last year: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Thomas_(historian)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Thomas_(historian)
He was married to Jessica Mann - the name sounded familiar, so I looked her up on Wiki too:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Mann
"Jessica Mann (born 1937) is a British writer. As a novelist she specialises in the mystery and suspense genres, and 21 of her crime novels have been published since 1971. She has also written several non-fiction books, including Out of Harm's Way, an account of the overseas evacuation of children from Britain in World War II."
So I've probably read some of her work too!