Glass artist and Making History listenerÌý has been inspired by carved stone balls which have been found in significant numbers in Aberdeenshire and may well date back to the Neolithic. Louise is fascinated about their origins – ‘what on earth were they for’, she asks?
Making History turned to one of Britain’s finest archaeologists,Ìý who is Head of Early Prehistory at the National Museums of Scotland. Alison took Vanessa to a field near Aberdeen…
Alison believes that these balls signify a stratified society in Aberdeenshire in which an elite would have had access to these balls. They may well be something to do with cosmology but what they definitely point to is a movement of ideas and therefore people.
In 1915 the YMCA started a scheme which drew on the skills of amateur photographers. They were enlisted to take photos of the families of men serving overseas and these were then sent to them as a morale booster. The scheme ran during the Second World War too.
It was Making History Pat Williams who drew our attention to this scheme because she has an album with material relating to it. Pat wants to give it to an archive that would ensure its safekeeping for future generations.
Making History contacted theÌý which looks after the archives of the YMCA. Archivist Philippa Bassett explained that they are keen to receive more material.
Do you know the people photographed? If so please .
Teaching the Eighteenth Century
Christina Fell is Chair of the Longitude Harrison Association. She was delighted to hear Making History’s item on John Harrison and the longitude problem in last weeks programme.
However, she contacted the programme to point out that Harrison is not required learning in the National Curriculum. She argues that a knowledge of the scientific breakthroughs of the eighteenth century are essential in understanding the industrial revolution and the radical changes to society in the nineteenth century.
Making History also consulted Alf Wilkinson at theÌý in London and the biographer Professor Richard Holmes, author of the recent bestseller:
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of ScienceÌý
Professor Richard Holmes
HarperPress ISBN-10: 0007149522 ISBN-13: 978-0007149520).
Blue and White Pottery
One of the most popular questions Making History receives is about blue and white earthenware dug up in gardens across the UK. What is it? We consulted Sonia Solicari, Curator in the Ceramics and Glass Collection at theÌý in London
This earthenware is an archaeological record of the beginning of our ‘throwaway society’.
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, technological change allowed for the mass production of earthenware pottery which borrowed designs from earlier porcelain pieces. As it was produced by industrial processes in thousands it became very cheap, so much so that it wasn’t worth repairing when broken. So, it was often thrown out – perhaps in the same part of the garden used for nightsoil.
An expert can identify which factory made these pieces and before the Copyright Act in the 1840’s there were a host of designs which borrowed from each other. Often, also, scenes of the day were copied from publications such as the Illustrated London News.
Sonia Solicari recommends the following book for would-be pottery sleuths:
The Dictionary of Blue and White Printed Pottery 1780-1880.
A.W. Coysh and R K Henrywood.
Published by the Antique Collectors Club ISBN-10: 0907462065 ISBN-13: 978-0907462064
Vanessa has presentedÌýscience and current affairs programmes for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Discovery and has presented for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 4 & Five Live and a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday, Scotsman and Sunday Herald.Ìý
Contact Making History
Send your comments and questions for future programmes to:
Making History
³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 4
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Vanessa has presentedÌýscience and current affairs programmes for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Discovery and has presented for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 4 & Five Live and a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday, Scotsman and Sunday Herald.Ìý