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Sketch of the site from 1916

Whitehawk Camp is the remains of a causewayed enclosure, on Whitehawk Hill near Brighton, England. Causewayed enclosures are a form of early Neolithic earthwork, characterized by the enclosure of an area with ditches that are interrupted by gaps, or causeways. Their purpose is not known. The site consists of four roughly concentric circular ditches; at least two ditches touch the outermost circuit from the outside, one of which is thought to date to about two thousand years after the earliest dated activity at the site. Whitehawk was first excavated in 1929 and again in the winter of 1932–1933. In 1935 the area to be crossed by a new road was excavated. In 1991, during the construction of a housing development, a ditch was discovered and excavated. In 2011, an analysis of radiocarbon dates concluded that the Neolithic part of the site was probably constructed between 3650 and 3500 BC, and probably went out of use some time between 3500 and 3400 BC. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Drawing of the Saint-Bélec slab

... that the early Bronze Age Saint-Bélec slab (pictured) is the oldest map to be found in Europe?
... that Truus Smulders-Beliën, the first female mayor in the Netherlands, succeeded her husband after he was executed by Nazi soldiers?
... that Japan's 666 Protected Forests include four Forest Biosphere Reserves that are also Natural World Heritage Sites—Shiretoko, Shirakami-Sanchi, Ogasawara Islands, and Yakushima?
... that Karlin Lillington, long-time technology writer for Ireland's newspaper of record, The Irish Times, holds a PhD on the poetry of Seamus Heaney?
... that many tombstones from the Jewish cemetery of Thessaloniki were used by the city and the Greek Orthodox Church for construction projects?
... that Philadelphia Phillies catcher Rafael Marchan had never hit a home run through 850 minor league plate appearances before hitting one in just his second major league game?
... that the fish Carapus acus lives in association with a sea cucumber, such as Parastichopus regalis, spending the day inside its host and emerging at night to feed?
... that Sister has sparked discussion about gender roles in China?

In the news

Michael Collins

American astronaut Michael Collins (pictured), the command module pilot for Apollo 11, dies at the age of 90.
At the Academy Awards, Nomadland wins three awards, including Best Picture.
A fire at a COVID-19 hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, kills at least 82 people.
The wreckage of KRI Nanggala, an Indonesian Navy submarine, is found in the Bali Sea, and all 53 people on board are confirmed dead.

On this day

April 29

Centaurus A

1770 – On his first voyage, British explorer James Cook and the crew of HMS Endeavour landed at Botany Bay near present-day Sydney, making the first recorded European contact with the eastern coast of Australia.
1826 – Scottish astronomer James Dunlop discovered Centaurus A (pictured), one of the nearest radio galaxies to Earth.
1944 – Second World War: British agent Nancy Wake parachuted into Auvergne, France, becoming a liaison between the Special Operations Executive and the local Maquis group.
1991 – A powerful tropical cyclone struck Chittagong, Bangladesh, killing at least 138,000 people and leaving up to 10 million homeless across the region.
2011 – Watched by a worldwide television audience of tens of millions, Prince William and Catherine Middleton were married at Westminster Abbey in London.

Catherine of Siena (d. 1380)
Hendrik Nicolaas Werkman (b. 1882)
Arthur B. C. Walker Jr. (d. 2001)

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Today's featured picture

Amalia de Llano (April 29, 1822 – July 6, 1874) was a Spanish countess and writer. This 1853 oil-on-canvas portrait by Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz shows her seated in a fine armchair wearing sumptuous clothes, with her youth and beauty accentuated by the dark background, and is quite unlike a traditional Spanish portrait of the period.

Painting credit: Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz

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