Offham Hill is a Neolithic archaeological site and scheduled monument near Lewes, East Sussex. It was first identified as a possible causewayed enclosure in 1964; like others in England, it was enclosed with ditches interrupted by gaps, or causeways. Such enclosures may have been settlements, meeting places, or ritual sites. Offham Hill was inspected by the Ordnance Survey in 1972 and excavated by Peter Drewett in 1976. By this time, it had been badly damaged by ploughing and partially obliterated by a chalk quarry. Most finds came from the ditches, including about 7,000 worked flints, nearly 300 sherds of pottery, a human burial, other human bones, and animal remains. The site and most of the pottery were identified as Neolithic, in part by radiocarbon dating. Further ploughing after the 1976 excavation led to the effective destruction of the site. A reanalysis of the site's artefacts and human remains in 2011 confirmed a construction date in the mid-fourth millennium BC.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offham_Hill

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1081:

Byzantine–Norman wars: Robert Guiscard led an invasion of the Byzantine Empire, capturing Dyrrhachium in present-day Albania. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dyrrhachium_%281081%29

1587:

Filipino sailors disembarked from the Manila galleon Nuestra Señora de Buena Esperanza in what is now Morro Bay, California, the first documented instance of Asians in the Americas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_of_the_first_Filipinos

1775:

American Revolutionary War: In an act of retaliation against ports that supported Patriot activities in the early stages of the war, the Royal Navy destroyed what is now Portland, Maine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Falmouth

1963:

The first cat in space, later known as Félicette, launched aboard a French Véronique rocket. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A9licette

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

kuspuk: 1. (originally) An Alaska Native (traditionally Yup'ik) garment worn on the upper body as an overshirt on top of a parka (“long jacket with a hood”). 2. A lightweight parka-like garment with a hood and a large front pocket worn by Alaska Native people of all sexes, either as an overshirt or as a shirt. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kuspuk

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

"I will have no man in my boat," said Starbuck, "who is not afraid of a whale." By this, he seemed to mean, not only that the most reliable and useful courage was that which arises from the fair estimation of the encountered peril, but that an utterly fearless man is a far more dangerous comrade than a coward.   --Moby-Dick https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Moby-Dick