Category Archives: Site Research
Zambujal Update

Remember these archaeologists in Portugal digging all that dirt last spring when I visited the ancient Castro do Zambujal, and Sónia Cravo and Fábio Rocha gave me that wonderful tour? Remember Sónia, head of the project, looking over the site on the day of my May visit, seeing the tremendous amount of work yet to …
Going There: Postscript

We flew out of Shannon airport on our homeward-bound journey. Lynn and I had bought our tickets separately so we weren’t seated together. For the Shannon-Philadelphia leg of the trip I took my seat by the window and a couple of young Irishmen sat beside me. They were on their way to San Francisco, a …
Going There #11: Crossings
Going There #10: Outlaw Hideaway

If you were an outlaw on the run in ancient England, where would you hide? A mountain stronghold? I considered the Highlands of Scotland, but that’s a long run from Stonehenge where my guy gets into trouble. Where would l find mountains in England? I used the Google Maps terrain feature and found some heights …
Going There #9: Shadows in the Stones

Stonehenge impacts. It just does. Despite detractors who want to say this is better, that’s better, you can’t get inside, whatever, there is no other stone circle in the world quite like it. The dressed sarsens with their phenomenal bulk. The horizontal lintels that look as if giants had placed them. The bold position on …
Going There #8: Falling Back in Time

When you’re already living in the Bronze Age and something appears to be old in the extreme, you have really fallen back in time from our perspective. One of my characters experiences that phenomenon, and when I followed her into Portugal’s interior I fell back with her. After Zambujal I planned to spend six nights …
Going There #7: The Magic of Zambujal

What was the best part of my recent trip to Greece, Portugal, the UK, and Ireland? Zambujal! People have asked me the question, and that has to be my answer. Out of many remarkable experiences this one stands out for the majesty of the site–and for the unexpected thrill. Imagine these towers whole. Step back …