The Hare #15 [May 2026]

Your monthly round-up of landscape discoveries, archaeological news, historical mysteries and folkloric curiosities, brought to you by Northern Earth magazine. Happy Beltane!

• The Spring issue of Northern Earth (#183) is still available (subs are still only £12 a year!). Inside we celebrate the 400th anniversary of John Aubrey, follow the footsteps of Merlin and the stone-throws of the Devil, run from the Baum Rabbit and go on a European pilgrimage (and much more besides). Not long now till the June issue!

Subscribe to the printed journal

• You still have a chance to grab tickets for our exciting Encounters with Landscapes event in May:

And now on with the regulars…

(Other recent news can be found in the printed magazine.)

• Prehistoric funeral pyre find ‘rare as hen’s teeth’ [BBC News]

• Neanderthal toddlers grew faster than modern humans [Live Science in Archaeology]

• Cache of Neolithic rock crystals discovered in Northern England [HeritageDaily]

• Detectorist finds pre-Roman coin hoard in Surrey field [BBC News]

• Huge hidden cave with prehistoric hippo bones found under Pembroke Castle [BBC News]

• Rare medieval ring engraved with undeciphered runic inscription found in Lincolnshire [Ancient Pages]

• Prehistoric community remains found near Glasgow castle [BBC News]

• Mysterious 9th-century coin pendant featuring John the Baptist discovered in Norfolk [BBC News]

• Rare Bronze Age penannular ring found on Isle of Wight [Isle of Wight County Press]

• Ancient Pictish royal ‘power base’ uncovered near tiny village [BBC News]

• Mysterious Australian rock formations exposed as human-made [Futura]

• New acting US Navy secretary believes Wiccans have ‘taken over’ [Yahoo ]

• Hidden voids found in Menkaure pyramid hint at secret entrance [ScienceDaily]

• Ancient DNA study reveals mysterious 5,000-year population collapse in Neolithic Europe [Arkeonews]

• Deciphered ancient clay tablets reveal semi-mythical king Gilgamesh may have existed [Archaeology]

• Archaeologists discover perfectly circular ancient Egyptian temple that may have been used for sacred water rituals [Live Science]

• A mysterious Roman cult temple may become the newest UNESCO World Heritage Site [National Geographic]

• What was that mysterious light seen across NZ skies? [Stuff]

• Eastbourne residents baffled by mysterious ‘bangs’ [SussexWorld]

• Scientists identify mysterious ‘golden orb’ found in ocean [USA Today]

• Noah’s ark researcher finds ‘secret tunnels and chemical proof’ [Daily Express]

• Unexplained rock phenomena and energy source in an Andean town reported [Ancient Pages]

• 1 May The Haunting at the Rectory: Ghost Stories and Women’s Lives. Royal Historical Society talk, Faculty of Arts, Coventry.

• 1–3 May Craven and Stone Club/Dartmoor walk/Beltane Morris. Field System, Ashburton, Devon.

• 1–3 May NeoAncients festival with Weird Walk. Stroud, Gloucestershire.

• 1–3 May Whitby Hand of Glory Folklore Festival. Various venues.

• 2 May Beltain 2026 Celtic Fire Festival: Burning the Wickerman. Butser Ancient Farm, Waterlooville.

• 2–4 May Clun Green Man Festival, Shropshire.

• 2–17 May OffBeat Folk Film Festival. Various London venues.

• 4–7 May Dreamers of Dreams Film Festival. Close-up Film Centre, London. Includes The Library of Unwritten Books by NE collaborator Craig Taylor.

• 5 May Lily-of-the-valley Customs: A Window on France. Online talk from the Folklore Society.

• 7 May Hoax: A Ghost, a Witch and a Princess in the Age of Enlightenment. London Fortean Society, Conway Hall.

• 9 May The Mist and the Stones Conference. Glasgow Student Union.

• 9–10 May Megalithomania (20th anniversary event). Town Hall, Glastonbury.

• 3/10/17/24/31 May May Be on the Moors. Mark-making walks with Neil Greenhalgh. Holcombe, Lancashire.

• 11 May Telling it Otherwise: How Fairy Tales Foster Diversity in Children’s Literature. Workshop at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge.

• 15 May UCL Special Collections Open Morning: Magic and Western Esotericism. Wilkins Building, UCL, London.

• 17 May Move in common: with land and others, human and more-than-human. Workshop on Rodborough Common, Stroud.

• 19 May Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Search for Grindylow. Online talk from the Folklore Society.

• 22 May A celebration of Queer Folk by East Anglian Folklore Centre. Commons Community Kitchen, Colchester.

• 22 May Encounters with Landscapes. Northern Earth’s own event (talks and films) in Oxford! See box above.

• 1 May until 23 May. I Dreamed Another Dream, by Lally MacBeth, Matthew Shaw, Penny McBeth. Field System, Ashburton, Devon.

• Until 10 May Un/Common People: Folk Culture in Wessex, Salisbury Museum.

• Until 15 May Fen to Fire, installation bringing Bronze Age Must Farm to life. Everyspace, March Library, Cambridgeshire.

• 15 May until summer 2027 Chariots, Treasure & Power: Secrets of the Melsonby Hoard. Yorkshire Museum, York.

• Until 16 May Scientific Rambles: The Wild Between. Collection of work by four artist-antiquarians inspired by archaeology, cartography and storytelling. Silk Museum, Park Lane, Macclesfield.

• Until 20 May A View of One’s Own: Landscapes by British Women Artists, 1760-1860. Courtauld, London.

• Until 24 May Voices of the Countryside: 100 Years of the Campaign to Protect Rural England. Museum of English Rural Life, Reading. Also running: Radical Rural museum trail.

• Until 31 May Delaine Le Bas: Un-Fair-Ground. Solo exhibition exploring magic, folklore and witchcraft. The Whitworth, Manchester.

• Until 6 June John Piper in the South Country. Wiltshire Museum, Devizes.

• Until 13 September A Place That Whispers – folkloric photography exhibition. Hidcote, Gloucestershire.

• Until 1 November The Saxons – immersive exhibition at Discover Bucks Museum, Aylesbury.

• Until 2027 Viking North, showcase of best collection of finds outside London. Yorkshire Museum, York.

• [Film] Our Land explores the Right to Roam movement. Screenings nationwide from 8 May.

• [Article] Did King Arthur really exist? A round-up of theories from Live Science.

• [Art/article] Art UK digitises more than 6,600 murals nationwide.

• [Website] Fornland maps ancient sites, folklore and more across the UK, Scandinavia and more.

• [Article] Britain’s 15 best pagan sites… according to the Telegraph, anyway.

Thanks to various readers for the tipoffs! Do reply to this newsletter or email Northern Earth if you have useful links to share. (If your suggestion hasn’t appeared yet, it may well next time!)