The Megalithic Portal and Megalith Map FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Category: Main -> About this website
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Who's responsible for this contraption then?Andy Burnham, (andy@megalithic.co.uk) created this site and runs it in a voluntary capacity. It is funded as a non-profit making independent society with membership and a committee. Andy writes: I am an amateur in hopefully the best sense of the word. Where I don't know something I take the advice of the more knowledgeable. Over the years, this project has become a major team effort with input from thousands of photographers, archaeologists, locals and visitors so individual comments are the views of individual contributors. Back to Top | |
Who else contributes?Day to day, the site is run by a team of voluntary editors and site admins. They put in a lot of effort and I am extremely grateful to them. Please see the separate Credits section in this FAQ. Back to Top | |
How do I contribute things?This is an interactive web site so please join in. To add a comment on an ancient site simply find the relevent page (use the Search tool) and post your comments. For more detail on how to contribute photos and articles, see Contributing Information in this FAQ. Back to Top | |
How long have you been doing this?Although The Megalithic Portal has been running since 2001, the database it was originally based on goes back to about 1997, when Andy started to create his first web listing, The Prehistoric Web Index. A spin off from this was the original Megalith Map (updated version), with was co-developed with MS Access expert Alastair McIvor. We have since moved on to Open Source technologies, with the database converted to MariaDB with a PHP front end. Back to Top | |
So what's the point then, aren't you a bid sad :-)Well yes, probably, but an overriding reason to do this is that many of these ancient sites are not protected in any way, and many have disappeared over the last 50 years or so under development and intensive agriculture. Even sites that are scheduled have limited real protection, so our mission is to document, publicise and protect these remaining sites. Over 10 years we've been filling it up with useful information contributed by site visitors. Only now is this all available and we'd like you to contribute your knowledge. We're creating a Hitchhikers' Guide to Ancient Sites if you like. Or - wait for it - Pokemonolith TM (Gotta catch 'em all :-) Back to Top | |
But if you publicise them, won't more visitors come along and cause damage?Yes, this is a worry. Hopefully most people who take the trouble to track down obscure sites know how they should be treated (ie. don't light fires or leave any rubbish, bury crystals etc!) The more people who visit them the more people there are to keep an eye on them and show that they matter. On balance I think we're doing the right thing. If you plan to visit ancient sites in person, please make sure you follow our Charter. Back to Top | |
Does your site have Terms and Conditions of use?Slightly contrived question there to get in the fact that, yes this web site has Terms and Conditions of use and here they are. You may also like to see our Privacy Policy Back to Top | |
Do you have an overview I can print out?I thought I'd write this brief guide - What's new at The Megalithic Portal (PDF file) to tempt you to spend some more time here and perhaps contribute some information to our rapidly expanding site. I've also included some older features, see to the right of the page for how each feature looks on our pages. Back to Top | |