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False 5past horizons Editorial A busy time It has been a bit of a race to the fi nishing post to complete this issue of the magazine as we have been away in Croatia for the last few weeks. David has also been re-vamping the Past Horizons website, which has taken up a lot of his time. He always tries to stretch technology just a little bit further and I think that you might like the new look. Croatia was very interesting and turned into an unexpected busman’s holiday. We thought we were going to help rebuild walls on the island of Cres and ended up looking at the archaeology with a view to going back next year to survey the area. It is very diffi cult to explain why the landscape is so special but for us, walking in the forests, meadows and deserted villages with their sink holes, tombs and communal ponds, there was a sense that this place was defi nitely worth the effort. Yesterday, we carried on the project at Cousland clearing around a 17/ 18th century ruined windmill. When we got there Sheena had spotted an extremely cute young tawny owl perched on the ledge of the structure we were about to work on. It seemed half asleep, opened one eye but made no attempt to move. Luckily for us, two men from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Lothian Ringing Group were in the area, so they came and rescued it. We had plenty of volunteers and made a lot of progress clearing away ivy and vegetation to reveal the extent of the windmill. Unfortunately, heavy rain stopped play by late afternoon, but we went home very happy with our day’s work. Most of you by this time will have seen the new Indiana Jones fi lm. David insisted that we go on the fi rst day of its release here in the UK. It has had very mixed reviews so far but I must say that I quite enjoyed it. By the way, Skara Brae is not off the west coast of Scotland as Professor Jones told his students in the fi lm, and as a Scot I do feel the need to point this out. See the Past Horizons fi lm review on page 41. David and I are now gearing up for a month’s archaeological survey of the Jerash hinterland, Jordan, in September. We are really looking forward to getting back to the survey as it’s been two years since we were there, and if all goes well we will be spending the fi nal week in Syria. This means we’ll be working hard to fi nish up September’s Past Horizons ahead of schedule so if you have any gripes, comments or complaints you want included in the magazine, get them to us by mid August. Maggie Struckmeier Maggie Struckmeier editor@ pasthorizons. com ?