July14 , 2026

Musk’s X is Turning into an Empty Nest

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Buried Circle in Scotland Rewrites Violence Before Rome

Scotland's Buried Circle Rewrites Violence Before Rome Keywords: Neolithic Scotland, Machrie Moor, conflict, stone circles, archaeology, Roman Britain Brief: Standing stones in moorland mist; a bronze blade laid beside excavated earth.New discoveries at Machrie Moor and a major Edinburgh exhibition are pushing Scotland's prehistory away from pastoral myth and closer to a landscape of ritual, memory and organised violence.Scotland's ancient past is often imagined in stone, fog and silence. The newest archaeology suggests something noisier. Historic Environment Scotland this week announced the detection of a possible new prehistoric ring beneath the peat on the Isle of Arran: a circle of 12 pit-like anomalies forming a feature approximately 28 metres across, with space for two additional settings that may bring the original total to 14 posts or stones. Led by Dr Nick Hannon, the survey team used geophysical scanning equipment that detects underground disturbances without lifting a single turf. "The discovery of a new circle completely surpassed our expectations," Dr Hannon said. The find arrives at the same moment as the National Museum of Scotland opens Scotland's First Warriors, an exhibition tracing 4,000 years of conflict from the Neolithic to the Romans, covering more than 200 objects and asking how and why people fought, what weapons they used and what early conflict did to communities. Taken together, the two stories complicate the old image of early Scotland as a remote edge of prehistory waiting passively for civilisation to arrive. Ritual and Conflict Shared the Same Landscape It is tempting to separate ceremonial monuments from warfare, as if one belonged to religion and the other to politics. The new exhibition suggests prehistoric Scotland did not organise life so neatly. Machrie Moor's circles date from between roughly 3500 and 1500 BCE, and excavations have shown that several were preceded by timber circles in the same positions. The timber circle at Machrie Moor 1 has been radiocarbon-dated to 2030 ± 180 BCE, before the wooden posts were replaced with stone around 2000 BCE. The circles align with a prominent notch at the head of Machrie Glen, where the midsummer sunrise would have been visible, and later served as burial grounds for cremations and inhumations. The Edinburgh exhibition changes the emotional map of prehistoric Scotland. Stone circles were not necessarily built by peaceful mystics untouched by danger. They belonged to societies capable of both ceremony and force, burial and battle, symbolic order and lethal dispute. As the exhibition makes clear, interpersonal violence, fortification and organised conflict were real parts of Scotland's deep past, not marginal episodes but structural features of life on the moor. The landscape was never only sacred space. It was lived space. Before Rome, There Was Already History The most useful thing about these discoveries is that they pull Scottish prehistory out of the shadow of Rome. Too often, Britain's northern story begins when classical writers notice it. The Arran circle and the "first warriors" frame both insist that Scotland already had long, structured histories of monument-building, territorial meaning and conflict before Roman contact ever entered the picture. The Arran cursus, a ceremonial enclosure approximately 1.1 kilometres long sitting adjacent to the stone circles, underlines the landscape's sustained importance as a gathering place across millennia. The new ring at Machrie Moor has not yet been excavated, and the evidence for prehistoric violence remains open to interpretation. But the direction of travel is clear. Early Scotland looks less like an empty northern fringe and more like a dense world of ritual landscapes, armed communities and social memory stretching back 5,000 years. The stones were never mute. We are only getting better at hearing what kind of world they belonged to.Keep up with Daily Euro Times for more updates! Read also: The Outlander Effect: How the Show Put Scotland on the Map Rural Europe Pushes Back Against Megafarms Homer in a Mummy Rewrites Cultural Borders

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Major institutions have fled Elon Musk’s X platform, revealing how social networks now serve as political tools rather than neutral spaces for public discourse.

The Guardian ended its presence on X in November, abandoning 10.7 million followers over unchecked “racist” content and conspiracy theories.

Le Monde, France’s largest newspaper, departed soon after in January. Editor Jérôme Fenoglio wrote that X had become “an extension of Musk’s political cause,” describing a form of libertarianism that increasingly aligns with rightwing views.

The European Federation of Journalists took a strong stance, stating it would “no longer ethically participate in a social network that its owner has transformed into a machine of disinformation and propaganda.”

Government Bodies Join Growing Exodus

Public bodies joined the movement. The German military and foreign ministry left X after Musk endorsed the rightwing Alternative for Germany party and told Germans to “let go of the guilt of the past.” Over 60 German universities followed suit.

Paris officials deleted their account, with Mayor Anne Hidalgo declaring X “a weapon of mass destruction of our democracies.” She wrote that X “deliberately acts to exacerbate tensions and conflicts” as part of a “clear political project.”

Scientific and User Communities Find Alternatives

Scientists and health bodies moved away too. The European Medicines Agency chose rival network Bluesky, stating X “no longer suits our communication needs.” Hundreds of scientists told Nature they had abandoned the platform entirely.

On Reddit, gaming and sports forums have started blocking X content, citing its “toxic” environment and poor moderation. The PCGaming subreddit added X to its “domain blacklist,” while other communities put bans to public votes.

The Rise of Political Media 

Unlike X, Meta’s platforms have shown greater staying power. Facebook and Instagram recovered user numbers when TikTok faced uncertainty in America. After initial drops in engagement, both platforms saw their user base rebound as TikTok confronted potential bans.

The recent dynamics show how social media companies now openly push political agendas. Musk’s X leads this trend – its owner directly sways what users see and say through policy changes and personal interventions. Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta follows a similar path, removing fact-checkers and diversity programs while focusing on “free speech.”

As media outlets and public bodies seek new digital homes, the myth of politically agnostic social networks fades. Le Monde warned of an “unprecedented alliance” between tech billionaires that “poses a major threat to U.S. democracy” and “represents a global threat to free access to reliable information.”

The platforms that once promised open dialogue now divide more than unite. They operate as extensions of their owners’ political views rather than public utilities. Their transformation from neutral forums to partisan megaphones is fundamentally changing how social media structures public discourse.

Keep up with Daily Euro Times for more updates!

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