Tag: prehistoric sites

North Ring, Mucking, Stanford-le-Hope, Essex

megalithix

Enclosure (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – TQ 675 811

Archaeology & History

North Ring, Mucking (after Brown, 2001)

This large circular enclosure, measuring about 120 feet across, seemed to be a small settlement with several internal structures (fences, pits, cremations and a sunken-floored structure) that was first excavated in 1978 and described as a Bronze Age enclosure.  Akin to a henge monument in some ways, this small settlement site had two entrances: one on the east and the other opposite on its west side.  However, the main ‘entrance’ was on the eastern (sunrise) side, where post-holes laid a pathway over the ditch and into the structure itself.

The excavation on the eastern side of site revealed two periods of construction with associated structures, including three circular buildings.  Some excavations to the east produced evidence for a range of contemporary activities.  The assemblage of Late Bronze Age material included pottery, metalwork, cremation remains, sickle moulds and equipment for salt production.  For further info and imagery, see the Link below.

References:

  1. Bond, Dermot, Excavation at the North Ring, Mucking, Essex, East Anglian Archaeology 1988.
  2. Brown, N., “The Late Bronze Age Enclosure at Springfield Lyons in its Landscape Context,” in Essex Archaeology & History, volume 32, 2001.

Links

  1. North Ring, Mucking

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Springfield Lyons, Chelmsford, Essex

megalithix

Enclosure:  OS Grid Reference – TL 7357 0818

Archaeology & History

Springfield Lyons enclosure (after Brown, 2001)

We’ve known that there was an excessive number of prehistoric archaeological sites in and around the Chelmsford region for quite a long time now, but defining precisely the age and nature of the finds takes some doing! (as you’d expect)  It hasn’t helped, of course, with the housing estates and other ecologically destructive building operations in and around the area, screwing up a more accurate and patient assessment of the material there.  And this predicament was exemplified with the Springfield Lyons neolithic causewayed enclosure just as much as at the Springfield Cursus and other sites nearby.

Although excavations here found a large, deep ditch with impressive ramparts and entrance, in Oswald, Dyer & Barber’s (2001) survey of these giant monuments, they defined the remains here as “probable,” pending further investigations.  But the site was primarily defined by the large deep ditch, broken in several places round its edges with the ’causeways’ built leading onto the site.  The enclosure gave good views over the small valley from here and had streams running either side of it.

Adjacent to the site were the remains of a “small circular enclosure with multiple entrances,” saying that excavation here,

“has proved that it is of late Bronze Age date and might be interepreted variously as a defended settlement, or a ritual monument.”

This external small enclosure site was then conjectured, quite spuriously it’s gotta be said, to be a mini-version of the great causewayed enclosure monument, saying:

“Its siting and form both hint that it could have been a conscious imitation of, or re-invention of, the perceived form of the earthworks of the neolithic enclosure.”

I like the idea, it’s gotta be said — but without direct evidence we’ve gotta take this idea with a large pinch of salt!

…to be continued…

References:

  1. Brown, N., ‘The Archaeology of Essex 1500 – 500 BC,’ in Bedwin, O. (ed.), The Archaeology of Essex, ECC: Chelmsford 1996.
  2. Brown, N., “The Late Bronze Age Enclosure at Springfield Lyons in its Landscape Context,” in Essex Archaeology & History, volume 32, 2001.
  3. Oswald, Alastair, Dyer, Caroline & Barber, Martyn, The Creation of Monuments: Neolithic Causewayed Enclosures in the British Isles, EH: Swindon 2001.
  4. Priddy, D., ‘Excavations in Essex, 1987,’ in Essex Archaeology & History, 19, 1988.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Split Rock, Rivock, Keighley, West Yorkshire

megalithix

Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 07989 44208

Also Known as:

  1. Carving no.39 (Hedges)
  2. Carving no.80 (Boughey & Vickerman)

Getting Here

Split Rock, Rivock
Split Rock, Rivock

Head up to Rivock’s Wondjina Stone carving, then keep going east to the Long Rock.  Wander 100 or more further east till you see the fence, and about 50 yards before this check out the large rocks which you’ll notice near to each other.  One of them is this Split Rock!

Archaeology & History

First described in Hedges’ (1986) survey, this is a large flattish boulder, split across one side, with two distinct cup-marks on its eastern side and a number of other ‘possibles’ scattering the surface.  The most intriguing bit to this rock is on its lower eastern side.  Here’s what Boughey & Vickerman (2003) described as,

CR80-2
Deep cup-and-half-ring

“one clear cup (doubtful) discovered under turf…at extreme lower SE corner, with possible attempt at pecked partial ring.”

This cup they describe as “doubtful” is quite deep, but the half-ring on its northern side has definite artificial peck-marks.  I’m more of the opinion that this cup-and-half-ring is man-made — though whether it was done in more recent years is the more debatable aspect here.  I’ll try getting some better images (and a drawing) of this stone when we’re next up here.

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, West Yorkshire Archaeology Service 2003.
  2. Hedges, John, The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Long Stone, Rivock, Keighley, West Yorkshire

megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 07833 44313

Also Known as:

  1. Carving no.78 (Boughey & Vickerman)

Getting Here

Head up to the lovely Wondjina Stone carving, then walk east towards the triangulation pillar. Keep going, over the wall – and keep going straight on, over the next wall (no footpaths up here at all).  You’re now into rough heathland, but if you’re a real cup-and-ring freak, keep heading another 150 yards east, zigzagging slightly.  You’ll eventually find it!

Archaeology & History

CR78
Long Rock carving, Rivock

A quite large, smooth earthfast rock, but nowt much to look at unless you’re one of the crazy bunch!  This is just another one of our basic cup-marked rocks with very little modern archaeo-history attached.  There are perhaps as many as four cup-markings etched onto the stone: two at the northern end, one a little further down (not mentioned in Boughey & Vickerman’s survey) and another one cited towards the south end of the stone.  Gotta be honest though: a couple of them are slightly dubious and may be natural — but hopefully not! (soz about the crap photo of this poor carving; but the light was shit & our camera packed-up!)

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, West Yorkshire Archaeology Service 2003.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Long Stone, Ilkley Moor, West Yorkshire

megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 13282 46222

Also Known as:

  1. Carving no.161 (Hedges)
  2. Carving no.326 (Boughey & Vickerman)

Getting Here

CR326
Large single cup-marked rock

Follow the same directions to reach the Pancake Stone, but about 100 yards west, following the footpath that runs along the edge of the ridge (towards the large Haystack Rock a few hundred yards west), watch out for these large seemingly split rocks, with one elongated length of stone by the pathside.  You can’t really miss it!

Archaeology & History

Very little’s been said of this carving as it’s just one more of the many rocks with just a solitary cup-marking etched on top — as we can see in the photo.  The cup-mark is near the bottom, southeast-ish portion of the rock and is plain to see.

(Note: I’m not 100% sure that I’ve got Boughey & Vickerman’s (2003) numbered carving correct here.  They describe a carved rock very close by here as an “upstanding rock, part of a large split rock,” as their ‘number 326’ carving — which is roughly similar; though I’m not totally sure!  No other single cup-marked stone is listed in their survey close by, so assume it’s the same one as in their work.)

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, West Yorkshire Archaeology Service 2003.
  2. Hedges, John, The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Murlaganmore, Killin, Perthshire

megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 5402 3455

Also Known as:

  1. Morlagganmore

Getting Here

Murlaganmore02
Murlaganmore stone & setting

From Killin, take the Glen Lochay Road past the Moirlanich Longhouse, but keep on for another mile, and take the track on the left up to Murlaganmore cottages.  As the track turns right of the tree-line, cross the field (left) up towards the open gate as if you’re going to the Murlaganmore 2 carving, where you’ll see this large flattish rock in the grasses about 100 yards before it.

Archaeology & History

When we visited this old boulder last week, we had the misfortune of grey days and dark clouds throwing their faded light across this cup-marked rock, not really letting us see with any clarity the many cups which pepper (mainly) the edges of the rock.  But the cups are faded anyway, so accounts tell, and the 15 which we counted were same 15 recorded about 100 years ago in C.G. Cash’s (1912) survey.  There, he described this old stone as,

“about 200 yards south of the house, in the middle of the uppermost pasture. It is a large block of quartz schist stuck thick with garnets, and bearing fifteen cup-marks, only one of which — 3 inch in diameter and 1 inch deep — is really well defined, and several of which are faint.”

Murlaganmore03
Faint cups barely visible
Murlaganmore01
C.G. Cash’s early drawing

But despite the grey day (She was absolutely teeming with rain half of the time!), I found the setting here absolutely gorgeous, with the many shades of old trees and the clear blood of pure waters falling through the landscape.  And, without doubt, there are other carved stones nearby that have yet to capture the attention of surveyors.  You can smell them!

References:

  1. Cash, C.G., ‘Archaeological Gleanings from Killin,’ in PSAS 46, 1911-12.
  2. Royal Commission on Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, The Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Stirling District, RCAHMS: Edinburgh 1979.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Murlaganmore 2, Killin, Perthshire

megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone: OS Grid Reference – NN 5395 3455

Getting Here

Murlaganmore 2 - 01
Murlaganmore 2

Take the same direction to reach the Murlaganmore Footprint, continuing up past the cottages. 100 yards on, where there’s a bend in the track, cross the field on your left and go thru the gate higher up the slope.  Stick to the small rough ‘path’, past the Murlaganmore 1 carving for nearly 100 yards, where a small rocking-stone-like rock is ahead of you. That’s it!

Archaeology & History

Close-up of cup-marks
Close-up of cup-marks

This stone’s in a lovely setting, with the craggy rise of Creag Mhor and the waterfall of Airigh an Fhraoich up the rich coloured slope behind it.  But the carving here is a simple one, with perhaps only 2 cup-markings etched on the stone’s upper surface, as the photo here shows.  Tis a lovely setting though, and there are other carved rocks living nearby which aint yet seen the pages of any record-books.

It was first mentioned in C.G. Cash’s (1912) essay on the antiquities of Killin and district, who told that here was “one well-cut cup, 3 inches in diameter and 1½ inches deep, and also a doubtful or faint one.”  The carving was later listed in the Royal Commission’s Stirling District report (1979) as simply “a boulder bearing cup-marks.”

References:

  1. Cash, C.G., ‘Archaeological Gleanings from Killin,’ in PSAS 46, 1911-12.
  2. Royal Commission on Ancient & Historical Monuments, Scotland, The Archaeological Sites and Monuments of Stirling District, RCAHMS: Edinburgh 1979.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Murlaganmore Footprint, Killin, Perthshire

megalithix

Carved Rock:  OS Grid Reference – NN 54321 34840

Also Known as:

  1. CEN 16 (Morris 1981)
  2. Murlaganmore 3

Getting Here

From Killin, take the small road to the Moirlanich Longhouse, but keep on for another mile. Just before the road crosses the river, stop! In the fields above you to the left are a few trees and some rocks. Walk uphill till you’re nearly level with the cottages at Murlaganmore (the gate’s about 10-15 yards away) just above the gorze bushes and check out the long rock.  If you can’t see it at first, bimble about till you find it. You’re just about on it!

Archaeology & History

Murlaganmore footprint02
Murlaganmore’s ‘Footprint’ carving – probably Nature’s artwork

Although shown on modern OS-maps as a ‘Sculptured Rock’ and included in the Canmore survey, when we visited this site a few days ago I have to say that unless evidence to the contrary can be obtained, this ‘site’ should be declassified as an archaeological remnant of the prehistoric period.  It appears to be natural — though could have had some agricultural purpose or origin in centuries past.

The ‘footprint’ appears to have been described first of all by F.W.L. Thomas (1879) in his essay on the inaugural seat of Kings at Dunadd, where a similar footprint is found at the top of the fort.  Thomas thought that this curious footprint could have had a similar function — though even folklore hereabouts seems silent on such a matter.  The site is included in Ron Morris’ 1981 survey, where he too described it as “probably natural but just possibly man-improved.”

References:

  1. Morris, Ronald W.B., The Prehistoric Rock Art of Southern Scotland, BAR: Oxford 1981.
  2. Thomas, F.W.L., ‘Dunadd, Glassary, Argyllshire: The Place of Inauguration of the Dalriadic Kings’, in Proc Soc Antiq Scot, vol.13, 1879.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian


Carra Bhroin, Lochboisdale, South Uist

megalithix

Standing Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NF 8117 2248

Also Known as:

  • Carragh broin

Archaeology & History

The nature of this site seems a little disputed.  Shown on modern OS-maps and cited as being visited and seen in April 1967,the Canmore website also describes it in the present tense — but when I.A. Crawford (1965) wrote of this site he told that, “this standing stone…has been destroyed in fencing operations” — i.e., building a fence or wall, not some doods having a fencing fight!

Equally curious would be the stature of the site; as in the Royal Commission report (1928), the stone was told to be only 2-feet tall — which would mean that if this site is included as an authentic archaeological site, then we’re gonna have to double or treble the number of standing stone sites nationally!  There are masses of ‘monoliths’ two-feet tall and above which are in the ‘natural’ category.  But this stone, for whatever reason (the folklore probably), has been granted the providence as an authentic standing stone.

Folklore

Tradition told that this old stone was “alleged to mark a battle site” in ancient days.  The variation on this theme tells that the stone marked the grave of a man who was slewn in battle here.  Seems likely that there will be prehistoric tombs nearby…

References:

Crawford, I.A., ‘Carra Bhroin, S.Uist,’ in Discovery & Excavation in Scotland, 1965, SRG & CBA 1965.
Royal Commission on the Ancient & Historical Monuments & Constructions of Scotland, Inventory of Monuments and Constructions in the Outer Hebrides, Skye and the Small Isles, HMSO: Edinburgh 1928.

Allt na Ceardaich Knoll, Killin, Perthshire

megalithix

Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – NN 564 364

Getting Here

Truly troublesome if you aint into walking.  Many ways up, but the easiest has to be the zigzagging trackway up from the valley bottom just by The Green a few hundred yards past Lochay Power Station, up the southern edge of Creag na Cailleach. At the end of the trackway, take the stream uphill for a few hundred yards and watch out for the rocky rise to your right (east).  Head for it and check out the rocks there.  You’ll find it!

Archaeology & History

Allt na Ceardaich01
Single cup-marked rock below Creag na Cailleach

I’m not sure that anything’s previously been written about this curious single cup-marked boulder. I say ‘curious’, simply because of the location and position of the clear cup-mark on this near-gigantic piece of embedded stone.  We walked upon the rocky outcrop south of Creag na Cailleach (above the tree-line where the land levels out) and first saw the cup-marking at the top-end of this huge rock (amidst a number of others) on the large rise a coupla hundred yards west of Allt na Ceardaich.  And as the carved cup was on the top-end of the boulder, I was expecting to find much more of the rock with other motifs scattering its body — but was amazed to find that this was the only single cup-marking on an otherwise huge stone.  A mixture of bewilderment and disappointment came over me as I shook my head in disbelief that only a single cup had been scribed into an otherwise massive rock.

Allt na Ceardaich02
Close-up of the cup-marking

However, the light was poor with low cloud and it was nearing sunset, so there may have been other aspects to this carving which we missed out on.  One other ‘possible’ cup-mark might have been done, but it seemed very dubious even in the poor light.  I was all for having another look at it the following day; but wandering halfway up a mountain just to see if this was the only cup-marking on this outcrop was summat my daughter wasn’t into doing!  So the site must await another mad cup-and-ring-crazed traveller on another day to get a more detailed inspection!  George – are you out there anytime soon!?

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian