Andy Burnham's Blog, page 145

Achmore

RIP Margaret Curtis, Callanish researcher extraordinaire. She passed away at the hospital in Stornoway last Saturday. We commemorate her by highlighting one of her many discoveries, this previously unrecorded stone circle. You would be very welcome to post tributes and memories here. Gerald Ponting writes: The discovery of the Achmore Stone Circle was, in a sense, a spin-off from the 1981 Callanish dig by the forerunner of Historic Scotland. Two
local crofters arrived at the site to see what was going on and got talking
to us - Margaret - now Curtis - and I. We were well-known at the time as 'the local amateur archaeologists' and were working with the professional team at
Callanish.

Ardasai Nuraghe

Nuraghe in Sardinia (Sardegna). Nuraghe Ardasai is located in a picturesque landscape some 6km north of Seui. The monument consists of the main tower enclosed by a wall with lateral towers. The tholos chamber of the main tower partly survived, while the lateral towers are mostly collapsed. Around the nuraghe there are remains of a settlement with huts.

Little Sark Cist

What looks like a single chunky menhir in a field bank, upon closer inspection has two uprights lying at its base. The site was excavated by Barry Cunliffe who concluded it was the remains of a cist. This is in an area of several Neolithic remains on Little Sark, and quite close to the known dolmen on the South cliffs.

The Longstone (Piles Hill)

New research by John Aylett into visual and astronomical links at Piles Hill stone row on Dartmoor, more in the comments on our page here and in our forum. This large pointy topped stone just below the summit of Piles Hill, over 2 metres in height, leans at an angle although it has been only recently re-erected. It probably marked the northern end of the Butterdon Hill stone row.

Ugborough Beacon Propped Stone

This propped stone is situated on top of the granite outcrop which makes up the central area of the cairn on Ugborough Beacon. The stone appears to originate from the outcrop itself, and is propped by a single stone inserted under the north end. No dating evidence has been recovered from the cairn, but similar features on Dartmoor are usually thought to date from the Early Bronze Age. As propped stones have generally been dated as Early Neolithic (approximately), there is the possibility that this site had religious significance over a period of a thousand years or more.

Bock (IX)

There are many mounds to explore close to the Nebra sky disc museum. This round barrow is one of the best preserved at about 1m high. Here's our map.

Tyddyn Du Circular Enclosure

Situated in the uplands above Harlech the site lies in a field above Tyddyn Du. The enclosure has an interior diameter of 26m that is defined by substantial stone walling particularly to the west where it is over 2m tall.

Announcing the Megalithic Portal photo competition winners for Apr to June 2020

Continuing the catch-up of our photo competitions, we are delighted to announce the winners for the best images submitted to the Megalithic Portal in past months. As we are now into 2020 with the photo competition announcements we have split the year into four parts, so here are the winners for photos submitted to us between April and June 2020. As always these were all voted for by you, our visitors and contributors. Votes are still being registered for all photos submitted since the above dates and we will be announcing more winners soon.
1st Prize: Pentre Ifan by Horatio (Lee)
2nd Prize: Stonehenge by SteveC (Steve Cooke)
3rd Prize: Hjulgraven i Hjordkær by SBA_DK (Sonny)
View the photos below.

Ågerup Runddysse 2

A dolmen in Holbæk, Denmark with four uprights, one capstone, one keystone and a very fine view to the sea.

Elvaplain

Stone Circle in Cumbria. Postman writes: Spring equinox sunshine pours over the dramatic horizon. More photos on our page. The equinox sun rises from a notch in the hills. There are also notches north and south of due east, could these be possible solstice notches? I wouldn't cross a continent to get here, but I would drive up a motorway, along a dual carriageway and then walk through a farm.