Andy Burnham's Blog, page 232

Megalithomania 2019, 11th-12th May, Glastonbury

11th-12th May - Megalithomania 2019
Town Hall Glastonbury
Just a few tickets remaining.
Andy B, founder of the Megalithic Portal and lead author of our Old Stones book is speaking Saturday afternoon. Also on the bill: Paul Devereux and many more

Carman Hill cairn

The remains of a chambered cairn in West Dunbartonshire. The large upright stone is set in a gently-sloping field that gives a view of the River Clyde to the south-west; the stone is what remains of a chambered cairn, which once contained a burial chamber. Photo taken facing west showing the sunset over the 'Arrochar Alps', and many more on our page. l think it is symbolic that the builders placed this Cairn facing this direction, the Sun sets against these mountains every evening, every day of the year.

Moseley Bog Burnt Mound

A nature reserve in suburban Birmingham which gave inspiration to J.R.R Tolkien, who lived nearby as a young boy. It has two burnt mounds, heat shattered pebbles collected in the Bronze Age that may have been used for cooking or possibly to create steam for a 'sweat house'. The mounds were only discovered in 1980 when heat damaged stones were noticed in the bed of the stream that bisects one of the mounds. An excavation followed and the mound pictured here was identified.

Yenworthy

A lovely pair of standing stones, each about a metre tall, stood about 30 metres from each other, to the east and almost at the top of the hill opposite County Gate car park on Exmoor. These stones stand near to the remains of two round barrows, which may or may not be contemporary with them.

Ellebygård Bautasten

A beautiful Bautasten (Menhir) almost 2 m high in the middle of a field.

Blykobbegård Rundhøj

Round Barrow in Bornholm. 4.5 x 25m burial mound is located on a field, but it is accessible all year round. From the Aabyvej an old country lane leads directly to the mound.

Saerbeck Iron Age Settlement

The remains of an Iron Age settlement were found in a sand pit in Saerbeck (North Rhine-Westphalia/Germany). The current excavation of the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (LWL) has revealed how the ancient farmers built storehouses, stables and residential buildings and what pottery they used.

Mayon Farm Cross

Photos of Mayon Farm Cross from last month. Reports coming in that it has been completely bulldozed, more soon... Details in the comments. . Was once "a Greek cross in relief with expanded limbs, the lower extending the full length of the shaft" Now a pile of stones or less...

Easthill

A small stone circle setting on top of a group of hills called Easthill. The circle sits on top of a grassy knoll overlooking Dumfries, with a commanding view of the north, east and south. The circle itself is made up of ten stones with a few other stones that have rolled down the hill over time that could have been part of this circle. There is a possibly aligned stone lying a hundred and fifty feet to the east.

Cuween Hill

Erland Cooper records part of his new song First of the Tide inside Cuween Hill chambered cairn, more details in the comments on our page. Also the head of a Neolithic dog recreated using a skull discovered in the same cairn in 1901 - again more below.... Cuween Hill chambered cairn (Orkney) is set on a hillside overlooking the Bay of Firth. The site is still covered by an earth mound although 19th century attempts to gain access have disturbed the top of the corbelled roof which is now covered by flat stones. However, within the cairn the walls and corbelling up to a considerable height are intact and in excellent condition.