Andy Burnham's Blog, page 8

Santa Verna

Petition to Protect Santa Verna Temple Landscape in Xagħra, Gozo from development. This ruined temple probably rivalled the major sites of Ggantija, Tarxien and Hagar Qim in importance. It was first excavated in 1911 when all that was found were the surviving group of 3 uprights, the tallest being over 2.1m (7ft) high, along with 3 horizontal blocks lining the eastern side of the uprights and a beaten earth floor. From this it was possible to make out a typical trefoil or 3-apse temple design.

Hopewell Mound Group

This site originally consisted of a square earthwork attached to an irregularly shaped two-mile long enclosure that contained 29 burial mounds, including Mound 25. The location given is the top of Mound 25 which is the rough center of the site. This mound is to my knowledge the largest known Hopewell culture burial mound still in existence anywhere, although it has been much reduced by plowing. Sadly most Hopewell sites have suffered the ravages of time and are either obliterated or diminished.

Mané-Kerioned Dolmen

A collection of three passage graves, this is Mané Kerioned A. All were once contained within a large oval mound, some of which still remains despite the road cutting right through it. Two of the passages are aligned north south, with the entrances at the south, while the other is situated between these, and aligned east west with its opening to the east.

Vikingeborgen Museum

Just outside Køge rises the Viking Fortress of Borgring, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2023 and now revived as a museum, here you can walk in the footsteps of one of Denmark’s most iconic kings – Harald Bluetooth – and explore Denmark’s transition from Norse paganism to Christianity. In the Royal Hall, you step into one of the most pivotal moments in Danish history.

Stripple Stones

A shaded LiDAR image of the henge, we have photos on our page, below. A ruined 44.8m (147-foot) diameter circle-henge - some estimates say that the circle may have once consisted of as many as 28 standing stones! In 2015 the wall that passed though the site was redirected around the outside of the henge and in 2016 seven stones were re-erected, Meaning there are now 11 upright stones some as much as 2.5m high.

Andong Seoktam-ni

This fine five layered rock-piled square pyramid stands on a small flat area of land in a valley in South Korea. Though it has a linga (*) on its top, this might be a Buddhist proto-pagoda and one of the origins of Kumayama Iseki and other Japanese pyramids.

Folkeslunda

Two standing stones and an eccentric stone ball (pictured) stand in a line. They are on a triangular roadside green in Öland, Sweden. You can see the standing stones on our page.

Rynkebjerg Kirkegård Langdysse

Langdysse (Long Barrow) in Præstø, 34m long by 8m wide. There are 38 preserved kerbstones and the remains of three chambers. You can just see Rynkebjerg Jættestue (Passage Grave) in the background.

Pennant Melangell Cross

There are several interesting archaeological features in the Coflein database for this Welsh church: a preaching mound associated with the cult of St Germanus; a 14th century churchyard cross; and the church itself, originally founded in the 7th or 8th century to serve a community of nuns. The church still retains St Melangell's shrine.

Gundsømagle Hødysse

A really interesting Langdysse (Long Barrow) near Copenhagen. It has a long mound, a little stone circle and a giant square capstone with 25 cupmarks on the top that are not normally easy to see. Torben Kristiansen has been out with his drone and captured some amazing aerial views showing the cup marks at the very end - scroll down to the comments section to view. We also have a lovely watercolour from 1863 that is in the National Museum of Denmark.