Goatstones
The Goatstones are a four-poster stone circle near Ravensheugh Crags in Northumberland , England . There are four menhirs that mark the corners of a square. The stone setting dates from the Bronze Age . The name Goatstones ( German "goat stones" ) can be derived from Gyet Stanes , which means "stones by the wayside" in Old English . You stand near an old road north of Hexham .
Four Poster Stones have a limited regional distribution. They belong to a monument class that consists of at least four menhirs that form the corners of a square or rectangle, so that the term circle ( English circle ) seems absurd. Excavations have shown, however, that the square stone settings are the remains of real stone circles. If more than four stones are preserved, four corner stones protrude in size. Four Poster Stone Circles are found primarily in Scotland , especially Perthshire . The Goatstones are one of the few examples outside of Scotland. In Northumberland there is another such monument, the Three Kings , around six kilometers northwest of the Roman camp Bremenium (near Rochester (Northumberland) ), of which only three stones remain, the fourth has fallen over. Another example outside of Scotland are the Four stones at Old Radnor in Powys in Wales and similar counties in Ireland .
The Goatstones are pretty low, none are taller than 70 centimeters. The distances between them are 4.6 and 4.4 meters. The southern stone tilted at a flat angle, probably due to its weight. Aubrey Burl (1926–2009) suspects that there was a stone circle with a diameter of 5.2 meters around the Goatstones rectangle, with a cairn at its center . He concludes this from his excavations at the Three Kings , who were surrounded by a stone circle 4.4 meters in diameter, at the center of which was a severely disturbed cairn. No professional excavation has been carried out at the Goatstones. Since 1930, however, the center of the square has been dug several times by non-experts, but there are no reports of finds. In 1970 traces of unskilled excavations were discovered on the periphery of the stones, which makes archaeological uncovering and investigation of undisturbed layers seem impossible.
The surface of the eastern stone is covered with bowls . They are badly weathered, which indicates that the bowls are very old. Fourteen of the shells called ( English cups ) are recognizable, although originally there should have been 16. Individual cups could also have been on the top of the other stones, but they cannot be clearly identified due to weathering. In the vicinity of the Goatstones there are other stones with bowls, those at Fontburn are important.
The stone setting, which dates from the oldest Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age , has been viewed from ancient times as burial places or memorials for high-ranking people, as the name Three Kings suggests. In the latter case, the population suspects that they were Danish kings who died in a battle. Not to be confused are the Bronze Age Four Poster Stone Circles, often called Four-posters for short, with later square structures, of which mostly only the post holes are found. These usually cover areas of only two to four square meters. Theories suggest that the principles enshrined in these holes post as the cornerstone for grain storage could have served or haystacks or that parts of beehives , chicken coops , sheds , watch towers , workshops or platforms for laying out the dead were. These structures are often found in hillforts and on prehistoric farms .
literature
- Richard Cavensdish: Prehistoric England . English Tourist Board, London 1983.
- Aubrey Burl: Four-posters: Bronze Age stone circles of Western Europe. BAR, Oxford 1988, pp. 66-67
- Barry M. Marsden: Discovering regional archeology: North-Eastern England. Tring, Shire Publications, p. 12
Individual evidence
- ↑ Aubrey Burl: A guide to the stone circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany. Yale University Press, 2nd Edition, 2005, p. 72
- ↑ Aubrey Burl: A guide to the stone circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany. Yale University Press, 2nd Edition, 2005, p. 71
- ^ Aron Mazel, George Nash and Clive Waddington: Art as metaphor: the prehistoric rock-art of Britain. Archaeopress, Oxford 2008, p. 239
- ↑ Fontburn b ( Memento of the original from October 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Northumberland Rock Art, Web Access to the Beckensall Archive
- ↑ Aubrey Burl: A guide to the stone circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany. Yale University Press, 2nd Edition, 2005, p. 72
Web links
Coordinates: 55 ° 4 ′ 1.9 ″ N , 2 ° 16 ′ 4.2 ″ W.