Maughanaclea stone circles
The three stone circles of Maughanaclea ( Irish Macha na Cléibhe ) are of different types, but all date from the Bronze Age (2400–500 BC). They consist of a four-post stone circle , a five -stone circle and a multiple stone circle (both stone circles from Cork-Kerry series ). They are located in the Maughanaclea Hills, east of Glengariff in County Cork in Ireland .
The four-post stone circle
The four-post stone circle (also known as the sky stone circle) is an arrangement of four upright stones that stand at the corners of an irregular square. The stones are usually graduated in height. There are only seven of this species in Ireland ( Reenkilla stone circle ).
The small sky stone circle of Maughanaclea stands on a northern slope covered by bog near the western end of the Maughanaclea Hills. The northeastern stone, split into two parts, is the largest at 1.55 m high, 1.2 m wide and 0.8 m thick. 51 ° 44 ′ 48 "N, 9 ° 19 ′ 44" W.
Cork-Kerry series stone circles
The stone circle of Cork and Kerry Series (by Seán Ó Nuallain also Axial Stone Circle - axial stone circle called) comes apart from two copies in County Galway only in the Irish counties Cork and Kerry before.
The 55 five-stone circles consist of a ring or a D-shaped arrangement of rarely more than medium-sized, single stones. Their diameter varies between 2.3 and 4 meters.
The 52 so-called multiple stone circles sometimes deviate in shape towards the oval. The number of their stones (7 to 19) ( Lissyviggeen ) is usually uneven. The circle diameter varies from four meters (with seven stones) to 17 m with 15 stones (Kenmare). In the center of larger circles there can be boulder burials (Kenmare) or menhirs (Gortanimill). Some are surrounded by ramparts and moats ( Glentane East , Reanascreena ).
The five-stone circle
The five-stone circle of Maughanaclea consists of one comparatively high and four very low stones. 51 ° 45 ′ 8 ″ N, 9 ° 19 ′ 9 ″ W.
The multiple stone circle
The great multiple stone circle of Maughanaclea is about 11.3 m in diameter and lies in a pasture on the northern slopes of the Maughanaclea Hills. The incomplete circle seems to have consisted of 13 stones. Twelve have been preserved, five of which, including those at the south entrance, fell over. The orthostats measure 1.6 to 0.8 m in height, 0.7 to 2.1 m in width and 0.3 m to 0.5 m in thickness. Two boulder burials lie within the circle. 51 ° 45 ′ 14 "N, 9 ° 17 ′ 50" W.
Nearby there are two menhirs , a stone fort of about 23.5 m and a radial cairn of 12.6 m in diameter.
literature
- Seán Ó Nualláin: Stone Circles in Ireland. Country House, Dublin 1995, ISBN 0-946172-45-5 , p. 39
- Denis Power: Archaeological inventory of County Cork, Volume 3: Mid Cork, 6435 P10. ColorBooks, 1997, ISBN 0-7076-4933-1 .
- Aubrey Burl: Four-posters: Bronze Age stone circles of Western Europe. BAR, Oxford 1988, pp. 66-67.
Map with all coordinates: