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The Modern Antiquarian Forum » Rectangular holes in stones |
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nigelswift 8112 posts |
May 30, 2009, 06:31
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"There's a whole hobby out there of collecting photos of stone gateposts with rectangular holes - bet know one has even thought about it ;)" Let's face it, a whole culture of standing stones must have been uprooted and is now holding up gates, unrecognised. If your gatepost rots and there's one convenient to hand, well you would, wouldn't you? And how do you ever find the truth of this - "Survey work between 2002 and 2004 by the Strumble-Preseli Ancient Communities and Environment Study (SPACES) recorded an enclosure on the upper part of the outcrop consisting of a steep-sided promontory with a bank of stones across its neck. Although only around 3,500 square metres in area the enclosure contains several dolerite outcrops, each naturally fractured into shapes that could be formed into columns. Semi-worked megaliths lay scattered around apparently having been simply levered out from the larger outcrops. It is debatable whether these "semi-worked megaliths" are prehistoric or recent, since this area has been used by the farming community for at least 300 years for the collection of stone gateposts, lintels and building slabs."
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Stoneshifter 379 posts |
May 30, 2009, 21:15
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I've seen this with other quarries too. There were also wrought steel bracket frames that clasped a stone - two were used - and allowed a gate to be hung from it. Wales in the 1960's had loads, they're also sometimes seen in Northumberland. When the gate and the hangers are gone few would ever know that the stone once hung a gate. The rectangular holes in ancient standing stones are susceptible to analysis by the Megalithic Inch.
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Hob 4033 posts |
May 31, 2009, 12:05
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nigelswift wrote: Let's face it, a whole culture of standing stones must have been uprooted and is now holding up gates, unrecognised. Some of the snaffling has been recorded: http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/6699/five_kings.html And it's not confined to standing stones: http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/5722/high_shaws.html The wedge and feather marks are on loads of rock art panels in Northumberland, Old Bewick and Chatton hillfort being a couple of the best examples. There are other places where the feathering marks have become so heavily eroded that it raises suspicions that the quarrying was a long time ago (i.e. pre-gatepost snaffling). Some around here are undoubtedly roman, whilst others may actually be bronze age. There was quite a thing for hacking chunks of carved outcrop to be re-used as cist covers.
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nigelswift 8112 posts |
May 31, 2009, 13:04
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A five foot rectangular column of stone has great utility to people of any era, even ours, so it's a wonder any of them have stayed in situ much beyond the day when their original significance was finally forgotten. Or maybe they didn't. Are only 1 in 500 original circles still in existence? :(
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Hob 4033 posts |
Jun 01, 2009, 00:46
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nigelswift wrote: Are only 1 in 500 original circles still in existence? :( Oh Mr S, don't. It could be a depressingly accurate estimate. There are similar thoughts about the survival ratio of rock art. I guess we should be glad there's anything left at all.
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nigelswift 8112 posts |
Edited Jun 01, 2009, 07:28
Jun 01, 2009, 05:34
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Oh Mr S, don't.... Relax. No-one's going to suggest an enormous lost megalumber culture as that would be just unsupported speculation and scare-mongering. I'm sure the fact that the distribution of known post holes appears to correlate rather closely with the distribution of archaeological excavations has some other perfectly rational explanation. After all, if you do sampling along the line of a proposed pipeline or new motorway and find postholes all along it, that indicates the postholes were created just along that line, not everywhere else, surely? ;)
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bawn79 864 posts |
Jun 02, 2009, 10:57
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I may be totally off the track but in noticed this unusual rectangular hole while up at Duntryleague yesterday, is this the kind of thing we are talking about? http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/75195/duntryleague.html
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StoneGloves 1149 posts |
Jun 03, 2009, 09:57
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Yes
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Rupert Soskin 234 posts |
Jun 05, 2009, 11:55
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Hi Rhiannon, Amazing isn't it? I've asked loads of archeos what they think of the slots and not a single one has even mentioned a Lewis. It's a new one on me too so a big thank you for the pointer. It does open up more questions. The main reason I dismiss their use as 'unfinished splitting' is that those at Fernworthy and Castleruddery are situated in similar positions within their circles and there are no other seemingly redundant stones. It seems almost impossible to me that each site would contain a single slotted stone, identical in number of slots, that did not serve some specific function. I have to say that, if the slots were for hoisting I think they would be even more numerous than they are but it certainly adds another possibility. Best wishes Rupert
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Rhiannon 5291 posts |
Jun 05, 2009, 12:29
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Thank you Rupert for the reply! I must say the same thought occurred to me - that they would be more common if they were for lifting: surely such a handy idea would have spread like wildfire (a meme like Richard Dawkins would say). I was really taken with the simplicity and basic mechanics of it, though, and the way the stone is grabbed by its own weight. Anyway even if it's not that at all, - I guess one can only keep on questioning and looking for parallels. If it took a load of effort to make the holes you can bet it wasn't for nothing.
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