=
×

Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

Head To Head
Log In
Register
The Modern Antiquarian Forum »
Robbed cairns. Another myth?
Log In to post a reply
34 messages
Topic View: Flat | Threaded
GLADMAN
950 posts

Re: Robbed cairns. Another myth?
Mar 25, 2012, 17:18
thesweetcheat wrote:
Also, much of the robbing occurred back in prehistoric times. I suspect many an iron age rampart/reave/pound etc re-used material from nearby cairns, once the original significance of the mound was forgotten over a couple of thousand years.


Not so sure about this, SC. There are quite a number of examples - Foel Dygarn in the Preselis being perhaps the most obvious I've seen - where the preceding monument has been scrupulously respected within the Iron Age ramparts.. you'd have thought in Foel Drygarn's case that three great piles of stone would have been a touch for the builders of drystone ramparts. Also, retaining cairns and long/round barrows (e.g within Hambledon, Cley Hill etc) would have been detrimental to the area of available living space... so it follows that there must have been a very good reason to leave them as they were.

Did Iron Age people see these monuments as representing the old gods who were not quite obsolete, as something to respect so as to placate vengeance from the past. Or perhaps did they want to harness supernatural protection for their fortress by retaining the ancients (literally) within their home. Or perhaps even to assert that 'this is ours, always has been... I mean, look who we've got living here?' Questions, questions, questions.
In reply to:
Re: Robbed cairns. Another myth? (thesweetcheat)		 Replies:
Re: Robbed cairns. Another myth? (thesweetcheat)
Re: Robbed cairns. Another myth? (rockhopper)
Topic Outline:
The Modern Antiquarian Forum Index