bawn79
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Rathfalla - a possible henge?
May 04, 2015, 22:03
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Hi all,
I recently came across this ring-fort that has an internal ditch rather than an external one. I think that it may be a misidentified henge.
I've written about it here http://www.thestandingstone.ie/2015/05/guest-post-rathurles-and-surrounds.html and I've also posted a video below of walking the bank of it as it is hard to make out from the pictures.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSRhq8cXFUs
What do people think? Am I seeing things that aren't there?
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GLADMAN
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Re: Rathfalla - a possible henge?
May 04, 2015, 22:13
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bawn79 wrote:
Looks like a plausible case. Judging by the footage. Are we sure the outer ditch hasn't been ploughed out?
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bawn79
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Re: Rathfalla - a possible henge?
May 04, 2015, 22:41
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GLADMAN wrote: bawn79 wrote:
Looks like a plausible case. Judging by the footage. Are we sure the outer ditch hasn't been ploughed out?
I'm not sure how you can be really sure of that. If you see the bing photo that I posted. The fields that a ploughed (brown) are owned by one landowner and the grass by another (roughly speaking). If it was ploughed out then it would have had to have been done by both landowners. Is there any way of being 100% sure of that other than the landowners remembering that it was done?
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thesweetcheat
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Re: Rathfalla - a possible henge?
May 04, 2015, 23:34
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If it was a fort, an internal ditch would be a bit silly. Even a stock enclosure would have the ditch on the outside. General principle for stock-proofing is you dig your ditch and throw the soil up on the inside of it. Otherwise your cows fall in the ditch and get stuck.
Not sure why there would be an internal and external ditch?
Looks like a good shout for a henge or hengiform.
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ryaner
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Re: Rathfalla - a possible henge?
May 04, 2015, 23:38
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Hi Derek,
it reminds me of this http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/12356/an_rath.html a little. If you look at my captions I even called it 'henge-like', though this had an external ditch as well as an internal. Any way, I love these massive sites, though I'd like to see some of the mad growth cut back. Nice article on The Standing Stone!
cheers
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bawn79
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Edited May 05, 2015, 08:24
Re: Rathfalla - a possible henge?
May 05, 2015, 08:19
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ryaner wrote: Hi Derek,
it reminds me of this http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/12356/an_rath.html a little. If you look at my captions I even called it 'henge-like', though this had an external ditch as well as an internal. Any way, I love these massive sites, though I'd like to see some of the mad growth cut back. Nice article on The Standing Stone!
cheers
I think I stopped at An Rath once - didn't really have a good look at it at the time. The big problem with these large forts is trying to photograph them to try and explain to people what you mean. Especially with all the growth.
The more I think about it regarding a ploughed in ditch the less likely I think it is. The ground looks really level where a ditch would have to be and I think if it was filled there would still be signs of it when it settled.
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ryaner
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Re: Rathfalla - a possible henge?
May 07, 2015, 12:34
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Derek,
a further thought.
Lugg henge http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/15699/lugg.html and http://www.megalithomania.com/show/site/1564/lugg.htm was excavated and found to be a multi-period site. Fourwinds says "Excavations also revealed that this was in fact a multi-phase monument. The henge is the final stage, but it originally consisted of a timber henge. This was followed by a brief period of habitation before the henge and mound were raised." So maybe Rathfalla is something along those lines. I briefly searched for the excavation report to no avail but you may have better luck.
regards
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bawn79
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Re: Rathfalla - a possible henge?
May 07, 2015, 17:50
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ryaner wrote: Derek,
a further thought.
Lugg henge http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/15699/lugg.html and http://www.megalithomania.com/show/site/1564/lugg.htm was excavated and found to be a multi-period site. Fourwinds says "Excavations also revealed that this was in fact a multi-phase monument. The henge is the final stage, but it originally consisted of a timber henge. This was followed by a brief period of habitation before the henge and mound were raised." So maybe Rathfalla is something along those lines. I briefly searched for the excavation report to no avail but you may have better luck.
regards
Thanks Ryaner - I'm trying to get an archaeologist to have a look at it. Failing that I'll drop an email to the NMS about it and see what they think.
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