The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Maen Llia

Standing Stone / Menhir

Maen Llia (Standing Stone / Menhir) by cerrig The stone couldn't wait for midsummer this year. The Beltane sunset shadow, on its way to the stream.
Image Credit: cerrig
Posted by cerrig
4th May 2018ce
NB: Unless otherwise stated, this image is protected under the copyright of the original poster and may not be re-used without permission.

Comments (10)

Brilliant, a beautiful capture of the moment. I'm assuming drone rather than you having Inspector Gadget legs. thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
4th May 2018ce
My legs are not dissimilar, but no, a Kite. A Dan Leigh Delta. Old school for old school. Posted by cerrig
4th May 2018ce
That is totally cool. And being old school myself I like the method (how do you get it to trigger the photo - or is that new school!?)

And (questions questions) it's so green round the stone but the rest is white? And the weird texture of the ground is so interesting too.
Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
4th May 2018ce
The camera is a Gopro, so it has a built-in intervalometer, one image every 1/2 second. Just turn it on and hope its still going when the kite gets into the right position. It swings around a fair bit so most are blurry, but this one got lucky.

The white is just dead tussocky grass from last year. Quite common up here. It will all turn green in the next few weeks.
The contrast has been bumped up a tad too, to bring out the shadow a bit better.

There is a big stone marking the point where this shadow enters the stream at Beltane.
Posted by cerrig
4th May 2018ce
So that's what the stone is for? Thanks for that........ aerial views are great. GLADMAN Posted by GLADMAN
5th May 2018ce
Your new discovery! That's so interesting, well investigated! Rhiannon Posted by Rhiannon
5th May 2018ce
This image reveals something else. The profile of the stone and the shape of the shadow, although quite stretched out, are a match. Even the angle the stone makes with the shadow here is found in the stones northern face, but only at this time of year. Posted by cerrig
5th May 2018ce
Have to say I much prefer this practical stuff to all the theoretical computer analysis we've had in the past... nothing beats being on site. In my opinion. GLADMAN Posted by GLADMAN
6th May 2018ce
Loving this, there's so much going on at this site and others in the area.

When I visited the cairns alongside Nant Mawr a few months ago (at Gladman's prompting) I was struck once again by the way the landscape hides and reveals things, like summits, other monuments, etc in its creases, folds and rises in a way that is often a surprise. Difficult to anticipate from looking at a map, much as I love maps, as sometimes the obstruction is such a slight rise that the map contours don't even give it away.
thesweetcheat Posted by thesweetcheat
6th May 2018ce
Theory has its place, but being there has certain advantages too. Nothing like getting the feel of a place in all weathers. Thankfully that hasn't been computerised yet.

If you fellers get the chance one day a good look at the platform Maen Llia is mounted on is quite revealing, eventually. Clever buggers, those Neolithics. They really did know how to use those slight rises.

Science with a soul.
Posted by cerrig
6th May 2018ce
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