FW's Hessen stone with a hole

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Rhiannon R
Rhiannon Feb 24, 2006 09:33:38

Looking at 4W's photo in the weblog here
http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/44203
- how big is that round hole in the middle? I've read about portals in some Cotswold tombs but always assumed they'd be big enough to squeeze in and out of, so you could get in with some bones and tidy things up a bit. The hole in your photo looks far too small for that kind of thing. Is it just for the ancestors to go in and out of, rather than bulkier living people?

C CianMcLiam
CianMcLiam Feb 24, 2006 09:39:53
Replying to Rhiannon

Looks about the same as http://www.megalithomania.com/show/site/92 in Carlow, Ireland. They used to pass babies through this stone to cure illness. It could be just large enough so you can touch the bones or whatever inside, there's a tradition of this in christianity too I remember reading somewhere.

F FourWinds
FourWinds Feb 27, 2006 07:37:21
Replying to Rhiannon

The hole is only about 30cm across. It looks smaller because it's hard to appreciate that the tomb is 3m wide and 20 odd m long. I think a skinny kid or even a skinny shamen could climb in and out with a bit of practice.

Have a look around at some of the French Allee Couverte that are very similar and you'll see their port hole entrances can be smallish too.

It's an amazing place and anyone going to the Frankfurt area with time to spare should definitely head out to it.

F FourWinds
FourWinds Mar 4, 2006 13:28:16
Replying to Rhiannon

I've just added a beautiful monster standing stone that I visited whilst in Germany too:

http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/user/1384/weblog/0/44203