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Trethevy Quoit

Trethevy Quoit

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Had a great morning at Trethevy Quoit (Cornwall) where I put my pole (no sniggering now) to good use. Got some great aerials both in vid and stills and when I discover how to put them on line you can all view them. Really pleased with my first effort.
Now a question. For those who have visited this portal dolman, what do you make of the hole in the capstone?
I got some good close-ups of it, both from above and below and am in two minds whether it is natural or man-made. Now if it is natural (caused by water?) it's unlikely to have happened while up in position because the slope on the capstone is so horrendous that nothing would lay on it. That means that it would have to have happened whilst still laying prone on the ground. BUT... the hole is perpendicular to the slope and to put it bluntly, looks from above if the hole has been drilled straight through it completely vertical. When you look at it from underneath you will notice that the side of the hole on the back-slope take the shape as if a 'drill' had cut through it. If this is man-made then you have to ask yourself why? Well when I look at my aerial photographs the first thing you notice from above is that the hole (because of how it is cut vertically) looks down immediately above the entrance to a position near to the 'front door'. Both the 'door' and the hole are offset to the same degree so that is really interesting. If it was natural and had occured whilst on the ground then it would have been directly through the stone and not at an angle, and looking through it then when in place would give a view probably some 30ft away from the entrance. Any thoughts?

I inserted this post initially under the Pole Photography banner by mistake so just ignore that one please.

All that is known for sure about the hole is that it was extant for Norden's account of the tomb in 1728 (or 1610 if you believe Borlase) bizarrely Norden compared it to a mounting for a flagpole.

The current angle of the hole realtive to the capstone plane/vertical may be misleading as there is great speculation regarding the original attitude of the capstone. Presently, the capstone sits neatly on the side stones, but when the height of the fallen backstone is considered, it could never have fitted beneath the rear of the capstone at the present angle. Borlase reckoned that the capstone smashed the tops off the sidestones when it fell, producing the arrangement we see today, but we think this is a little unlikely.

There is quite a flaring of the hole on the underside of the capstone, and this very pronounced on the "rear" side which would fit with weathering.

We noticed five depressions in the back of the rear stone that may be drill holes, plus two really deep ones in the side of the surviving flanking stone.

The origin of the large capstone perforation remains a mystery.

Maggie & Keith