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Trethevy Quoit

Trevethy Quoit

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Sanctuary S
Sanctuary Apr 18, 2011 12:48:47
Replying to tiompan

tiompan wrote:
stonefree wrote:
There are alignments to summer solstice (sunrise and sunset!) and winter solstice sunset (we are unable, as yet, to ascertain any winter solstice sunrise alignment because nearby houses totally obscure this position!)
We are also astounded by our most recent discovery of what appear to be the remnants of potential 'figurative' carvings on various surfaces, only visible for short periods of time when the sun hits them obliquely!
I won't repeat possible problems mentioned on another forum ,unless anyone wants them .
It's not too difficult calculate orientations blocked by buildings etc , a quick look suggests that somewhere between 128.5 -129 degrees will be fit the bill and the height spot of 164 m just to the west of Furlsdon could be the horizon spot .
Rock art photographers usue various methods to achieve oblique lighting to highlight worn or difficult to see markings .Any chance of some pics ?
Hi George,
As you know I only live about 15 minutes away from Trethevy (not Trevethy as titled) and in my opinion (without looking at the work done by others) I would guess that at some stage it has fallen and been re-erected...badly!! The fallen internal closure stone is far too tall to be either in the right place or served another purpose originally and in my opinion a couple of side uprights are also misplaced. But in fairness I have never undertaken serious research on it but strangley enough was going to do that this year.

T tiompan
tiompan Apr 18, 2011 13:54:31
Replying to Sanctuary

Sanctuary wrote:
Hi George,
As you know I only live about 15 minutes away from Trethevy (not Trevethy as titled) and in my opinion (without looking at the work done by others) I would guess that at some stage it has fallen and been re-erected...badly!! The fallen internal closure stone is far too tall to be either in the right place or served another purpose originally and in my opinion a couple of side uprights are also misplaced. But in fairness I have never undertaken serious research on it but strangley enough was going to do that this year.
Roy , I'm looking forward to the seeing the evidence for the orientations (and markings ), which must be based on the internal relations of the othostats and capstone as there is nothing external that is the usual stuff of archaeastronomy i.e. foresights etc . The possible number of internal relations is immense and likleihood of finding something apparently significant is consequently high . The orientations are predicated on the the structure being exactly as the builders left it .If there has been any movement or change , apart from the obvious case of the backstone then the argument for intentional alignments like that stone ,collapses .Worse , 50%of Portal Tombs have a surviving cairn and those that don't , as is the case at Trevethy have evidence of one .The surrounding cairn was the feature that at least allowed for erection of the capstone whilst supporting the orthostats .
Any surrounding cairn would diminish the number of possible plays of light except for the hole in the capstone which may not even be contemporaneous with the build , a masons view on this would be helpful i.e. to see what the tooloing may have been .
We do know about orientations of Portal tombs in relation to water courses and valleys and despite some attempts there has been nothing convincing in relation to astronomy .
Despite that it's great to see some time being spent on one monument we are sure to learn to something .