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Boscawen-Ûn

axe carvings

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thesweetcheat wrote:
The axes are towards the bottom of the stone, on the right hand side in this picture (the light isn't helpful though, as it was behind the stone).

http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/post/88762/boscawenun.html

Coming in late here but to just expand things a little....
Because of the angle of the stone it suggests two things if indeed it is a 'carving'.
Either it was done prior to the stones erection (ooo missus!!), or, the stone was once a normal standing stone and upright to enable it to be done in situ.
To the best of my knowledge there has only been one writer/author that has not mentioned the off-centre stone leaning and that was the guy that first recorded it in the 16th century and brought it to the publics attention...
William Camden (Britannia 1586) described the stone circle as… “In a place called Biscaw Woune are nineteen stones in a circle, twelve feet from each other, and in the circle stands one much larger than the rest.
No mention of the lean you'll notice and let's face it, is it not the first thing you notice when in the circle? I've read oodles of reports since and never one where the leaning off-centre stone was not mentioned as being leaning. Stukeley reckoned it got its lean because of treasure seekers digging at its base, so we have to be careful in coming up with fanciful ideas another time as to why it was erected like that when in all probability it wasn't!

Harolds Stones at Trellech, 'quite neatly directed toward the midwinter sunset' (Burl) makes you think they were probably upright when first placed there. Then again, I imagine Aveburys ditch was probably full of water, so...

Boscawen-Un :

' The stone leans towards the north-east sector of the circle where an arrangement of stones may represent an earlier, possibly contemporary cairn or cist. That this feature also pre-dates the circle is apparent in the spacing of the circle uprights at this point. When the circle itself was erected, the quartz stone was placed on the south-west side of the circle in alignment with the central stone and the cairn-like structure to the north-east... The south-west position of the quartz stone also marks the direction of the full moon during mid-summer.'

The Gorsedd association makes it tempting to imagine the stone as vital to activities at the circle at that time. Whatever they were.

'The Welsh Triads which date back to around the 6th Century AD record "Boskawen of Dumnonia" as being one of the "Gorsedds of Poetry of the Island of Britain".'