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The Fylingdales Stone

Fire reveals moor's stone legacy

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Winterwolf W
Winterwolf Dec 24, 2004 09:28:10
Replying to smallblueplanet

As one of the people who's actually seen the stone, I have to disagree with archaeopix's assessment. The stone, to my eyes (and hands) is in pretty good condition, there's no fire-damage I could see. When the fire was actually going, only the very uppermost portion of the stone was exposed, and as it was part of a rubble barrow, there wasn't much on it to burn. One or two of the cup & ring stones on the moor have suffered some fire flaking, but not "the big one". There are pecked rock art panels on other parts of the moor, and they haven't deteriorated too badly, so personally I can't see why they can't leave it uncovered. Another option would be to put a turf mat over the top like they have on the "aeroplane" and the "elusive P" stones to keep the worst of the elements off the carving. I'd certainly be a lot happier with it visible

As for the comments about this getting stolen, it weighs at least a ton if not more and it's on a very exposed bit of moor - anyone attempting to remove it is going to need some pretty hefty kit, and it would be noticed. You'd be surprised at how little you can get away with around there without the locals spotting you!

Dating-wise, I suspect it's earlier than the barrow it's built into by a fair bit. The nearest parallel to the art on the stone in the area would be the Folkton drums, which are reckoned Neolithic, but the barrows are middle Bronze Age if I remember right.

Anyway ,I'll try and get round to putting my pictures up this weekend for you all - merry Christmas!

Cheers,
WW

W Winterwolf
Winterwolf Dec 24, 2004 21:46:51
Replying to Winterwolf

I spoke to my mother (who still lives in Ravenscar) earlier this evening and asked her if the stone had been removed from the moor at any point - she said not that she was aware of, and she's rarely out of the loop on local happenings. So, what are EH playing at? They say they took it away to scan it and it was so fragile you can't even do a rubbing, yet the stone I've seen is large, very much in situ and in good nick! Is this some sort of smokescreen tactic on their part, or are the Heretics being their usual confused selves - enquiring minds want to know and all that.....
Happy Dies Natalis Invicta Solis, everyone

P.S. what would a Freedom of Information request to EH turn up, I wonder? As of January, we'll be able to request them to release their documents, and they'll have to produce damn good reasons not to!