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Geometry of NE Scottish Recumbents stone circles

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moss M
moss Nov 26, 2012 17:35:13
Replying to tiompan

tiompan wrote:
Interesting and a worthy project but I'm not convinced .If you consider that an RSC like Loanhead of Daviot is 20m in diameter , the 8 orthostats (excluding recumbent and flankers) are evenly spaced , are on average a metre wide there are possible measurements between each orthostat i.e. outer edge to outer edge ,outer edge to inner edge x2 and inner edge to edge that 40 measurements to choose from when the flankers are included . It's quite likely that some are going to overlap .If there was a consistent inner edge to inner edge measurement then it would be salient but that's not the case . If it was possible to retrieve the measurements of the Barnatt /Herring experiment where the circles were laid out by eye then I suggest we would find that the same sort of results applied . It is not inconceivable that some stone circles were laid out with a rope , e.g. Lough Gur looks a possibility but I don't believe that this experiment shows it to be the case and would it it really be necessary ? It's a pity Tyrebagger wasn't included in the study it has the same number of stones as Loanhead but they are much more unevenly spaced with smaller and greater gaps than usual but nevertheless you can still find some figures that appear salient among the 40 possibles despite the fact that there is little obvious geometrical , relationships , doesn't stop it doing it's job and looking the part though .
To be honest always believed that the Lough Gur SC was laid out with a wooden post in the centre and a rope because it was the most obvious answer but there again assumption about something does not make it the truth....
To me the above was a good experiment not sure whether it proved anything decisive, but a step in the right direction without harming the stones. Also interested in the last paragraph which seems to say that the whole prehistoric project was worked out from the internal cairn and stone circle later, one thing I was not sure of is the recumbent stone, surely its measurement dictates the placing of the flankers, are not recumbent stones important in their own right?.......

T tiompan
tiompan Nov 26, 2012 18:55:01
Replying to moss

moss wrote:
tiompan wrote:
Interesting and a worthy project but I'm not convinced .If you consider that an RSC like Loanhead of Daviot is 20m in diameter , the 8 orthostats (excluding recumbent and flankers) are evenly spaced , are on average a metre wide there are possible measurements between each orthostat i.e. outer edge to outer edge ,outer edge to inner edge x2 and inner edge to edge that 40 measurements to choose from when the flankers are included . It's quite likely that some are going to overlap .If there was a consistent inner edge to inner edge measurement then it would be salient but that's not the case . If it was possible to retrieve the measurements of the Barnatt /Herring experiment where the circles were laid out by eye then I suggest we would find that the same sort of results applied . It is not inconceivable that some stone circles were laid out with a rope , e.g. Lough Gur looks a possibility but I don't believe that this experiment shows it to be the case and would it it really be necessary ? It's a pity Tyrebagger wasn't included in the study it has the same number of stones as Loanhead but they are much more unevenly spaced with smaller and greater gaps than usual but nevertheless you can still find some figures that appear salient among the 40 possibles despite the fact that there is little obvious geometrical , relationships , doesn't stop it doing it's job and looking the part though .
To be honest always believed that the Lough Gur SC was laid out with a wooden post in the centre and a rope because it was the most obvious answer but there again assumption about something does not make it the truth....
To me the above was a good experiment not sure whether it proved anything decisive, but a step in the right direction without harming the stones. Also interested in the last paragraph which seems to say that the whole prehistoric project was worked out from the internal cairn and stone circle later, one thing I was not sure of is the recumbent stone, surely its measurement dictates the placing of the flankers, are not recumbent stones important in their own right?.......
Clarke ? early 20 th C reported a central post hole at Lough Gur .
Agree great idea , John Hill had previously set out a henge as simply as possible . The recumbent is all important , Richard Bradley's excavation of Tomnaverie showed that the recumbent was the last component of the architecture , possibly decomissioning the site .The recumbents are often tangential to the circle , not a lot , but enough to be noticeable and clearly intentionally so , and nothing to do with it being the only way to " fit" . The assumption of the astro alignmnet is from the centre of the monument over the centre of the recumbent so it might be a means of adjustment but that could have been achieved by having the recumbent on the circle but further round the perimeter , if that makes sense .