Latest Fieldnotes

Cissbury Ring is a hillfort on a chalk spur about 3km north of the Channel at Worthing. Roughly oval, about 24 hectares, built in the Middle Iron Age around 400 BC. Bank 1.3m to 3.9m high, ditch about 5m wide and 2m deep.

The part that stayed with me: the bank is biggest on the south-east, where the ground slopes away gradually and someone could actually walk up. Where the hill defends itself, the wall gets lazy. Where it doesn’t, the wall works.

The hill was busy long before the fort. Under the south-west lies a Neolithic flint mine: at least 270 hollows, 3m to 36m across, shafts dug to the flint seams. One of only about 20 recorded nationally. Then a Roman settlement inside the fort, medieval ploughing, a beacon John Aubrey mentions, a Napoleonic infantry post, and a WWII anti-aircraft position whose three rings still sit there.

A stack, each layer using the last.

Sources: Historic England NHLE 1015817; Donachie & Field, A Survey of Cissbury Ring (1993).

Visited 09.10.26

I passed by Pulpit Rock for the first time in many years recently. I was disappointed to note that the rock had been screened from the road by a strip of trees. There is room to park several cars in a designated car park on the corner. Further disappointment ensued when I discovered some “artist” had sprayed a green graffito ” TFB” in the pulpit. The site now feels neglected and hidden.

In February 1921, a farmer named Peter Platz discovered an oak coffin while leveling the remains of a burial mound called “Storhøj” on his field in Egtved, west of Vejle in Jutland. Storhøj had originally been an imposing mound measuring roughly 22–30 meters in diameter and 4–5 meters in height, but much of it had been excavated or used as potato pits throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Recognizing the potential importance of the find, archaeologist Thomas Thomsen from the National Museum of Denmark arranged to transport the entire two-meter-long oak coffin to Copenhagen so it could be excavated under controlled laboratory conditions.

Due to an oxygen-free and waterlogged environment inside the core of the mound, organic materials were exceptionally well preserved. Dendrochronology (tree-ring dating) of the oak log revealed that the tree was felled in the summer of 1370 BC during the Nordic Bronze Age. A small blooming yarrow flower (røllike) wedged between the coffin lid and the bottom confirms that the burial took place during the summer season.

Although most soft tissues decomposed, the girl’s hair, teeth, nails, a small portion of skin, and brain tissue survived. Dental analysis indicates she was 16–18 years old at the time of her death, stood about 160–165 cm tall, and had mid-blond hair.

The find is world-famous for its complete and well-preserved Bronze Age outfit and grave items:
Garments: She wore a short-sleeved wool blouse (crop top) and a unique knee-length string skirt made of twisted wool cords—the oldest preserved item of its kind.
Jewelry and Accessories: Around her waist, she wore a woven belt with a round bronze belt plate decorated with spiral motifs. A horn comb was tucked into her belt, bronze rings encircled her arms, and a small bronze ring was attached to one ear. Near her head lay a small bark box containing a bronze awl, wool, and remnants of a hairnet.
Ancient Fermented Drink: At her feet stood a bucket made of birch and linden bark. Pollen analysis revealed it held a fermented beverage (“Egtved Girl’s beer”) brewed from wheat, cranberries/cowberries, bog myrtle (porse), and honey.
Cremated Child: Beside her feet lay a cloth bundle containing the cremated bones of a 5–6-year-old child.

The geographic origin of the Egtved Girl remains a major scientific topic:
International Origin Theory (2015): Strontium isotope analyses of her teeth, hair, nails, and wool clothing led a research team to conclude that she grew up outside modern Denmark—likely in Southern Germany (such as the Black Forest region) or north of the Alps—and traveled long distances back and forth shortly before her death.
Local Origin Counter-Argument (2019): Researchers Erik Thomsen and Rasmus Andreasen demonstrated that baseline strontium values in the Egtved area were skewed by modern agricultural lime. Measurements from uncontaminated local soils matched her strontium profile, suggesting she could have lived her entire life locally in the Egtved valley and nearby plateau.
Today, consensus remains open, and the National Museum states that her exact point of origin cannot be declared with certainty.

The original artifacts—including the oak coffin, clothing, jewelry, and bark bucket—are on display at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, which also created a interactive digital 3D avatar of her in 2022. At the original find site in Egtved, the Storhøj mound has been reconstructed, and the local outdoor museum experience “Egtvedpigens Verden” (The World of the Egtved Girl) invites visitors to explore the Bronze Age landscape where she was laid to rest.

kulturarv.dk/fundogfortidsminder/Lokalitet/56759/

natmus.dk/historisk-viden/danmark/oldtid-indtil-aar-1050/bronzealderen-1700-fkr-500-fkr/egtvedpigen/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egtved_Girl

I revisited this site on 15/9/26.

Having compared the feature I found to Lidar, I now believe it to be a distinct feature not directly related to the Causewayed Enclosure, but I have identified its exact location on What Three Words, which enables me to conclude that the path I previously said runs between the inner and outer banks, actually runs along the outer ditch of the outer bank.

I am relabelling the relevant pictures accordingly.

One of three portal tombs that lie on the north side of the road into Málainn Mhóir, this is an almost complete ruin. It’s in a pasture field up a slight hill, about 250 metres from the Carraig to Malin More road. All that remains standing is one, admittedly large, portal stone. The chamber is in a state of total collapse and there is much field clearance dumped on the remains. There is an Irish government fógra here, marking it as a protected site.

Another roadside bullaun encountered on our short trip to the south-west Donegal Gaeltacht. It’s at a junction, beside a stream on a small lane off the Carraig to Teelin road. The stone, abutting a similar, but much larger stone, is made of a reddish conglomerate and much eroded.

With so much to see in the megalith-rich townland of Malin More, you could be forgiven for skipping this. That would be an error however and its road-side location makes it even more attractive for a quick nosey.

About 200 metres south-east of Dg. 90, a double portal tomb that I missed out on this time, it’s also about a kilometre north-east of the famous 6 tomb alignment and on the main road west into the hamlet of Malin More itself.

There are two stones here – a large millstone embedded in the turf, and the bullaun stone, roughly a metre and a half square, with the 23 cms deep basin set towards the south edge. The small stream that flows past the stone is a delight and the whole setting is well looked after, beside the driveway of a house.

Visited 06.09.26

Sheuchan Hill Cairn is located on the summit of Sheuchan Hill, c. 2 miles NNE of Castle Kennedy in Dumfries and Galloway. The ruined cairn was on the margin of a belt of trees which have been harvested. The summit of Sheuchan Hill is covered in tussocks of 3 feet high marsh grass and reeds making walking difficult and locating ground features almost impossible. On reaching the recorded grid reference, I found no visible signs of the “ring of cairn material about 3m thick and 0.4m in maximum height” described in trove.scot 61721.

Visited 31.08.26

Chlenry Cairn Cemetery is located c. 1 mile NE of Castle Kennedy, a small village in Dumfries and Galloway. It lies c. 220m SSE of Chlenry Cottages in a flat arable field.

Chlenry Cairn Cemetery was found by analysis of aerial photographs taken in 1978. These images are viewable in trove.scot 61703. Cropmarks delineate a line of 4 circular marks running c. ENE-WSW. trove.scot 61703 lists the site as Balnab, a name no longer in use, so I used the alternative name Chlenry as this is in current usage. It estimates the largest ring to measure 10m in diameter with an entrance in the SE arc.

On my visit to the newly harvested field I failed to observe any traces of the cairn cemetery in the stubble: centuries of farming have reduced this site to sub-surface features.

The first of the many megalithic sites to be encountered as you travel west into the large townland of Málainn Mhóir (Malin More). It’s 500 metres before Cloghanmore (Dg. 95) and on the other side of the road.

The tomb, like the others in the vicinity except Cloghanmore, is trashed, and hard to interpret on the ground. This ground is heavy and the grasses are high – the field, boggy pasture, feels like it hasn’t been grazed in years.

The monument is about 10 metres into the field from the road but the bank is high – a judicious bit of the usual clambering had us beside the tomb in a relatively short time. I couldn’t make head nor tail of the place until I got back and looked at the plan. The round structure plonked on top of the gallery is thought to be a lime kiln, so any hopes that there were substantial remains here could be quickly forgotten (I imagine the kiln builders built it here because of the ready supply of stones and not for any proto-sacred reasons). There are some structural stones of the gallery remaining, but with the tall grass and rushes hindering any easy interaction I would say this one is for the completists only.

I felt a bit like Fagan (in 1847) and Moore (in 1871) who both, on their visits here, “found it difficult to interpret, perhaps because of its disordered state…”. That, and the rain. Well really only the rain – but the place is not looked after, ‘state care’ being meant only euphemistically. Board of Works restoration at the end of the 19th century, the concrete track in the 20th and a bit of signage and the place is left to itself.

The car park is handy. So is the concrete track. Then you’re more or less on your own, and it’s swampy. And the rain. And the two companions, me thinking I should have left them in the car.

I would normally say that this is a fantastic place – the two subsidiary chambers, one in each arm of the court; the two carved stones; and the two parallel chambers, reminiscent of magnificent Magheraghanrush in Sligo. But not today. We were beaten back to the car by the torrent, waterproofs proving to be barely water-resistant in the West Donegal downpour. In these times of I-take-what-I-can-get, this was a very rushed visit and utterly frustrating. I’ll have to come back.

One of those sites that I’ve seen a lot of shots of, looked forward to visiting, got there finally and found it not remotely similar to what I’d imagined. Which is not to say that it’s not amazing, just that I found it a tad underwhelming, especially after the drenching back and Cloghanmore.

The laneway that runs along the fields that contain the tombs is extremely narrow. Eamonn Cody, in the Survey of the Megalithic Tombs of Ireland, Volume VI, County Donegal (2002) numbers the tombs 1 to 6 from west to east. After Cloghanmore and still in the slipstream of the torrent, I didn’t feel like vaulting the gate, so I only photographed 1 and 6 at opposing ends of the ‘alignment’.

Both 1 and 6 are the two most impressive chambers. Cody mentions that there may have been a seventh and it’s worth quoting from the previous mentioned survey: “Thomas Fagan …, who visited the site in 1847, refers to the existence of seven chambers, … but provides details of only those numbered 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 here. He claimed that the chambers had stood in one long cairn that he estimated originally measured 100 yards E-W and 20 yards N-S.” Cody notes the larger gap between chambers 5 and 6 and says that this might have contained the destroyed 7th chamber.

There are remnants of a cairn at chamber 6, at the top end of the alignment and in someone’s garden. It’s the largest of the six but difficult to get a sense of given its location. I did clamber up and attempt a shot back west down the alignment, but in our hurried, drenched and flustered state didn’t meet with much success. The bottom chamber, chamber 1, is impressively large, but was surrounded by a flock of dreadlocked sheep so we didn’t enter the field. Another one I’ll have to return to.

Beside St. Columba’s Church in Gleann Cholm Cille, station number one of the Turas pattern-walk, this is an oddity, marked as an unclassified megalithic tomb. The boundary wall of an ancient track that leads north in the direction of Farranmacbride court tomb (visible from here) crosses the east side of the mound.

It’s still recognisable as a megalithic tomb so how it ended up in its christianised state is open to a bit of research. The ancient track is beautifully unkempt. There is some dry-stone walling on the northern end of the mound. Cody says possibly the remains of a court tomb but that will need further investigation.

Visited 30.08.

Doon Hill (Kildonnan) Enclosure is an earthwork located on the summit of Doon Hill c. 350m NNW of Kildonnan Farm on the B7042 between Sandhead and Portpatrick in Dumfries and Galloway. The rectangular grassy mound measures c. 20m E-W by 17.5m N-S. It is protected by an earth rampart and outer ditch. The highest remains of the rampart are c. 1.5m high in the SE corner. There is an entrance in the centre of the E Rampart. trove.scot/place/60597 estimates the internal dimensions of the enclosure to be 14m E-W and 12m transversely. Additionally, it dates the enclosure to the Iron Age.

Visited 22.08.26

Cults Loch Settlement is located c. 1 mile NE of Castle Kennedy, a small village in Dumfries and Galloway. It lies c. 100m E of the E bank of Cults Loch in a flat arable field.

Cults Loch Settlement was found by analysis of aerial photographs taken in 1978. These images are viewable in trove.scot 61704. Cropmarks delineate a circular enclosure protected by a double palisade and outer ditch. trove.scot estimates the enclosed settlement to measure up to 40m in diameter.

Archaeological excavations carried out in 2009 and 2011 are detailed in trove.scot 61704. Unearthed artifacts date the settlement to the Iron Age. The archeologists stated that the “site comprised a single enclosure ditch and double palisade, within which were two successive ring-groove houses, a souterrain and a range of other pits and pothole features.”

On my visit to the grass field I failed to observe obvious traces of the palisades and ditch: I found a flat featureless rough grass surface except for a possible low discoloured bank measuring c. 5m E-W and 2m N-S. This may correspond to the proposed souterrain in the N half of the enclosure.

Visited 19.08.26

On a recent visit to Cults Loch, located c. 1 mile NE of Castle Kennedy, I observed that the omnipresent Beef Cattle occupying the field on the W bank of Cults Loch had been moved elsewhere. I took the opportunity to get a better view of Cults Loch Central Crannog from the W bank. I also explored the remains of an Iron Age Fort on a grassy mound on the W margin of Cults Loch. It is sited on a natural grassy mound wedged between a marsh and Cults Loch.

Cults Loch Promontory Fort was first identified by analysis of aerial photographs taken in 1978. There are viewable on trove.scot 61697. Cropmarks clearly show a ditch on the S edge of the promontory. trove.scot gives a full description of the fort and its defences. it also includes details of archaeological digs in 2009 and 2010 which found evidence of an inner ditch c. 5m wide and 3m deep supplemented by an outer ditch measuring c. 5.5 m wide and 2m deep. Excavation of the interior of the fort, which measures c. 85m N-S and 65m E-W, revealed “pits, postholes and linear gullies.” The only surface feature that I could find was a subcircular hollow on the N flank measuring c. 2m in diameter and 0.5m deep.

Visited 19.08.26

On a recent visit to Cults Loch, located c. 1 mile NE of Castle Kennedy, I observed that the omnipresent Beef Cattle occupying the field on the W bank of Cults Loch had been moved elsewhere. I took the opportunity to get a better view of Cults Loch Central Crannog from the W bank. I also explored the remains of an Iron Age Fort on a grassy mound on the W margin of Cults Loch. It is sited on a natural grassy mound wedged between a marsh and Cults Loch.

Stralendorf 1 aka Hünenbett ohne Kammer von Stralendorf aka Zülow is an impressive unchambered trapezoid north-south oriented long barrow dating to 3500–2800 BC. It lies today at the western edge of the village of Stralendorf, in the Ludwigslust-Parchim district, directly beside a road called Gartenweg. At 125 metres in length it is the longest megalithic monument in Mecklenburg and one of the longest in Germany. Its width narrows from about 4.0 m at the southern end to just 1.5 m at the north, and the stones themselves get smaller towards the north as well.

The mound was still largely intact in 1934. It was excavated and reconstructed in 1964 by Ewald Schuldt, whose work showed that every one of the kerbstones had survived. Beneath the mound, six separate stone pavements — laid both across and along the barrow’s axis — were found, a construction feature typical of this monument type. The excavator concluded that the barrow was originally only 38 m long and was later extended to its present length.

Unlike most Giants Beds of this type, this one has no chamber at all — no human bones were recovered here, only grave goods: 108 pottery sherds, five arrowheads, four amphorae, four blades, four scrapers, two funnel beakers, a dagger, a flat axe, a hollow chisel, a transverse arrowhead, a hammerstone, a wide-mouthed pot and a bowl. Its sheer length alone makes it worth the detour even for visitors who have seen plenty of chambered tombs elsewhere.

Coming from Schwerin, head towards Hagenow/Pampow, turn off towards Pampow and drive through the village in the direction of Stralendorf. In Stralendorf, follow the

Taken from the on-site information board:

Giants Bed
Neolithic period

This Neolithic burial site is a ‘megalithic tomb without a chamber’ featuring a trapezoidal stone enclosure. A burial chamber built from large stone blocks – otherwise characteristic of megalithic tombs (large stone tombs) – is not present here.

Measuring 125 metres in length, this burial site ranks among the longest Neolithic sites of its kind.

During the archaeological investigation carried out by E. Schuldt in 1964, six individual burials were identified in the earthen embankment; these had been dug lengthways and crossways into the natural sandy soil and were each covered with a layer of stones roughly the size of a fist.

The finds: a flat axe, a hollow chisel, a dagger, blades, scrapers and flint arrowheads. Also, shards of ceramic funnel-beakers and amphorae.

Took a walk around the woods on Offham Hill today.

One of the paths goes straight through the remains of the Neolithic Causwayed Enclosure, much of which was destroyed by a Victorian chalkpit.

To the south are two Bronze Age round-barrows, which are often found near such Neolithic sites in this neck of the woods.

The area is heavily overgrown, but there may be traces of the Enclosure banks on the narrow paths that pass through the space.

Having overlaid the archaeological image of the Enclosure over the OS map, this definitely bears more investigation.

No one ever said it would be easy!
Here’s what we did. We put the circle in Google Maps and ended up at a dead end with two houses. The house on the right with the lovely old gates belongs to the landowners. The farmers wife directed us back towards Roscarberry and we turned right at the brown sign for St Fachtnas Shrine. As directed we came to a new house on the right hand side with red roofs and a bright yellow door. We knocked on the yellow door and the woman of the house told us where to park and advised us to stay clear of the electric fences, cows and bull.

We lifted the fences and put them back. We followed the cow path and went 2 fields in.

We were so disappointed at first!
The Circle was so overgrown. Stones were just peeking up through dense undergrowth. It was surrounded by an electric fence so we dropped to the ground and got in under it. There was a barely perceptible way around the inside of the circle. Wear long trousers.

An amazing circle!! The two very tall portal stones were impressive and in line with the gorgeous flat recumbent stone.

The farmer was there but he was working. Visits permitted but circle is on a working farm.

On our way back the cows went before us down the path. There were lots of them. I wouldn’t chance it if the livestock were in the field.

On our way back to the car we happened upon St Fachtna’s Well, a beautiful and peaceful gem.

Everstorfer Forst Nord 10, like Everstorfer Forst Nord 9, was known solely as a Bronze Age burial mound until it was excavated by E. Schuldt. These are the remains of a small chamber, which has since receded somewhat back into the hill.It has two supporting stones on each of its long sides. One of the supporting stones has toppled into the chamber. The northern keystone is also still in place. The opposite side is only half-closed by a stone; this was apparently where the entrance was located. A stone lying next to it is probably the remains of an enclosure. Several other stones are scattered across the hill. One of the capstones was taken to Hamberge, some two kilometres further west, in 1922 and erected there as a memorial to the victims of the First World War. It is adorned with numerous small cup marks.

Everstorfer Forst Nord 10 lies about 500 metres west of the signposted northern group of megalithic tombs. Take the road that runs past this group and continue towards Grevesmühlen. Just before the woodland begins to the north of the road, a path branches off to the south into the woods (it’s easy to find a parking space here). Follow the path and, after a short while, you will come across two very conspicuous mounds on which the two stone tombs are situated. Everstorfer Forst Nord 10 is the western of the two.

Visited June 2026

Taken from the on-site information board:

During the Bronze Age (2nd millennium BCE), burial mounds were constructed from turf, earth or stones as tombs for a single individual. Initially, burials in wooden coffins were carried out in such mounds. Later, after religious beliefs had evidently changed and cremation had become widespread from the Middle Bronze Age onwards, the charred skeletal remains were initially scattered in the space originally intended for the wooden coffin within the mound, and later urn burials were carried out.

It is not uncommon to find secondary burials in such mounds, some of which took place much later. Originally, the majority of megalithic tombs (also known as giant’s tombs) were also located in or beneath mounds. Burial mounds were often clustered together. Like the megalithic tombs, they were defining features of the Mecklenburg landscape until the introduction of land consolidation. They served as landmarks for travellers and as boundary markers for the local population.

According to the information board on site, Everstorfer Forst Nord 9 is a rather badly damaged, extended dolmen situated on a considerably high mound. One supporting stone remains in situ, probably a keystone of the chamber. Another stone is no longer in situ; part of it may also have been blasted away. A third stone lies within the chamber, the approximate dimensions of which can be discerned from the hole at the top of the mound. A presumed fourth supporting stone lies on the slope of the hill. Until its excavation by E. Schuldt in 1967, this tomb (also by Sprockhoff) was known only as a burial mound.

Everstorfer Forst Nord 9 lies about 500 metres west of the signposted northern group of megalithic tombs. Take the road that runs past this group and continue towards Grevesmühlen. Just before the woodland begins to the north of the road, a path branches off to the south into the woods (it’s easy to find a parking space here). Follow the path and, after a short while, you will come across two very conspicuous mounds on which the two stone tombs are situated. Everstorfer Forst Nord 9 is the eastern of the two.

Everstorfer Forst Nord 7, a partially destroyed dolmen, lies next to Everstorfer Forst Nord 6. It is probably a small chamber that once had two capstones. Only three supporting stones appear to remain more or less in situ. Other stones have been displaced, including, in all likelihood, a capstone.

This is the last and westernmost of the eight graves in the northern group, which lie close together. It is situated approximately 30 metres west of Everstorfer Forst Nord 6. The two remaining tombs (Everstorfer Forst Nord 9 and Everstorfer Forst Nord 10) in the northern group are located some 600 metres further west.

Visited June 2026