Latest Fieldnotes

The directions to the Ronda Dolmen in The Megalithic European are either out of date or there is a typing error in the road numbering. The road that you need to take heading from Ronda to Sevilla is the A374 and not the A376 as stated in the book. I also did not see the KM107 sign mentioned in the text, however the turnoff onto the A372 to Grazalema is fairly prominent. Once on this road the track to the dolmen was fairly easy to find – the chain supported but two small green posts is right there as mentioned. You need to follow this track round on foot past the edge of a field, and then past a fenced in olive grove. The dolmen is actually on the edge this olive grove on the far side, behind some babed wire. You can get up close by skirting round the olive grove, along the edge of another field.

As described in The Megalithic European, the setting is a wonderful bowl, surrounded by mountins.

We combined our visit to the Ronda Dolmen with a visit to the Cueva de la Pileta which is not too far away from here.

Access is only possible after mid to late summer when the Manifold River dries up and runs underground. Always wondered what the folk back in the day made of this....unless they had it figured already.
Follow river-bed round to the back of Beeston Tor Farm and there are two entrances, 10ft, above the river bed....one is very obvious, about 6ft up in the cliff wall (a blind tube of around 100ft) to the right of this (about 30ft) is a fissure looking opening into St Bertrams itself.
It’s worth taking a torch as the tunnel at the back of the cave leads into quite accessible tubes and chambers if you don’t mind crawling now and again.

I visited this site after hearing Christian Corlett say there was a carved stone found here in his recent lecture on rock art in South Leinster. It’s marked on the map as a barrow but Christian calls it a mound and says, given the carved stone, that it’s a possible passage grave.
The mound is surrounded by a fenced in circular area which in turn is surrounded by a quarry/gravel pit. The topsoil has been removed right up to the fence and there are large, deep gouges in the surrounding terrain. The mound is roughly oval in shape and possibly 3 metres high and about 25 metres in diameter along its longer axis and about 20 on the narrower. There are quite a few smallish boulders lying on the mound, none of which I could see were carved.
The situation of the mound on flat terrain, west of the river Barrow, shows extensive view across to Mt. Leinster and the Blackstairs and south to Brandon Hill.

A very flattened barrow, about 20 metres in diameter and with low remains of its bank and ditch. Very curious as to why the OPW felt it needed 3 fograí.

Beside the road and with an enclosing fence right up to its bank, this barrow is about 30 metres in diameter. There is a strange collection of large stones in its centre that may be field clearance or could signify some sort of chamber.

I’ve listed this site as a Taula as that’s probably the main attraction for most folk. The taula is missing it’s cap, but does have an interesting hole in it, in the manner of the Stone of Odin.

I was quite chuffed to find this out, as it seemed very difficult to get any information regarding the site, it’s existence only being marked in a very vague fashion on one of the Menorcan Megalithic tourist maps.

Thankfully, there were some helpful folks at the farm, one of whom was quite happy to guide me to the right area. This is just as well, as it would have been nigh on impossible to find without exact directions.

The poblat is still quite in evidence, though it’s been co-opted for agricultural purposes, and it seems as if some of the original structures have been rebuilt over the centuries. Like little circular drystone structures which my guide explained were alleged to be made from the stones of the dwellings in the ancient village.

There are also a couple of interesting anomalies in the poblat zone, namely a line of large orthostats which seemed reminiscent of the facade of something or other, and a patch of outcrop bearing large stonecut basins, some circular, some irregular almost head-and-torso shaped.

These parts are reasonably accessible, as the grove in which they sit is grazed by livestock. The livestock are prevented from getting into the Taula sanctuary/Talaoit by a substantial wall.

On the other side of this wall, it is very overgrown. The trees and bushes are virtually impenetrable. it’s a bit of a scramble to get to the holed Taula, around which can be made out a good few other orthostats poking up from the very uneven undergrowth/cobbles mixture that is underfoot. Some of these orthostats also have holes, some of which looked natural, as if the stones had been chosen specifically because of the holes.

The talaoit is not easy to get up, I found myself wriggling under branches and through nettles to circumnavigate it to find if there was one of those little cave things built into the side, which there is. It was very disorientating, but I think the cave thing points roughly in the direction of El Toro.

It’s a bit of a mad and gnarly old site, but if you like your prehistoric sites raw, unexcavated and untended, this is a very untidy and atmospheric example of exactly those qualities.

This isnt far from Kilronan and can be seen from the road as you head from Kilronan to Dun Aonghus. It is not as impressively situatied as Dun Aonghus but you actually get a better view of all parts of the island. Worth a look for the views alone.

The North Tipp Inventory places this beside St. Kierans well. However it is actually 500m down the road at what locals call the “knee” of the road. This bullaun is where St. Kieran is meant to have knelt down leaving his knee print.
The bowl itself is pretty small, about 200mm diameter by maybe 150mm deep.

This one is located in a Protestant Church / Graveyard just off the Nenagh to Cloughjordan road.
It is made in a earth fast outcrop. It is about 400mm diameter by 300mm deep.

This bullaun stone is located just off the main cahir to clonmel road beside a fairly easily spotted ringfort across from a nursing home.
I jumped the fence and headed in to have a look, watch the bard-wire fence it is actually electric.
The stone is large and the bullaun must be about 600mm diameter maybe 300mm deep.
There are at least three other half bullauns where it appears the rock was split in half.
From here the hill of Slievenamon really dominates the area.

These two bullaun stones are in the RC church in the village of Lorrha beside a Dominician Friary.
It looks to me as if they may have been transported from elsewhere.
The one on the left is about 300mm diam by 200mm deep. The one on the right is bigger and may be two bowls that has merged into one.
Diameter 600mm by 250mm deep.

So a day traipsing around non-descript menhirs and ruined dolmens can have its rewards after all. And this is my reward. This magnificent dual-sex idol stone, massive and alone, in an unsignposted field.
Around 4m high the SW face is a perect goddess figure yet the NW is the slanting priapic phallus of all time. There is some evidence that the stones was shaped and even if not tis a well selected and beautiful stone.
These little (or massive actually) surprises are the reward for all our hard work. REAL DISCOVERIES!

This bullaun was moved from Modreeny Churchyard just outside Cloughjordan but it is now used as the holy water font for the RC church in Cloughjordan village, OS Grid Ref R976879.

This bullaun stone is only about a mile from where I live and yet I never heard of it growing up.
The bowls dims in the North Tipp Inventory are diameter 370mm and depth about 300mm. It is about 20m away from a ringfort.
To find it I would recommend a GPS or if stuck give me a shout!

Well the map said this was destroyed and indeed it is. Quite a bugger to find too with my two incompatibly scaled maps. In many ways though it’s still worth a visit.
Set on slightly higher ground and hence, this being the Norfolk of France, commanding views of all around. The dolmen is now a low mound around 11m long by 5m wide. A number of large stones lie upon and within this mound including at least one former capstone. The others may be the collapsed walls; although for all I can tell there may still be a chamber within.
I am realizing that this area may not be the megalithic metropolis it appears at first glance on a map but these small, sadly ruined, sites have a personal air lacking at some more impressive sites. And it feels more like real antiquarianism hunting them out too!
The mound is orientated around 340°-160°.

Worthy of a visit for its name alone this 2m cream granite pillar is nestled at the end of a short alley off a busy dual carriageway. In many ways it is nothing special in a pointy kind of way but I am visiting everything so…

At last a site I can access and rather pleasant it is too. This two and a half metre menhir sits in short grass at the edge of a field. Wide and tall but thin across in a playing card kind of way and the stone is of creamy white quartz rich granite.
One can see on the south face how the menhir was split from the bedrock along a quartz vein as a layer of smooth quartz covers the surface.
I think that I’ll start calling these ‘Barbamama’ stones after the blobby cartoon wife of Babapapa. Cos that’s what they look like really.
The land around is very flat, although we are near a water tower, and to the north is the vast sprawl of the port of St.Nazaire.
The long axis of the stone is orientated 220°-040°.

AAAGGHH! More private property! And a lovely tapering lozenge menhir this is too. Maybe 3m+ but I can’t get to it at all. How frustrating this is becoming.

The ‘Bounding Stone’ (I believe) is also private AND in the middle of a flooded water meadow! Ho hum…well these sites are not even marked on the 1:100,000 scale map so maybe the better known sites will be easier. The menhir appears to be a largish lozenge of about 2m but unfortunately I can say no more…

Another chunky menhir guarded by, not just a fence, but cows too! Could be on a mound or it could just be the pricklys that the cows don’t want to eat. NEXT!

There are in fact two menhirs here. The first small, from which a signpost rises, and the second larger but fallen, to the west.
This is curious megalith country, very flat and in close proximity to the Loire River. Indeed I’ve just seen the vast bulk of the Queen Mary 2 in St.Nazaire ship works, where it is being built.
Why such a seemingly insignificant pair of menhirs warrant signposting from the main road I’m not sure, but if I must be the modern antiquarian then completion rules.

Dolmen des Rossignols
‘It’s a suburban dolmen!‘
At last something unique and interesting. The dolmen sits below ground level in a large crater in an empty plot amongst an estate of bungalows. I t would seem likely that the dolmen was discovered whilst the foundations for another such bungalow were being dug. If this were true it would explain the row of holes connected by a crack along the top of the capstone. It would appear that an attempt was made to split the capstone before (hopefully before) its significance was realized.
And what a capstone! A good 3m by 4m and about 70cm thick at the edges this is a monster and the only capstone surviving, is ever there were more. It is actually difficult to ascertain where the original entrance was as it was either blocked off in prehistory or some of the uprights were placed wrongly during restoration. Nonetheless this is a very important and impressive dolmen.
The chamber inside is now very low but this could be due to the infill of sandy soil more than anything else, and the capstone appears to be supported by a combination of corbelling and orthostats.
Also, whilst here, I finally managed a break a rule by eating my lunch while blissfully unaware of the ‘no picnics’ sign, hurray!
The rocks appear to be a mixture of schist and granite and one wonders how far they were dragged to this sandy spot…

Visited the general locality passing through Sarn Meyllteyrn in 2005. was informed from a local source [Gwenllian] that the place name could be broken down as follows

sarn – ford
meyll (mal) – place [of]
teyrn – king or kings

the standing stone and site is thought of as ‘the burial place of Rhiw kings’; it is a mere several kilometres from Mynydd Rhiw *neolithic axe factory*, so it is surprising there are not more stone age monuments hard by – perhaps there are, or were? also, local place names seem to abound with deer names, into which could be read much, perhaps -

there also appears to be an ancient well or spring nearby, known as ‘ffynnon fair’ -

rhiw.com/hanes_02/axe_factory/mynydd_rhiw_axe_factory.htm

streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=223500&y=332500&z=5&sv=223500,332500&st=4&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf&ax=223500&ay=332500

streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=223500&y=331500&z=3&sv=223500,331500&st=4&ar=N&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf&ax=223500&ay=332500

thanks

Ric

When it comes to ‘looking at rocks’ my family and I have an unspoken agreement, they are happy to tolerate my obsession as long as it doesn’t involve me dragging them around a bunch of sites or trying to convince them how wonderful these places are. So I had a choice to make, I knew I could get away with taking them to one prehistoric site on Gozo. The island has many prehistoric sites from standing stones to temples to Dolmens, so where would it be? Without a doubt it had to be Ggantija.

Ggantija is signposted and quite easy to find. Once you get to Xaghra just look for the large car park and you know you’re there.
When walking towards the temple it is worth looking at the surrounding walls. Not far inside of the main gate there are some large orthostats that have been interpreted as possibly another structure associated with the main temple.
Another feature worth looking out for is The North Cave, which is a cave just at the top of the site. The cave has been interpreted as possibly starting out as a rock cut tomb which then became a rubbish pit for the temples.

As for Ggantija itself, the scale of the walls is overwhelming. Mr Cope is spot-on when he refers to the walls as Cyclopean. I just had to stop and take it all in. This structure is five and a half thousand years old and was build by people who had no knowledge of metal. These stones were cut, erected and had fallen long out of use long before any Egyptian had even considered building a pyramid.

Of course the Maltese temples were not the first structures in Europe, we on the margins of western Europe had been erecting our megaliths and building tombs even before the Maltese culture had risen and flourished, but what is important about these these Maltese and Gozitan temples where designed and built as public buildings, they had torba floors, the walls were plastered, they contained ornately carved decorative stonework as well as carved features such as holes for door posts, animal tethers, libation bowls etc.

I could bore you here with a long explanation of the lay-out of the temples but I’ll spare you that. In a nutshell you have two temples enclosed by a huge wall, the older, western temple has five apses and the eastern temple has four plus what the guidebooks call a ‘niche’. The Ggantija temples should not be seen in isolation, this part of the island has many prehistoric monuments. The Brochtorff Circle which is now known as the Xaghra circle is just on the other side of town, the Santa Verna temples lie 700 metres west of town and there are various other bits and bobs including Ta Ghejzu, a cave that yielded pottery from the Ggantija phase and has the possible remains of a temple on it’s margins.

Ggantija is an extremely important site and is treated as such by the Goitans, it has had the full heritage treatment but is not over the top, this is no ‘Stonehenge-site-in-cage’ it is a site you can still interact with and come away feeling that you’ve had a personal experience. As temples go Ggantija is definitely a world class site and my second favourite temple of the islands.

This is a single bowl shaped barrow despite it’s name. I think the name comes from the fact that it is perched on top of a small hill which looks like an extension of the barrow. This positioning would have much more obvious in the past, sadly the barrow is now in a plantation of hideous fir trees.
The barrow itself is in poor condition, trees grow on it but most of the damage has been caused by badgers burrowing in to it. Although it is near a footpath it’s not easy to get to through the thick undergrowth, I had to dig quite a lot of thorns out of my jacket and trousers and I could have lived without the stinging nettles.
It appears to be an outlier from the barrow cemetery on Black hill several hundred metres to the east. Also to the west two barrows are marked as being extant on Tolpuddle Ball, which at some stage I’ll try and visit.
To the north west is Wetherby castle which stands prominent on a hill rising out of the valley floor.