Latest Fieldnotes

This pair of round barrows just south of a byway which runs along the ridge of a hill above Pallington heath. The western barrow has a large cleft in its top and the foot path runs over it. The smaller east barrow is low and at this time of the year covered in gorse and heather, making it hard to spot or photograph.
There are more barrows along this hill, the heavy foliage and many trees make them hard to spot, I will return in the winter for another look.

Following up on slumpystones interesting discovery I had to see this site for myself.

I’d like to think if this pile of stones had any significance it would have been fenced off (without the iron railings! ;0) ) and lovingly had the upkeep of English Heritage!

But --- on first appearance this does seem to be a curiously dumped pile of sarsen stones, which are great to see considering most others from this area have long been broken up and all we can enjoy in Kent are the great significant remnants at Kits Coty and of course Coldrum. It’s just the way they have been dumped; thought I’d add some pictures for people to get a better view!

At least four of the stones (including the ‘shaped’ triangular ones) are buried very deeply, all the rest are of various different shapes and cuts have character, the two at the back are absolutely huge; the main triangular stone with the hotly disputed cup and ring marks looks to me like a lot of glacial weathering, but I am way far from being an expert;

Even more curious is that there are further stones located a short distance nearby deep in the undergrowth – a single smoothed buried ‘post’ stone approx 15ft further NE from the collection, and two stones (again one very deeply buried) 30ft SE easily seen from the beaten path.

Today as part of the Scottish Archaeology month we visited Drumtroddan carved rocks, the talk was given by Jane Murray, a local archaeologist.
We discovered as part of the event that most of the panels at Drumtroddan have been damaged by someone or people trying to clean the carvings with what looks like it must have been a wire brush, this of course is getting reported to Historic Scotland.

This site is about 9km north west of Dorgali, and is on the SP38. It’s run by the Ghivine Cooperative www.ghivine.com who can arrange guided tours of the archaeology and natural features of the area.

There’s plenty of parking; there’s a cafe – food, drinks, souvenirs, clean toilets – right next door and associated with the site.

Tickets are 6 euros for adults (kids 2½ I think) and it is open 09:00 – 13:00 and 15:00 – 19:00.

From the ticket office it’s about 500 metres to the gate to the site, along a flat paved path.

The site is a nuraghic village, excavated from 1936, but with 3 temple buildings worth listing separately.

This is the smallest of the group of dolmens, standing about 90cm high and consisting of a capstone of about 2½ metres square balanced on 3 other slabs.

Free and open access.

Yet again, a plant had been left recently, but this time there was also a message (on a separate piece of stone, not on part of the actual structure). Can anyone translate it?

Bilella (spelt like this and as Billella on the same information board) is signposted off Via Boccaccio in Luras – it’s actually about 1.2km from the turn off.

Free and open access.

Yet again, a plant had been left as an offering!

A curious construction – built on a cut shelf of rock – and looking from one side like a transformers toy climbing a stair! It’s the tallest of the group of dolmens at about 1.65 metres.

This dolmen is smaller than, but similar in construction to Ladas – both have been dated at 3rd millennium BCE. It’s situated on a rocky outcrop with great views from its south easterly facing entrance across the valley below.

Again, a plant had been left to the left of the entrance.

Free and open access.

This dolmen has a huge main capstone – over 3 metres by 4 metres – supported by stone slabs on 3 sides with some wooden posts to help out too. A separate, smaller capstone creates a porch area, and the underside of both stones have been carved in to.

Someone had been recently, and left a potted plant (cyclamen maybe?) tucked safely at the left of the entrance.

Free and open access.

Li Lolghi has ample parking, a wooden information and ticket hut (we’d paid at Li Muri so just picked up our guide leaflet) which has the usual range of info, postcards, ice creams and drinks – including beer!

The slope leads up to the tomba – orientated to face south east – and again was originally an allée couverte as at Coddu Vecchiu, extended circa 1300 BCE.

The giant stele has been broken at a 45° angle and repaired, and has relief carvings on it; the stone slabs of descending height on either side mark out the esedra.

Looking through the portal, you can see along the funeral corridor to the remaining capstone and shelf at the end, before the earlier tomb.

The rear of the monument is gently fenced with posts and rails, and viewing platforms are provided. The whole thing is a massive 26 metres long!

From the fork in the road where the directions to this site and Li Lolghi split, it was 1.2km to the car park and information building (closed when we got there) just past the site, and about 120 metres up a gentle incline to get back to the site itself which has a gate and wooden hut at its entrance.

The site has wooden posts and rails to keep people off the stones, and viewing platforms similar to those we’d seen at Coddu Vecchju.

There are 5 cists; 4 of these have a menhir and stone slabs arranged around them to form a circle; cist number 5 to the far left on my panoramic photo has an incomplete circle with an open front.

This is believed to be the oldest site on the island, at around 4000 BCE.

Tickets are 5 euros to visit both here and Li Lolghi, payable at the information office just down the slope – the guide was at the circles when we arrived and we followed her down to pay after our visit. As usual for the “pay” sites, there were toilets, and a range of info, drinks and snacks on sale.

The nuraghe of La Prisciona is currently (Sept 2007) closed to the public for repairs and excavation, likely to continue until at least May 2008.

The new excavations are revealing a whole series of buildings/rooms surrounding the nuraghe which has a triangular base and 3 towers, and a deep well in its courtyard.

The information office at Coddu Vecchju about 900 metres away shows some images of the excavations.

From Arzachena, take the 427 or SP14 towards Tempio, the site is always signposted. There’s ample parking, and a building for tickets and information (with refreshments etc on sale and toilets available) about 300 metres north of the site. We’d bought tickets at Nuraghe Albucciu so just had to show these to be given our site guide. Open 09:00 – 19:00.

A gentle stroll along the road side and then down a path brought us to the tomba. Wow! It’s huge!

The building was done in two stages, the first part being an allée couverte (circa 2500 BCE?) with the giant stele and esedra (forecourt area, the wings, or some might propose, the open legs of the tomb) added later. The site is roped off, and visitors are asked not to climb onto or into the tomb, but a variety of raised viewing platforms have been built all the way round the back to make it easier to see.

The stele is massive – almost 4½ metres tall, but narrower than some others at 1.9 metres – and has a pronounced pink tinge to its stone; it was built with two slabs on top of each other, and both sections have relief carvings in them. The wings of the tomba are stone slabs in decreasing height. Behind the stele – the tallest one on the island – there’s a short corridor, which joins the newer part to the body of the original tomb – about 10 metres long with granite slabs forming the walls, floor and capstones.

It’s just over 1½km from the car park for Nuraghe Albucciu (see this site for access, facility and ticket details) to Malchittu Temple; the path is generally wide and sandy, but does climb a bit, and the last section to reach the temple is a scramble up uneven rocks. So not recommended for the less mobile!

The temple is a very unusual structure for Sardinia and is situated between two rocky outcrops with fantastic views over the surrounding area. There’s an entrance foyer, with one straight and one curved wall, and a doorway into the main part of the temple, where niches for offerings, and a central hearth, can be seen. There’s an oak tree growing towards the back of the structure. The walls are really impressive and a scramble up the rocks on either side give great views down into the temple.

At the bottom of the rocky scramble, there’s the remains of another structure.

It’s well worth allowing a couple of hours to view this group of sites (here and Albucciu and Moru).

This site, though grouped with Nuraghe Albucciu and Malchittu, has free access. The tombi is not particularly well conserved – the central stele, or portal stone, is missing and there’s only one capstone left, but the corridor of almost 10 metres is impressive, and probably originally an allée couverte reused and restyled as a tomba in the bronze age.

Nuraghe Albucciu is just outside Arzachena on the SS125 and well signposted in the vicinity. It has an information office/shop with parking on the opposite side of the road to the nuraghe, which is reached through an underpass. We bought tickets to visit here, and Malchittu and Coddu Vecchju, at 5½ euros per person (includes an A5 colour site guide for each of the 3); the site is open from 09:00 – 19:00; the shops sell the expected range of drinks and souvenirs, and has clean toilets round the back; there’s a café right next door.

The nuraghe was built onto the side of a granite cliff. The entrance is on the east side and above it you can see corbels which would have supported a wooden balcony; inside, there’s a tholos (false domed ceiling) room on the right with a niche in the far wall which once led to another entrance to the nuraghe cut into the cliff, and to the left is a low entrance to a possible store room. Both these rooms have no natural light, but an electric lamp is supplied for visitors. A central staircase leads up to the terrace level, where you get a good view of the rooms surrounding the tower, and to the south a few steps down take you through a doorway into the largest room, with one wall of solid granite, and two windows constructed with the narrower part to the outside.

Finds from the site are exhibited at the museum in Sassari.

Everything people say about this being a magical place is quite true. You can’t help but be quiet and respectful as the stones appear one by one, forming a broken and scattered circle. ShropshireTraveller has posted a map at the Megalithic Portal website (see link off main Rempstone page) that is pretty accurate from my visit to this site in September ‘07. I would just place the layby a bit further west. I recommend anyone planning a visit to print that map off first. The shrubs and nettles have grown a lot by the verge of the road since the 2004 photos you see here, and you won’t be able to see the stones from the road, but you can still get in easily enough. Just before the autumn equinox , the sun set into the base of the ridge of Nine Barrows Down as it stretches away to the west.

After a difficult 20 to 30 minute walk (perhaps 1 km long over rough ground, uphill through woodland) we reached Le grand dolmen de la bergerie de panissiere.

It’s essentially a passage cairn with a dolmen-like structure at its heart, surrounded by about 5ms diameter of cairny rubble with intriguing standing stones pointing out of its outer edge. It’s clear it’s been restored but rather well we felt. We sat and got our breath back before pushing on.

A beautiful dolmen, recently excavated and reconstructed. Start with this one and leap like a deer up the limestone terraces toward dolmen 2 (just 20 ms away) and (dolmen 3) about 50ms away.

To have three monuments, in such good condition within site of each other in such a spectacular setting is marvellous.

The morning looked bright and clear, and so a quick visit to this barrow (i only live minutes away) seemed an easy option to grab some photographs.

The barrow is located above the Devil’s Punchbowl and not far from the Ridgeway itself. I parked where the Ridgeway crosses the Lambourn Road, and where the Model Aeroplane Club have their site.

By the time I got half way across the field, I realised that I wasn’t dressed up enough to cope with the icy wind which blasted away and nearly took me hat with it a couple of times.

This was a nice reminder for me of what I always preach to others, which is: always go properly dressed if you’re going up the rudge. It may be pleasant and warm down in the valley, but it’s amazing how a few hundred feet up the chalk, the wind, temperature and weather can be totally different!

Away to my right, and on the distant horizon, I could make out the large hump which has Beacon Hill Hillfort on its crest. The view down into the Vale is outstanding on a clear day, and to my left I could see over to Boars Hill. Ahead, the towers and chimney stack of Didcot Power Station dominate the landscape. Glancing over my shoulder I could make out the denuded barrow of Pigtrough Bottom and wondered if the two graves were related in any way (same period, or possibly even same tribe?).

The lump lies next to the fence and nearly adjacent to a small stile. Once across, I had a close up look. There’s a single Elder bush next to it that seems to be doing quite well, given the exposed location. The usual bunny holes have penetrated the barrow in a few places and were quite deep. A quick rummage around the spoilheap, but no treasure was found!

The grave sits not far from the edge of the punchbowl and I thought about all the times I’ve walked here and never gone the extra few feet to investigate. The Punchbowl is an impressive piece of topography, in a funny kind of way, like the manger below Uffington Castle, although not quite as stunning.

The last time I was in the vicinity was to walk my friends lurcher, Lenny, who sadly passed away (old age) a few years ago, he’d definately of flushed any bunnys out and had a good time!

I took a few snaps (before I lossed all feeling in me paws) and wandered over across the ploughed piece towards the edge of the punchbowl. An object caught my eye on the ground, and I bent down to pick up a coin. Upon closer inspection it turned out to be a half penny of George VI from 1949 in very good nick.

Happy that I’d found treasure (a stone with a hole in it is a valuable treasure to me – i’m easily pleased), I started back to the motor and it was good to finally get out of the wind.

PS When I got home, i looked on Google Earth and you can make out lots of marks on the ground near this site – could those be remains of the workings that J R L Anderson saw when he visited?

Outside the village of St Alban Auriolles, if you climb up the hill at the back of the village towards an old chapel is the dolmen du Calvaire. A walk over the limestone outcrops towards it – the same limestone which the dolmen is built from – gives the impression that the dolmen spontaneously, and quite naturally, appears from the ground.

Inside the lovely chamber was a visitors book and I was quite surprised to see how many people had visited it quite recently. But then it is signposted from the village. The dolmen itself is a classic stone box: two stones each side, one at the back and one on top. Simple and perfect.

It’s a short but very steep climb up a path (follow the brown painted marks on the rocks) through grassy, low scrubby bushes to the hilltop. Even though the dolmen isn’t in perfect condition, and the climb is steep, it’s well worth the hike simply to see this monument in its commanding position. It once had two capstones, but one has fallen inwards and the other fallen back. Its sides and back are still in position. It’s been a bit carelessly restored with some ugly cement here and there, and in one side is a curious hole, probably a result of breakages over time than an original feature.

Not very easy to find involving a drive along some hair raisingly small lanes. From ponsanooth, take the turning at the bridge (centre of village) past shop and school and head up very narrow, steep lane until you meet t junction at top (approx 1 mile). Straight accross is a farm track which leads to Tory farm. From here bear right on a footpath accross a couple of fields, the stone is directly in front of Tremenheere farmhouse. 9ft tall with a square-ish profile and slightly bulbous top. Has metal eyelet fixed into it at the top, apparently once attatched to a washing line.

I decided to head up here finally to to see if this monument is aligned to the Equinox sunrise (as predicted by Fourwinds).
It was a fabulous morning and myself and my Dad sat around on the crisp 22nd of September morn waiting for the sun to rise.
When it finally did, we made a few interesting observations. The first was that the sun does enter the right hand side of the chamber (looking in) lighting it up pretty well. However due to the number of gaps now in the exterior of the tomb any effect is really lost.
We decided it may be worth coming up here next equinox with some black plastic bags to try and darken it as much as possible.
The second interesting thing was the way the sun shone thru the back chamber. I was inside the main chamber snapping away when my Dad spotted it.
Im not sure it this the second chamber was open to the east originally but it looks like a pretty good fit for the equinox sunrise. It may be just a coincidence but if say the east end of the chamber was open but the rest closed off it would surely light the small chamber completely on the Equinox?
The stone itself seems to be lintel like. themodernantiquarian.com/site/1034/baurnadomeeny.html
Perhaps the main chamber is aligned to a different sunrise, I would be interested to know which way the sun rises on say Winter Solistice, is it further north or south than at the equinox?

Following a post on the forum, it seems like the summer solstice sunrise may have the best chance of entering the chamber.

Update
I headed up here on the 22nd of December and thankfully the sun was shining at sunrise. Amazingly enough there were 3 more people up here, so that made a welcome change. The sun seems to shine into the rear portico at right angles to the length of the tomb.
Two of the people that were there had been up there the previous Summer Solstice morning and confirmed that the sun does shine into the main chamber on this day over the foothill of the Mahurslieve. So that is definitely a time for further research.

This holy well is fantastic. When I first got there I was acutally a bit spooked by the area. The trees really enclose it and it is pretty dark beside the well.
It took a bit of time to get used to the unsettling feeling that the place gives off but once I did I relaxed and you really get a very tramquil feeling of the place.
It still seems to be in use today with lots of offering there and the water seems fresh.
As Fourwinds mentions the eddys in the well are lovely and Im sure they were one of the reasons for locating here and for the wells “sacredness”.
There is now also a timber path going from the Kyle to the well so it would be very hard to miss it now.
There can be cows/ cattle and horses in the fields so keep an eye out.

To get a view of the well at a different time of view see Fourwinds site here megalithomania.com/show/site/1239/Kilberrihert.htm

Not much to see up here either. This mound can only be barely seen as a slight difference in the grass. I believe that archaeology.ie has this referenced as a stone circle for some reason. There is no sign of any stone in the area.
There is a pretty large Rath that is circled on the map just next to it.