NEW archaeological evidence has suggested that an ancient stone monument near Davidstow was used for moonlit rituals during the Bronze Age, and could top Stonehenge for being the ‘most decorated stone in southern Britain’.
The Cornwall Archaeological Society has found new evidence, suggesting that the Hendraburnick ‘Quoit’, situated near Davidstow, was used for moonlit rituals or ceremonies during the late Neolithic and bronze age period.
The work conducted on Hendraburnick Quoit, was funded and carried out by the Cornwall Archaeological Society and led by Dr Andy Jones, an archaeologist from the Cornwall Archaeological Unit, and Penzance-based Tom Goskar, an archaeologist with a specialism of using digital technologies to find new evidence within artefacts from the past.
Speaking about the new evidence, Dr Jones told the Post: “We’re really pleased. It’s something we’ve known about for quite a long time, but it’s really, really good — a remarkable find.
“It (the Hendraburnick Quoit markings) is a unique find. There are lots of decorated monuments in the UK, but for southern Britain, it’s very remarkable.”
And so forth...
Well a lot being claimed for this quoit, headlines are so misleading, and not many photos but those recently moved to Cornwall and those living there should be able to take some ;). Also it is called a 'propped' stone just like the Leskernick stone..
The paper has no pics of the markings taken in daylight .
I wonder why .
Guaranteed that the best daylight conditions will be better than the best moonlit ones . Maybe anyone getting them will write a paper on daylight ceremonies, one the other hand .....
Well the Megalithic Portal has more photos but again not of the rock art, which has this below which I have just copied from their site.......
"Rock art clearest when viewed in low sunlight or by moonlight, also smashing of quartz veins, possibly significant in night time rituals."
That's the point .
"Rock art clearest when viewed in low sunlight or by moonlight"
Moonlight is just reflected sunlight , it will not provide better conditions for viewing the engravings , as has been suggested .
Interestingly the same team have pics of the engravings ,in daylight , in an earlier article ,but of course not in the more recent one where they might upset the narrative .
They also suggest that the stone was engraved before being moved to it's present position , which makes the story even more suspect .
From the Camelford article .
Dr Jones continued: “.... we think it may have been carved before it was moved.”
+
Tom Goskar, , told the Post: “ Once in place, it was propped up with smaller stones and used by the people who live there, grinding the cup marks and grooves with quartz.
Mmmmm , not quite in sync eh?
The we get .“We finished excavation work in 2013, but went back to look at the different lighting conditions, and we found then when you look at the site from the east during the day, it was casting shadows on the stone, and it would be like that if you go out at different points of the day.”
But if the stone was engraved lower down in in the valley , as they have suggested , are the shadows that were so intriguing at it's new siting likely to be the same as that of the original engraving site . ?
Looks like this was based on a photogrammetry survey which is partially written up here tom.goskar.com/2017/07/11/hendraburnick-quoit-the-most-decorated-stone-in-southern-britain/
The headline image being this one tom.goskar.com/files/2017/07/cupandringmarks-hendraburnick-goskar.jpeg
I cant think of a more decorated southern stone.
It probably is the most southerly decorated site . Apart from Stonehenge there isn't a lot of competition .
Have a good look and you will often find more than was in the the original record , do some photogrammetry and it will be even better .
It's an interesting stone and site . Just a pity about the usual gilding of the lily and daft headlines , to get some attention .