I was very interested to hear Prof GW talk about "architectural similarities" between the Carn Meini chambered tomb and Stonehenge, on the basis that there might have been a pair of standing stones somewhere in the vicinity. That might seem (to cynics like me) to be rather tenuous, but the Prof might be onto something good. For example, the conical burial mound at Carn Briw (on Carn Ingli) looks just like a smaller version of Silbury Hill, and so it is indisputable that the architect of that latter hill came from the tribal group which occupied Carn Ingli and moved off to Wessex to practice his skills. Furthermore, he must have been a very important person.
Furthermore, since the stone mound over the Carn Meini tomb is really rather insignificant, but nevertheless indicates that a VERY IMPORTANT PERSON was buried there, how much more important must the persons buried at Carn Bica and Foel Drigarn have been? Those burial mounds are truly enormous........... so the people buried there must have been VERY VERY VERY important persons.
We can extend this excellent line of reasoning even further. The shambolic cluster of stones around Waun Mawn has distinct similarities to the stones at Avebury, so it is indisputable that the architect of Avebury must have come from the nearby pub called Tafarn y Bwlch. Then the line of big stones at Parc y Meirw looks to me just like parts of those old alignments at Carnac, and so it is indisputable that some of the Neolithic architects of my home area (and there were obviously many) emigrated to France when they discovered that their talents were not needed closer to home.
Afaik , there is one possible link that the connection to Stonehenge crew don't seem to have lapsed onto yet .Bedd Arthur arguably a cove/horseshoe (not a crescent )like it's stonehenge counterparts is aligned on the midsummer solstice rising sun .
ReplyDeleteBrian
ReplyDelete"so it is indisputable that some of the Neolithic architects of my home area (and there were obviously many) emigrated to France when they discovered that their talents were not needed closer to home".
These immigrants did they walk there or travel by boat? If they walked how did they know which way to travel (sign posts/maps??)or did they find their way to the coastal location by chance?
If by boat would they also transport goods such as Stones to these sites such as carnac or use the dragging method - which was no doubt also taught in 'your own area'?
RJL
My own theory, Robert, is that they flew. There are at least three Neolithic monuments that I know of (locations currently closely guarded secrets) which looks like aeroplanes when seen from above. That means that Neolithic man knew all about powered flight. I am currently working on a new book which develops this theory. All will be revealed in due course......
ReplyDeleteGeo Cur
ReplyDeleteBedd Arthur
Your Right! - still no horse then so the builder will not have asked he's workforce to build it in a 'Horse shoe shaped' monument - so perhaps its built at random as it was just a navigational aid rather than a temple building to the moon?
Consequently, no connection what so ever, apart from being built on high ground!
RJL
Geo Cur
ReplyDeleteBedd Arthur
Doesn't look like a monument to me - more like a Stone Circle?
Still no horses then, so the builder will not have asked he's workforce to build it 'Horse shoe shaped' - so perhaps its just built at random as it was a navigational aid rather than a temple building to the moon or the sun?
Consequently, no connection what so ever, apart from being built on high ground!
RJL
Ps
ReplyDeleteBedd Arthur (Cont.)
The stone circle is adjacent to the ancient trackway known as the 'Golden Road' which runs along the Preseli mountain ridge and passes Carn Menyn
Stone circles - ancient direction finder - now that's a revolutionary thought!
RJL , a strange place to put a direction finder . Views towards it are pretty limited and if you are on the " golden road " or the route along the tops , the views , weather permitting , will be good enough to dispense with directions .More importantly.In what way does the monument "direct ? apart from the fact it's axis is generally directed towards the solstice in one direction and into the nearby hillside in the other .
ReplyDeleteBedd Arthur is neither a circle nor a horseshoe shape -- regardless of whether there were such things as horseshoes in ancient times. It's an oval -- rather like a rugby ball, and I reckon it points to the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I still think that it is all that's left of a Neolithic portal tomb -- rather like Pentre Ifan, except that here the cromlech (or chamber with capstone over it) has either collapsed or been removed. The stones left around the edges all lean in towards the middle, suggesting to me that they once rested on the sides of the mound, as a sort of peripheral ornamentation. There is a definite portal shape chopping off one end of the oval.
Robert, since it isn't a stone circle we can forget about that one. And the Preseli ridge (with the "Golden Road") is punctuated with burial sites -- almost every summit has one -- for the most part, so far as we know, Bronze Age rather than Neolithic.
Like it or not the axis of the monument is pointed towards the midsummer solstice sunrise , in the opposite direction because of the horizon it doesn't point to any solstice event . It is closer in shape to a rugby but close enough to a horseshoe for those with an agenda .
ReplyDeleteIf the axis was a further 66 degrees to the south then you could argue for a millenium stadium bearing .
Oh, I don't have a problem with that, Geo. Not having surveyed the site, I'll take your word for it. If I was to build a nice portal tomb I might well choose to line it up with the midsummer sunrise too.
ReplyDeleteOf course if the entrance should prove to have been at the s/w end it won't work .
ReplyDeletePity there is no good bearing for the passage of the carn meini monument and impossible to judge from GE .
Geo Cur
ReplyDeleteWell then, its alignment could be the Midwinter sunset which would fit with Brian's burial theory - as it sets 180 degrees opposite the midsummer sunrise?
RJL
RJL , it's not quite so simple .The horizon for the opposite direction has quite a different altitude providing a declination quite away from the the required 24 . It's only when the altitudes for the horizon are similar does the 180 degree approach work .
ReplyDeleteGeo Cur
ReplyDeleteThat maybe, but death is associated with the moon and the night - even today the cinema has the undead walking the tomb stones at night by the light of the moon - if you was right Dracula would have had a suntan!
RJL
RJL , not quite sure what you mean by “ if you were right “ right about what ? The monument is aligned to the solstice sun rise although whether that was intentional we can’t be sure ,also it is not aligned to the solstice sunset
ReplyDelete.So don’t really understand where I might be wrong .
The moon associated with night ,that’s a bit radical .
Seriously though , we can only guess at the cosmology of the people who built Bedd Arthur but we do know enough of other early cosmologies to realise that the sun was associated with death obvious examples being Egyptian and the concept of the sun setting/dying in the west but more importantly
the most obvious astronomical alignments involving passage graves are solar Newgrange ,Maes Howe etc . Not really sure if Dracula belongs to quite the same period .
Bait taken .
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pasthorizonspr.com/index.php/archives/10/2011/bluestonehenge-an-ancient-alignment-revealed