How much do we know about Stonehenge? Less than we think. And what has Stonehenge got to do with the Ice Age? More than we might think. This blog is mostly devoted to the problems of where the Stonehenge bluestones came from, and how they got from their source areas to the monument. Now and then I will muse on related Stonehenge topics which have an Ice Age dimension...
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Wednesday, 9 May 2018
Moel Ty Uchaf, North Wales (amended)
This is a gorgeous "bouldery" stone circle too -- called Moel Ty Uchaf, near Llandrillo in Denbighshire. This one is thought to be Bronze Age, but it is rather mysterious. There is a raised platform in the middle, and there are many other stone settings and mounds in the area, indicating considerable Bronze Age (and Neolithic?) activity.
Here is one of my Powerpoint Presentation slides, showing what an extraordinary similarity there is between the Moel Ty Uchaf stones and the bluestones at Stonehenge.
The builders of both monuments were perfectly happy to use whatever stones were to hand -- and in those circumstances, why would they have bothered to go quarrying for elongated pillars?
If ever there was a homage to glacial erratics, this is it. As fine a collection of erratics as I have ever seen, with stones of all shapes and sizes, and heavily faceted and abraded. I wonder of these jolly Neolithic / Bronze Age tribesmen worshipped the Glacier Gods, and maybe sacrificed the odd ice maiden on that platform in the middle, when the winter snows were on the ground?
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