Registered Charity No. 105565 NEWSLETTER 136 October 2014 Registered Charity No. 1055654 Carwynnen Quoit complete again. Alan Endacott captured the sunset after its re-erection on the Summer Solstice 2014.

The quoit fell in 1842 and was restored by workers on the Pendarves estate. It fell again in 1966 and remained under a shabby stonepile until The Sustainable Trust bought the field in 2009 with finance from Heritage Lottery Fund, Heritage Trust, CAS and other donors. A survey of the stone pile identified the 3 supporters and the capstone. Test pits in July 2012 contributed to plans by the archaeologists, Jacky Nowakowski and James Gossip of CAU, for the “Big Dig” in September 2012. They located the sockets for the uprights. In October 2013 one upright was erected and joined by the others in May 2014. Over 500 people witnessed the capstone being lowered onto the fingers of its three supporters. They celebrated with music and dancing, a camp and a barbecue. The field is open to the public; it is best to park by Treslothan Church and walk over footpaths to the field. (TR14 9LR SW6501437213)

Once the site of a and the emblem of Rugby Club, it is proving to be a great draw for local walkers and people seeking peace and quiet. The Sustainable Trust, under the direction of Pip Richards, has held exhibitions and open days, created educational packs and commissioned poetry and music. A full record of the excavations and community events can be seen on the website www.giantsquoit.org Diggers will congregate again on 28th Sept to lay a pavement of fist sized stones around the quoit to imitate the one buried below. This was an apparently unique feature of the site, but few quoits have been excavated so carefully. SOLAR AND LUNAR ALIGNMENTS AT megalithic builders may well have incorporated this in their CORNISH PREHISTORIC SITES monuments.

by Cheryl Straffon

Part 2 – The Lunar Cycle

Part 1 of this article in the previous Newsletter looked at the solar cycle as observed by the megalithic builders, and incorporated into the design of their monuments, most notably at the winter and summer solstices and the autumn and spring equinoxes. However, it seems that it was not only the earth’s orbit around the sun that interested them, but also the cycle of the moon as seen from the earth. This is a lot more complicated than the orbit of the earth around the sun, but it appears that the megalithic builders were not only aware of it but could also calculate it (presumably by observation spread over several decades).

Firstly, the slightly technical stuff! The moon takes about 27 In the 1st century BC, Diodorus Siculus, a Greek days (27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes and 11.6 seconds to be historian, wrote about a “spherical temple” in Britain where “the exact) to orbit the earth as an ellipse and return to its original moon dances continuously the night through from the vernal position. However, while it is doing this, the earth is also equinox to the rising of the Pleiades”. It is thought that he was moving around the sun, so in fact in takes about 29.5 days (29 referring to the Callanish on the Isle of Lewis in the days, 12 hours, 43 minutes and 11.6 seconds) to complete a Hebrides, and if so, his description was remarkably accurate. full lunar month, measured as the time that it takes to pass The stone avenue at the site was directed towards the moonset through a complete cycle of its phases (i.e from new moon to at its southerly extreme; the western row was oriented on the new moon). And just as the sun rises and sets in a slightly equinoxical sunset; and the eastern row could have been different place day by day (rising from NE in the summer to SE aligned on the Pleiades around 1550 BC. So at this site, there in the winter, and setting from NW in the summer to SW in the are sun, moon and stellar alignments. Diodorus Siculus also winter) so the moon does the same, though it takes a lunar said: “They say that the Moon, as viewed from this month to do what the sun does in a solar year. So day by day it island, appears to be but a little distance from the rises and sets in a slightly different position (and at a slightly Earth and to have upon it prominences like those of different time) until it completes a lunar month. However, there the Earth, which are visible to the eye. The account is a greater cycle than this, during which, lunar-month on lunar- is also given that the God visits the island every month, the moon rises and sets at an ever-increasing northerly nineteen years, the period in which the return of the and southerly position in the sky (known as the major stars to the same place in the heavens is standstill), before returning to a smaller easterly and westerly accomplished”, which seems to show some knowledge arc (known as the minor standstill). This cycle takes 9.3 years of the low moon at the major lunar standstill, and the to move from major standstill to minor standstill and 9.3 years 18.61 years (or 19 to the nearest whole number) of the to move back from minor standstill to major standstill, thus lunar cycle. completing a lunar cycle of 18.61 years. At the extreme N-S and E-W points in that cycle, it appears to be standing still as it There are other sites too, that seem to be deliberately changes direction, which gives it the name ‘lunar standstill’ a constructed to view the moon at the major and minor term coined by Alexander Thom1; and it is that standstill that standstills. In the NE of (Aberdeenshire) there the prehistoric people may have known about and incorporated are a number of recumbent stone circles, the most in their monuments. The last major lunar standstill was in June distinctive feature of which are two tall upright stones 2006 and the next one will be in April 2025, and the next minor called flankers with a recumbent stone placed between. standstill is in October 2015. The diagram below2 illustrates the This creates a viewing frame in which the rising or principle from a central point that represents an observer on the setting moon is ‘captured’ during a standstill year. ground. Notable examples (that all have a major southern moonset except where indicated) include: Aikey Brae, In a major standstill year the moon rises at its furthest northerly (major southern moonrise & moonset), Castle and southerly points so it will rise and set at a place only seen Fraser, Easter Aquorthies, (below) once every 18.61 years. In addition, within a lunar month in a lunar standstill year it will appear to an observer on the ground to reach an extremely high point in the sky (high moon), and two weeks later will appear to reach a very low point in the sky, just skimming the horizon (low moon). Visually, this would have been significant to an observer on the ground, and the

1 Thom, Alexander Megalithic lunar observatories [OUP, 1971] 2 (from) Wood, John Edwin Sun, moon and standing stones [OUP, 1978] , (minor southern moonset), Old Keig and megalithic builders in Scotland. The effects of the lunar Loanhead of Daviot. Many of the recumbent stones standstill increase the further north you go, so that at the and/or flankers in these circles are decorated with cup latitude of Scotland, the moon moves to a much greater marks (for example Arnhill, Balquhain and Sunhoney) northerly and southerly extreme, whereas the further south you which Aubrey Burl suggested1 were symbolic of their come, it is less so. However, we are only talking a matter of a orientation to the moon. However, Clive Ruggles few degrees, so it may simply be that archaeologists further subsequently argued that the Scottish recumbents were south are not trained to look for such phenonema. oriented in a more general way to frame the annual midsummer full moon.2

In Cornwall, there are no recumbent stone circles, but many circles in West Penwith have or had nineteen stones (Merry Maidens, Boscawen-ûn, Tregeseal, and probably the Mên-an- Tol circle), so it is at least possible that the builders were symbolising the lunar cycle by the number of stones chosen. They may also have been aware of the Metonic Cycle, whereby the relative positions of the sun and the moon take exactly 19 years to return to their original place in the skies. A number of major lunar standstill alignments from the Nine Maidens (Boskednan) stone circle to outlying features have also been claimed.3 (photo below)

The Stripple Stones on Moor.

Nevertheless, there have been a few interesting possibilities suggested for Cornish sites. In 1993 the CAU (HES) surveyed the Mên-an-Tol5 and concluded that there was a strong possibility that the monument had originally been a stone circle and that the holed stone had originally stood at right angles to where it now stands.

Moon over the Nine Maidens, Boskednan.

And on a possible alignment has been suggested for the Stripple Stones [photo 3] circle, which has an upright pillar located just off centre, with some enigmatic post holes nearby. Burl makes the suggestion4, which he admits is “exotic”, that the central stone could have acted as a backsight from which an observer looking towards the sides of the three apses of the circle would have seen the major northern moonrise in the NNE. This seems possible, but rather unlikely.

So why are there so many sites in Scotland, in The Men-an-Tol stone circle. Aberdeenshire, Lewis and elsewhere that seem to have deliberate lunar alignments but so few that have been identified Following this, the Cornish Earth Mysteries Group ran a in Cornwall? It may be partly because the leading archaeo- computer analysis6 at the site for 2000 BC & 1800 BC, and astronomers, like Thom, Mackie and Ruggles, have discovered that an observer in the centre of the circle would concentrated their field work on Scottish sites. But it may also have seen the moon rise over a barrow to the NNE of the circle be because such alignments were of strong interest to the at the northern major standstill. Furthermore, at the southern major standstill the moon would have been seen to rise above 1 Burl, Aubrey Stone circles of Britain, and the horizon and be framed perfectly by the holed stone itself – [Yale University Press, 1995] a wonderful piece of megalithic magic! This low moon rising 2 Ruggles, Clive Astronomy in prehistoric Britain and Ireland was observed on site at the last standstill in 2006, but of course [Yale UP, 1999] 3 Cooper, Chris The Nine Maidens and the moon’s standstill 5 Preston-Jones, Ann The Men an Tol [Cornwall Archaeological [Meyn Mamvro no.62 p.9-11] Unit, 1993] 4 Burl, Aubrey Stone circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany 6 Norfolk, Andy The Mên-an-Tol circle observatory [Meyn [Yale University Press, 1995] Mamvro no.29 p.5-7] last standstill in 2006, but of course the framing could not be slightly up slope and with great effort, but it moved. Julian verified because the holed stone is now at right angles to explained that our ancestors probably built a wooden platform where it originally stood. However, if this were the case, it might under the stone so that instead of stone against wood, there well explain the unusual inclusion of a holed stone in the would be wooden supports travelling over the rollers and original construction of the circle. creating less friction.

Other lunar alignments that have been suggested for sites in Cornwall include a line of holed stones close to stone circle near Lamorna that form a straight alignment over 1200 metres long. These four holed stones are on an azimuth close to the major northern moonrise, so may have been used for sighting. There were also some possibilities suggested for barrow and sites in Cornwall, observed during the 2006 standstill. Examples include a barrow on Mayon Cliff, Sennen1, and the barrow on Chapel Carn Brea near Lands End2. There may well be many other sites where the standstill phenomena were observed by the builders of the ancient sites, but we shall have to wait until 2025 to check them out. Perhaps the CAS would like to organise a ‘standstill megalithic watch’ ready for that year?!

9 Straffon, Cheryl Moon standstill at Mayon cliffs [Meyn

Mamvro no.62 p.8] 10 Anon. Full moon standstill report [Meyn Mamvro no.63 The photos below, from Elizabeth Pratt, show a much lighter p.23] stone being moved in this way in the archaeological park in Sagnlandet Lejre, Denmark.

Carwynnen Stone Moving Workshop with Julian Richards. 4th May 2014

Julian brought along members of an experimental archaeology group from Dorset and the Sustainable Trust recruited another 30 or more local people to meet the challenge of dragging the quoit’s granite capstone, weighing 9.8 tonnes.

The Danes used wooden wedges to drop the uprights into their slots, while the Carwynnen supporters had been braced with boulders.

The three supporters were already in place, but our mission was only to see how the capstone could be levered up and dragged over rollers. The restoration was to wait for 21st June, the Summer Solstice, a fitting climax to years of fund raising, community educational work and careful excavation of the site.

Most of us were surprised at how easily the stone could be levered up to place the rollers under it. Honeysuckle ropes were attached and people instructed how to pull without jerking and the moment of truth came. We did shift it, not far, but Adrian Rodda

From Carl Thorpe’s Record of Carwynnen Quoit. Touchdown

The stonepile in 2009.

Archaeologists

Jacky The Big Lift 21st June 2014 Nowakowski and James Gossip congratulate Pip Richards, who made it all happen.

Bagas Crowd and dancers.

Cameras at the ready.

A New Stone Circle Discovered on addition, I use the self-timer function of a compact camera, mounted on a telescopic pole to get a bit of elevation when it’s By Alan Endacott MA . not practical to fly “The Buzzard”.

I was brought up at Clannaborough Farm in Throwleigh parish in the 1960s and 70s, right on the edge of Dartmoor and, from an early age, was intrigued by the prehistoric remains in the vicinity. Particular favourite spots were stone circle and the stone rows and I have spent the past forty odd years trying to make sense of them and their kind. I had always believed that there was some kind of pattern to their positioning in the landscape and in 2007 I made a major break through following an extensive heath fire that laid bare many acres of moor land from near Postbridge to Cut Hill and up to White Horse Hill.

The aftermath of the fire revealed many intriguing lumps and bumps and apparent stone settings that would normally have been hidden beneath long grass and heather. Sure enough, a pattern did start to emerge, in my mind at least! Among other things, I anticipated that there might have been a stone circle somewhere on the ridge to the southwest of Sittaford Tor. One very hot, dry day in April, I set off from Fernworthy and tacked my way up to the tor. As I looked down from its summit over the scorched ground beyond, traversed by numerous rivulets of still green tracks, I noticed a solitary standing stone on the Sittaford Stone Circle Ariel view. Photo courtesy Alan Endacott line of an abandoned attempt at walling in a large enclosure.

I continued to systematically search the ridge, finding a possible cairn and a stone lined sunken track meandering down the slope towards Quinten’s Man. As I came back up to the ridge towards the standing stone I noticed a couple of large, rectangular boulders lying a couple of metres apart and another showing through the blackened turf beyond, and another … and another. I started to pace them out in a clockwise direction, quite expecting them to turn out to be a random collection of surface moor stone but no, the arc continued with half-buried stones at regular intervals. I had indeed found a long forgotten stone circle!

It lay in a beautiful location with sweeping, panoramic views in all directions apart from Sittaford Tor, breaking the horizon some 300m to the northeast – surely of some astronomical significance. An apparent gap on the eastern perimeter was ‘closed’ by another stone lying across it a couple of metres inside the perimeter and the standing stone noted earlier stood Sittaford Circle. Photo courtesy Alan Endacott. about 10m beyond on the same line. This turned out to have had a couple of holes drilled into it to hang a gate but this had Through my fieldwork and research over the past ten years, I clearly never happened as the low wall peters out at this point. have recorded well over 100 other potential archaeological Had the builders robbed the stone out from the circle or had it sites and put them forward for provisional listing on the always stood there and become a convenient feature to align Dartmoor Historic Environment Record. I have also developed their wall on? new theories regarding the ritual or ceremonial landscapes of northern Dartmoor and hope to pursue a PhD at the University Returning to the circle, the stones on the southern perimeter of on the strength of them when time and funds permit. I were harder to find, having been buried beneath the am currently embarking on a personal fundraising campaign to encroaching peat. I managed to probe several, up to half a try and realise my ambition although I suspect this won’t be metre deep. I marked the position of these stones on the easy for a self-employed, would-be mature student - however surface and then carried out a rough survey of the circle. enthusiastic! In the meantime, Dartmoor National Park Altogether there were around 30 stones, evenly spaced around Archaeologist, Jane Marchand, is coordinating plans for the circumference, with an overall diameter of about 30 metres preliminary clearance and a detailed survey of the Sittaford – a common dimension for Dartmoor, including the twin circles stone circle, along with environmental sampling and of , which lie about a kilometre to the east north geophysical analysis. This site provides great potential for the east. In fact, when standing (assuming that it ever did) this better understanding of stone circles and related monuments in circle would have been very similar in appearance with its their context on Dartmoor and it is very exiting to be part of this stones being of broadly similar shape and size. research.

The aerial view seen here was taken in late May, following the clearance work. The scales are 4 m and the arrow points north. CAS member Alan, former Curator of the Museum of It was taken with a light weight SLR camera, suspended from a Dartmoor Life, Okehampton, is currently a stained glass radio-controlled hexacopter UAV. I have been using this to artist and restorer based in Lewannick, near Launceston. very good effect over the past couple of years. It allows me to He has worked on several churches in Cornwall and take low altitude aerial photographs and video from various examples can be seen on his website: angles, more or less anywhere (only limited by the weather www.angelstainedglass.co.uk and my capacity to carry the gear!) at different times of year. In Bones and Stones – The carefully placed boulders (SX258 699) leads The Travels of a Samson, Function and Significance of the eye up to the edge of the Moor directly Scilly, Mortar. By to where Stowe’s Pound peak lies. Quoits. Part 2. Tangye. But why, in contrast to Penwith Moors, were By Roger Farnworth no quoits built on Bodmin Moor? If quoit In 1971, while on holiday on Scilly and doing platforms were used for excarnation then fieldwork I recorded the site of a round If quoits were for excarnation, the question there was no need to build quoits on house perched at the very edge of the low arises – why were there no such Bodmin Moor, as there were several cliff on the west side of North Hill, Samson. monuments on Bodmin Moor? suitable platforms already existing on the A surface find, the base of a cooking pot, Quoit was built just south of the Moor, and moor in the shape of Cheesewrings, and was taken to David O’Neill, who was at East would have been known to the Neolithic natural stacks of granite slabs. These Porth on the other side of the hill, th inhabitants of Bodmin Moor itself, but they natural structures, absent from Penwith excavating the suspected site of the 7 chose to build no quoits on the Moor itself. Moors, would have been perfect for century chapel of St Senara, exposed by is precisely due south of deterring foxes, preserving excarnation for sand movement in 1970. He dated my Stowe’s Pound whose peak would be just hawks and kites. So where were the pottery to early Iron Age and allowed me to visible from the quoit were it not for an chambers for bones? Immediately below photograph and sketch a type grave intervening hedge. The Pole Star would the most suitable stack on the peak of with an extended burial containing skeletal therefore have been seen directly above Stowe’s Pound is a natural cave of several remains. Another feature was a bulky Stowe's Pound peak and the whole cosmos square meters capacity. At the foot of the granite mortar, lying on its side, which would be seen to revolve above the peak. immense Cheesewring called High Rock on O’Neill thought might have been used a as Kilmar Tor there is a partially constructed font associated with the chapel. cave; here the clean, dry bones could have been stored when they blew off the high platform.

My wife, Pam, with the mortaria at East Porth, Samson, 1980.

Trethevy is a perfect portal . Two massive pillars form the entrance portal. The chamber is a closed box with a small entry hole. The capstone on which corpses Cheesewring at Stowe’s Pound. would have lain for excarnation slopes There is also a suitable enclosure beneath northward towards Stowe’s Pound. the highest platform stack at Hawk’s Tor at North Hill. There are several constructed The mortar remained in an upright position chambers beneath rock stacks whose on the beach until 1989, after which it was topmost slabs are overhanging. There are assumed to have been covered by sand. no cheesewrings in those parts of West However, when I was conducting my annual Penwith where there are quoits and no fieldwork while on holiday in 2011, I noticed quoits in those parts where there are a familiar looking granite mortar beside the suitable excarnation platforms, such as path a short distance to the north of the Carn Galva. boatyard at Green Bay, . When I got When we look at Trethevy Quoit, we realise home to my files I checked its the collective strength of a community was measurements with those I had recorded in

required to lift this monument into place. 1980. Both were 21 inches high, 22 inches The long south portal stone of the quoit is We also know the greater gravity of their wide, the basin was 13 inches in diameter slope-adjusted by a large wedging stone. If essential need to make sense of death and and 5 inches deep. It was the same object. at night one leans on the portal stone and the significance of life. When confronted Enquiries as to how it had been transported looks up, the Pole Star, and only this star, with these sites our imagination reaches to Bryher and placed in its present position, will be framed in the capstone’s small back to give voice to those about whom so only since 2010, led me to a Scillonian, who circular hole. When looking at the wedge little is known. We know them through the in all innocence of its history, had, with help, shaped cut in the east portal stone from the power of their imaginative achievements in removed it by boat from East Porth and same position, you will be looking due north conjunction with our own imagination. placed it in a garden near its present towards the peak of Stowe’s Pound. A location many years ago, presumably in kilometre distant a double row of large, Thanks to Cheryl Straffon for permission to copy this article from Meyn Mamvro 79. 1989. Excavations at Ham Hill and yielded classic grain storage pits, a in order to establish some pattern of the Hillforts of Western fragment of a South-West Decorated style occupation and distribution. Finds at a pottery bowl and a number of iron hoards site at , halfway between Britain. Prof. Niall Sharples. with long currency bars. There was even a Nanstallon and Calstock, caused Dr Smart 6th Feb.2014. dog burial. Prof Sharples wondered if these to suspect more Roman sites amongst the were domestic offering pits. In one house, dense concentration of Iron Age eight metres in diameter, there was a hoard occupation sites in Cornwall. The Portable Prof Sharples reminded us that the finds of sling stones and two human burials. Antiquities Scheme had mapped and from this excavation were still being reported scattered finds of Roman coins in examined and would reveal more about There was a circuitous route into one of the Cornwall. the site. Ham Hill is not as well known as hillfort entrances because a wooden screen other hill forts in the South-west, possibly had been erected to hide the view into the The Calstock site was found more by its very size had daunted earlier interior. Several times the enclosure had accident than by design, as part of a excavators, surveys had been left had only a short life before being search for evidence of Medieval silver unfinished and notes unpublished. Much demolished and rebuilt. However Prof mining near Calstock Church, which dated of the hill is quarried for the unique “Ham th th Sharples did not feel that it had been built to late 13 /early 14 centuries. Stone”, a warm ginger coloured stone as a defensive refuge. He thought that the which had been used in the area and overall structure, spacing and nature of the In the South-West the Romans had built further field for centuries. The need for this place left the impression of a communal square forts like those on the Scottish stone to repair historic buildings means building project which had strengthened the borders. It is useful to refer to other similar that the hill had never been scheduled. bonds of a community who wanted a centre sites, for example there was a timber fort The quarry probably had another 80 years for cultural events, the exchange of goods like Calstock at Elginhough in Mid-Lothian. of use. Quarry waste covered the etc, and which gave the inhabitants a sense During the 2008-9 excavations two “V” ramparts in several places. of identity rather than provide them with an shaped ditches had been found. Roughly impregnable “castle”. trimmed logs had been laid beneath the The hill overlooks the Somerset Levels, ramparts to give greater stability. which is well watered farmland, but there However, in the demolition deposit of one Calstock’s east gateway appeared to is no fresh water within the enclosure. A rampart there was a series of five human measure 12 metres across, but the road trench into the comparatively well defined skulls, as though they had been placed on from the west gate was only 9 metres northern ramparts revealed four phases of spikes around the entrances. There were wide. A timber structure, built against the building with charcoal between the levels. human remains as well, such as a head, rampart, could have been a “fabrica”, spine and ribs without any arms or legs. All because all kinds of metal fragments were In 2012 a second trench revealed an these human bones seemed to be from one unearthed nearby, belt buckles, hobnails, unstable entrance rampart, which may have event, and the only parallels are from pieces of ring-mail and shield bosses. A been pushed over. There was an entrance . One was from Gourney Sur Aronde furnace, used for iron-smithing, was also road, with the suggestion of a house behind and the other from Ribement Sur Ancre, identified. Within the camp there were the rampart and post-holes for a gateway. where a huge scatter of human long bones perhaps 10 barracks, each housing 50 An early Roman broach and an arrow head suggested that they had been originally men. Closely spaced post trenches may had been dumped behind the rampart. A piled into a rectangular enclosure. In the have carried the weight of a grain store fragment of chain-mail and some pieces of French examples the skulls were arranged built above them. This theory was human bone, now in the local museum, elsewhere. We were shown a diagram supported by the discovery nearby of were reported to have come from the same illustrating the fact that the skulls and other quern stones, sourced from far and near. position. Behind this rampart were human remains may have been displayed Granite from Hingston Down implied the remnants of an early Iron Age round house, and spaced around the ramparts of the hill Roman quarry there and some stone even dated by pottery, and the only one in the fort. came from France. 30% of the pottery district to have been built of stone. found on site was Cornish ware. Mortaria, Perhaps as many as 1400 people lived on Another unique feature was that an flagons, jars and boxes of flu-tiles were Hod Hill or Maiden Castle. Prof Sharples entrance had been blocked up and opened recognised. finished his fascinating talk with an estimate again, unlike any other hill forts in the South that 1415 people lived on Ham Hill in its In 2011 three small charcoal-rich pits were West. However, similar features had been heyday. found outside the outline of the possible found from the Late in Scotland, fort which had showed up near the church. Mam Tor in Derbyshire and from the Welsh Jane Stanley The charcoal dated to 349-57 BC and Marches. Late Bronze Age hill forts are some Roman pottery was dated to AD 50- huge. The area Prof Sharples examined Calstock Roman Fort. Dr Chris 80. At Hod Hill, in Dorset, a Roman fort suggested at least two phases of earlier th had been established inside an existing activity – and Neolithic, while in Smart. 13 March 2014. Iron Age Hillfort. A similar monument the adjacent Bronze Age coaxial field Dr Smart first excavated Calstock in 2009. existed at Hembury in East . 2system, a saddle quern and a loom weight He thought that Nanstallon, near Bodmin, were found. Evidence of Late Bronze Age must have been one of a network of forts The Roborough Hoard contained Claudian occupation occurred with various metalwork in mid Cornwall. Fox and Ravenhill, coins of AD 37-42, suggesting that there finds, similar to ones found at South writing in 1972, had spoken of the limited may have been some military scouting in Cadbury. Evidence of Iron Age round excavation of a number of sites in Devon the region. Before the more permanent houses is sparse for Wessex. Ham Hill installation there may have been a significantly, his pictures of archaeological deepened river channel which was temporary marching camp. excavations in Leicester in 1936 prompted created in the 1970’s. a request from the Illustrated London No artefacts were found and just one dug Dr Smart claimed that there was no News to produce a reconstruction of the feature – a linear straight-edged feature evidence for military presence in Devon scene as it may have appeared in Roman filled with clean pea-gravel. Palaeo- and Cornwall after circa AD80. Nanstallon times. Archaeologists were intrigued by environmental samples were taken from a had been occupied between AD55 and this approach, among them Sir Cyril and layer of peat lying one metre below the AD80, while the Restormal site was no Lady Aileen Fox. more than a marching camp. He doubted ground surface in the west trench. Pollen that the Romans had been attracted to the The Second World War not only afforded analysis of the monolith showed that South West by its mineral wealth, because Sorrell a chance to escape his unhappy hazel, alder, heather and grass species there was no evidence. Members of the first marriage through service in the R.A.F. were present throughout. The pollen audience disagreed, citing the army’s but also provided a new direction for his sequence suggested a landscape of wet immense appetite for iron for armour, art. Although not an official war artist, he meadows dominated by willow scrub and weapons, horse gear, wagons and tools. carried out official and unofficial work, heathland on in the early some of which showed service life on Bronze Age. There was a discontinuity in Carl Thorpe announced that the CAS aerodromes. Flying encouraged the the record between the late Bronze Age to Roman Cornwall Research Project was development of an aerial perspective, Romano-British period. In the Romano- planning a fresh examination of the something which he adopted in his later British period, the landscape appeared to Carvossa site near Golden and reconstruction paintings. Jane Stanley in be more intensively utilised with possible Grampound. Dr Smart’s work had A Brush with the Past (Jane Stanley and pastural and arable farming. The pollen certainly advanced our knowledge and Cornwall Council, 2009) described Sorrell data support an interpretation of continued thinking of the Romans in Cornwall and he as ‘the pioneer of the high viewpoint…so use of the area for pastoral activity with is still working on the site in his own time. beloved by archaeologists because, in it, possible limited arable cultivation in the so much can be included’. Medieval period. Rising tree pollen in the Jane Stanley. uppermost sub-sample, after the 13th After the war came a second marriage century AD, suggest the start of possible and a happy family life. His reconstruction regeneration of woodland in the area.’ work, although not lucrative, increased and he established himself with (1904-1974): The archaeological professionals and the man who created Roman general public. Figures such as Wheeler, Britain. Lecture by Julia Atkinson and Piggott collaborated with st him. [Julia was delighted to be shown, by Sorrell, 21 February 2014. one of our Honorary Vice-Presidents, her photographs of a dig at which For many, the name of Alan Sorrell may he was present. Not only did his work trigger a memory of a time long ago, allow them to visualise what sites may perhaps in a school library, when they have been like but also gave them the came across one of his books, such as chance to test their theories. Much of his .Contacts: ‘Living History’ or ‘Roman Towns in work involved Roman Britain, hence the

Britain,’ and thought ‘So that was what life of the lecture, but there was much Secretary: Roger Smith, 18, was like in those days!’ For those whose more; so, if we take our own county as an St Sulien, Luxulyan, Bodmin, History lessons comprised chalk, talk and example, there are his reconstructions of text, his illustrations brought the dusty PL30 5EB (01726 850792) Restormel Castle and Mawgan Porth. Art secretary@cornisharchaeolog past to life. His daughter Julia, also an is established as one of the many artist, gave a lively, absorbing talk about y.org.uk disciplines embraced by archaeologists her father’s work, which was not just as a and this is in no small way due to this pioneer of archaeological reconstruction remarkable, talented and engaging man. Membership secretary: but as a highly accomplished artist of the Jenny Beale, 16, Cross St. Roger Smith twentieth century. . PL28 8AT (01841 Archaeological watching brief 533098) Despite his huge talent, progress in the art world was never easy for him. After on Goss Moor National Nature starting in commercial art, he acquired a Reserve March 2011. Newsletter Editor: Adrian scholarship to the Royal College of Art in Joy Ede. Rodda, 52, Mount Pleasant 1925. Three years later he won a place at Road, Camborne, TR14 The British School at Rome where he met In March and April 2011Natural 7RJ.(01209 718675) archaeologists such as Aileen Henderson carried out a project to realign the adrian.rodda@cornisharchaeol (later Lady Aileen Fox), as well as back into its older course, running through ogy.org.uk immersing himself in Roman history. After the heathland near Tregoss. As part of this project an archaeological watching returning to Britain, one of his first forays into historical painting came with four brief was carried out on the two ends of www.cornisharchaeology.org.uk murals of life in Southend. Perhaps more the channel as they neared the over- Cheryl Straffon, “Between the connections which are usually only limited to At the heart of the book is the importance of Realms: Cornish Myth and Irish and Welsh folklore. She drills deeper, querns, essential for the provision of bread, and in so doing allows us to understand to past communities, an importance Magic”, Troy Books, 2013, pbk ourselves more effectively. Shamans and illustrated by wide-ranging examples from £12.99 Review by Dr Alan Kent. Druids may seem distant for some anthropology. In a Chapter entitled ‘The observers, but Straffon notes their ‘text Symbolic Properties of Querns’ the ways in The connections - on the one hand - messages’ to the present. Likewise, this will which querns may come to be regarded as between the cultural geography of place and offer the even the most experienced of more than basic tools are considered, identity, and on the other - folklore and myth Cornish readers, a new look into fairy lore becoming symbols of life, death, gender and - have seemingly been well-documented in and its influence. transformation. Querns are regarded as Cornwall across the centuries. However, objects with varying ‘life stories’ from their relatively few writers have managed to truly The ritualistic use of Cornish space in all manufacture, through use and sometime explore the linkages between these fields kinds of forms (spiritual, pagan, theatrical, reworking, to disuse, which appears to have and where they interface. The folklorist and literary) is something we are now more used generally happened while the artefact was neo-pagan scholar Straffon breaks new to discussing, though we should remember still usable. ‘Life’ is followed by ‘death’. The ground then, with this fascinating and it is partially Straffon’s work and persistence central thesis of the book is that the ‘death’ insightful exploration of the connectivity in this field which has allowed us to of querns was not casual discard but careful between tradition, tale and Otherworld – understand this paradigm. Her adroit deposition, sometimes after deliberate what the author describes as being selections, not to mention the fact she lives breakage, in a wide variety of contexts. This ‘between the realms’. To some extent, the within the ‘space and place’ of this practise is known as ‘structured deposition’, subtitle here simplifies Straffon’s project. Otherworld makes her the only author fit for well established for much of prehistoric Undoubtedly ‘Cornish myth and magic’ are purpose of such an argument. The volume Britain, and is explained by an easy-to-read considered, but they are immediately also contains some subtle and empathetic section on the development of its theoretical recognised within a unique cosmography drawings by Gemma Gary, several background and literature. Sue Watts’ study and belief system which is located in the photographs of ancient sites, and a number is the first to look systematically at the place distant past. Echoes of this are found in the of helpful footnotes for the reader to explore of querns in structured deposits throughout folkloric collections of the nineteenth certain issues further. This is a most prehistory in one region of Britain. century, and the more enlightened welcome addition to the canon of archaeological discoveries made about scholarship on folkloric and spiritual Querns from the region are then presented ancient sites in Cornwall over the past Cornwall. This work continues Straffon’s in chronological chapters covering the century. The agenda is therefore a legacy as a pioneer of such work. Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age. compelling and very readable examination Chronological variations in typology, Susan R Watts: The Life and Death of where we can find these connections. different rocks used, fragmentation, and Obviously, it does help if the reader knows of Querns. The Deposition and Use- depositional practices are all considered: the folkloric tradition because he or she then Contexts of Querns in South even the colour of the rock used may be can instantly access Straffon’s research Western England from the Neolithic significant. The range of sites from which about the interaction of magic and spirit with to the Iron Age. ISBN 978-0-9926336- the querns come is surprisingly extensive, the ‘real’ world. However, because the 1-5. Southampton Monographs in not just settlement sites and hillforts, but volume is purposefully structured and highly Archaeology New Series Number 3, barrows, cemeteries and fogous. The review readable, the author still gives sufficient The Highfield Press, Southampton, of their querns therefore provides a good background to the narratives even if one is insight into up-to-date knowledge of the 2014. Paperback, 189 + vi pages, 64 not completely familiar with them. Given prehistory of South West England with the illustrations, many in colour. £45. Straffon’s experience, it is also interesting to dataset including a number of sites not yet note a comparative edge to the volume as Review by Henrietta Quinell. fully published. well, which locates belief on the peninsula Most members have been attracted to into a wider system of indigenous beliefs. This volume presents the work undertaken archaeology by a wish to know more about This is central to repositioning Cornwall’s for a doctorate at Exeter University by their forebears. Querns provide a spiritual heritage; something which Straffon Susan Watts. Sue lives at Cullompton with fascinating amount of information about this. has completed over a lifetime’s work. her husband Martin Watts, also an expert in querns and milling, and this work reflects To handle a prehistoric quernstone today is To live in Cornwall means one is often the great knowledge she has developed of to feel a sense of contact with the original attuned to different layers of time operating the subject over more than two decades. users, most probably women, and a sense in the same place, and this seems to The area covered is Devon, Cornwall, of awe at the amount of shear physical underpin Straffon’s argument. She herself Somerset, Bristol and part of West Dorset. labour their use involved to keep people observes that this realm is a place that has This provides some 1200 examples, whole regularly fed. Sue Watts fills in the details ‘some similarities to our own’ but is one or fragmentary of which 990 from secure around all this, and moves on from this to ‘which is also strikingly unfamiliar’, and that deposits from 104 sites are used as a focus on their importance in communities we only have to look a little further into the dataset, well supported by a series of and the reasons for careful structured layers of time to witness and understand detailed tables. These examples are deposition. To read her work is to have our this dislocating unfamiliarity. Plenty of comprised of saddle querns and their upper empathy for our forebears strengthened examples are given in the volume, but some stones, more often described as ‘mullers’ or through greater understanding of these of the more intriguing include a specific ‘rubbing stones’, and of upper and lower essential tools. Sue Watts is to be warmly section on Arthuriana and on Celtic totem rotary querns, which occur from the Middle commended for her research on querns and animals. The former we might expect in Iron Age alongside saddle querns. The work the rapidity and quality of its publication. Cornwall (and already considered by writers is supported throughout by extensive such as Paul Broadhurst) but the latter is illustrations, many in colour. intriguing because Straffon makes Sydney Higgins: Theatre in the Round – paintings of Jean Fouquet and Giotto are of CAN YOU HELP? The staging of Cornish Medieval Drama. stage sets, not real buildings drawn with no Alldrama, North Carolina. 2013 Pbk. ISBN sense of perspective. This leads him to Tom Goskar has sent us this 9781484947050 Review by Adrian Rodda. declare that Dominican and Franciscan request. Friars, established in and Bodmin, Higgins lives in Italy, taught at the University with a knowledge of Italian theatre and its The Opie archaeology collection of Camerino, edited three volumes of style of production and influenced by held at the Morrab Library. “European Medieval Drama” and directed Giotto’s murals, learned Cornish, wrote the several plays in Italian and English, plays and directed their performance. The collection consists of some 1,000 including medieval miracle plays. The (Pp54-5 and P62). Higgins ignores research glass plate negatives. The topics range strength of his book is that he can put the by H. Miles Brown, “The Church in from hillforts, , artefacts, Cornish plays into their European context Cornwall” on Friars and on . monuments, excavations and events and that he reads them as a director, He does record the connection between blocking and casting the scenes as he goes. from the late 1920s to the 1950s. Glasney and “Beunans ”, but not in The weakness is that he does not make as much detail as Dr James Whetter, whom enough use of the recent scholarship and Stanley Opie was born in 1912 at he also ignores. “A History of Glasney research published in Cornwall itself. Barncoose, . He held a Diploma in College” Chapter VII. Anthropology from Oxford University. Ill His introduction explains that religious plays Nicholas Orme, “Cornwall and the Cross – health prevented him from graduating. He were written throughout Europe to be Christianity 500-1560”, names Cornish was at one time a librarian in Redruth, and performed at the Feast of Corpus Christi speaking friars appointed to hear confession Librarian for the Duchy of Cornwall. He was after 1311. He argues that the Cornish “for the merely Cornish (speakers) who do often unwell, and contracted TB. A plays – The Creacian of the World, Beunans not know English.” Orme writes, “it is likely polymath, he had many interests. Meriasek and the much older trilogy known that Cornish was known and spoken in both as the “Ordinale” - have been neglected friaries (Truro and Bodmin) during the 14th His photographs include the excavations of compared to those written in English, century, and some of the friars must have the Roman villa at Magor Farm and of French or Italian. been amongst the most learned members of Chysauster. However, a number of In his discussion of the Plen-an-Gwarry he the Cornish speaking community.” (P75). photographs are listed as "Unidentified quotes Dr Borlase’s 1745 description of the Does this not imply that most of the friars excavation site” and "Unidentified one at and explains had to learn Cornish as a second language, excavation site and workers”. Perhaps if we through quotations from later antiquarians since those who did not were named and are able to digitise them then CAS members and scholars how it has changed, but he specially appointed? Surely the clever and may be able to help identify some of the ignores the excavation by Brett Guthrie intricate rhyme scheme of the “Ordinale” sites and diggers. which confirmed that the plen and its plays could not have come easily to second For more information see: th embankment had been “restored” in the 19 language speakers, neither as imitators nor, Richards, G. (2005) 'The Opie Collection’, in century. (Proceedings of the West Cornwall as Higgins suggests, as inventors? By the Treasures of the Morrab. : Field Club Vol 2 No1. 1956-7) way, Orme does not appear in Higgins’s Penwith Local History Group, p. 87. bibliography, nor does Myrna Combellack, In 1969 Higgins had been an assistant whose translation of tried KEEPING IN TOUCH:Field walking producer for the Bristol University to imitate the rhymes’ intricacies. and geophysical surveys, excavations and production of the Cornish Cycle “Ordinale” clear-ups often have to be arranged at short at St Piran’s Round, which he refers to and Once Higgins gets into the detail of the notice. Even walks and lectures depend on criticises at intervals through the book. production of the plays he is in his element, the availability of the leaders and are However, since this site was an Iron Age explaining how scenes were set around the subject to weather limitations. Please refer Round, complete with external ditch, “It banks, how the open area was used, how often to our website. seems to me that Piran Round serves no elaborate and movable the scenery and www.cornisharchaeology.org obvious or useful dramatic purpose and so props were and how the audience moved is best ignored” (P31). He mentions that about the arena, (unlike the Coliseum!) recent archaeological research has Now comes the strangest omission. The Archaeology in Cornwall 2014 recorded more than 2,500 rounds, but memorable community production of the argues that few would have been used as Cycle at St Just in 2000 – 2004, theatres because they were too big and not directed by Dominic Knutton and written by near to Medieval population centres. He Pauline Sheppard, pre-dated but confirmed The next Archaeology in does not credit them with being the in practice every detail of Higgins’s analysis Cornwall day will be held on th inspiration for the shape of deliberately of the stage directions and the scripts. Saturday 15 of November at designed theatres, but keeps that for the Video recordings of the productions exist, Truro College. The booking Coliseum in Rome. Although he lists the but Higgins seems to be unaware of them. form can be found with this playing places recorded in “The Victorian newsletter and this should be This book has just won the non-fiction History of Cornwall” 1906, he ignores the (history, language and creative arts) section sent to the Membership recent research of Rod Lyons. Cornwall’s of Holyer an Gof awards for books about Secretary, Cornwall Playing Places. Cornwall published in 2013. I wonder what Archaeological Society, c/o 16

Then we are returned to his strengths as he all the ignored Cornish scholars made of Cross Street, Padstow, describes the circular theatres in France this choice. Cornwall, PL28 8AT by th and Italy, and how a circle has religious and November 10 2014. philosophical implications for the medieval mind. He describes and shows that the Truro Winter Lectures AS Archaeology: The Atlas illustrates the widely scattered Digging dirt:Anthropogenic Cornish landholdings of a single gentry 2014/15 family ─ the Robartes of Lanhydrock. soils in Cornwall: a rare They not only lay bare their patron’s Thursday evening at 7.30pm archaeological resource. wealth and affluence but also represent a material embodiment of their power. The Truro Baptist Church, Chapel Anthropogenic soils are deposits created maps are an important resource for Hill. Truro. TR1 3BD either deliberately or accidentally as a archaeologists, geographers and result of human occupation or as a historians alike. This talk will give some conscious attempt to increase the quality background behind the Atlas and look of farmland. In many cases it can be the specifically at features that make them so 9 October Richard Mikulski: only evidence of human activity in a important. landscape as more traditional Death outside the gates: A 13thCentury mass grave at archaeological features are not present. This presentation will illustrate case 14 November: College site Sidon, studies of sites around the world where Brian Sheen: Astronomical Lebanon. these deposits have been identified and This burial appears to represent the then discuss sites in Cornwall where alignments at the Hurlers remains of at least fifteen individuals, with current research is being conducted using geoarchaeological techniques and finally both disarticulated and articulated human 16 January: Area reps remains present. look to the future of these key resources. evening An initial radiocarbon date has returned a date of AD1150 - 1250 for the deposition 12 March:Dr Kate of the majority of the remains within the Verkooijen: Making Beads 20 February: Prof Michelle earth-cut pit. Finds recovered together in Brown: The Bodmin Gospels, with this skeletal material appear to Cornwall's Earliest Book indicate the remains are crusader in origin faience and amber This talk will consider the materiality of the and corroborate the radiocarbon results. (with hands on display) Bodmin Gospels, a Breton Gospel book Archaeological finds show that during the which served as the Book of the High Altar Bronze Age, the exotic ‘new’ materials of at St Petroc's, Bodmin, from the 10th 6 November Members natural amber and man-made faience century and which contains manumissions Evening: started to be used in Britain. Although only containing early Cornish names. It will Anna Tyacke: Recent Finds in very small quantities, these represent discuss its significance and its place in the some of the most spectacular artefacts recorded under the Portable history of Cornwall during the early Middle from this period. In this talk Dr Verkooijen Ages. Antiquities Scheme. shares insights about her practical work and her research findings as well as bringing along the actual things she has CAS WALKS 2014 -15 Les Dodd and Pete Nicholas: made for people to handle/look at.” Surveys, Saturday 18 April AGM Members joining these walks must Andrew Langdon: ensure that they are appropriately Julian Richards: ‘What’s wrong dressed and equipped for the terrain Lovibond’s Bridge on Wool with archaeology?’ and the weather conditions likely to be Was the bridge built on wool packs? A encountered. You should assure discussion of the building of the bridge, a yourself that you are physically able to look at various widening schemes, its There will be an additional meet any challenges which the walk maintenance and present condition. lecture in May, from David may entail and should discuss with Jacques on Vespasian’s the walk leader, prior to the start of 4 December Corfield Camp, , date to be the walk, any circumstances or Nankivell lecture. Dr confirmed. conditions which might be relevant. Richard Buckley: The King The Society is concerned for your under the Car Park’: Greyfriars, welfare, but it is not responsible for it. Leicester and the Search for Winter

Richard III. Lectures th Sunday Oct 5 – Coach trip Dr Buckley was the lead archaeologist Friday evenings 7.30pm from the University of Leicester on the to the new Stonehenge Visitor Search for Richard Project in 2012, which St.Martins Church Hall, Centre on Salisbury Plain caught the public imagination. Church Street, Liskeard. Stonehenge is one of the wonders of PL14 3AD the ancient world and probably the best-known prehistoric monument in 8 January Area reps Europe. A new world-class visitor evening 17 October: Paul centre, housing museum-quality Holden FSA (National Trust): permanent and temporary exhibitions, plus a spacious shop and café 12 February Dr Ben Pears. The Lanhydrock Atlas opened in late 2013. The Society has

th arranged a day trip to enable If it is too wet and windy to enjoy Carn Sunday April 26 - TBC members to visit these new facilities Brea an alternative morning and experience the stones in their programme will be provided to see the th new setting. This special coach trip crosses and church in Camborne. Sunday May 17 - The will leave Truro around 09:00 and get Please telephone before 10.20 if in annual CAS/DAS walk –with Dr back around 22:00; pick-up points in doubt. Sandy Gerrard (ex-CAU, EH): Redruth, Truro, Penhale, Bodmin, Medieval Tin in Cornwall: Penkestle Moor, Redhill and Launceston and Exeter are being Sunday Feb 15th - Tregony considered Goonzion Downs – Historic Town walk with Graeme 11:30 – 16:30; meet in the car park Kirkham (CAU) There are still a few seats left for beside Colliford Reservoir at SX 10:30 -13:00; Meet in the Square in 16378 72169. Appropriate clothing this trip so if you want to come, act Tregony (by the war memorial)(SW now! and footwear advisable. Picnic 9243 4484) lunch. Booking forms were included with Wrap up warm! the last newsletter and can also be For cancellations, etc, ring 01872 Numbers are limited and BOOKING downloaded from the CAS website 863308 (www.cornisharchaeology.org.uk) FOR THIS TRIP IS ESSENTIAL – The first reference to Tregony (as Tref register your interest with Henrietta Hrigoni) is in AD1049, and the town Quinnel on 01392 433214 or email: was a significant port in the medieval [email protected] Sunday Nov 16th – Iron Age period, having a castle, a priory, a forts in Penwith with Area Rep church and a chapel. The castle, a Dave Giddings motte and bailey earthwork, was built This field trip will involve driving 11:00 to 16:00; Meet in the Tesco by Henry de Pomeroy in the time of between the three sites so sharing car park (Penzance)(in the spaces Richard I (1189-1199), and was still vehicles is encouraged. This can be nearest to the sea) at SW 482 312. standing in 1540, but no trace organised at the first car park (above). Bring a picnic lunch, or possibly a remains today. Much of the town's pub lunch in the Gurnards Head; rich history is, however, still visible – This walk provides the opportunity bring wellies and waterproofs if the find out more on this easy morning to review the traces of medieval weather threatens to be wet and stroll round the town and then warm and later tin extraction on the windy. up and have lunch at the Kings Arms southern fringes of Bodmin Moor For cancellations etc ring 07970 in Fore Street. with Sandy Gerrard, the 567771 NB: Lunch in the Kings Arms is acknowledged expert in the field, A chance to visit some spectacular optional and you are advised to and a pioneering field worker and iconic later prehistoric sites, book in advance (01872 530202) during the early years of Cornwall including Castle-an-Dinas and Archaeological Unit. th Redhill Downs has a reservoir and Gurnards Head with an erudite and Sunday March 15 - undeveloped eluvial streamwork. amicable guide. Hillfort, rounds and field systems Penkestle has leats, reservoirs, a on with Steve shaft, a tinners building, two eluvial Sunday Jan 1st – New Year’s Hartgroves. streamworks, medieval field systems Day Tony Blackman Memorial 11:00 – 16:00; Meet at at Balwest and lode back pit workings. Goonzion Walk: Carn Brea and Carwynnen (SW 5960 3000) using the car park has a few late mining buildings with Adrian Rodda 11:00 – 15:00 in the field behind the Sunday (earthworks), a whim platform, shoad Meet at in the car park on the School; picnic lunch, stout collection pits, prospecting pits and summit of Carn Brea (SW 6845 footwear and appropriate clothing the unexplained rectilinear earthwork 4080); pub lunch at the Shire advised – Castle Pencaire is a known as Crow Pound. Altogether Horse, Sheffield and walk to windy spot (but the views are there is quite a bit to see – although Carwynnen Quoit. Appropriate amazing)! For last minute evidence for the processing is lacking clothing essential (at this time of cancellations, etc phone Steve at - which of course is a Bodmin Moor year). For last minute cancellations 01872 863308. wide problem. etc, phone 01209 718675 or Castle Pencaire is a massive Directions to the first car park: 07762247368 fortification on the summit of Coming west down the A30 (ie from A day of Prehistoric fortifications, Tregoning Hill west of . On Devon), take the Colliford Lake houses, rituals and burials: Discover the northern slopes of the hill are two Park road on the left almost 3km traces of the massive walls and rounds set amidst and extensive area after Bolventor/Jamaica Inn. The several entrances of the Neolithic Tor of strip fields. Are these three aspects turning is signposted ‘, Enclosure and gather for shelter in the of the site contemporary, or do they St Neot, Mount’. Continue down hut circles of the Iron Age re- represent a sequence of activites this road for approx 2.5km to the occupation on this, one of the oldest spanning several centuries? Review second car park on the shore of the and most important archaeological the evidence in the field with Steve reservoir. sites in the country. Hartgroves, ex-HES Information Team Leader.