Trippet stones
Stone circle on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, England
![]() |
|
Location | Bodmin Moor , Cornwall |
---|---|
Coordinates | 50°32′41″N 4°38′21″W / 50.544821°N 4.639282°W / 50.544821; -4.639282 |
Type | Stone circle |
History | |
Periods | Bronze Age |
The Trippet stones or Trippet stones circle is a stone circle located on Manor Common in Blisland , 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) north northeast of Bodmin on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, UK. [1] [2] The Stripple stones are nearby.
Description
The circle is situated on nearly level ground and has a diameter of 104.6 feet (31.9 m) . It is made of eight upright granite stones with four others that have fallen. [3] The stones are spaced on average around 12 feet (3.7 m) apart, the highest measuring 5.2 feet (1.6 m) . The fallen stones are 6.8 feet (2.1 m) and 5.2 feet (1.6 m) long. William Lukis suggested there may originally have been as many as twenty-six menhirs that suffered at the hands of stone-breakers. Aubrey Burl suggested twenty eight, set up on opposite facing pairs and suggests the name represents the folklore belief that the stones were girls punished for tripping lightly on Sabbath . [4]
The Stripple stones are visible around 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) eastwards over boggy ground. [1] John Barnatt said that the Trippet stones "may replace (or complement) the Stripple stones as part of an overall building programme in the western half of Bodmin Moor". [5]
Archaeology
The Trippet stones were examined in 1908 by H. St. George Gray who excavated the nearby Stripple stones in 1905 and found a few flint flakes and an entrance from this facing southwest, directly towards the Trippet stones. [4] [6] [7]
Alignments
Norman Lockyer visited the site in 1907 and suggested the date of the circle's construction to be around 1700 BC by calculating an alignment of Arcturus over Rough Tor . [8] Lockyer also noted an eleven degree alignment between Trippet stones and Leaze stone circle , but suggested if this alignment were to mean anything, it would have to be with regards stellar rising alignments as it is outside of the sun 's path. [9]
Literature
- William Borlase (1754). Observations on the antiquities, historical and monumental, of the county of Cornwall ...: Consisting of several essays on the first inhabitants, Druid-superstition, customs, and remains of the most remote antiquity, in Britain, and the British Isles ... With a summary of the religious, civil, and military state of Cornwall before the Norman Conquest ... Printed by W. Jackson, in the High-Strand.
- William Copeland Borlase (1872). Naenia Cornubiae: the cromlechs and tumuli of Cornwall . Llanerch. ISBN 978-1-897853-36-8 .
- William C. Lukis (1885). The prehistoric stone monuments of the British Isles: Cornwall . Printed for Nichols and Sons for the Society of Antiquaries.
- Aubrey Burl (2005). A guide to the stone circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany . Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11406-5 .
References
- 1 2 William C. Lukis (1885). The prehistoric stone monuments of the British Isles: Cornwall . Printed for Nichols and Sons for the Society of Antiquaries . Retrieved 22 March 2011 .
- ↑ Alexander Thom; Archibald Stevenson Thom; Aubrey Burl (1980). Megalithic rings: plans and data for 229 monuments in Britain . British Archaeological Reports. pp. 81–. ISBN 978-0-86054-094-6 . Retrieved 22 May 2011 .
- ↑ Aubrey Burl (2005). A guide to the stone circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany . Yale University Press. pp. 37–. ISBN 978-0-300-11406-5 . Retrieved 22 May 2011 .
- 1 2 James Dyer (2001). Discovering Prehistoric England . Osprey Publishing. pp. 35–. ISBN 978-0-7478-0507-6 . Retrieved 22 May 2011 .
- ↑ John Barnatt (1982). Prehistoric Cornwall: the ceremonial monuments, p. 177 . Turnstone Press. ISBN 978-0-85500-129-2 . Retrieved 22 May 2011 .
- ↑ Gordon S. Maxwell; John Kenneth Sinclair St. Joseph (1983). The Impact of aerial reconnaissance on archaeology . Council for British Archaeology. ISBN 978-0-906780-24-4 . Retrieved 22 May 2011 .
- ↑ Gray, H.S., The Stone Circles of East Cornwall. — In Archaeologia, LXI, 1908, pp. 1–60 (8 pis.; 6 figs.), 1908.
- ↑ Society of Antiquaries of London (1908). Archaeologia, or miscellaneous tracts relating to antiquity, p. 29 . The Society . Retrieved 22 May 2011 .
- ↑ Norman Lockyer (April 2003). Stonehenge and Other British Stone Monuments Astronomically Considered . Kessinger Publishing. pp. 36–. ISBN 978-0-7661-5162-8 . Retrieved 22 May 2011 .
External links
- Cornwall's Archaeological Heritage – field guide to accessible sites – Trippet stones
- Illustrated entry in the Megalithic Portal
- Illustrated entry in the Modern Antiquarian
- Map sources for Trippet stones
Unitary authorities | |
---|---|
Major settlements |
|
Rivers | |
Topics |