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Arthur's Stone (Maen Ceti; Megalithic Site)

oldrover

oldrover

Justified & Ancient
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(Copied from: https://forums.forteana.org/index.php?threads/celtic-megaliths-in-new-england.49633/)

Gower 151.jpg

http://www.one-foot.com/Walks%202009/Th ... %20151.jpg


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http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1247/762 ... 7efea3.jpg​

This is King Arthur's Stone on Cefn Bryn in Gower, it comes from an area where we've got all sort of man made prehistoric features, including Celtic, yet it's not considered to be one. ... it's been deposited there by a glacier. ...
 
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oldrover said:
This is King Arthur's Stone on Cefn Bryn in Gower ...
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It is actually considered to be the remains of a neolithic chambered cairn, by the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust.
http://www.ggat.org.uk/cadw/historic_landscape/gower/english/Gower_038.htm

...

Two chambered burial tombs dating from the Neolithic survive on the common. Maen Ceti or Arthur's Stone (SAM GM003; 00068w; 95736) is one of the most well-known monuments in Gower, situated on a north facing slope, just north of the main road that crosses the common; with views across Llanrhidian Marsh to the Loughor estuary. It is a large double-chambered Megalithic tomb within the remnants of a round cairn capped by a large stone of Old Red Sandstone conglomerate, of an estimated weight of 25 tons. A chambered long cairn (SAM GM167; 00273w; 94594) can also be found on the edge of the common just above Nicholaston with good views out towards Oxwich Bay.

...
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Julian Cope has also visited it and taken some v.nice photos.

http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/111/maen_ceti.html

The uprights supporting the capstone are a bit of a non-glacial give away.

https://www.themodernantiquarian.com/img_fullsize/112909.jpg ;)
 
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More here:
http://www.stone-circles.org.uk/stone/maencetty.htm

...

This chambered cairn or burial tomb also known as Arthur's Stone, Maen Ceti or the 'Great Stone of Sketty' is one of the most well known dolmens in Wales. At its base are around ten smallish boulders only three or four of which support a huge capstone less than half a metre above the ground which is estimated to weigh between 25-30 tons. This capstone measures about 4 metres in length, over 2 metres tall and 2 metres in width despite the fact that it has split into two pieces with the fallen slab lying horizontally by the side of the tomb. It is thought that instead of the capstone being raised onto the supporting stones as we would normally expect, it was perhaps a natural glacial boulder standing on the ground surface that was undermined and then the smaller rocks used as chocks or wedges to support its weight and create the internal structure of the chamber. This theory could be borne out by the slight dip in the ground level around the tomb which is now strewn with stones that would have formed the material of the cairn. I get the impression that this cairn never covered the tomb and indeed may not have been much higher than it is today.

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As I said, the uprights supporting the capstone are a bit of a giveaway.
 
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I see that I've neglected to respond to oldrover and Pietro about King Arthur's Stone on Cefn Bryn, sorry. That really is amazingly similar. Pietro - is the vertical orientation of the support stones considered to be the primary evidence that this is a man-made construction? Is there additional archeological evidence?
 
Excavations have finally been performed around Arthur's Stone, and the results indicate it was part of a much larger ceremonial landscape.
The First Excavations Near The Mysterious Arthur's Stone Have Revealed Its True Origin

Archaeologists have finally figured out how Arthur's Stone, the famous Neolithic monument that inspired the 'stone table' in The Chronicles of Narnia, came to be.

Ever since the large quartz conglomerate rocks were first assembled, sometime around 3,700 BCE, this double-chambered tomb has remained a mysterious beacon of the past, perched on a Welsh hillside all by itself.

In that entire time, the highly protected, UNESCO World Heritage-listed site, known locally as Maen Ceti, has never been directly excavated, which means we know very little about how it was first built. Other similar sites in the region, found with skeletons, suggest it is probably a tomb of some sort. ...

Yet apart from ... myths and legends, historians and archaeologists have had little else to work with. Now, the first proper excavations slightly to the south of the monument have revealed a different story – one that extends far beyond a single lonely hillside.

The findings, which have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, suggest Arthur's Stone was once part of a much larger ceremonial landscape. ...
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FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/the-fi...tone-have-revealed-the-monument-s-true-origin

See Also: https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discov...-reveal-origins-of-famous-stone-age-monument/
 
EnolaGaia said:
Excavations have finally been performed around Arthur's Stone, and the results indicate it was part of a much larger ceremonial landscape.

FULL STORY: https://www.sciencealert.com/the-fi...tone-have-revealed-the-monument-s-true-origin

See Also: https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discov...-reveal-origins-of-famous-stone-age-monument/
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The digs continue.

An historic stone formation said to mark the spot where King Arthur slew a giant is being excavated.

An archaeological dig at Arthur's Stone in Dorstone, Herefordshire, will be the site's first excavation and historians hope to reveal its secrets.
Experts from English Heritage and the University of Manchester said the stone is one of the country's most significant prehistoric monuments.
However archaeologists say its history is "poorly understood".

The stone slabs, set in the hills above Herefordshire's Golden Valley, form a Neolithic burial chamber. The 5,000-year-old chamber is formed by nine upright stones with a capstone on top which is estimated to weigh more than 25 tonnes.

It has informed legends, with indentations on its surface said to have been made as the giant fell backwards after being slain by King Arthur.

The stone was also the inspiration for the sacrificial altar of Aslan in C.S. Lewis' well-loved tale, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-62183471
 
ramonmercado said:
The digs continue.

An historic stone formation said to mark the spot where King Arthur slew a giant is being excavated.

An archaeological dig at Arthur's Stone in Dorstone, Herefordshire, will be the site's first excavation and historians hope to reveal its secrets.
Experts from English Heritage and the University of Manchester said the stone is one of the country's most significant prehistoric monuments.
However archaeologists say its history is "poorly understood".

The stone slabs, set in the hills above Herefordshire's Golden Valley, form a Neolithic burial chamber. The 5,000-year-old chamber is formed by nine upright stones with a capstone on top which is estimated to weigh more than 25 tonnes.

It has informed legends, with indentations on its surface said to have been made as the giant fell backwards after being slain by King Arthur.

The stone was also the inspiration for the sacrificial altar of Aslan in C.S. Lewis' well-loved tale, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-62183471
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I really hope they find a huge skeleton and a shiny sword with otherworldly properties.
 
maximus otter said:
Surely two sites are being conflated here, as Herefordshire is not in Wales.

They’re talking about two entirely different places:

a) Arthur’s Stone, Herefordshire, which is between Hereford and Hay-on-Wye, and;

b) Maen Ceti on the Gower Peninsula, Wales.

:wtf:

maximus otter
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I should have pais more attention! The article even mentioned the C S Lewis connection, mentioned on this thread, or in one of the links on this thread...
 
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