Castlerigg stone circle

The Stone Circle Castlerigg (English Castlerigg Stone Circle ) is one of the largest stone circles in England. It is located at 229 m altitude in Allerdale ( parish of St Johns Castlerigg and Wythburn ) east of Keswick in Cumbria in the Lake District on a northeastern foothills of Castlerigg Fell. The subsoil consists of Skiddaw slate. The stone circle is a listed building ( Scheduled Ancient Monument No. 22565 ).

Description

The circle consists of 38 up to three meters high and up to 16 ton stones of different shapes mostly of shale and are unedited. You point the smoother side facing inward. Some had fallen in the more than 5000 years since its establishment. Originally there were 42 stones that formed a rounded oval of 70 m diameter. A 3.3 m wide area on the north end of the circle that is formed by two large stones, should have served as a gateway. 1853 Williams was able to discover the remains of three grave hills in the stone circle.

At the western edge of the circle ten stones are arranged rectangular. They were classified by Burl as Cove, whose purpose is unknown. Most Coves consist of only three or four stones. The Cove, Avebury dated to the period of the Bell Beaker culture. Stukeley, who coined the term has, however, refers to the structure in Castlerigg as grave.

Nick Best and AN Other discovered on the stones Nos. 10, 11 and 26 petroglyphs ( spirals and diamonds). Stone No. 5 bearing a cup-and -ring mark. However, the spiral on stone 11 was in 1995, despite the use of laser scanning in high resolution can not be found again, maybe it was a natural discoloration.

Excavations

Excavations in the Cove in 1882 provided, apart from charcoal no archaeological finds.

Dating

The stone circle can be dated by English Heritage in the early Bronze Age, ie after continental terminology in the Final Neolithic or early Bronze Age.

Environment

Nearby are the stone circles of Elva Plain, Gray Croft and Skiddaw are.