trethevy quoit. portal dolmen burial chamber
![]() trethevy quoit. the monument is a burial chamber of the portal dolmen class, and its surrounding cairn, dating to the neolithic period. it comprises a chamber of large stone slabs, with a massive capstone, set in a low mound. the sub-rectangular chamber has two overlapped side-stones to each side, a back- stone, and a frontal slab set across the centre of the foremost side-stones leaving an antechamber at the front. a single free-standing stone flanks the south side of the frontal slab. the large rectangular capstone rests on the side-stones and has a small rectangular hole cut behind its e corner. all of the chamber slabs are in their original position and upright except the backstone which fell inwards before 1850. it has five cup-mark like hollows carved into its upper surface, whilst the capstone is pierced at its highest point by what appears to be a natural hole. its function is unclear. it has been suggested that its purpose may have been astronomical, although this has not been demonstrated. ![]() the chamber is surrounded by clear remains of a low sub-circular cairn on all sides except the area immediately in front of the frontal slab. the cairn extends to a maximum visible distance of 2.5m from the chamber and has an overall diameter of c.6.5m. the monument stands near the corner of a pasture field on a gentle se facing slope, near the summit of a low hill overlooking the upper tributaries of the river seaton. the monument lies in the much-dissected landscape bordering the s edge of the bodmin moor granite. this monument has been described in antiquarian and archaeological literature since 1584 and is one of the most frequently mentioned archaeological monuments of cornwall. ![]() #trethevyquoit #monument #portaldolmen #dolmen #antiquity #carn #cairn #quoit #cornwallarcheology #archaeology #holed stone #holedcapstone #capstone #megalithicarchitecture #megalith #megalithictomb #neolithic instagram: https://instagr.am/p/B_aL9eWHqxt/ |