Down Tor Stone Circle. Dartmoor

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Down Tor Stone Circle. Dartmoor

Post by DeepSolar64 »

All, especially you Brits and Irish!

I am a BIG fan of neolithic monuments but I live in a sucky place to visit one myself so my reading about them and seeing them is always online or in books. I came across this one on the Megalithic Portal called " Down Tor ". It's a stone circle with a cairn and stone row. Not a big one like Avebury, Stonehenge or the Ring of Brodgar but nice nevertheless. I found the picture online so I cannot take credit for it, I wish! It's taken either in the light of the rising or setting Sun. I could imagine myself there enjoying the peace of a rising sun with my scopes set up inside the ring. If anyone showed up I would do some outreach and show them the Sun. Now if it was the evening I could imagine being set up on the moor ready for a good nights observing. I just wouldn't wanna fall over the stones!

If I lived in Britain I would have two hobbies. Astronomy and Archaeology!


James


https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=541


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Last edited by DeepSolar64 on Thu Jan 06, 2022 6:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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Re: Down Tor Stone Circle. Dartmoor

Post by Montana »

That is lovely :hamster:

It is funny, as they are all over the place here I have never really thought about them. I guess you always want what you can't have and when you do have access you don't think about it.

OK, so there seems to be at least 20 within an hour drive of me and I have been living here since I was born and I have never visited any ;)

https://www.peakvenues.co.uk/blog/stone ... erbyshire/

Alexandra


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Re: Down Tor Stone Circle. Dartmoor

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Montana wrote: Thu Jan 06, 2022 8:32 am That is lovely :hamster:

It is funny, as they are all over the place here I have never really thought about them. I guess you always want what you can't have and when you do have access you don't think about it.

OK, so there seems to be at least 20 within an hour drive of me and I have been living here since I was born and I have never visited any ;)

https://www.peakvenues.co.uk/blog/stone ... erbyshire/

Alexandra

Alexandra,
These are excellent photographic opportunities, seize it!! And excellent learning opportunities too. I have a small amount of Native American sites, Mississippian and Cherokee, fairly close to me but our natives left nothing near what the ancient neolithic and bronze age people left in your part of the world. Paleoarcheaology stimulates the imagination for me as does paleontology and astronomy. You like fossils so paleontology you do and then of course astronomy. I would LOVE to have the opportunity you do! Seize it my dear!

Thanks for the link. I certainly will check it out.

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Re: Down Tor Stone Circle. Dartmoor

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

If I can come-in on this conversation, the S.W. of England is littered with these types of monuments, from the world famous and protected "Stonehenge", to the many mentioned in your web-links.
Most are easily visible from ground-level, but others are often seen-better from aircraft at around 1,500feet above ground-level or higher.

There are also numerous historic/ancient sites in such places as farm-fields across the whole of the country, many being seen when the crops show a change of colour as circles/squares etc., at differing times of the year. These will most likely not be showing any surface detail such as stones...

Due to drier-soil above ancient-walls etc., compared to their immediate out-lying areas, is the primary way of identifying such sites, but very difficult to see such from ground-level...

The attached web-linked image shows a prime-example of aerial-photography through farm crops and there is so much ancient-activity shown all over that particular image...

Cheers
Terry
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Re: Down Tor Stone Circle. Dartmoor

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

Sun-light can make a considerable difference to identifying such sites from the air, as the angle of the Sun, the relative position of the Aircraft and its' height too.

So as "Sun-lit" is I suppose acceptable to show here on SC. ??

Terry


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Re: Down Tor Stone Circle. Dartmoor

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

http://www.skyscan.co.uk/news/clack.htm have now taken over the assets of my Chief Flying Instructor (Captain Edward Clack's) photography archives.
https://sylviakent.blogspot.com/2008/08 ... clack.html has written this article from Sylvia - who was well known to us...
All the titled-books written by Edward were presented by my CFI and also we both sold many of those around Essex...

https://www.wob.com/en-us/books/edward- ... 0952007302 shows just one of the earlier books.
And
https://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/local_ ... s-aged-85/ and where even I might well be having similar eye-sight problems as my friend and CFI... Sadly missed, but a major part of my life...

Terry


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Re: Down Tor Stone Circle. Dartmoor

Post by Tigger »

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Hi James,

Neolithic stone circles are another one of my hobbies and I try to visit them whenever we are around them. The photo is Castlerigg stone circle in Cumbria. The circle is at the head of a awesome valley. Most circles are in very visible locations and dominate the landscape around them. they are incredibly atmospheric and powerful statements. Why did our ancestors build them, who knows. There are plenty of ideas but I'm glad they did. The circles seem to be a particularly British buildform and are treated with respect by all that visit them.

John


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Re: Down Tor Stone Circle. Dartmoor

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Terry,
Aerial photography is certainly a great way to find and view archaeological sites from a unique perspective. I have seen on many programs that often more subtle details in the landscape can be seen by air better than on the ground. You live in a place where you can really utilize your flying skills!

I do feel that ancient sites often do connect their builders with the Sun. Some are believed to be aligned with the Sun and stars and a number are aligned with the solstices, for example NewGrange in Ireland and MaesHowe in the Orkneys are aligned with the winter solstice sun.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maeshowe


John,
I have read about and seen pictures of the Castlerigg stone circle among many others like the Nine Ladies circle mentioned in Alexandra's post. Your picture of the Castlerigg circle is great!

Take full advantage of your location. I could spend a lifetime exploring and visiting neolithic and bronze age sites in the British Isles and Ireland. The European Mainland also has a large number of these sites as well. Sites that old are rare in North America. Our native population rarely left things that endured like this.

Blessings,

James


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Re: Down Tor Stone Circle. Dartmoor

Post by Montana »

The best place for Standing stones is Carnac in Brittany (France). We stayed there on summer holiday and wandered fields and fields of standing stones all lined in rows and I sat on an alter too. Every evening we wandered them. I wrote up a whole project on it as I was so inspired (not school work but my own project). Must be in the loft somewhere. I think these stones beat Stonehenge for the shear number.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnac_stones

Also look up Images for Carnac stones.

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Re: Down Tor Stone Circle. Dartmoor

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

Indeed the web-links and images added here, show much of what is known about the stones regions.

Some (as we know) are almost certainly directly involved with monitoring our Sun.
In fact prior to mechanical clocks/Sun-dials etc., we know that some are used to telling the time and similarly to our own Solar watching and imaging may well have been marred by the clouds, albeit these days probably more clouds than in ancient-times ??

Terry


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Re: Down Tor Stone Circle. Dartmoor

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Alexandra,
I have read some on the Carnac monuments and knew that Brittany was and is today considered a Celtic region. Of course these stones predate the beginning of the Celts in the late bronze age or early iron age. Thanks for the Wikipedia link. I had forgotten how numerous those monuments are there!

Terry, Alexandra, Mark, Stephen, Ken, All...
That would actually be a good project for Sunlit Earth or a new section in SolarChat. Something highlighting the significance of the Sun in people's lives, both modern and historical. Some thing on how people interact with our star. The sun certainly meant something to those ancient peoples. They were farmers, fishermen and hunters and their religions often included the sun as a deity. Something they recognized of great importance. Here the Greek Helios or the Egyptian Ra and Aten come to mind. A modern example would be how happy people above the arctic circle are to see the sun for the first time after a cold dark winter!

And sundials are a great example of a solar clock. All our time is based on the sun and to a lesser extent, the moon. One exception is the Universal Time Clock. It's totally independent of local time!

But would there be an interest of the sun here in this way to start a new forum section or include it into an existing one? Comments? It's only an idea.

James


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Re: Down Tor Stone Circle. Dartmoor

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

That certainly is a reasonably-good idea James.

"Old Sol" rising higher in the sky (or the opposite), has affected human and non-human life in so many ways, as well of course plant-life of one kind or another.

It's a massive subject from so many angles.

For me here in S.E.England, the main effects of the lowering Sun, is much-higher electricity-charges for heating etc., whilst the Sun is usually obscured by cloud and in any case, too-low for decent imaging from the observatories...
Along with other problems I am now experiencing, this winter is not one I would like to repeat and still no snow --- yet !!

Cheers
Terry
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Re: Down Tor Stone Circle. Dartmoor

Post by DeepSolar64 »

Your skies look really dreary there Terry. Just a featureless uniform grey. They are probably no sun shining on those ancient megaliths today.

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Re: Down Tor Stone Circle. Dartmoor

Post by EGRAY_OBSERVATORY »

Sounds about right James, with now 100% humidity at +8-degC, it actually feels much colder and very damp too.. :mrgreen:

Cheers
terry


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Re: Down Tor Stone Circle. Dartmoor

Post by Tigger »

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Hello James et al,
Love the idea of setting up a new thread on the Sun's historical link to humanity. here is a photo just to prove occasionally we do get to see the Sun in England :D

John


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Re: Down Tor Stone Circle. Dartmoor

Post by DeepSolar64 »

John,
I have suggested the idea now to see if there is any interest. Humanities historical links to the Sun would be an interesting topic to explore in a new forum space. Thanks for the support. It's just an idea at this point.

I am always hearing of druids watching the solstice sunrises at Stonehenge so they must be some occasional sunshine in England! :lol:

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