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How and why the ancients enchanted Great Britain and Brittany

Circles of Stone - Max Milligan

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<< Our Photo Pages >> Drombeg Stone Circle - Stone Circle in Ireland (Republic of) in Co. Cork

Submitted by Anthony_Weir on Friday, 23 December 2022  Page Views: 41507

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Drombeg Stone Circle Alternative Name: An Drom Beag, An Droim Beag
Country: Ireland (Republic of) County: Co. Cork Type: Stone Circle
Nearest Town: Skibbereen  Nearest Village: Drombeg
Map Ref: W2468035185
Discovery Map Number: D89
Latitude: 51.564805N  Longitude: 9.08691W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
4 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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Dutch visited on 16th Dec 2019 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Earlier visit in June 1988.

abominabledrh visited on 7th May 2017 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4

abominabledrh visited on 28th Sep 2015 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4

smithpaul visited on 28th Jul 2013 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4

kith visited on 1st Nov 2012 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4

Orcinus visited on 1st Jan 2010 Visited in 2010 with Lou & the legendary Roy Harper

SteveC visited on 5th May 2006 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 5

Klingon visited on 22nd Mar 2005 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4

mark_a Bladup AngieLake davidmorgan have visited here

Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 4 Ambience: 4.14 Access: 4.14

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by GaelicLaird : Winter solstice - 21 December 2022. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Thirteen out of the original 17 stones of this impressive circle survive, the most westerly of which is the fine axial, which has 2 egg-shaped cup-marks, one with a surrounding ring. The 2 portal stones (1.8 meters high) are as usual on the NE side. Radiocarbon tests on the cremated burial found in the centre of the circle nave a date between 150 BC and 130 AD, though the circle itself is almost certainly Bronze Age.

Just over 30 meters to the W are the remains of 2 conjoined round huts, the larger of which had a timber roof supported by a central post. The smaller hut had a cooking-oven on its E side. From the huts a causeway leads to a cooking-place containing a hearth, a well, and a trough in which water was boiled by dropping in hot stones. Almost 350 litres could be boiled within 15 minutes of the stones being dropped in. The presence of the stone circle, huts, and cooking-place suggests that annual or seasonal gatherings took place at a sacred site down to the 5th century AD, the dating obtained for the cooking place.

~The stone circles of Bohonagh and Reanascreena South are not far away.

Access:
2.4 km (1 ½ miles) E of Glandore, 250 m down a path to the E of a byroad. Signposted (SN 381).

One of the few stone circles in County Cork with proper signposts all the way, off the Glandor and Clonakilty Rd, it is a short walk from the sign posts with a proper car park.

The Journal of Antiquities also includes an entry for this stone circle - see their page for the Drombeg Stone Circle, Glandore, Co. Cork, Southern Ireland, which includes a photograph, a description, details of an archaeological excavation carried out in the late 1950s, and a list of reference sources for more information.

As we first reported a couple of years ago, Terence Meaden wants to show how Drombeg has solved the riddle of Stonehenge, full details in his new book - more in our comments, including a link to the book contents, foreward and first five chapters

Note: Winter solstice at Drombeg!
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Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by Bladup : Drombeg Stone Circle. This Original Artwork in a glass frame is £39.99 + Postage (Just whatever it costs), and is 17 cm x 11 and a half cm. A limited (to a 100) edition print in a 8" x 10" glass frame would be £19.99 + £2.90 postage, E-mail me at paul.blades@rocketmail.com if interested. (2 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by KenWilliams : Sunset at Drombeg Stone Circle, 20th December 2006. The winter solstice sun sets in the notch in the hills seem through the portals and over the axial stone. (4 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by KenWilliams : Daybreak at Drombeg, 7.53am 21/2/06 (4 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by mchlhughs : A ray of sunlight spotlighted the circle on a cold, early spring day in 2009. (2 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by Ebor : Drombeg by night (1 comment - Vote or comment on this photo)

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by Johnny : Drombeg Stone Circle, Co. Cork (W247 352): One of the better known stone circles in Ireland, Drombeg is exceptionally well preserved and is one of the best known examples of an axial stone circle in Ireland. It is characteristic of several circles in the area around Ross Carbery, consisting of seventeen stones forming a circle just over nine meters in diameter. The tallest of the stones are a ... (3 comments)

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by Orcinus : Trip to West Cork in 2010, we were taken to see Drombeg by the legendary Roy Harper.

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by abominabledrh : 28 September 2015

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by Bladup : Drombeg Stone Circle.

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by smithpaul : Drombeg. County Cork.

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by KaiHofmann : Drombeg stone circle.

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by Aska : Just about the sunset, the shadows of the stones tried to show their long existence on the earth.

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by Murph : Drombeg Stone Circle, West Cork, Ireland.

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by Energyman : A panorama from the west (3 comments)

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by Bladup : A very wet Drombeg Stone Circle.

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by KaiHofmann : Drombeg stone circle.

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by mchlhughs : Another image a few minutes later

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by Anthony_Weir : Scan of colour slide from the 1970/80s (1 comment)

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by AngieLake : Standing outside the circle (see previous photo), and looking back towards portals, this stone stands to the left of the low, flattened, 'altar' stone. From this angle the seams of white quartz can be seen more easily. They're visible in the previous photo, running down the outside of the stone. [2001]

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by AngieLake : The circle photographed in 2001, with the 'altar' stone in the foreground and portals on opposite side.

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by KenWilliams : A closer view of the solstice sun near sunset, the small group here on the 20th witnessed the sun rolling down the ridge seen here before being slightly obscured by cloud as it dissapeared into the notch with the tree groiwng in it.

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by GaelicLaird : Photo taken March 2020

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by abominabledrh : 28 September 2015

Drombeg Stone Circle
Drombeg Stone Circle submitted by Bladup : Drombeg Stone Circle.

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 70m SW 226° Drombeg Fulacht Fiadh and Hut* Ancient Village or Settlement (W2462935137)
 1.1km NE 50° Ballyvireen Standing Stone (Menhir)
 1.5km NW 326° Kilbeg* Stone Circle
 2.6km WSW 238° Ballincolla (1) Stone Fort or Dun (W2240333838)
 3.0km SW 227° Skahanagh Stone Fort or Dun (W22433312)
 3.2km SW 218° Carrigillihy Fort Promontory Fort / Cliff Castle
 3.7km WSW 240° Ballincolla (2) Stone Fort or Dun (W2146233420)
 4.2km SW 225° Ardra Standing Stones Standing Stones
 4.2km SW 228° Ardra* Stone Fort or Dun (W2148332399)
 4.6km SW 221° St. Bridget's Well Holy Well or Sacred Spring (W2160531790)
 4.7km NNW 331° Ballyroe Cromlechs Cist
 4.9km SW 232° Cooscroneen Stone Fort or Dun (W2077332279)
 4.9km E 79° Rosscarbery Standing Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (W2951936065)
 5.0km WSW 256° Bawnlahan* Not Known (by us) (W1974634041)
 5.1km WSW 248° Stookeen Fort Stone Fort or Dun (W1994833351)
 5.1km SW 230° Ballinatona Stone Fort or Dun (W2066131949)
 5.4km E 84° Burgatia Stone East* Standing Stone (Menhir)
 5.5km ENE 72° Lisfaughna Dun* Stone Fort or Dun
 5.6km ENE 75° Templefaughnan boulder burial* Burial Chamber or Dolmen
 5.6km ENE 57° Tinneel stones* Standing Stones
 5.7km NW 314° Gurteenaduige Standing Stones (W20663918)
 5.7km NNW 336° Corran Cairn Cairn
 6.0km NW 311° Ballinlough Fort Stone Fort or Dun
 6.1km NNE 15° Reanascreena* Stone Circle (W2640441058)
 6.3km ENE 74° Bohonagh Circle* Stone Circle (W3075636850)
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"Drombeg Stone Circle" | Login/Create an Account | 17 News and Comments
  
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Re: Drombeg Stone Circle by ModernExplorers on Thursday, 19 December 2019
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We filmed here in 2019 if you would like to see some footage of the site

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Re: Drombeg Stone Circle by Anonymous on Saturday, 20 July 2019
Drombeg Circle is on a strong alignment. Towards the midwinter rise it runs through Chun Castle, Trewern Round & Lesingey Round etc. In Penwith, Cornwall, UK.
The alignment is examined & followed by satellite in the following link. Drombeg Stone Circle features heavily.
https://ancientwhisperspenwith.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-carn-les-boel-seahenge-drombeg.html
[ Reply to This ]

Shadows of Stones, Unveiling the Planned Sexual Drama of Hieros Gamos, the Sacred Ma by Andy B on Monday, 12 November 2018
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SHADOWS OF STONES, SHADOWS OF ANCESTORS - STUDIES UNVEILING THE PLANNED SEXUAL DRAMA OF THE HIEROS GAMOS, THE SACRED MARRIAGE

Terence Meaden - Kellogg College and St. Peter’s College, Oxford University

Advances in archaeoastronomy are announced with the identification of a prehistoric sunrise calendar. Demonstrated is the importance of the action and meaning of shadows cast by standing stones at recumbent stone circles of the Irish and British Neolithic and Bronze Age. Crucial is the visual drama of events planned for the first minutes after sunrise—scenes of action that can be watched today and which the author has witnessed at other sites too.

The Irish stone circle at Drombeg is an appropriate archetype for study, for which a new site survey was necessary. An archaeological explanation for the core symbolism planned into the Drombeg monument is a principal purpose of this article. It is shown how stones were intelligently positioned such that shadows created at sunrise between selected pairs of shaped stones demonstrate their intended functions.

Primary is the discovery that, by embracing knowledge of the symbolic intentions for the shaped stones, the shadow-casting stone upon which the rising sun shines is always figuratively masculine while the shadow-receptive stone is always female-symbolic. This paper aims to resolve the beliefs behind the planning of such watchable occurrences that can still be witnessed today. The answers are based on recognizing a prehistoric belief in the much-loved worldview known as the Hieros Gamos, ΙΕΡΟΣ ΓΑΜΟΣ or Sacred Marriage between divinities of Sky and Earth.

The drama imitates the act of sexual union that the community could witness for themselves. Calendrical features were built in by which eight dates of the year—likely festival dates each separated by 45-46 days from the next—can be read back from observations of shadow union. These dates, starting with the winter solstice, are the traditional dates as known historically for the farming communities of Europe and beyond. Knowing this enabled the spiritual leaders at the stone circle to predict when every agricultural festival would next be due.

Published in EXPRESSION (June 2017) Number 16 Quarterly e-journal of the Atelier Research Centre in Conceptual Anthropology (Valcamonica, 25044 Capo di Ponte, Italy) cooperating with UISPP-CISENP International Scientific Commission on the Intellectual and Spiritual Expressions of Non-Literate Peoples. Pages 79-91

https://www.academia.edu/33989862/Shadows_of_Stones---Studies_Unveiling_the_Planned_Sexual_Drama_of_the_Hieros_Gamos.doc
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An investigation into folklore associated with the stone circles of Kerry and Cork by Andy B on Monday, 12 November 2018
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An investigation into folklore associated with the Bronze Age stone circles of Kerry and Cork, Ireland - Victor Reijs

Slideshow presentation:
https://www.slideshare.net/vreijs1/folklore-around-stone-circle-s-in-kerry-and-cork-ireland
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Re: Drombeg Stone Circle by Andy B on Sunday, 06 May 2018
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Class Stone circle - multiple-stone
Townland DROMBEG (Carbery E. (W.D.) By.)
SMR No. CO143-051002-
Description In pasture on natural rock terrace on S slope of low hill. Circle excavated 1957 (Fahy 1959, 1-27); and nearby fulacht fiadh (CO143-051002-) and hut site (CO143-051001-) in 1958 (Fahy 1960, 1-17). Circle consisted of seventeen stones; two missing and one fallen. Stones are 0.55m to 2.05m L, 0.2m to 0.65m T and 1.1m to 2.05m H. On upper surface of axial stone, largest stone in circle, are two shallow cup-marks, one surrounded by oval carving. Internal measurement along main axis, aligned NE-SW, is 9m. Five pits found within circle, sealed beneath compacted gravel floor; one pit contained deposit of cremated human bone, fragments of shale and numerous sherds of coarse fabric pot. Charcoal from burial yielded C14 determination of AD 600 ± 120 (D-62) which is 'clearly anomalous' (O Nualláin 1984a, 10). Other finds from circle included seven pieces of flint, including small convex scraper. O Nualláin 1984, 24. no. 37; Roberts 1988, Ch. 2, no. 5) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 1: West Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1992). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009 This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 62/1938).

Source: NMS Ireland
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Drombeg Stone Circle analyzed with respect to sunrises and lithic shadow- casting by Andy B on Saturday, 25 November 2017
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Drombeg Stone Circle, Ireland, analyzed with respect to sunrises and lithic shadow-
casting for the eight traditional agricultural festival dates and further validated by
photography - G. Terence Meaden
Kellogg College, Oxford University, 62 Banbury Road, Oxford, UK.

A new survey of Drombeg Stone Circle and accurate analysis of shadow effects beginning at particular sunrises of the calendar year has led to a breakthrough in the understanding of lithic symbolism and the intentions behind the construction of this and other Irish monuments including Knowth and Newgrange that also have astronomical alignments.

At Drombeg specific standing stones play critical roles at sunrise for all eight of the festival dates as known traditionally and historically for agricultural communities and as now inferred for prehistoric times following the present observation-based analysis.

Crucial for Drombeg in the summer half of the year is the positioning of a tall straight-sided portal stone such that its shadow at midsummer sunrise encounters an engraving on the recumbent stone diametrically opposite. During
subsequent minutes the shadow moves away allowing the light of the sun to fall on the carved symbol. It is the same for sunrises at Beltane (May Day), Lughnasadh (Lammas), and the equinoxes when shadows from other perimeter stones achieve the same coupling with the same image, each time soon replaced by sunlight. For the winter half of the year which includes dates for Samhain, the winter solstice and Imbolc, the target stone for shadow reception at sunrise is a huge lozenge-shaped megalith, artificially trimmed. Moreover, for 22 March and 21 September there is notable dramatic action by shadow and light between a precisely positioned narrow pillar stone and the lozenge stone.

As a result, at sunrise at Drombeg eight calendrical shadow events have been witnessed and photographed. This attests to the precision of Neolithic planning that determined the stone positions, and demonstrates the antiquity of the calendar dates for these traditional agricultural festivals. Discussion is held as to what the concept of shadow casting between shaped or engraved stones at the time of sunrise may have meant in terms of lithic symbolism for the planners and builders.

This leads to a possible explanation in terms of the ancient worldview known as the hieros gamos or the Marriage of the Gods between Sky and Earth.

From Advances in Understanding Megaliths and Related Prehistoric Lithic Monuments
Journal of Lithic Studies. (2017) Volume 4, Number 3.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.v4i3

http://journals.ed.ac.uk/lithicstudies/article/view/1945/2580
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Shadows of Stones - Studies Unveiling the Planned Sexual Drama of the Hieros Gamos by Andy B on Friday, 28 July 2017
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Shadows of Stones - Studies Unveiling the Planned Sexual Drama of the Hieros Gamos - Terence Meaden

Published in Expression June 2017 - The International E-journal Of Art, Archaeology & Conceptual Anthropology - A Quarterly published by Atelier.edit for the Commission on Intellectual and Spiritual Expressions of Non-Literate Peoples (UISPP-CISENP)

Advances in archaeoastronomy are announced with the identification of a prehistoric sunrise calendar. Demonstrated is the importance of the action and meaning of shadows cast by standing stones at recumbent stone circles of the Irish and British Neolithic and Bronze Age. Crucial is the visual drama of events planned for the first minutes after sunrise—scenes of action that can be watched today and which the author has witnessed at other sites too. The Irish stone circle at Drombeg is an appropriate archetype for study, for which a new site survey was necessary. An archaeological explanation for the core symbolism planned into the Drombeg monument is a principal purpose of this article. It is shown how stones were intelligently positioned such that shadows created at sunrise between selected pairs of shaped stones demonstrate their intended functions.

Primary is the discovery that, by embracing knowledge of the symbolic intentions for the shaped stones, the shadow-casting stone upon which the rising sun shines is always figuratively masculine while the shadow-receptive stone is always female-symbolic. This paper aims to resolve the beliefs behind the planning of such watchable occurrences that can still be witnessed today. The answers are based on recognizing a prehistoric belief in the much-loved worldview known as the Hieros Gamos, ΙΕΡΟΣ ΓΑΜΟΣ or Sacred Marriage between divinities of Sky and Earth.

The drama imitates the act of sexual union that the community could witness for themselves. Calendrical features were built in by which eight dates of the year—likely festival dates each separated by 45-46 days from the next—can be read back from observations of shadow union. These dates, starting with the winter solstice, are the traditional dates as known historically for the farming communities of Europe and beyond. Knowing this enabled the spiritual leaders at the stone circle to predict when every agricultural festival would next be due.

https://www.atelier-etno.it/e-journal-expression/

https://www.academia.edu/33989862/Shadows_of_Stones---Studies_Unveiling_the_Planned_Sexual_Drama_of_the_Hieros_Gamos.doc
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Two Lectures by Terence Meaden in County Cork 19th/20th December by Andy B on Friday, 18 November 2016
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Announcing Two Lectures In County Cork
—Open to all—
Monday 19th December 8 p.m. at the Celtic Ross Hotel
(arranged by the Rosscarbery History Society)

Tuesday 20th December at about 8 p.m. at the Credit Union in Skibbereen
(in Main Street, arranged by the Skibbereen History Society)

Also an explanatory Guided Tour at Drombeg on 21st December

Drombeg Stone Circle
And What It Meant To The Builders:
Explaining The Intelligence And The Spirituality
Newly Deduced About The Planning And Use Of The Stones

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Chapters 1 to 5 of Terence's book to download by Andy B on Wednesday, 12 October 2016
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Terence has posted Chapter 2 of his book Stonehenge, Avebury and Drombeg Stone Circles Deciphered: The archaeological decoding of the core symbolism and meanings planned into these ancient British and Irish monuments.

The Reconstructed Neolithic Solar Calendar with Suggested Agricultural Festival Dates
https://www.academia.edu/28985146/

UPDATE:
Terence has now posted Chapters 3 and 4 of his book:
Drombeg Stone Circle: Features of the Recumbent Stone, Portal Stones, Pecked Art, and the Midwinter Sunset
https://www.academia.edu/29187253/ (free login required)

Chapter 5:
Drombeg Stone Circle Union by shadow between a portal stone and the recumbent stone at the midsummer solstice sunrise
https://www.academia.edu/29303878/

CHAPTER 5 and 6 Drombeg union by shadow with the recumbent stone at MSSR and Beltane sunrise

Annually at Drombeg Stone Circle (County Cork, Ireland) as the sun rises at the summer solstice, the pecked markings of female character on the broad recumbent stone are covered by the shadow of the tall straight-sided portal Stone 1. In the next few minutes the rock art goes from being in union to being fully illuminated by the sun. It is the same at and near 6 May (the ancient May Day, long before the Romanization of the calendar) and 6 August except that the operative shadow comes from the tall straight-sided Stone 2. For all three dates (and, as shown in Chapter 7, for the equinoxes), the vision is union by shadow between a male-type stone and a female stone marked by female carvings, arguably indicative of a fertility religion. https://www.academia.edu/29398152/

I've started a discussion thread in our forum.
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    Re: The Reconstructed Neolithic Solar Calendar with Suggested Agricultural Festival by Andy B on Friday, 14 October 2016
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    Terence has just sent a note: "Thank you for mentioning my Chapter 2 (pages 20 to 27) on your magnificent web site. The response has been notable.

    Maybe too announce that I have the Chapter List (pages 1 to 2), Foreword (pages 3 to 6), and the whole of Chapter 1 (page numbers 7 to 19) there as well.

    [AB - I hadn't spotted those - thanks - I see you need to click on Files 1 to 3 just to the right of Uploaded by Terence Meaden and from there you can choose and download the other pages]

    https://www.academia.edu/28764794/

    I shall select and introduce more chapters on later dates.
    Sending all best wishes,
    Terence.
    [ Reply to This ]
    Re: Chapters 1 to 5 of Terence's book to download by Anonymous on Monday, 24 October 2016
    Thank you for adding these. The crux of the matter is that I have rediscovered an underlying core feature of some or many stone circles, i.e. shadows cast at sunrise are alignments that matter.

    For Drombeg the proof is there for all 8 “Celtic” festival dates. It shows moreover that these dates were recognised one and two and three millennia before historical records started mentioning them.

    Best wishes,
    Terence.
    [ Reply to This ]
    Drombeg Stone Circle Sunrise Union by shadow at cross-quarter dates 5th Nov 5th Feb by Andy B on Friday, 18 November 2016
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    Terence Meaden writes: Next is Chapter 10 of my book about the stones of Drombeg, Avebury and Stonehenge at sunrise. I have jumped from Chapter 6 to 10. Anciently, on the basis of the cross-quarter calendrical system that I proposed in Chapter 2, the cross-quarter dates were 5 November for the Samhain equivalent and 5 February for the Imbolc equivalent. Instead of a Neolithic type 365-day calendar, we use a modified 12-month Roman calendar. In the course of time the Samhain and Imbolc dates drifted from the Neolithic reconstructed dates, and got changed under Church influence.

    Those wanting to recognise the Neolithic /EBA equivalent of Samhain when visiting stone circles should do so with a target 'cross-quarter date' of Day 320 in mind on the ancient 365-day calendar. This is 5 November on our Roman monthly calendar---not 1 November or 31 October. Moreover, such visits are most appropriately done at sunrise.

    Drombeg Stone Circle Sunrise Union by shadow at cross-quarter dates 5th November and 5th February
    https://www.academia.edu/29475792/DROMBEG_STONE_CIRCLE_SUNRISE_UNION_BY_SHADOW_AT_CROSS-QUARTER_DATES_5_NOVEMBER_AND_5_FEBRUARY.docx
    [ Reply to This ]

Professor Terence Meaden claims Drombeg has solved the riddle of Stonehenge -new book by Andy B on Wednesday, 28 September 2016
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[as we first reported two years ago - see the further comments on this page]

A West Cork stone circle has provided an 81-year old archaeologist with the answer to the riddle of Stonehenge. ‘I have solved it completely,’ Prof Terence Meaden, an archaeologist and physicist from Oxford University, told The Southern Star.

He explained that the people who created the Drombeg Stone Circle near Glandore had, in Neolithic times, ‘a fertility religion’ and for them the landscape was the earth mother and the sky was the heavenly father.

The archaeologist said these ‘intelligent people’ used tally sticks in Neolithic times to measure daily the progress of the sun on the landscape before placing some stones to represent the female form and some to represent the male.

He has discovered that at sunrise – not sunset – during the eight ancient agricultural festivals that include the solstices and quasi-equinoxes, the shadows of the male stones fall on the female stone and form ‘a union.’

There are eight couplings contained within Drombeg Stone Circles, some of which are doubles, and the photographic evidence of these couplings is both explicit and stark.

Read more at
http://www.southernstar.ie/news/roundup/articles/2016/09/26/4127114-oxford-professor-claims-drombeg-has-solved-the-riddle-of-stonehenge/

and information on Terry's new book Stonehenge, Avebury and Drombeg Stone Circles Deciphered: The archaeological decoding of the core symbolism and meanings planned into these ancient British and Irish monuments is here:

Stonehenge and Avebury head the list of Ancient British megalithic sites calling for archaeological interpretation, while in Ireland the monuments of Drombeg, Newgrange and Knowth claim highest attention. Considerable progress in solving their meanings is reported in this volume when, firstly, core principles embedded in the stone settings at Drombeg Stone Circle are firmly established. Specific aspects of the culture were retrievable because the builders left interpretable clues by way of stored symbols and images together with clues arising from the precision with which stone positions had been decided.

Attention to such detail led to understanding the logic behind stone selection and settings at Stonehenge and Avebury. Solving Drombeg was key to cracking the code built into these monuments. The final breakthrough came from recognizing that stone-to-stone interactions by shadows cast at sunrise on particular dates of the year are always between a stone classifiable as male with an acceptor stone identifiable as female.

Available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.
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Re: Drombeg Stone Circle by Andy B on Wednesday, 20 April 2016
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A montage of photos of Dromberg Stone Circle by Michael Law. In two parts
1) Midsummer sunrise 21st June 2014 and
2) The whole site in daylight 22nd May 2014
A beautiful site situated in a fantastic location overlooking the Atlantic.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQpgbEHyF4E
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Revolutionary ideas at UISPP 17th World Congress on Prehistory and Protohistory by Andy B on Wednesday, 10 September 2014
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Terence Meaden has just completed a session at the UISPP World Congress on Prehistory and Protohistory filled with what I would judge will be seen as pure heresy by the conformist British archaeological community. I stand amazed by the boldness and range of ideas presented. Sadly we couldn't be there but perhaps you were?

Terence writes in the conference abstracts:
STONEHENGE, DROMBEG AND AVEBURY: THE RATIONALITY OF THEIR STONE-CIRCLE DESIGN PLANS WHEN INTERPRETED BY HIEROS GAMOS AND VALIDATED BY PHOTOGRAPHIC SUNRISE EVIDENCE FOR THE EIGHT TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURAL FESTIVAL DATES
Meaden, G. Terence (Oxford University)
Little is known about the intentions of the builders of the stone circles of Neolithic and Bronze Age Britain and Ireland, and the use to which the stones were put. Yet there are sites where constructive clues can be deduced by analysing stone settings relative to specific sunrises or sunsets. Because the stone circle at Drombeg is accurately explained this way—with photographs that powerfully demonstrate it—the solution strongly supports similar explanations for sites like Stonehenge where the action can be watched by any visitor and verified under clear-sky conditions. The research has taken many years. The key lay in studies conducted at sunrise for particular dates of the year.

Drombeg Stone Circle excels in this reconstructive analysis because the crucial stones are still present, and accurate survey authenticates it. The truths are convincingly demonstrated by photography.

At Drombeg particular standing stones play critical roles at sunrise for the eight festival dates of traditional agricultural communities. Crucial is the positioning of a male-type perimeter stone (bearing an anthropomorphic image) such that its phallic shadow at midsummer sunrise envelops a vulvar engraving on the recumbent stone diametrically opposite. Gradually the shadow moves aside allowing sunshine to reach the female symbol. It is the same for sunrises at Beltane, Lughnasadh and mid-year points (equinoxes) when shadows from other perimeter stones couple similarly, before being immediately followed by penetrating sunlight. For the winter half of the year (including Samhain, the solstice and Imbolc), the target stone for shadow reception is a huge lozenge-shaped megalith. At the equinoxes the drama is enacted between an arguably-male pillar stone and the seemingly-female lozenge stone. Consequently, all eight sunshine-and-shadow events have been photographed at sunrise at Drombeg.

Stonehenge behaves similarly at midsummer sunrise where sunshine initially illuminates the Altar Stone, before the phallic shadow of the Heel Stone intervenes and penetrates the monument to reach the Altar Stone. The enigma of the short round-topped anomalous Stone 11 at Stonehenge is solved too. The surviving stones of Avebury’s southern stone circle act similarly at midsummer, midwinter and Beltane. Avebury’s Cove works likewise with respect to midsummer sunrise.

An explanation in terms of the ancient, widely-loved worldview of the Marriage of the Gods between Sky and Earth seems warranted. This mythology was known classically as the hieros gamos (Sacred Marriage)—a concept known for classical historical times and encountered latterly by anthropologists interviewing tribal communities. The sun-and-shadow display is a dramatic, highly visual effect that still occurs and can be witnessed on the intended days by any visitor to Drombeg and Stonehenge. In the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age numerous spectators standing outside these monuments could witness the spectacle. This is the paramount fundamental meaning for the basic design plan of Stonehenge, and explains much about the meanings underlying the intrinsic design plans of many other monuments—including Avebury, Drombeg, Newgrange and Knowth.

Terence continues: This report also includes a reconstructed 365 day-by-day calendar for early Britain resulting from a study involving sunrise directions that accord

Read the rest of this post...
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    Re: Revolutionary ideas at UISPP 17th World Congress on Prehistory and Protohistory by AngieLake on Thursday, 11 September 2014
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    I felt strongly that there was once a post or stone outside the Sarsen circle at Stonehenge which lay between the Winter Solstice's SW sunset and the SW arc of the circle and cast a shadow on the 'fertility stone', which is how I interpret Stone 16.
    (See links below for info):
    http://www.megalithic.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=a312&file=index&do=showpic&pid=36079
    and
    http://www.megalithic.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=a312&file=index&do=showpic&pid=26301
    and
    http://www.megalithic.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=a312&file=index&do=showpic&pid=54378

    Here is a comment from a dear (sadly late) friend in Nov. 2008:

    "My name is Alex Down - you'll remember me from [.. name of another website ..]. I hope you don't mind me approaching you directly, but [..] is having problems with comment postings, and I wanted to tell you about my experience at Stonehenge's Stone 16 at sunset last night, Wednesday 26 November.

    I went there because it was a fine clear afternoon, with no cloud on the western horizon, the problem that bedevilled my last trip there. I wanted to test your theory that a post outside the ring to the south west could have cast a phallic shadow on Stone 16 at midwinter. Well, it's not quite midwinter (though it felt like it yesterday!) but, for astronomical purposes, it's close enough - the sun doesn't move far along the horizon around the solstices.

    The headline news is that your theory works brilliantly. I'd wondered if the fall of the ground surface might have made it difficult, but 20 minutes before sunset my shadow reached most of the way from my position behind the barrier about 100 metres from the stone. (It's even further than last time I went.) It was a strong shadow; 10-15 minutes later, with the sun nearly on the horizon, my shadow reached all the way to the stone, though not so strongly. I took photos to illustrate the effect - unfortunately, I can't attach them here!

    I think that a taller stone that was inside the ditch would have had a far more dramatic effect. And that now seems entirely possible. I'm reading Anthony Johnson's "Solving Stonehenge" and on p155 he has a short section entitled "Possible stone at southwest end of the axis." William Stukely reported that "there was another stone lying on the the ground, by the vallum of the court ...", Aubrey Hole 28 being the nearest. That sound exactly right, though it hasn't been confirmed by the geophysics survey in SIIL.

    So a stone of, say, my height, at around 35 meters from Stone 16, would have cast a strong shadow up the carving towards sunset. And, as the sun set, that shadow would have advanced up the carving in a highly symbolic manner, if you see what I mean."

    (I have his photos, and went there on 17th December 08 [?] to take my own, with a positive result.)
    I first met up with Alex in person after sunrise on 21st June 2009 and we further tested this theory by my dowsing for a possible post and photographed Alex standing on the spot where the rods indicated it had stood. Alex also plotted this position on computer, and I have the result in my own files.
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Re: Drombeg Stone Circle by TheCaptain on Tuesday, 06 November 2012
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see here on streetview

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