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number of standing stones in britain |
redrobot
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|  Posted 04-08-2010 at 23:35
anyone any idea of the approximate number?
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davidmorgan
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| Posted 05-08-2010 at 21:09
Is this a quiz? Do we get a prize? I'm guessing 412,518.
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redrobot
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| Posted 05-08-2010 at 22:15
sarcasm? i thought this site was the last word on megaliths and the best you can do is get shirty because you don't know. i didn't ask for an exact number. an estimate would do. if there isn't one, perhaps someone who knows could say so.
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cerrig
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| Posted 05-08-2010 at 22:55
It would depend on what you mean by a "Standing stone". There are single stones. There are collections of stones as in circles and rows etc. There are set stones as in kerbs and the like for cairns , and the set stones at sites like West Kennet long barrow. There are probably others too. So the number would depend on what is meant by a standing stone. Even then, the total number could only be a very rough estimate that would probably be way out. Why do you want to know.
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sem
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| Posted 05-08-2010 at 23:02
Best part of a tidy number, plus the odd few the archaeos have found.
Well, at least it's better than davidm's Bob Dylan impersonation!
Seriously Red, d's sarcasm is an accurate a guess as anything available.
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redrobot
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| Posted 06-08-2010 at 14:20
i'm talking about single standing stones. why? i'm writing something about them and would like to know. if i said there are a thousand or 500 in britain it might give some idea of their relative rarity. it seems odd that there isn't an index somewhere which has this basic information. maybe we just don't want to know...
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Runemage
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| Posted 06-08-2010 at 16:40
There doesn't seem to be an easy way to work it out.
I put "Standing Stones" in the search box and then refined it to England.
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/search.php?query=&country=1&category=0&county=&sitetype=21&days=0&condition=&ambience=&access=
In the list on the right, it has Standing Stones (Menhir) 338
Standing Stones 98.
You could try that for Scotland, Wales and NI. Then allow for a proportion of stone crosses to be re-used standing stones. It won't be 100% accurate but it's better than a guess. You could always put "At the time of writing, there were X Standing Stones/Menhirs listed on the Megalithic Portal"
Rune
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Andy B
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| Posted 06-08-2010 at 17:46
Runemage has the best approximation to an answer we have. Forgive the sarcasm but we get a lot of very odd questions for even odder reasons.
However single standing stones can often be the remains of more complex monuments so there will be some listed under Stone Circle or Stone Row. Or vice versa some single stones actually aren't.
Then there are things like Men an Tol which are rebuilt burial chambers and so on...
[ This message was edited by: Andy B on 2010-08-06 17:47 ]
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redrobot
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| Posted 07-08-2010 at 00:14
thanks for the lead. there's a phd in there for someone.
castlerigg with tourist
[ This message was edited by: redrobot on 2010-08-07 00:16 ]
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sem
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| Posted 07-08-2010 at 00:27
Hi Redrobot
I was meant to be over my mate Nick's with a bottle tonight as he looked after our moggies when I was in Brecon. However, the thought of a bottle of whiskey to myself (I'd bought it for the two of us, honestly) suddenly became very appealing.
About halfway through it, just when I was about to beat the Mastermind Champion of Champions in his specialist subject, I was interrupted by Ugg, a denizen of the Olde Worlde.
Ugg - Wot's this about some geezer asking about the number of stones we put up?
Me - Well, there's a nice man who would like to know about single standing stones. He's writing about them.
Ugg - Writing about them! Must be a bloody weirdo! REAL men put them up, didn't have nuffink like writing in my day! Sounds like an Archaeo to me.
Me - Ugg, he seems genuinely interested. Can you give him an answer?
Ugg - Mmmmm..? Remember that bloke who re-decorated your bathroom? We work like him.
Me - What do you mean Ugg?
Ugg - Well. After a hard day plastering, sorry putting up stones, the shaman plies us with booze. We go home pissed, happy and knackered, hit the wife (well I don't, have you seen Mrs Ugg?) and fall asleep. When we get to work in the morning we can't remember wot we did the day before and a new shaman tells us religions and stones have changed.
Me - Seems the shaman is still in charge though?
Ugg - Yep! The thing is to remember that the sink is now the toilet, the toilet is now the shower and the shower is now the sink. Just remember where to crap, wash and clean your teeth!
Me - So any idea on the number of stones?
Ugg - Would you worry about stones when you can't remember where to clean your teeth?
Me - Thanks Ugg.
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redrobot
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| Posted 07-08-2010 at 00:37
the drift seems to be that number crunching somehow doesn't do the stones or their constructors justice. i guess you either identify with the wife beating pisshead or you don't.
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sem
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| Posted 08-08-2010 at 22:54
Hi Redrobot
I wasn't taking the P, just hoping to get you thinking on your own lines.
There are books that will tell you there are so many standing stones, circles, rows etc in a certain area and they never agree with each other or Archaeological Trusts' records. It's what makes this such a fascinating subject to study and the MegP a marvellous place to argue it.
Best wishes
Sem
PS Davidm was wrong, it's 412,517
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chimera
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| Posted 11-08-2010 at 11:21
Should there be a monument in memory of Fallen Stones?
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