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| Alignment - | 1)
The arrangement of standing stones in a straight
line, as seen in a stone row.
2) The relationship between an ancient site and some kind of celestial event, such as the solstice sunrise or sunset. For instance, a number of passage tombs are orientated towards a solstice sunrise or sunset so that the rising or setting sun shines into the burial chamber. Some stone circles have outlying stones which act as site marks for the sun or moon at particularly important times of the calendar. The science of deciphering the relationship between ancient sites and celestial events is known as archaeoastronomy. 3) An arrangement of sites of historical interest in a straight line, often over long distances. Such alignments were noted by Alfred Watkins, and led to the development of Leyline theories as attempts to explain them. |
| Avenue - | Two rows of standing
stones (as at Avebury), or two earthwork banks (as at Stonehenge),
which may delineate a processional way leading to a ceremonial site.
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| BCE - | Acronym for Before
Common Era (a.k.a. BC).
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| Broch - | A special type of
defended homestead found almost exclusively in the northern reaches of
Scotland, including the Western and Northern Isles. Dry stone walls, into
which chambers and staircases are built, enclose a circular living space.
The towers would have extended to between 20 and 50 feet in height. They
were built for only a short period of time in the late Iron
Age. A special type of dun.
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| Bronze Age - | A period of prehistory
between the Neolithic and Iron
Age periods. Times vary across the world, but in western Europe it
is approximately from 2000 BCE to 500 BCE. An age characterised
by the working of bronze.
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| Burial Chamber - | A stone or wooden
space measuring greater than one square metre in area which contained the
buried remains of one or more people. They were often covered with mounds
of earth or stones (see long barrow, round
barrow, cairn and cist).
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| Cairn - | A mound of stones
built over a burial chamber.
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| Capstone - | A stone laid horizontally
over a burial chamber. The large, flattened
stone seen atop three or more upright stones in a dolmen.
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| CE - | Acronym for Common
Era (a.k.a. AD).
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| Cist - | A small burial
chamber.
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| Cloutie Well - | A holy
well at which visitors leave an offering in the form of a piece of
material tied to surrounding vegetation. A practice which is traditionally
believed to lead to the healing of illness. See Madron
Well for an explanation of the custom.
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| Cromlech - | The term used in Wales
for a dolmen. In Brittany it describes a stone
circle.
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| Cup-and-ring Mark - | A cupmark
with one or more grooves cut around it, but not necessarily encircling
it. The significance of them is still hotly debated.
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| Cupmark - | A small circular depression
worn into a rock. The significance of which is unknown but they are often
found on standing stones or rock outcrops in northern England and parts
of Scotland.
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| Dark Ages - | The period of European
history between the Romans leaving Britain and the Mediaeval
Period (i.e. about 476 CE to 1100 CE). A period shrouded
in the mystery of the Celts and Druids.
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| Dolmen - | A Neolithic
burial chamber comprising of a capstone
supported by three or more upright stones. Also known as a cromlech
in Wales and a quoit in Cornwall. See Lanyon
Quoit.
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| Dowsing - | The search for underground
energy by detecting changes in the behaviour of metal rods or a Y-shaped
wooden twig held in the hand. The phenomenon has defied explanation but
seems to work......somehow.
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| Dun - | A generic name for
a fort or fortified dwelling place. Thick dry stone walls define a living
space containing shelters or timber framed houses. The walls can form an
enclosure (such as a broch or a small hillfort),
or simply bisect a section of promontory land.
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| Flankers - | The two upright standing
stones which are placed either side of the recumbent
stone in some Scottish stone circles.
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| Fogou - | The Cornish word for
cave. See souterrain for a description.
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| Gargoyle - | A carved stone ornament
with grotesque features, often found on churches, and believed to ward
off evil spirits.
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| Henge - | A late Neolithic
enclosure comprising of a circular ditch and external bank with one or
more entrances formed by a break in the bank/ditch.
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| Hillfort - | A defended Iron
Age settlement. They are usually situated in places that offer some
degree of protection and a good view of the neighbourhood (such as a hill).
Fortification was provided by one or more banks of earth or stones, or
by a wall. Some hillforts were also defended by ditches.
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| Holy Well - | A generic term used
to describe any spring which has attracted attention
in the form of legend, folklore, tradition or ritual use. Some, but by
no means all, have some form of construction associated with the water
source.
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| Iron Age - | The period of prehistory
between the Bronze Age and the Roman invasion
of Britain in about 50 CE. An age when iron was preferred
to bronze for the manufacture of weapons and tools.
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| Leyline - | A term coined in the
early 20th century to describe the alignment of
historic sites. Leylines were believed by Alfred Watkins to be ancient
trackways. In the 1960s, it was suggested that they represented lines of
dowsable energy over the land. In more recent years,
it has been suggested that they represent the paths taken by Shamans during
trance flight.
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| Long Barrow - | An extended mound
of earth built over a burial chamber. Built
in the Neolithic period.
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| Mediaeval Period - | The period of European
history superseding the Dark Ages, lasting from
around 1100 CE to 1500 CE. A time that is well documented
and has left many religious artefacts (e.g. the Weeping
Cross, Gloucestershire).
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| Menhir - | Another term for for
standing stone. Derived from the Breton term
"maen-hir", meaning "stone-tall".
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| Neolithic Period - | The period of prehistory
before the Bronze Age, characterised by the change
from a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a more settled farming culture.
In Western Europe it is between the years of about 4500 BCE
and 2000 BCE. Also known as the New Stone Age.
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| Outlier - | A single standing
stone lying outside of a stone circle or henge
but thought to be associated with it in some way. Perhaps as a sight mark
for a an astronomical alignment.
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| Passage Tomb - | A stone-lined passage,
sometimes having side chambers, which leads to a burial
chamber. The entire structure would then have been covered by a mound
of earth and/or stones.
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| Pictish Stone - | Standing
stones or natural stones which have been incised or carved with various
symbols. They are almost exclusively found in the Pictish homelands of
northern and eastern Scotland. The symbols are believed to date from between
the 6th and 10th centuries CE.
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| Prehistory - | The period of history
before written records were kept. Ends with the Roman colonisation of Britain.
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| Quoit - | The Cornish name for
a dolmen.
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| Recumbent Stone - | 1)
A large stone that is not set into the ground. Arbor Low stone
circle is comprised of recumbent stones.
2) A large stone, not set into the ground which has a flanker stone standing at either end. In Scotland only, this arrangement can be found incorporated into stone circles. Such a circle is called a recumbent stone circle. |
| Round Barrow - | A circular mound of
earth built over a burial chamber. Commonly
built in the Bronze Age.
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| Souterrain - | An
underground chamber or passage of unknown function found only in Scotland,
Ireland, Cornwall and Brittany. In Cornwall they are known as fogous.
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| Spa - | A natural mineral
spring, or the resort that grew around such a spring.
Spas were popular resorts in the Victorian era.
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| Spring - | A natural
outflow of ground water. Many natural springs have become holy
wells or spas because of the veneration of their
water, often because the water was/is believed to have healing or divinatory
powers.
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| Standing Stone - | A single stone set
upright in the ground. Sometimes known as a menhir.
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| Stone Circle - | A ring of stones.
The stones are usually set upright in the ground, but can be prostrate
(as at Arbor Low). The stones may be arranged in a circular fashion, but
flattened, elliptical and egg-shaped circles also exist. Built in the late
Neolithic and early Bronze
Age periods.
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| Stone Row - | An alignment of standing stones. Sometimes more than one lines of stones form an avenue. Often they lead to a prehistoric burial site structure or a stone circle. Occasionally multiple stone rows form a much larger site of unknown purpose (such as at the Hill O'Many Stanes, Scotland). |