Waun Mawn
 Standing stone and prostrate stone at Waun Mawn in 2012 | |
  Shown within Pembrokeshire | |
| Location | Near Tafarn y Bwlch, Brynberian, Pembrokeshire, Wales |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°58′18″N 4°47′28″W / 51.9716°N 4.7912°W |
| Type | Stone circle site |
| History | |
| Periods | Neolithic |
| Site notes | |
| Archaeologists | Mike Parker Pearson |
Waun Mawn (Welsh for "peat moor") is the site of a dismantled Neolithic stone circle in the Preseli Hills of Pembrokeshire, west Wales. The diameter of the circle is estimated to be 360 feet (110 m), the third largest diameter for a British stone circle. The doleritic bluestones that made up the circle were likely mined at the nearby Carn Menyn.[1][2]
The site is located at grid reference SN08393403 around a mile to the south west of Brynberian.[3] This tract of moorland sits on the southern slopes of the 1,112 feet (339 m) hill top of Cnwc yr Hŷdd, just to the north of the broad east-west ridge of the Preseli range.[4]
There are four remaining standing stones, two standing and two prostrate. Nearby are the "Troed y Rhiw" standing stones and to the west of the main group is another solitary standing stone, the 'Waun Mawn Stone', measuring some 7 ft 7 in (2.3 m) high.[5]
Recent findings
During 2017 and 2018, excavations by the UCL team of archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson, revealed that the site had originally housed a 110-metre (360 ft) diameter stone circle of the same size as Stonehenge's original bluestone circle, also oriented towards the midsummer solstice.[6][7] The circle also contained a hole from one stone which had a distinctive pentagonal shape, very closely matching the one pentagonal stone at Stonehenge (stonehole 91 at Waun Mawn/stone 62 at Stonehenge).[6][7]
Following soil dating of the sediments within the revealed stone holes, via optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), it has been argued, by Parker Pearson, that the circle of stones was built c. 3400–3200 BC and then, before 2120 BC, was disassembled, moved and reassembled at Stonehenge in Wiltshire, some 140 miles (230 km) distant.[8] Parker Pearson's discoveries have been published in the journal Antiquity.[9][1]
The site and its connection with Stonehenge was the subject of the BBC Two programme, Stonehenge: The Lost Circle Revealed, with Parker Pearson and Professor Alice Roberts, broadcast on 12 February 2021.[10]
References
- ^ a b Pearson, M., Pollard, J., Richards, C., Welham, K., Kinnaird, T., Shaw, D., Simmons, E., Stanford, A., Bevins, R., Ixer, R., Ruggles. C., Rylatt, J. and Edinborough, K. (2021). The original Stonehenge? A dismantled stone circle in the Preseli Hills of west Wales. Antiquity, 95(379), 85-103. doi:10.15184/aqy.2020.239
- ^ An Inventory of the Ancient Monuments of Wales and Monmouthshire, Vol.VII. Royal Commission. 1925. p. 260.
- ^ "Coflein: Waun Mawn". Retrieved 12 February 2021.
- ^ OL35 North Pembrokeshire [Gogledd Sir Benfro] (Map) (A1bar ed.). 1:25,000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey. 2002. ISBN 9780319236239.
- ^ "Waun Mawn Standing Stones, Pembrokeshire: Photos & Visiting Information". Britain Express. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
- ^ a b The original Stonehenge? A dismantled stone circle in the Preseli Hills of west Wales
- ^ a b England’s Stonehenge was erected in Wales first
- ^ "Stonehenge: Did the stone circle originally stand in Wales?". BBC News. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
- ^ https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/12/dramatic-discovery-links-stonehenge-to-its-original-site-in-wales
- ^ "Stonehenge: The Lost Circle Revealed". bbc.co.uk. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
External links
- Standing stone at Waun Mawn from geograph.org.uk
- Waun Mawn (Tafarn y Bwlch) at megalithic.co.uk, updated 2018