Drombeg stone circle (also known as ''The Druid's Altar'') is a small axial stone circle located east of Glandore,

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, Ireland. Although not an especially significant example, Drombeg is one of the most visited megalithic sites in Ireland, and is protected under the National Monuments Act. It was excavated in 1958, when the cremated remains of an adolescent were found in a pot in the circle's centre.

Features

The

stone circle A stone circle is a ring of megalithic standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially Stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being ...

originally consisted of seventeen closely spaced stones of which 13 survive. The stones are made from local sandstone. The circle spans in diameter. As an axial or "Cork–Kerry" stone circle, it contains two taller entrance stones placed opposite a recumbent axial stone. Its axis is orientated south west towards the setting sun. The most westerly stone (1.9m long) is the long recumbent and has two egg shaped cup-marks, one with a ring around it. An axial stone circle, also known as a "Cork–Kerry type" stone circle, it is flanked by a pair of 1.8m high axial portal stones, which mark the entrance to the stone circle, and face the recumbent altar stone. This arrangement creates a south-west axis, and orients the monument in the direction of the setting sun during the midwinter

solstice A solstice is the time when the Sun reaches its most northerly or southerly sun path, excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around 20–22 June and 20–22 December. In many countries ...

. Terence Meaden suggests that a

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

, on the northern side of one stone, is of an erect phallus with two testicles, about long. While a further carving, and wide on the upper surface of one of the recumbent stones and previously identified as an "axe-like outline", is vulvar in nature. Both carvings are prehistorical. Near the stone circle, approximately 40m to the west, are two round stone-walled prehistoric huts and a

fulacht fiadh A burnt mound is an archaeological feature consisting of a mound of shattered stones and charcoal, normally with an adjacent hearth and trough. The trough could be rock-cut, wood-lined or clay-lined to ensure it was watertight. Radiocarbon ...

. Evidence suggests the fulacht fiadh was in use until approximately the 5th century AD. Of the two huts, the largest had a timber roof supported by timber posts. The smaller hut contains the remains of a cooking spot on its eastern side. A causeway leads from the huts to the fulacht fiadh, which has a hearth, well and a water trough.

Excavations

Following a number of surveys in the early 1900s, the site was excavated and restored in 1957.

Radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...

of samples taken from the site suggest that it was active c. 1100–800 BC. An inverted pot, found in the centre of the circle, contained the cremated remains of a young adolescent wrapped with thick cloth. The pot was found close to the centre of the circle and was found alongside smashed sherds and a collection of sweepings from a

pyre A pyre (; ), also known as a funeral pyre, is a structure, usually made of wood, for burning a body as part of a funeral rite or execution. As a form of cremation, a body is placed upon or under the pyre, which is then set on fire. In discussi ...

Gallery

File:Drombeg Stone Circle Portal.jpg, Portal stones File:Drombeg Stone Circle East.jpg, Slabs on the west side File:Drombeg Stone Circle Fireplace.jpg, Cooking place File:Drombeg_dwelling_remains.jpg, Dwelling remains

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * *

External links

Megalithic Ireland - Photographs of DrombegMegalithomania - Site plan and photographs of Drombeg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drombeg Stone Circle Stone circles in Ireland Archaeological sites in County Cork National monuments in County Cork