[Stones] Bodmin Moor Cairns

[Judith Helling]

Hi Tom,
A brief reply on one aspect of your post - stones need not be worked or cut 
before building quite elaborate structures.  I speak as the wife of a dry 
stone waller here in Cumbria.  And think of the Iron Age dry stone brochs 
along the west coast of Scotland, amazing structures.

Best, Judith
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Murphy" <t.murphy at challenge.ngfl.ac.uk>
To: <stones at henge.org.uk>
Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 5:11 PM
Subject: [Stones] Bodmin Moor Cairns


> Hi all.
>
> I have been a member of this list for a while but this is the first time I
> have posted!!!
>
> Although my real interest lies in the field of Ancient Egypt and all
> things "Egyptological" I hope my question is relevant to the group?
>
> I am currently reading Megalithic Odyssey by Christian O'Brien (has anyone
> else read it?   If so, what did you think of it?).
>
> The first half of the book details his "discovery" of very many stone
> circles, and a vast array of cairns, on Bodmin Moor (some of the cairns
> apparently contained around 15,000 tons of stone).   He details all of the
> alignments that he thinks he has mapped between them.
>
> The second half is the beginning of his theory of who built these sites
> and where they might have originated (he follows this book up with two
> further works - his basic premise being that these astronomical
> circles/cairns were the result of teaching and instruction from a
> "superior" group of individuals - The Genius of the Few - who originated
> in Mesopotamia/Sumer and travelled throughout the world - including
> Ancient Egypt).
>
> I have not, as yet, had the good fortune to visit Bodmin Moor to see these
> structures for myself but until I do, my question is: Were the stones that
> were used to create these structures worked or cut in any way to fit
> together, or just "piled up" together?   Given the great quantity of
> material used and the supposed timescale in which they were built I would
> find it even more extraordinary if the stones were shaped as if building a
> wall!!!
>
> Does anyone have any info/pics I might find useful?
>
> Best regards,
> Tom
>
> "Only knowledge, then, is power and freedom; and the only permanent
> happiness is the pursuit of knowledge and the joy of understanding."
> --Will Durant
>
>
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