Chûn Quoit
Encyclopedia
Dolmen
A dolmen—also known as a portal tomb, portal grave, dolmain , cromlech , anta , Hünengrab/Hünenbett , Adamra , Ispun , Hunebed , dös , goindol or quoit—is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of...
(also called dolmens or cromlechs) in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, UK is Chûn Quoit, located in open moorland near Pendeen
Pendeen
Pendeen is a village on the Penwith peninsula in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is north-northeast of St Just and west of Penzance.The village has a community centre, a shop, a post office, a primary school, and a few small businesses. Community activities include an art club, silver marching band...
and Morvah
Morvah
Morvah is a civil parish and village on the Penwith peninsula in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is situated approximately eight miles west-southwest of St Ives and 5½ miles north-west of Penzance....
. The uphill walk is worthwhile because this is perhaps the most visually satisfying of all the quoits. Standing on a windy ridge
Ridge
A ridge is a geological feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for some distance. Ridges are usually termed hills or mountains as well, depending on size. There are several main types of ridges:...
, above the much later constructed Chûn Castle
Chûn Castle
Chûn Castle is a large Iron Age hillfort near Penzance in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The fort was built around two and a half thousand years ago, and fell into disuse until the 6th century AD when it was possibly reoccupied to protect the nearby tin mines. It stands beside a prehistoric trackway...
hillfort
Hill fort
A hill fort is a type of earthworks used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Some were used in the post-Roman period...
, it surveys heather
Calluna
Calluna vulgaris is the sole species in the genus Calluna in the family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing perennial shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found widely in Europe and Asia Minor on acidic soils in open sunny situations and in moderate shade...
moorland
Moorland
Moorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...
and the open sea.
As with the other quoits, the quoit was probably covered by a round barrow (35 ft in diamter), of which much evidence abounds. It was a closed chamber and its mushroom-domed capstone
Capstone
Capstone may refer to:* Coping , one of the finishing or protective stones that form the top of an exterior masonry wall or building* Capstone , a US government project about cryptographic standards...
measures 3.3 m (11 ft) by 3 m (10 ft), with a maximum thickness of 0.8 m (2 ft 7 in). It is supported about 2 m (7 ft) from the ground by four substantial slabs. There is evidence of an entrance passage to the south-east within the mound area. The site was examined in 1871 but no significant finds were made. In the same vicinity of Chûn Quoit there are many other megalith
Megalith
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. Megalithic describes structures made of such large stones, utilizing an interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement.The word 'megalith' comes from the Ancient...
ic and archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
sites as Lanyon Quoit
Lanyon Quoit
Lanyon Quoit is a dolmen in Cornwall, 2 miles southeast of Morvah. It stands next to the road leading from Madron to Morvah. In the 18th century, the structure was tall enough for a person on horse back to stand under. The capstone rested at 7 feet high with dimensions of 9 feet by 17.5 feet...
, Mên-an-Tol
Mên-an-Tol
The Mên-an-Tol is a small formation of standing stones near the Madron-Morvah road in Cornwall, United Kingdom . It is about 3 miles north west of Madron...
and Mên Scryfa. The weird rocky outline of Carn Kenidjack marks the position of midwinter
Solstice
A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun's apparent position in the sky, as viewed from Earth, reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes...
sunset away to the south-west.
This is the only cromlech
Cromlech
Cromlech is a Brythonic word used to describe prehistoric megalithic structures, where crom means "bent" and llech means "flagstone". The term is now virtually obsolete in archaeology, but remains in use as a colloquial term for two different types of megalithic monument.In English it usually...
in west Penwith to retain its capstone 'in situ'--others have been re-settled. It is believed to have been built around 2400BC, two millennia before the neighbouring Chûn Castle
Chûn Castle
Chûn Castle is a large Iron Age hillfort near Penzance in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The fort was built around two and a half thousand years ago, and fell into disuse until the 6th century AD when it was possibly reoccupied to protect the nearby tin mines. It stands beside a prehistoric trackway...
. In 1988 radiation readings were taken inside the chamber which revealed results 123% higher than the local environment. This 'high-energy' granite is the only possible clue to otherwise inexplicable claims that short bursts of multicoloured light flash across the undersurface of the quoit lasting half an hour. There is a cupmark on top of the capstone which perhaps had a ritual significance to the druids who, to this day, make pilgrimages to the site.