Indexer
Merrivale Stone Row is high up on Dartmoor, in the southwest England county of Devon. There is a great deal of evidence that this region, now largely deserted, was home to many people during the Bronze Age (c. 2000-650 BC). The Merrivale Stone Row is one of about 60 similar ancient monuments on Dartmoor, as well as many stone circles, solitary standing stones and tomb remains.
The Merrivale Stone Row stands out from the rest by virtue of its length and completeness. It consists of two nearly parallel double rows of stones thirty yards apart.
The northern row is about 180 metres (590 feet) long and the southern row is about 260 metres (850 feet) long. There is a burial cist (stone-lined grave) and small stone circle about halfway along the longer row.
Why was it built? No-one can be absolutely certain, but the prominent position of a burial cist suggests that it could have been a processional route to honour the memory of great clan leader.
(The photo is not mine, but taken from a copyright-free source)
Wow, so ancient & mysterious place, it’s like Stonehenge for me!!! Great!!!
ah the English and stacking or lining up stones! Nice!
These were there a very long time before the English arrived!
🙂 but you still have all sorts of other stone stacking. 😉 teasing by the by.
Very interesting. Is that not a protected area? I saw a lot of cows there, or are they all wild buffalo?
You don’t get buffalo on Dartmoor! Yes, they would be cattle, as the land is available for grazing.
Dartmoor is a National Park, which means that it is protected from development. However, large areas of it (not the part where this monument is found) are reserved for military training.
That is amazing and very interesting, There are many things that we cannot understand but they are all fascinating to learn about and to see,
Interesting story I was not aware of. Great photo as well.
As I said above, I cannot take credit for the photo.