Boscawen-Un Stone Circle
Boscawen-Un · Boskenwyn Un
Early to Middle Bronze Age·Penwith Bronze Age·🇬🇧 Cornwall, England, United Kingdom
About
About Boscawen-Un Stone Circle
Bronze Age oval stone circle (24.4 × 21.9 m) of 19 leaning granite stones enclosing central cist and angled central standing stone 2.7 m high with rare quartz veining, near St Buryan, Penwith. Circle stones inclined inward like truncated cone. Cist contained cremation and possibly inscribed stone. Associated with possible solar alignment and medieval thrice-crowned stone folklore. Excavated 1864–65 by Borlase revealing central stone and Veined stone.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Quartz vein selection intentional for luminosity
Theories
- 01Central stone as gnomon marking winter solstice shadow on circle
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 2000–1500 BCE
- Period
- Early to Middle Bronze Age
- Culture
- Penwith Bronze Age
- Purpose
- Stone circle with central burial cist and solar marker
- Abandoned
- Iron Age
- Rediscovered
- Recorded 1754 Borlase; excavated 1864–65
- Excavation
- Excavated
c. 2000–1500 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1312 CE
Abandonment
On the ground
Structures & features
50.0915° N · 5.6190° W · 140 m · 2 mapped features
Central quartz stone
standing stone2.7 m central pillar with quartz veining, inclined SW
50.0915° N · 5.6190° WCentral cist
cistSlab cist within circle near central stone
50.0915° N · 5.6190° W