Talk:Stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany

vs 'Stone Circle' article
The Stone circle article contains a lot of fine details which are specific to British Isles and Brittany. I have been tidying up that article to make it more global to match its title. I've not touched these details though, perhaps an expert in British details could help by moving some of them from there to this page? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.30.195.234 (talk) 10:59, 3 September 2023 (UTC)

Categorisation of Stone Circles
Stone circles should be categorised into at least two types.

Agricultural circles primarily used to determine the seasons for planting and harvesting. These are found in fertile areas away from Copper and Tin Mines. These are older dating to the neolithic and the oldest ones are found in the fertile areas of the Middle East.

Navigational circles. These are used to determine when the winds change to allow sailors to ship copper and tin to the middle east. They are found in Tin and Copper mining areas like Cornwall, Brittany and Wales. They can be based on constellations like the Plaides..the Sailors constellation. These circles are associated with the Bronze age and the industrial scale extraction of metals in that age.

Stone Henge is the only stone circle that can be categorised as being primarily for ritual. Clearly, if studying the stars one does not need stones that weigh hundreds of tonnes.92.10.54.236 (talk) 08:50, 18 February 2012 (UTC)


 * And where are your reliable sources for such information ? Wikipedia is designed to present the academic consensus on any given issue, and should thus not be used to push your own pet theories. Midnightblueowl (talk) 14:34, 26 March 2015 (UTC)

Rankings
The article states: "Burl calculated that the largest stone circle in terms of both diameter and area was Stanton Drew in Somerset, with a diameter of 112.2m and an area of 9,887m². Second came the Ring of Brodgar in Orkney at 103.6m in diameter and 8,430m² in area, whilst third was Avebury in Wiltshire, which had a diameter of 102.4m and an area of 8,236m²". But the largest stone circle at Avebury has a diameter of 331.6 m, so the rankings are 1) Avebury, 2) Stanton Drew, 3) Ring of Brodgar. Why had Burl ignored this larger ring at Avebury? The para quoted above would probably confuse people. Aarghdvaark (talk) 05:46, 11 April 2012 (UTC)

"north-east to south-east orientation"?
Under "Early Neolithic", we read that the chambered tombs were built in a "north-east to south-east orientation". One of these "easts" must surely be "west" - but which one? --User:Haraldmmueller 16:33, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

"archaeologists do not know their exact purpose" .. or their purpose at all?
Under "Early Neolithic", we read for "causewayed enclosures": "archaeologists do not know their exact purpose" - and then a number of suggestions: "camps, markets, cattle kraals or occasional settlements, or perhaps ritual centres for the celebration of seasonal festivals or cemeteries". I would argue that the archaeologists do not only not know their exact purpose, but have actually no clue at all about their purpose; and thus I suggest to drop the "exact" in the sentence mentioned. --User:Haraldmmueller 16:40, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

Contradiction in the Regional Distribution/South-West Britain section
In the first paragraph of this section, it mentions (without source) that there are 13 stone circles on Dartmoor; the next paragraph claims Dartmoor has over 70. Which is it? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.75.91.43 (talk) 11:04, 15 August 2020 (UTC)