Chûn Quoit
Chûn Cromlech · Chywoon Quoit
Early Neolithic·Penwith Early Neolithic·🇬🇧 Cornwall, England, United Kingdom
About
About Chûn Quoit
Best-preserved portal dolmen in Cornwall on hilltop above Chûn Castle Iron Age hillfort near Morvah: four granite uprights (to 1.6 m) supporting 3.3 × 2.3 m mushroom capstone over intact rectangular chamber 1.2 m high with entrance to southeast. Retains surrounding kerb mound remnant 10 m. Built c.3500 BCE, uniquely preserved because mound never ploughed. View to Atlantic. Considered type-example of Penwith quoits.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why so perfectly preserved compared to Lanyon
Theories
- 01Hilltop territorial marker visible from sea
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. 3500 BCE
- Period
- Early Neolithic
- Culture
- Penwith Early Neolithic
- Purpose
- Portal dolmen burial chamber within round mound
- Abandoned
- Late Neolithic
- Rediscovered
- Antiquarian 18th century; near Chûn Castle scheduled together
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c. 3500 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1216 CE
Abandonment
On the ground
Structures & features
50.1486° N · 5.6377° W · 220 m · 1 mapped feature
Chûn Castle hillfort
hillfortIron Age hillfort 200 m north of quoit on same hilltop
50.1495° N · 5.6380° W
Gallery