Merry Maidens Stone Circle
Dans Maen · Merry Maidens — Dawns Men
Early Bronze Age·Penwith Bronze Age·🇬🇧 Cornwall, England, United Kingdom
About
About Merry Maidens Stone Circle
Perfectly graded Bronze Age stone circle of 19 granite stones 23.8 m diameter on roadside near Lamorna, Penwith: tallest 1.4 m on southwest graded to shortest on northeast (southwest-northeast gradation). Two outlier Pipers standing stones 100 m north. Folklore: 19 maidens petrified for dancing on Sabbath; Pipers as musicians. Excavated 1980s yielding no central feature, suggesting open ceremonial use rather than burial.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Gradation symbolism — sun or hierarchy?
Theories
- 01Graded height to frame sunset alignment
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. 2200–1800 BCE
- Period
- Early Bronze Age
- Culture
- Penwith Bronze Age
- Purpose
- Ceremonial graded stone circle
- Abandoned
- Iron Age
- Rediscovered
- Antiquarian 1769 Borlase; restoration 1860s (Hallett)
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c. 2200–1800 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1264 CE
Rediscovery
On the ground
Structures & features
50.0650° N · 5.5890° W · 120 m · 1 mapped feature
The Pipers
standing stonesTwo outlier standing stones 100 m NE of circle
50.0660° N · 5.5885° W
Gallery