Mysterious Marking on Neolithic Megalith - Garn Gilfach | Pembrokeshire | Wales History

We are back in Pembrokeshire, continuing our exploration into the history and legends of ancient sites in Wales. Today we’re visiting Garn Gilfach on the Pencaer/Strumble Head Peninsula…
Over 200 years ago, when antiquarian Richard Fenton visited this dolmen, it was still commonly believed that sites like this were Druidic alters... used for rituals including animal and human sacrifice. In 1810 he wrote; "On the upper surface of the Cromlech are three considerable excavations near the centre, probably intended to have received the blood of the victim... or waters for purification."
Join us as we explore the site and delve into what the antiquarians and archaeologists have to say...
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/ coraljackz
/ coraljackz
/ coraljackz

[@johnbruce2868]

I'm a retired archaeologist with geological experience. This is a very interesting 'archaeology in the landscape' video (I subscribed) which I enjoyed very much, but don't let imagination replace reality as early 18 - 19th. century amateur commentators (like Fenton) did. The depressions are entirely natural features being formed by cleavage along very obvious bedding planes. They are quite distinct from cup marks. "Druids", btw, are associated only with Iron Age Celtic cultures through the writings of Roman historians but not with any of the earlier Neolithic / Bronze Age cultures responsible for megaliths, dolmens, standing stones, henge monuments, etc. That pure speculation is also founded in the imagination of early 18 -19th. century commentators. They were an enthusiastic, but uneducated, lot who frequently came to the wildest of dramatic conclusions. Years ago I excavated Horsenden Hill, Perivale, speculated, by similarly minded 19th. century commentators, to be a Saxon Hill Fort (they didn't build such structures!). Horsa (Saxon name) + dun (Goidelic Celtic morpheme), the two language construction didn't seem to bother them so they pounced on the obvious theatrical solution. The banks and ditches were natural and caused by landslips of London Clay when inclined at an angle of more than 17%. It can be difficult to distinguish geological from archaeological features. Learning about the monuments of Pembrokeshire is good, entertaining, stuff.

[@coraljackz]

Hi, thanks for your positive and cautionary words! We're aware of the antiquarians many flaws, and take their accounts with a bucket of salt, but we do like to include their perspective. Sometimes demonstrating how much culture and opinions have changed over the past couple of centuries, sometimes simply as comic relief. But I do hope the phrasing made it clear enough that it was their opinion rather than ours; "over 200 years ago... it was still commonly believed that sites like this were druidic alters". We do agree that the depressions are likely natural features, but the striking red colour when we visited did get us wondering if this was present when Fenton visited, inspiring him to write that they 'received the blood'... A better question may be, were these marks likely to have been present before the structure was raised, and if so, did they utilise them in any way? Great example of anachronistic antiquarian assumptions, they are altogether too common... currently researching a Stonehenge deep dive and the early assumption about its age and who created it are quite varied and amusing!!

[@johnbruce2868]

@@coraljackz The red staining, likely caused by an alga of the phylum Rhodophyta, whose habitats included still fresh water pools, was most certainly present when Fenton visited. His first passion was poetry which goes far to explain his vivid imagination and enthusiasm for drama. Alas! The stone is pre-historic, so we'll never know whether the triangular depressions were used in any way and I wouldn't think about it too much... unless you find similar depressions elsewhere. Looking forward to the Stonehenge deep dive! ATB.

[@JesseP.Watson]

Scuse me, I was half asleep browsing when I commented last night. I am, at present, a fellow dolmenic enthusiast in Pembrokeshire. On Dinas Moor at present, if you pass by and see my old ramshackle white transit with boxes on the roof, do come and say hello, be a pleasure to talk ancient wonders with you. All the best, Jess.

[@coraljackz]

Aha thanks for your comments, sorry for the late response! We are over that way often, you may also see us out and about ;)

[@rossironmonger5626]

This is so very interesting. Thank you.

[@coraljackz]

Thanks :)

[@18Ty]

Lovely stuff 👌

[@coraljackz]

@@18Ty diolch yn fawr 😁

[@jameswalksinhistory3848]

Interesting 👍👍

[@coraljackz]

Thanks James! :)

[@user-df9wv1gs4w]

I visited Three Cliffs Bay on the Gower about a couple of months ago with my son. Looking to see if we could find any neolithic sites there. I remember as a child, holidaying there that we came across a site, which was cleared and looked after. Of what to me now seems a communal burial site. 2 rows of construction with about 6 chambers each side. It was in a forested area. We could not find it anywhere, we spent the day looking. Though we did find a site on a promontary that looked like it could be for someone of stature, considering its location and size to the other site that i recall. Going to have another day there to look as it has intrigued me not being able to find it. I havnt seen anything else like it in the yrs i have explored youtube. Which is why i want to find it and put it here for people to see. Great video buddy!

[@coraljackz]

Hmmm, not sure exactly what you are describing... or at least nothing jumps to mind. Could you give a bit more detail? I know you say 'you haven't seen anything else like it', but would you say it looked more like Parc Le Breos chambered tomb, Sweynes Howes or Cerrig YGof... interesting either way. Oh, and thanks, glad you liked the video!

[@user-df9wv1gs4w]

@@coraljackz It looks like the rectangular slab chambers of cerrig y gof. Yet instead of them being seperate like in cerrig, they are alongside one another in a row. 2 rows of about 6 chambers either side, with a walkway down the center. The overall structure was a rectangle. From memory the slabs were no more than around a meter in height. Now, i dont know if my memory serves me well or not, as i checked maps and dont see it anywhere, where i thought it was. I will take another trip though and scour google earth.

[@karukurokami]

I was recommended your channel by chance and was pleasantly surprised. Im my opinion, the hollows on the stone are natural. That's at least what it immediately struck me as. On the smaller hollow, it is clear that its one surface follows a natural fault in the rock (which in fact has even started cracking open), and the most vertical surface looks very much like a crack itself due to the relatively sharp upper edge. I've seen many similar geometric hollows on large boulders where water has entered cracks, frozen, and broken off chunks over time. The larger hollow appears to follow smaller faults and has a similarly geometric shape inside Ultimately it also depends on context. Unless clearly man-made hollows are present on stones at other sites, it seems unlikely that this one would have been done intentionally

[@coraljackz]

Hi @karukurokami, thanks for giving our videos a try and getting involved! My gut feeling is that they are likely natural features and, as you say, I've also seen similar geometric hollows on natural boulders. This is also an area that would have been under more than a kilometre of ice during the last glaciation period, so they could potentially have been formed when huge forces separated this section from the outcrop above. If we went with the assumption that they ARE natural, then the question could be: "Were these marks formed before or after it was raised by humans? Did the builders intentionally utilise an existing feature? Or did a process of natural erosion take place long after the monument was built, with the original builders never seeing these marks? George Nash's work on rock art in Wales gives me hope that we might get some more context for monuments from this period. He and his team have been identifying man made markings that have been previously overlooked... and the question of why and when some capstones were adorned with cup marks is being grappled with. We will have to do a video taking a closer look at rock on megaliths in Wales, I'll add it to the list! All the best, Jacky

[@donwright3427]

Pembrokeshire is a magical place

[@coraljackz]

It really is!

[@SchwightDultz]

Your production quality has improved rather impressively in such a short space of time. Have you ever considered producing a proof of concept for the consideration of a larger media outlet?

[@coraljackz]

Thanks! We're still filming most of it on our phones and having lots of fun getting familiar with the process, but getting a drone certainly felt like a level up. We are getting slightly more ambitious (kind encouraging comments like this help) and have a few 'bigger' videos that we've been working on in the background for a while now... but to be honest, no, it has not crossed our minds to make that sort of pitch. Sounds like a lovely idea though, perhaps one day!

[@jenniferharrison4319]

I love to look for interesting rocks and boulders in South West Lake District but abandon searching when the bracken grows. These are probably natural as johnbruce2868 mentioned. I have found the same shape on boulders that are near Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments. It may be that the capping stone was selected because it had these hollows.As you stated, they may have been used for a ritual purposes. Do you check if the hollows are aligned with any particular astronomical event, solstice’s etc 🤔

[@COJAZ]

❤❤

[@mikeclarke952]

Your dog looks a lot like my Chester. He's a Boston terrier and Staffy mix with tiger stripes like your dog.

[@coraljackz]

@@mikeclarke952 aw lovely 😍 thanks for watching!

[@JesseP.Watson]

Lot of folks talking bunkem here, anyone who's worked in dolmen construction knows this dolmen was a second (I run a small megalithic contractor firm, dolmen, circles, pyramids, usual crap for those seeking Godhood). Those two triangular holes are a very clumsy moulding flaw anyhow. Common issue these days with the state of the workforce, not like it used to be.

[@MyKharli]

They look like normal weathering /frost crack stone work to me . I am sure this feature is not rare .

[@coraljackz]

Hi, thanks for commenting! It is rare to find these on a capstone of a monument, but yes they do look like natural features that would go unnoticed on a regular bolder or outcrop.

[@N0C0MPLY]

Great video but you pronounce Manorbier like an American tourist lol. It's pronounced Manor beer.

[@fado792]

Markings are from frost. Dont spill my time.

[@coraljackz]

It's entirely possible that freeze-thaw weathering has played its part in the formation of these depressions, thanks for your opinion. The rest of the video is about antiquarian perspectives, location and what it is like to walk to the site. Certainly would not want to spill your time, it might get on something and stain :)

[@18Ty]

Tough guy picking on a lady and her dog 😮

[@user-df9wv1gs4w]

The most curious thing about these sites, is that they are all over the world in an era that man supposedly didnt have global knowledge. Or travel the globe. Like so many other anomalies, the pyramids, polygonal building, certain ways of dressing stone and more that i cant recall now that are global too. There seems to be many holes or gaps in our histories as the things i have seen propose a differing history to that which we are taught!

[@coraljackz]

It's an interesting point, there is a growing consensus over the timeline of when the architecture moved across mainland Europe and over to the British isles... but certainly still lots of gaps.

[@JesseP.Watson]

Good to remember that certain things recur as common solutions and/or entertainments or interests. For example, the vast majority of cultures create some kind of bed, a house, a table, a chair, a bowl, a saw, a knife, clothing... the list is actually endless. These inventions may or may not share a point of origin, they are, pretty much, the only solution or the obvious solution to certain needs and or problems and so very similar solutions /designs reoccur independently, slightly different but essentially the same often in many ways. Notice that no two dolmens in Britain are identical and other dolmens around the world differ in ways to the forms seen here often - the Russian 'dolmen' is much more of a box, often with a hole in the front, unlike anything seem in Britain, the Japanese 'dolmen' form is likewise not exactly like anything seen in Britain, not that there is a set pattern here to compare to anyway. That being the case, what actually IS a dolmen when the term is used in that global sense? - it is simply a stone set on some others, there is no other criteria to qualify. Some look like giant tables with round legs, some are boxes made with thin plates, some are made from dressed stone, some are made from unworked stone, some are entirely enclosed, some entirely open, some big, some small, some have a stone atop over-hanging the 'legs' by a long way... some do not... some are round, some square, some triangular... some have multiple 'rooms' beneath them, some just one, some none. You get the idea. Point being... when we say 'dolmens are found right around the globe', well, what is a dolmen in these terms? - it is a monument featuring a stone balanced on others that might look a bit like a little house of a cow sometimes or any number of things. So, do we need a global civilisation to invent this and travel around the world suggesting the idea to everyone who built something like this, or might lots of people build something like this independently, perhaps for different reasons entirely, like lots of people have built a kind of table, independently, to put something on...? The other MAJOR problem is that megalithic building can be seem occurring in very different periods around the world - it's still going on in Indonesia in fact. So, it might be better to consider it a stage human cultures seem to pass through as they develop, rather than a one-off invention that was spread around the world. If you think about it, that's actually a far more interesting thought because it says : why do humans keep having this idea to build these massive stone house/table things....? Why, seemingly, if there are a load of people and some big boulders around, do they start building these structures? What is it that makes that form so appealing to us... or does it in fact have some obvious use or significance to people at that stage in cultural development that we cannot imagine once having passed through it?!? All the best, hope that gives a few thoughts.

[@user-df9wv1gs4w]

@@JesseP.Watson I totally understand the point you made but yet, there are to many instances of this type of, same ideas in a differing format. There will always be ideas that pop up in different parts of the world and are essentially the same thing. There are instances of this in modern times with technology. This is just one example of those coincidences which are global. There are many others i have come across over the years. Just two classic examples for you, the pyramids and polygonal stonework. Both all over the world. Can your theory explain that? Any many many other instances of building and dressing stone etc etc. I just find it a stretch to believe these things occured independantly in every country and continent.

[@JesseP.Watson]

@@user-df9wv1gs4w ...Erm, perhaps yes, I'd suggest two things there, a pyramid is one if not THE most stable form we can build, it might also be said to be what emerges if we want to make a man-made hill or mountain from blocks of stone. ...Square blocks translate much more easily to a square sided structure. So, if you want to create a very stable structure that elevates a platform for something then you would very likely design something like an Incan pyramid or those kind of vague pyramids found in Cambodian temples. Notably, Egyptian pyramids are very different to those. I'm pretty sure I'm right in saying there is a good thousand years or more in-between the construction of pyramids in Egypt and those in S.America and Cambodia. Polygonal stonework is a natural refinement of drystone walling technique - I was brought up on a farm with 6 miles of drystone wall on it (the workload of which is simply astonishing and could be said to rival many megalithic works in shear labour, incidentally) ...And, well, suffice to say I know a bit about drystone walling. Point being, the better the drystone waller, the tighter the puzzle of stones they build fit together, that's a kind of obvious rule that reoccurs as it means the wall is very solid with all that contact and, aesthetically, looks good - neatness is a trait which is appreciated in craftsmanship globally. So, you have stone, you have developed the craft of drystone walling... where do you go if you want to create sonething REALLY prestigious, for a temple or fort or something and you have those skills? You start building something resembling cyclopean walls. I've actually seem drystone walls that could almost be described as cyclopean - it's a very small step from one to the other, just a refinement of craft - well, not 'just', but a refinement by very skilled craftsmen taking their craft to its natural conclusion - perfectly fitted irregular stones. There's some video I shot of some granite drystone walls in Ireland uploaded by @SGDSacredGeometryDecoded, skip to the last 5 minutes of that to see what I'm talking about... and that drystone walls in agriculture are incredibly impressive too sometimes, and they're often built by just one or two men. All the best.