Standing stone called Tresvennack Pillar

Reasons for Designation

Standing stones are prehistoric ritual or ceremonial monuments with dates ranging from the Late Neolithic to the end of the Bronze Age for the few excavated examples. They comprise single or paired upright orthostatic slabs, ranging from under lm to over 6m high where still erect. They are often conspicuously sited and close to other contemporary monument classes. They can be accompanied by various features: many occur in or on the edge of round barrows, and where excavated, associated subsurface features have included stone cists, stone settings, and various pits and hollows filled in with earth containing human bone, cremations, charcoal, flints, pots and pot sherds. Similar deposits have been found in excavated sockets for standing stones, which range considerably in depth. Several standing stones also bear cup and ring marks. Standing stones may have functioned as markers for routeways, territories, graves, or meeting points, but their accompanying features show they also bore a ritual function and that they form one of several ritual monument classes of their period that often contain a deposit of cremation and domestic debris as an integral component. No national survey of standing stones has been undertaken, and estimates range from 50 to 250 extant examples, widely distributed throughout England but with concentrations in Cornwall, the North Yorkshire Moors, Cumbria, Derbyshire and the Cotswolds. Standing stones are important as nationally rare monuments, with a high longevity and demonstrating the diversity of ritual practices in the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age. The standing stone called Tresvennack Pillar survives well and has already produced two urns (one being one of the largest urns found in Cornwall) close to its base. There will be further archaeological and environmental evidence surrounding the standing stone relating to its erection, function, longevity, social and territorial significance, ritual and funerary practices and overall landscape context.

Details

The monument includes a standing stone, situated on a low ridge between two tributaries of the Lamorna River. The standing stone survives as an earthfast, upright monolith with a large vertical crack standing up to 4m high. The standing stone was first recorded in 1848 when JNR Millet discovered two urns near its base. The larger 'Collared' urn was set upright in a 0.9m square pit covered with a capstone, immediately to the east of the standing stone. The collared urn contained cremated bone and wood ash. The second smaller urn was barrel-shaped with two handles. It contained a fine powdery substance and was located in a second pit 0.5m to the north east of the first. Both urns are Middle Bronze Age and are in Penzance Museum. The standing stone was illustrated by Borlase in the 19th century.

Sources: HER:- PastScape Monument No:-422654

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

CO 304

Legacy System:

RSM - OCN

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