Stone monuments

Why am I interested in Old Stuff? This is a good question, and my reply is always that the people who lived ages ago made decisions that still affect our lives today. Decisions like moving from one place to another, changing from one pagan religeon to another, and finally deciding to become Christian. Understanding a little about what caused them to make those decisions helps us to understand why things are the way that they are in the modern world.

This page is just a taste of what can be found on my stonecentric site.

The top photo is from a trip to Dumfries and Galloway with my old friend Anton (left) in 1999. The place is Cairnholy 1, which is a Clyde-Carlingford type burial mound. This type of cairn has a facade of stones at the entrance that face somewhere important to the builders (in this case, to Midwinter sunrise).

Below that is an old picture of me sitting on Hadrian's Wall. Little did I know (as I was coming out of my Lemmy-look-a-like phase) that I would one day be making my home on the non-Roman side of the wall.... But life's full of surprises!

I've been coming out of the Neolithic recently in terms of my historical interests. This is a pictish cross-slab from about the 8th of 9th century CE and is at Dunfallandy, Perthshire. This really is a terrible photo (because the stone is behind glass) but this side shows a horseman (still unfinished 1200 years later!) and some tongs (a clear sign of ironworking in the society).

The other side has a truly amazing cruciform cross inlaid with intricate celtic woven patterns. Unfortunately, that picture came out even worse, so you'll just have to look at the not-so-good side. The fact that the Christian sculptor did not obliterate the earlier pagan carvings may indicate that he felt that they were cursed.