Medieval stone cross identified on Dartmoor
ARCHAEOLOGISTS have discovered a stone cross estimated to be over 700 years old in a remote spot on Dartmoor.
It is thought to have once served as a Christian waymarker or boundary stone.
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DISCOVERY: City College Plymouth archaeology student Alistair Courtney surveys the cross
The team, led by Win Scutt and Ross Dean of City College Plymouth, stumbled on the cross when surveying the ruins of a medieval settlement on the slopes of Gutter Tor, Dartmoor. No longer upright, the cross was not identified until the last day of the survey.
"We had assumed it was a gatepost until examining the shape of the stone and the incisions. We were bowled over when we realised what it actually was," said Win Scutt.
Although probably unfinished, the cross has been chiselled from a two metre long block of granite.
The head of the cross has three arms, while the shaft is decorated with a long incised channel.
The cross lies close to the ruins of two medieval long houses that date to the same period.
The survey was being carried out as part of a training exercise for students on the University of Plymouth's Foundation Degree in Archaeological Practice.
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by Mick, Barbican
Saturday, January 02 2010, 12:25AM
“Have they left the cross there? It could be worth a few bob so i expect we'll now see people out with wheelbarrows looking for it..”
by Kelly, UK
Friday, January 01 2010, 3:10PM
“How interesting. I wonder how it relates to the other positioning of medieval crosses within the Dartmoor landscape. Would certainly make for a good phenomenological study, has this been done before? If not and you have the funding then get in touch.”
by A realist, Plymouth
Friday, January 01 2010, 1:18PM
“Well the cross was once proud and upstanding but the long straight shadow it cast made all the other crosses for miles around to have pangs of inadequacy so the cross was adjusted to spare the blushes of all of the other crosses.
And they all lived happy ever after and all got along famously.
It's actually a female cross.
The name Gutter Tor derives from Get Her Tor.”
by Matt, Not Plymouth
Friday, January 01 2010, 12:03PM
“For heaven's sake Adrian, what are you on? Car crime and bank fraud in the middle ages? And how reliable would figures be for that period? And to judge from the way you and others talk with awe and wonder about draconian punishments, it is a wonder that there would be any crime at all. One example for you matey: the USA has the death penalty in many states, yet has a murder rate 3 times that of Britain which does not have the death penalty. And stop putting everything down to political correctness; it's ridiculous.”
by Adrian, Crownhill
Friday, January 01 2010, 11:51AM
“Chris, thanks for proving what I mean! Watch out, the PC brigade are here again!
A realist, that is actually a pretty good idea. That's the way they did things in the middle ages, and there was much less crime then. I lloked up the figures,and there was no car crime or bank fraud or pedofiles or theft from shops. And if there was, remove a limb, remove the head, that taught people didn't it. Mind you, the PC brigade will be along in a minute to stop me saying that! Look out!”