Merry Maidens
MegalithicEurope
Late Neolithic stone circle in the West Penwith peninsula of Cornwall, England — nineteen granite stones forming a near-perfect circle 24 m in diameter, conventionally dated c. 2500-1500 BCE. The associated outliers The Pipers (two tall menhirs 400 m to the northeast) and the Tregiffian burial chamber make this a small ritual complex. Folk tradition holds the maidens were petrified for dancing on the Sabbath — a Christianized echo of an older animating myth. Hugh Newman films Merry Maidens in his Cornish megalithic series alongside Mên-an-Tol and the Hurlers.
Look Closer — this site carries open questions: geometry beyond period explanation.
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Walkthrough videos (1)
Merry Maidens & The Pipers | Exploring a Stunning Stone Circle in Ancient Cornwall | MegalithomaniaHugh Newman / Megalithomania
Nearby sites
- Mên-an-Tol10 km
- Barnenez200 km
- Stanton Drew Stone Circles257 km