WEST CORNWALL, ENGLAND—A Bronze Age monument known as Men-an-Tol is being used as a rubbing post by grazing cattle, according to Ian McNeil Cooke of the Save Penwith Moors action group. “I noticed cattle hair on the holed stone with hoof prints in the churned up ground surrounding all three stones,” he said. The cattle have recently been introduced to the land as part of a natural way to keep the grass short. Tradition holds that children passed through the hole in the 4,500-year-old monument would be cured of rickets, and that women will soon become pregnant if they pass through the stone seven times backwards at full moon. “We are working with English Heritage to look into these claims and to ascertain whether there is any need to review grazing management for the area,” said a spokesperson for Natural England.
Cattle Enjoy Bronze Age Monument
News April 3, 2013
Recommended Articles
Off the Grid January/February 2025
Tzintzuntzan, Mexico
Digs & Discoveries January/February 2025
Bad Moon Rising
Digs & Discoveries January/February 2025
100-Foot Enigma
Digs & Discoveries January/February 2025
Colonial Companions
-
Features March/April 2013
Pirates of the Original Panama Canal
Searching for the remains of Captain Henry Morgan's raid on Panama City
(Courtesy Captain Morgan Rum Co.) -
Features March/April 2013
A Soldier's Story
The battle that changed European history, told through the lens of a young man’s remains
(Courtesy Dominique Bosquet) -
Letter From Cambodia March/April 2013
The Battle Over Preah Vihear
A territorial dispute involving a 1,100-year-old Khmer temple on the Thai-Cambodian border turns violent
(Masuru Goto) -
Artifacts March/April 2013
Pottery Cooking Balls
Scientific analyses and experimental archaeology determine that mysterious, 1,000-year-old balls of clay found at Yucatán site were used in cooking
(Courtesy Bolonchen Regional Archaeological Project)