MEM22101 - Prehistoric standing stone and possible cairn southwest of Lanacombe II (Monument)

During excavation in 2009, a standing stone and a stone concentration (thought to be a possible cairn) were uncovered. The stone was noted to have had a wooden post sited against it, raising questions about which supported which.

Excavation in trench 52 revealed a small standing stone set perpendicular to the natural, with a distinct cut visible around the stone. The stone hole was oval in plan, measuring 0.96 by 0.7 metres. A wooden post was placed into the stone hole and the stone inserted against it. The surviving post pipe suggests a circular timber 0.1 metres in diameter. The presence of the post pipe suggests that the post had been left to decay in situ. The stone is 0.03 metres thick and 0.19 by 0.27 metres. It is possible that this standing stone is not a minilith but a thrust plate for the wooden post. This has implications for the consideration of stone settings on exmoor as a whole. It may be that some settings were comprised of both standing stones and wooden posts and that some of the standing stones that have been recorded as miniliths are in fact triggers for posts or other stones. A localised concentration of stone, possibly a small cairn was located 1.6 metres southwest of the standing stone. [1]