| Rock-cut Basin |
Website Links For Basin |
Information AboutRock-cut Basin |
|
FORMATION Rock-cut basins are formed by the action of fast running water currents that cause small boulders to move in a circular motion or Vortex . The friction created by these kolks propelling small boulders in a circular motion erodes the natural rock substrate to create concavities called rock-cut basins, that increase in depth and circumference over the years. One or more rounded stones may be found within them, often of varying sizes as these stones also wear away with the physical abrasion effect. 1 2 The conditions on the river bed must be just right, so that the 'abrasion stones' remain in approximately one area as they circle, allowing the processes which create the rock-cut basins to occur. During times of heavy flood, river currents provide considerable energy to stones lying on the bottom, as can be witnessed beside many rivers where audible sounds are made by boulders as they are tumbled downstream over the bedrock or as they clash against other boulders. The term Bedload is used to describe the material carried by a river by being bounced or rolled along its bed. Bedload FOLKLORE If a rock-cut basin forms on an overhanging ledge at a waterfall or drop in the river level, then a circular holed stone may eventually form.[http://dartmoorperspectives.co.uk/dartmoorphotosne.html The Tolmen stone] These may have been used in the construction of megalithic monuments, especially tombs. Such holed stones are often associated with folklore as healing stones through which sick children are passed etc., as with the Mên-an-Tol in Cornwall, where the legend is that passage through the stone will cure a child of Rickets (osteomalacia). For centuries, children with rickets were passed naked through the hole in the middle stone nine times. Men an Tol healing legends Below the confluence of the North Teign river and the Walla brook on visible, etc. Second sight Faithless wives and wantons were punished and put back on the 'right track' by forcing them first to wash in Cranmere Pool on Dartmoor, then to run round Scorhill circle three times, then they had to pass through the Tolmen stone and finally they went up to the Grey Wethers stone circle where they knelt and asked forgiveness. If the stones remained standing then all was well, but if their penance was not sincere then a stone would fall and crush them.Hippisley Coxe, Anthony E. (1973). ''Haunted Britain''. Pub. Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-116540-7. P. 30. Marriages and other binding contracts Folklore connected with holed stonesBord, Janet and Colin. (1973) ''Mysterious Britain''. Pub. Garnstone. ISBN 0-85511-1801. P. 23. indicates that they were also used for a ceremony of grasping hands to form a Teltown marriage, this being a marriage of a year and a day in which either party could return to the spot a year later, renounce the marriage and walk away from the stone and their partner. It is also recorded that hands shaken through a holed stone created unbreakable agreements or contracts. Teltown marriage Unbreakable Contracts Druids Tolmen stones, said to derive from the Cornish tol (hole) maen (stone), were thought to have been used by Druid s for purification and that the wrongdoer was lowered through into the water for 'lustration', a purification rite or cleansing ritual.[http://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/tolmen.htm Druids and bullauns.] Until recently the role of perforated stones may have been twofold; use in fertility or healing rites and as traditional settings for the pledging of vows between couples. The hole in the stone might also represent the female birth canal in the Druid or 'pagan' mind and by passing through it a person was symbolising the act of rebirth and therefore regaining innocence or being cleansed of post- Parturition illness, etc.Tuck, C. (2003).''Landscapes and Desire''. Pub. Sutton. Stroud. SEASHORE ROCK-CUT BASINS All around the coastline of the island of Coll are found rock-cut holes and basins which some people believe them to be prehistoric, related to the cup marks found in many places. Others think that they are bait holes, used for grinding shellfish such as limpets in order to attract fish. Another theory is that they were used for offerings in order to help the safe return of people out at sea. The prehistoric village at Maes Howe had similar sized and shaped basins made from flat stones and possibly sealed with clay, used perhaps for storing bait. Although some of the holes on Coll may be natural, such as this large basin washed by the tide, many others are in locations and are of shapes which show that they are definitely man-made. Illustrated Rock-cut basins on Coll MAN MADE BASINS Many examples exist, created for a wide range of purposes from the grinding of fish bait to a possible ritual use for the inauguration of kings such as at Dunadd. Dunadd REFERENCES SEE ALSO
EXTERNAL LINKS |
|
|