Trethevy Quoit, a Neolithic portal dolmen (megalithic burial chamber) is very close to home – within walking distance even if I felt so inclined.
It stands roughly 9 feet tall, and was built somewhere between 3700-3300 BC (dates that this kiwi girl struggles to comprehend). It served as a communal tomb or ossuary for bones of ancestors, and would originally have been covered by a long earthen mound or cairn which has mostly eroded.
The quoit is mentioned in Sheron Vowden’s book, 101 Tors, Rocks & Outcrops Around Bodmin Moor so this visit gave us another tick as we work our way through.
This particular quoit has never been excavated. I have mixed feelings about that. I’d love to know what is buried beneath but, on the other hand, conjuring stories in my mind is a pleasure in itself.
