Hill Of Cruester Standing Stone
DatedEst. 2800–1800 BCE
Photo john bateson · CC BY-SA 2.0Source file on Wikimedia Commons
Overview
About this site
Overview
The Stane o'Cruester, also known as the Hill of Cruester standing stone, is a menhir on the island of Bressay, Shetland, Scotland. It is a scheduled monument and dates from the Bronze Age.
The stone is of sandstone and stands 2.80 m high, with several small stones at its foot.
Read on Wikipedia1 min readCC BY-SA 4.0
Where it sits in time
The site's dated range, placed against world reference points.
The scale is logarithmic: each step to the left is about ten times older than the last.
Article
Hill Of Cruester Standing Stone
The isolated stone stands in the north-west of Bressay, about 3 km north-east of Lerwick, on moorland between Gunnista Road and Heogan Road.
SettingSources for this section
- Wikipedia (French): Menhir de CruesterCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (French): Menhir de CruesterCC BY-SA 4.0
The isolated stone stands in the north-west of Bressay, about 3 km north-east of Lerwick, on moorland between Gunnista Road and Heogan Road.
DescriptionSources for this section
- Wikipedia (French): Menhir de CruesterCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (French): Menhir de CruesterCC BY-SA 4.0
The menhir is made of sandstone and measures 2.80 m in height, 1.30 m in width and 20 cm in thickness. At its foot lie several small stones, the largest of which is 50 cm high, 90 cm long and 40 cm wide.
ContextSources for this section
- Wikipedia (French): Menhir de CruesterCC BY-SA 4.0
Sources for this section
- Wikipedia (French): Menhir de CruesterCC BY-SA 4.0
Britain and Ireland are rich in standing stones, and they were put up in many periods of prehistory. Such stones are usually difficult to date, and theories about their purpose remain speculative, with rituals, territorial markers and markers in a system of belief among the suggestions.
Tradition and region
About this kind of monument
British and Irish standing stones
Britain and Ireland are rich in standing stones; the Atlas records many hundreds. Together with Brittany they hold about 50,000 examples across the Atlantic fringe of Europe, and many stand singly in fields. In Ireland they are usually in farmers' fields and are heavily worn by weather and by livestock rubbing against them. The stones are usually difficult to date. They were put up in many periods of prehistory as part of the wider megalithic cultures, and any single stone may be Neolithic, Bronze Age or later. Theories about their purpose remain speculative: rituals, territorial markers, or markers in a system of belief.
Some stand in groups. The Calanais Stones on the Isle of Lewis, built around 2750 BCE, form a circle with a tall central monolith and several rows extending outwards in a cross-shaped plan, on a ridge overlooking Loch Roag. The Rollright Stones in Oxfordshire include the King's Men, the King Stone and the Whispering Knights, three monuments built in the Neolithic and Bronze Age.
Folklore: the names of the Rollright Stones come from stories told since the early modern period; legend holds that the King Stone comes alive at the stroke of midnight. At Calanais one tradition says the stones were giants who would not convert to Christianity, and in the seventeenth century the people of Lewis called them fir bhrèige, "false men". Another legend says that on midsummer morning an entity known as the Shining One walks the length of the avenue. These are traditions, not memories of the builders.
The Atlas treats isolated stones as undated unless they have been excavated.
When visiting, look at how a stone stands in relation to the landscape and to any nearby monument.
Paraphrased from Wikipedia: Menhir, Wikipedia: Callanish Stones, Wikipedia: Rollright Stones, Wikipedia: List of menhirs · CC BY-SA 4.0
See it in 3D
An interpretive reconstruction of the monument, standing on the real ground at its exact point, under the sun for that place and season. Drag to look around it.
The reconstruction is ours, not a survey: it shows what a monument of this type looks like, at the size the record gives for this one.
Photographs
1 photograph, each with its author and licence
Lore
Evidence & Lore
What the sources actually support — and, kept apart, what has been claimed.
What the evidence supports
Dates
Est. 2800–1800 BCEHow this date was established: Type comparisonTypical range for menhirs in United Kingdom; this site has not been dated itself. Standing stones are associated with the Beaker people of the European late Neolithic and early Bronze Age c. 2800-1800 BC.Source for this date
Where it stands
United Kingdom
The pin marks the monument itself — its exact point.
- Coordinates
- 60°10′01″ N, 1°07′08″ WFor a GPS or map app: 60.16706, -1.11894
Access is as our sources describe it; we have not visited the site to check.
Nearby
The closest sites in the Atlas, by straight line.
Broch of Cullingsburgh1800–100 BCE- SteleBressay Stone
Broch of Clickimin390 BCE–200 CE
Hawks Ness,broch at Corbie Geo390 BCE–200 CE
Tingwall Standing Stone2800–1800 BCE
Loch of Tingwall, standing stone 130m E of Garth Lodge2800–1800 BCE- Megalithic mound (tumulus with integral stones)Nesbister Hill, cairn 350m E of Wastower4000–800 BCE
- Menhir (standing stone)Wormadale Hill, standing stone 335m ENE of Kerith2800–1800 BCE
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Sources
Every record behind this page, with the link it came from.
2 sources behind this page
- 01Wikidata Q56304467wikidata.org
- 02Source for this dateen.wikipedia.org
Image files
Report a correctionWrong date, name, photograph or source? Tell us and it will be put right.
Around this place
The ten nearest sites, by compass
- Broch of Cullingsburgh3.1 km E
- Bressay Stone3.1 km E
- Broch of Clickimin3.2 km SW
- Hawks Ness,broch at Corbie Geo6.7 km NW
- Tingwall Standing Stone7.8 km W
- Loch of Tingwall, standing stone 130m E of Garth Lodge7.8 km W
- Nesbister Hill, cairn 350m E of Wastower9.1 km W
- Wormadale Hill, standing stone 335m ENE of Kerith9.2 km NW
- Broch of Benston, broch 380m NW of Nesting Primary School11 km N
- Hard Knowe, cairn 330m N of Muness11 km N
Credit
Text, licence and sources
Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Menhir de Cruester" (French), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; authors are listed in the page history. Reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikipedia · Edit history and authors
- Wikipedia (French): Menhir de CruesterCC BY-SA 4.0
- Wikidata Q56304467CC0