In the early 2000’s two internationally important prehistoric sites, the Sittaford Stone Circle and the Whitehorse Hill Burial Cist were discovered on Dartmoor, but until now they have not been available to view on Great Britain’s mapping service the Ordnance Survey.
Dartmoor Society Member Max Piper became conscious of this omission and he contacted the Ordnance Survey using their online Error Reporter Tool, asking them to consider the addition of these two sites. They recognised the significance of these sites and we are very pleased to report that both can now be found on the online version of the Dartmoor OS map and will appear on future editions of the printed map.
Dartmoor enthusiast and author, Max Piper is the mind behind the website Tor Bagger, https://www.torbagger.co.uk/p/welcome_24.html and is a main contributor to Dartifacts, https://dartefacts.co.uk/ an online resource that plots and categorises all of the significant features on Dartmoor in an easy to access map format. He is also a contributor to Tors of Dartmoor: www.torsofdartmoor.co.uk
The Whitehorse Hill Burial Cist was discovered in the 1990’s located in the side of a mound of peat on the eastern slopes of Whitehorse Hill on the central upland of Dartmoor. It was excavated in 2011 and the finds from the intact structure included the cremated remains of a young woman along with the pelt of a brown bear and a number of grave goods including beads of fired clay, shale, amber and tin, which may have formed a necklace, wooden studs, fragments of textile and leather, a flint tool, a bracelet of woven cow hair, tin studs and a basket. The finds are now at The Box, Museum and Archive, in Plymouth.
Sittaford Stone Circle is a recumbent stone circle that was discovered in 2011 by Alan Endacott on the south western slopes of Sittaford Tor. Alan is a former Vice-Chair of the Dartmoor Society and remains one of our advisors. He is also leader of the Dartmoor Ritual Landscapes Project, https://www.facebook.com/dartmoor.archaeology1/
Photo: 1 Whitehorse Hill Burial Cist.
Photo 2: Whitehorse Hill Burial Cist
Photo: 3: Sittaford Stone Circle
Photo 4: Sittaford Stone Circle.
Photos copyright: Max Piper
