The Goatstones

The Goatstones is a Bronze-Age four-poster stone circle located near Ravensheugh Crags in Northumberland, England [1]. It is 2.5 miles to the north of Hadrian's Wall in the parish of Wark-on-Tyne [1]. The stones are no higher than 80 centimetres, and are separated by a distance of approximately 4 metres [1]. The smallest stone is decorated with 13 cup marks, or small depressions in the rock, a well known form of prehistoric rock art in Northumberland [1]. The Goatstones is the only recorded example of a four-poster stone circle bearing cup marks [1]. Within the circle there are traces of a low mound [1]. This is thought to be the remains of a stone cairn which predates the construction of the stone circle and may have been the site of Bronze-Age burials [1].