Arrow Stones

Wales 38

Image by postman

Rhiannon Sep 22, 2005 13:35:44

It's very quiet in here.

What does anybody know about 'Arrow Stones'? On Coflein they are listed as 'natural rock features' but they are supposed to have man-made stripes on them from sharpening arrows. I see there is a picture of one on the 'portal but without another photo of a different stone it's difficult to say what you're looking at.

Marie Trevelyan says in her 1909 book:
"Not far from Aber, and about 2 1/2 miles from Llanfairfechan, in one of the wildest and most lonely valleys in North Wales, is the celebrated Arrow Stone, upon which the chieftains of old sharpened their battle axes and other implements of war. Labourers going home from field work and people living near the valley declared that if ever the sound of any instrument being sharpened on the stone reached them, it was an omen of bad luck to the hearer, and foretokened an epidemic in the country, or some disaster in Wales."

Surely the marks must be quite obvious if such serious omens are pinned on them.

Could they be 'recent'? or are they prehistoric?? I can't find anything about them by surfing the internet.
There's five I could spot in the vicinity mentioned by Trevelyan:
SH692723
SH680720
SH692709
SH693722
SH695731
Any ideas? or has anyone seen one? Are they convincing arrow-sharpening marks?
(welsh for arrow is saeth (-au)

tiompan Sep 22, 2005 14:44:12

Replying to Rhiannon

A clergyman , Elias Owen was the first to draw attention to them in the 1860 's he listed 15 . They are all confinerdd to North Wales. Bill Chapman from Conwy is interested in them and I let him know of any I come across . The only likely one to my mind is on a cup marked rock which is part of a barrow at Balendune in Strathtay . Any others I have found just look too recent and possibly used for sharpening .There are some similarities between the markings and other entoptic style markings found at places like Loughcrew and Skara Brae .

BigSweetie Sep 22, 2005 18:03:54

Replying to Rhiannon

Hi Rhiannon,

Don't know if it's of any interest, but here are some "sharpening"-type carvings on a rock in a cairn in Perthshire:

http://www.stravaiging.com/megaraks/blog/index.php?id=2

(7th photo down)

Cheers
Andy

FourWinds Sep 22, 2005 18:42:05

Replying to Rhiannon

http://www.megalithomania.com/show/image/1550

They're all over the place. I think most of these are equally likely to be from more recent blade sharpening.

PeterH Sep 22, 2005 19:48:36

Replying to Rhiannon

I'm not sure why they have to be arrows. Why not knives or agricultural tools? You sometimes see sharpening marks on the stonework of medieval churches and they are always said to be made by the swords of passing soldiers (don't know why). A curved sickle would need a whetstone, but I suppose a convenient rock of the right type would do just as well for a straight blade if you didn't carry a whetstone.