What is this stone

That was an idea. I think we've exhausted that one.

So we are back to film festivals, aliens, lost boat anchors, and Arthurian legends about the "Stone in the Pond" or something like that where they pulled something out of a stone or a pond, not sure which. Crop circles -- that's it.
You found the crop circle creator crystal.

Let us know what you discover.

 

My point was that the ring cross style, probably brought by the Irish, appears in many areas of the British Isles as early as the 6th century. If the image on the stone is a cross (to be determined), its closest comparative would be a ring cross. As there is no date for it, it could be pre-Danelaw, Danelaw, or post Danelaw. (It was @Dawnno's hypothesis that the stone was found in the Danelaw, and dating to that period, with comparisons to Manx stones.) All prior traditions were not eliminated by the imposition of Danish rule. There is at least one example of a high cross (with ring) from Cumbria (in the Danelaw) dating to the 10th century that shows a mixture of Irish-inspired Anglo-Saxon elements as well as Viking elements, the Gosforth cross:

And, quoting a Wikipedia article on high crosses (with appropriate caveats):
"After the Viking invasions, the settled Norse population of the Danelaw adopted the [Celtic cross] form, and a number of crosses combine Christian imagery with pagan Norse myths, which the Church seems to have tolerated, and adopted at least as metaphors for the period when conversion was bedding down."
https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmXoypizjW3WknFiJnKLwHCnL72vedxjQkDDP1mXWo6uco/wiki/High_cross.html

 

And yes, without more information we probably have exhausted that theory. Sorry to get all didactic. I know I have a tendency to go down rabbit holes......

 

I think finding a local historian would be best.

 

Local museum also couldn't help but glad to get their hands on it. My personal opinion is that it is that the stone mason was intending to make a cross but the stone broke so it was discarded. Why thrown in the pond is a different matter as the stone could still have been re-used - though there's no shortage of stone in the area - so maybe destroyed before it could be finished. So many possibilities but I think I'll discount the aliens and the film festival theories. Thanks for all your help guys, it was a fun discussion

 

That fits the KISS hypothesis.

 

I, for one, appreciate that.

because when I go down them, I feel like Pooh bear:

 

One of my archeology professors told a story of working on a site where they found half of a Clovis point, along with the knapping debris around it. Later in the season they found the other half, as far away as the maker could throw it.

 

In this case the maker must have been pretty strong.
Maybe an apprentice tried to make one of those Nordic sun symbols with the four dots in it, and his master got so enraged at the Pagan image that he suddenly got the strength to hurl it into the lake.

 

Fascinating. Thanks for all the research; what nice travel!

 

If this is ever identified, post an update here, @Sepia .

 

Yes, please do, @Sepia !