Where do standing stones in the North York Moors National Park tend to be placed? Using ArcGIS Pro to reveal patterns in location placement through analysis of terrain, viewshed, and intervisibility.

North York Moors National Park in England is not only beautiful and rugged, but also has a wealth of archaeological material, such as prehistoric standing stones; ‘Menhirs’ stand alone, ‘Standing Stones’ are two or more in close proximity, and ‘Alignments’ are linear groups of more than three. Seemingly placed randomly throughout the mountainous landscape, these monuments tend to serve territorial, ritual, or astronomical functions- but is it possible to reach a more definite conclusion of their purpose? While this paper does not attempt to answer this, it aims to contribute to its answer by exploring the research question "where do standing stones in the North York Moors National Park tend to be placed?" The aim of this study is to reveal patterns in the placement of these stones using ArcGIS Pro via three main analyses: terrain, viewshed (including distance-decay and elevation), and intervisibility between stones. The results revealed that the placement location of a standing stone is influenced by the type of landform and the elevation of an area, and whether it is (un)able to see and be seen by other standing stones in the landscape. Further analysis is needed to conclude whether placement location is influenced by how far into the landscape a stone is (un)able to see. The data not only answered the research question of the locational tendencies of the stones but also achieved the aim of the study which was to reveal factors that influence these tendencies.