Publication Account

Date 1996

Event ID 1016528

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Publication Account

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1016528

An impressive recumbent stone circle, 19.5m in diameter, consisting of nine erect stones, the recumbent, two flankers and, in addition, two massive blocks which form a reserved area in front of the recumbent (cf Loanhead, no. 98; Eslie, (no. 92). The circle is located near the crest of a hill shoulder, at 175m OD. The characteristic differentiation between the recumbent with its flankers and the other circle stones can be seen vividly, both in terms of height of stones and their geological origin. The stones are graded in height from the 2.25m tall flankers to the 1.7m high stones on the circumference opposite, and, while the nine circle stones are of rough pinkish porphyry or (in the case of the second stone to the east of the east flanker) a glowing red jasper, the flankers are of grey granite and the recumbent of reddish granite from near Bennachie. The outer face of the 3.8m long recumbent has been smoothed carefully. The circle stones are set in a low bank which has been partly augmented in recent times. The very slight rise in the interior and a 1934 reference to a cist suggest the existence of a later ring cairn, now extremely vestigial. Its almost perfectly circular plan places this circle early in the series of recumbent stone circles.

Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Aberdeen and North-East Scotland’, (1996).