This stone circle is set on ground which slopes to the NE between two
rivers; it is one of more than 15 megalithic sites in the same area.
The
circle has a diameter of 20.5 m (67 ft) and is dated approximately 2500
BC. The recumbent stone and its pair of flankers stand at SSW and were strangely
set just inside the line of the circle, watching over eight other equally
spaced uprights. The stone beside the east flanker has a vertical line of
at least five cupmarks on its inner face. At one time it was thought that
the recumbent was a 'double' stone, but it was later found to be just
one, split by the elements.
During 1934 excavations, charcoal and broken
pottery sherds were found around the bases of most of the monoliths, indicating
single burial cairns at each. In the middle of the low Bronze Age cairn
within the circle lay a rectangular mortuary pit, which may be the oldest
part of the site. A hearth was found in the ring cairn, which may indicate
its use as a dwelling at some time, almost certainly when the site had lost
its original meaning and was seen simply as a convenient place to live.
Nearby is a circular-banked cemetery, of about the same age, consisting of an
88 square m (850 sq ft) cremation site.
This
recumbent circle is 44 centuries old
(49Kb)
(140Kb)
