Croft Moraig

Aerial view of the Croft Moraig stone circle

Parts of the Croft Moraig stone circle

Croft Moraig is a stone circle in the Scottish county of Perthshire . It is located at the entrance to Croftmoraig Farm just south of the A827 (road) from Aberfeldy to Kenmore .

Most stone circles in Perthshire are the small shape made up of four stones. With complex circles like Croft Moraig, it is often difficult to identify the different periods. The initial construction and the alterations underline the importance of ritual centers during the 3rd and 2nd millennium BC. Large stone circles were already around 3000 BC. BC, while the small, slightly oval "circles of Tayside" like Croft Moraig were probably not built until the early first millennium (Bradley and Sheridan 2005).

sequence

At Croft Moraig, the 1965 excavation revealed that a henge , a nine-meter-large irregular circle made of wooden posts, was the earliest period.
The henge was replaced by an oval of 6.4 by 7.9 meters made of eight 0.8 to 1.4 meter high boulders, which was supplemented by a stone row of three monoliths that stand south outside the circle. This creation was probably connected to the 11.4 meter wide ring of stones and boulders that forms the outer boundary. A boulder on the south side has cup-and-ring markings . In addition to 21 bowls, there are two bowls ( English cups ) with rings.
The stone circle between the outer ring and the inner oval represents the 3rd period. It consisted of nine 1.7 to 2.1 meter high stones. This time a pair of stones 2.2 meters high were erected about 4.5 east of it.

literature

Anna Ritchie, Graham Ritchie: Scotland. Archeology and Early History. Thames and Hudson Ltd., London 1981, ISBN 0-50002-100-7 , ( Ancient places and people 99).
Ian AG Shepherd: Exploring Scotland's Heritage. Grampian . HMSO, Edinburgh 1986, ISBN 0-11-492453-8 .
R. Bradley and A. Sheridan: Croft Moraig and the chronology of stone circles . In: Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 71. 2005 pp. 269-281.

Individual evidence

↑ The Perthshire stone circle at Croft Moraig was excavated 40 years ago and is commonly used to illustrate the classical sequence of these monuments in Britain. A wooden circle with a shallow moat was replaced with two successive stone circles. The ceramic belonging to the earliest construction was dated to the Neolithic. However, a new analysis of the excavated material suggests that the pottery dates to the Middle or Late Bronze Age. It thus provides a terminus post quem for at least one of the stone circles at this site. Further examination of the findings suggests an alternative sequence of construction in Croft Moraig, which results in a change in the axis of the monument. It is entirely possible that the other stone and wood circles date similarly late and that their useful life in Great Britain and Ireland was longer than previously thought.

Web links

Description Engl. + Pictures

56.60176 -3.960222Coordinates: 56 ° 36 '6.3 " N , 3 ° 57' 36.8" W.

[1] The Perthshire stone circle at Croft Moraig was excavated 40 years ago and is commonly used to illustrate the classical sequence of these monuments in Britain. A wooden circle with a shallow moat was replaced with two successive stone circles. The ceramic belonging to the earliest construction was dated to the Neolithic. However, a new analysis of the excavated material suggests that the pottery dates to the Middle or Late Bronze Age. It thus provides a terminus post quem for at least one of the stone circles at this site. Further examination of the findings suggests an alternative sequence of construction in Croft Moraig, which results in a change in the axis of the monument. It is entirely possible that the other stone and wood circles date similarly late and that their useful life in Great Britain and Ireland was longer than previously thought.