Recumbent Stone Circle

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Outline sketch of the Nine Stanes stone circle in Aberdeenshire
Strokes , a typical recumbent stone circle
The atypical stone circle of Cullerlie
Coullie stone Frederick Coles, 1901
Strone stone Frederick Coles, 1901

The Recumbent Stone Circles (roughly 'circles with lying stone') are megalithic stone circles . They occur in over 100 specimens in the county of Aberdeenshire in Scotland , they are particularly common around the Bennachie , where the oldest can be found. Characteristic of the Recumbent Stone Circles (RSC) is a "lying stone" accompanied by two standing, high, often tapering "flank stones", which are located on the periphery of the circle or near the circle. Individual elements of the complex date from 3900 BC. BC, while the stone circles themselves were probably built mainly in the late Neolithic . The use continued until the beginning of the Bronze Age (1500 BC).

At the beginning of the 21st century, Richard Bradley in particular did a great job researching this type of find in Scotland. He excavated Tomnaverie (1999), Cothiemuir Wood and Aikey Brae (2001) and ascribed a lunar orientation to the circles .

Mark

The stone circles with a lying stone usually contain between eight and 13 stones, of which the upright ones are arranged according to size, with the largest stones in the south or southwest. There a mostly very massive stone lies flat on the ground, accompanied by two tall stones to the right and left of it. Some of the stones are in an earth wall. In the interior of the wall there are often the remains of a stone mound. The demarcation to the Clava graves on the Moray Firth is not always clear. The stones usually show large color contrasts.

Scotland

Stone circles in northeast Scotland

About 100 of these stone circles are known, with diameters from 15.0 m ( stone circle of lines ) to 24.4 m. They are on either side of the River Dee. The best Scottish example is the Loanhead of Daviot, northwest of Inverurie . The circles of Aikey Brae , Balquhain , Berrybrae , Blue Cairn Circle , Cothiemuir Wood , Dunnideer , Kirkton of Bourtie , Nine Stanes , Midmar , Old Keig , Strokes , Sunhoney , Tomnaverie and Tirebagger are the handsomest among the 65 circles registered in Aberdeenshire . Most of the circles were established between 2300 and 1800 BC. Built in BC. Around 10 kilometers northwest of the Aquhorthies stone circle is a modern replica of a stone circle that was laid out in the mid-1990s by a local farmer in the style of an RCS.

Structure and chronology

The inside of the circle was usually paved with pebbles and contained a small stone mound , while the Blue Cairn Circle contained a large stone mound . The Torhousekie stone circle has a row of stones in the middle. Some districts ( Balgarthno , Balquhain, Berrybrae, Dunnideer and Rothiemay ) show traces of intentional destruction. Shepherd considered the stone circles to be the oldest part of these systems. The Tomnaverie, Cothiemuir Wood, and Aikey Brae stone circles, which Bradley examined more closely, were made in the late 3rd millennium BC. BC as round stone mounds with stone ring (ring curbs) and were later, probably in the bell jar period , expanded to stone circles with a lying stone.

The stone circle of Cullerlie in Aberdeenshire has a special position . It is seen as a further development of the Recumbent Stone Circles, which are common in the region, although the recumbent stone is missing. Eight cairns were erected in the stone circle. It is possible that this development was related to a change in the function of the stone circles.

Axial Stone Circles in Ireland

Ireland also has stone circles that consist of an uneven number of stones, and where a specially marked stone can be found in the southwest of the complex. The apparent similarity between the Lying Stone Circles in Scotland and the Axial Stone Circles in Ireland, and the fact that they are several hundred kilometers apart, has sparked debate over the relationships between them. The British researcher Aubrey Burl (1926–2009) referred to both groups as Recumbent Stone Circles . The Irish archaeologist Seán Ó Nualláin worked out the differences between them and coined the terms Axial Stone Circles (also known as ASC) and Cork-Kerry Stone Circles for the Irish series .

The stone circles of the Cork-Kerry series are located in the coastal areas of Counties Cork and Kerry . They are usually much smaller (mostly five-stone circles) and also younger than most Scottish ones. They originated around 1800 BC. In contrast to the circles in Scotland they have a portal made of two large upright stones through which an axis can be laid to the opposite stone. This is therefore called the "axial stone" and corresponds to the "lying stone" of the stone circles in Scotland. The Irish stone circles have no cairns inside. Well-preserved examples are the 17-stone circle of Drombeg west of Skibbereen , and the "8-stone circle" of Derreenataggart , both in County Cork. Smaller or damaged circles are at Ahagilla (also Bealad) at Bohonagh , at Ardgroom , Carrigagrenane, Glantane East , Maunatanvally, Reanascreena and Shronebirrane .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Richard Bradley, S. Arrowsmith & T. Phillips: Excavations at Cothiemuir Wood. In: Richard Bradley (ed.): The Moon and the Bonfire: An Investigation of Three Stone Circles in North-East Scotland. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh 2005, ISBN 9780903903332 .
  2. ^ Richard Bradley: The Moon and the Bonfire: An Investigation of Three Stone Circles in North-East Scotland. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh 2005, pp. 4f., ISBN 0903903334 .
  3. ^ Richard Bradley: The Moon and the Bonfire: An Investigation of Three Stone Circles in North-East Scotland. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh 2005, p. 5, ISBN 0903903334 .
  4. ^ A b Richard Bradley: The Moon and the Bonfire: An Investigation of Three Stone Circles in North-East Scotland. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh 2005, p. 1, ISBN 0903903334 .
  5. ↑ A supposedly ancient stone circle, apparently only 20 years old. Spiegel online from January 22, 2019, accessed on January 23, 2020
  6. ^ IAG Shepherd: The early Peoples. In: D. Ormand (Ed.): The Grampian Book. The Northern Times, Golspie 1987, pp. 19-30, quoted in: Richard Bradley: The Moon and the Bonfire: An Investigation of Three Stone Circles in North-East Scotland. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh 2005, p. 5, ISBN 0903903334 .
  7. ^ Richard Bradley: The moon and the bonfire, an investigation of three stone circles in north-east Scotland. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, Edinburgh 2005, p. Xi, ISBN 0903903334 .
  8. ^ Entry on Cullerlie  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
  9. ↑ HE Kilbridie-Jones: On account of the excavation of the Stone Circle at Loanhead of Daviot, and of the standing stones of Cullerlie, Real, Both in Aberdeenshire, on behalf of HM Office of Works. In: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland , Vol. 69, pp. 278-310. ( online )
  10. ↑ Cullerlie Stone Circle . Undiscovered Scotland, accessed February 8, 2019.

literature

  • Richard Bradley: The Idea of ​​Order: The Circular Archetype in Prehistoric Europe : Oxford University Press (New York) 2012 ISBN 978-0199608096
  • Seán Ó Nualláin: Stone Circles in Ireland . Country House, Dublin 1995, ISBN 0-946172-45-5 .
  • Aubrey Burl: A guide to the stone circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany . Yale University Press, London 1995, ISBN 0-300-06331-8 .
  • Anna Richtie and Graham Ritchie: Scotland - An Oxford archaeological guide . Oxford University Press, Oxford 1998, ISBN 0-19-288002-0 .

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