Auchagallon stone circle

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Auchagallon stone circle (looking south)

The stone circle of Auchagallon lies on the west side of the Isle of Arran , which belongs to the Scottish Council Area North Ayrshire .

Auchagallon is located on the slope above the flat Machrie Bay, about 30.0 m above sea level, with a view of the Kintyre peninsula and dates from the Bronze Age , roughly between 2000 BC. BC and 1200 BC In the neighboring Machrie Moor there are six more stone circles .

The Auchagallon stone circle has not been excavated. It can therefore not be said with certainty whether the circle formed from relatively close-fitting stones enclosed a large stone mound (cairn) or whether the circle represents the border of the round cairn. An excavation in the center of the stone hill in the 19th century brought to light a stone box that was presumably a grave. Nothing is known about the finds and findings from this excavation.

The incomplete stone circle, 14.3 m in diameter, consists of 15 upright plates that closely surround the large cairn. All slabs are made of red sandstone, with the exception of two of granite. The stones are graded according to height, with the larger (up to 2.4 m high) on the western side of the valley and the smaller on the eastern side of the mountain. In some respects this corresponds to the Recumbent Stone Circles (RSC) on the mainland.

literature

  • Scottish Development Dept. (Ed.): Scotland BC. An introduction to the prehistoric houses, tombs, ceremonial monuments and fortifications in the care of the Secretary of State for Scotland . Edinburgh 1989, ISBN 0-11-493427-4 (English).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b c Historic Scotland - Auchagallon Stone Circle. Historic Scotland, accessed May 20, 2014 .

Coordinates: 55 ° 33 ′ 35.4 "  N , 5 ° 20 ′ 34.2"  W.