Innesmill Stone Circle

The stone circle of Innesmill (according to Frederick Rhenius Coles (1854-1929) also called Standing Stones of Urquhart; Devil's Stanes or The Nine Stanes) is located southeast of Milltown Airfield, north of Urquhart , 0.5 km east of Innesmill, in Moray , Scotland .

Of the original 12 stones, which lay on the circumference of a circle with a diameter of 33.5 m, only five are preserved in situ (two fallen stones lie within the circle). They range in height from 1.0 m to 1.9 m and appear to be graduated towards the southwest. This, along with a note from the 19th century to "nine high stones in a circle, two of them at the entrance to the altar," suggests that this is a more damaged stone circle type Recumbent Stone Circle was (RSC) from which the "recumbent" and its flank stones were removed early. Feature of the RSCs is a "lying stone" accompanied by two standing, high, often pointed "edge stones" ( English flankers ) which is part of the circle or are located near the circle. The most common circles on the River Dee were made between 2300 and 1800 BC. Built in BC. It is noteworthy that the westernmost stone has several small bowls , which are located in the limited area in which such markings can usually be found in lying stone circles. The markings on the westernmost stone were recognized as bowls by the Ordnance Survey (OS), although it was initially believed that they were caused by weathering.

Before 1870 the interior was excavated. No traces of graves or anything significant were found.

About 2.5 km to the west is the Urquhart Stones or Cappieshill stone circle.

literature

• Aubrey Burl: A guide to the stone circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany. Yale University Press, London 1995, ISBN 0-300-06331-8 .
• A. Welfare: Great Crowns of Stone (2011) RCAHMS
• C. Richards: Building the Great Stone Circles of the North (2013) Windgather Press
• R. Bradley: The Moon and the Bonfire: An Investigation of Three Stone Circles in NE Scotland (2005) Society of Antiquaries of Scotland

Web links

• Entry on Innesmill Stone Circle  in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland database
• Description and picture
• Description and picture
• Description and picture

Coordinates: 57 ° 39 '39.3 "  N , 3 ° 11' 32.5"  W.