Easter Auquhorthies
Stone Circle, Aberdeenshire
Stone circles are found in many
parts of Scotland but recumbent stone circles are found only in north east
Scotland. Some are modest in size and others are much larger. They would have
served as focal points for the communities who built them and were associated
with ritual, ceremony and burial. The recumbent stone circle at
Easter Aquhorthies measures 19.5m in diameter and consists of eleven erect
stones, and which dates from
about 4000 BC. It is almost perfectly circular in plan and has a recumbent stone and
three adjacent stones. The stones vary in height and geological origin. There
may have been a ring cairn and cist in the centre of the circle but this is as
yet uninvestigated. The stone circle at Easter Aquhorthies is one of about
100 stone circles in this area. It is a recumbent stone circle: a type peculiar
to the north-east of Scotland and possibly contemporary with Henges (of
Stonehenge fame). The alignment of a recumbent stone circle may be on the
midsummer full moon: the recumbent slab flanked by the two pillars framed the
moon for an observer standing in the centre of the circle.
This recumbent stone circle is at
Easter Aquhorthies. It is built on the crest of a hill. The stones are graded in
height with the flankers being the tallest. There may have been a ring cairn in
the middle, but it is now only a slight bump in the ground. The circle consists
of the recumbent, its two flankers, and a further nine slightly smaller stones.
Two further stones stand in front of the recumbent which is 3.8 m long.
This almost perfect circle of stones is 19.5 m in diameter. The highest standing
stones are the two grey granite flankers (more than 2 m in height). The
recumbent of red granite is 3.8 m long. Two stones define an area in front of
the recumbent's inner face. The circle consists in nine broad stones of pinkish
porphyry and, in one case, red jasper, graded in height from 1.1 to 1.7 m.
In front of the recumbent are two large blocks which may suggest a previous use,
that of a stone at the entrance to a tomb. The flankers are of grey granite and
the recumbent a pinky grey granite from Bennachie. The outside face of the
recumbent has been smoothed carefully. The site has easy access but is
very exposed and should be perhaps left for a calm day. If you look carefully
you really can see the different colours of the stones used on this site and
walk around the outside to see the back of the recumbent. The site is on
the Gordon District 'Stone Circle Trail' and is well sign posted from the
Inverurie bypass. It is cared for by Historic Scotland, and there are
information boards posted which detail the history of the site and maps to other
sites on the trail (OS Map ref NJ 732207).
The watercolour is view of
the stone circle painted in 1870. The artist was Lady Sophia Dunbar. The stones
are slightly more overgrown here than at present.
The other
circle nearby is also called "Aquhorthies", and known as Aquhorthies North.
It is an unusual recumbent stone
circle, lying on a gentle slope. Its ring-cairn is about 15 m in diameter and it
is surrounded by an almost complete kerb of stones. Ten standing and two
fallen stones are the remains of an original circle of 28 uprights, 23 m in
diameter. These stones are of red granite, as the 3 m long recumbent and its
only surviving flanker are of grey granite. The flanker is connected to
the inner ring-cairn by a slab. 300 m to the south there is another much more
ruined stone circle.
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