A recumbent stone circle is a type of stone circle that includes a large stone, called a recumbent, lying on its side. They are found in only two areas: Aberdeenshire in northeastern Scotland and the far southwest of Ireland in Cork and Kerry counties. In Ireland, the circles are now more commonly called Cork–Kerry or axial stone circles. Some archaeologists, like Aubrey Burl, think they were used in rituals where moonlight was important because the circles are aligned with the path of the southern moon. Recent digs at the Tomnaverie stone circle suggest the circle was not meant to be aligned.
More than 70 recumbent circles have been clearly identified in Aberdeenshire. They are thought to be connected to the Clava cairns in Inverness-shire, which were built a bit earlier (around 3000 BC). Recumbent stone circles usually surround a ring cairn, and the stones are arranged by size so the smallest one faces the recumbent.
Typology
Over 70 recumbent stone circles have been clearly identified in Aberdeenshire in the 2011 book Great Crowns of Stone: The Recumbent Stone Circles of Scotland, published by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Earlier, Aubrey Burl and Clive Ruggles thought there could be up to 99 recumbent stone circles in an area of Aberdeenshire covering about 80 km (50 mi) from north to south and 50 km (31 mi) from east to west. These circles are found in areas with low hills, away from mountains, and near fertile, well-drained soil, suggesting they were built by local farmers. They were usually built on sloping hillsides, facing the southern moon. At some sites, the ground was flattened before construction; one, at Berrybrae, was built on an artificial clay platform. However, recent excavations at the Tomnaverie stone circle suggest the circle was not intentionally aligned with precision.
The Scottish recumbent stone circles range in size from 18.2 m (60 ft) to 24.4 m (80 ft) in diameter. Each circle includes a large recumbent stone, averaging 24 tons, placed between the two tallest stones, called flankers. The recumbent stones were carefully placed on the southwest side of the circle, with their bases supported (sometimes on mounds) so their tops are level. The other stones in the circle get smaller as they go around the circle, with the smallest stones opposite the recumbent. The recumbent and its flankers were clearly the most important parts of the circle; in some cases, the other stones were added later, and in others, they were never added at all.
Irish recumbent stone circles have a different design. The recumbent stone is small and placed alone on the southwest side, while the two tallest stones, called portals, are located opposite on the northeast side. The similarity between the recumbent stone circles of northeast Scotland and southwest Ireland suggests they may be related. However, the large distance between them—hundreds of kilometers of mountains, bogs, and sea—has led to debate about how this connection happened. It is possible that the ideas behind these circles were spread by one influential person or group who moved from one area to another. Because of the differences in design, these circles are now more commonly called Cork–Kerry or axial stone circles.
Usage
Recumbent stone circles are thought by some archaeologists, like Aubrey Burl, to have been used for special ceremonies related to the stars and moon. The moon would have appeared above the recumbent stone, positioned between two flanking stones. Scotland's recumbent stone circles typically have a diameter of about 20 meters (66 feet). A recumbent stone that was 3.7 meters (12 feet) long would have allowed an observer to see an arc of the sky about 10 degrees wide. This would have given worshippers roughly one hour to watch the moon move over the stone.
Every 18.5 years, the moon would come closer to Earth, appearing to be "framed" between the two flanking stones above the recumbent. This event may have been an important time for ceremonies. The exact nature of these ceremonies is unknown, but Burl suggests they may have been connected to the growth and decline of plants, crops, animals, and people in the past.
Inside some excavated recumbent stone circles, pits have been found containing charcoal, broken pottery, and the remains of human bones (sometimes from young children). However, these circles were not typical burial sites. The remains seem to have been symbolic, representing only a few individuals and parts of bodies. They may have been used to make the sites feel sacred. Builders also spread crushed quartz around the recumbent stones. This material would have reflected and refracted moonlight. It may have been considered "moonstone," helping to direct the moon's influence to a specific place and add light to ceremonies.
Development and analysis
The recumbent stone circles in Scotland are connected to an earlier type of monument built around 3000 BC, called the Clava cairns near Inverness. The best example of this monument is the three circular cairns at Balnuaran of Clava, which are surrounded by a ring of standing stones that get taller from the northeast to the southwest. Inside each cairn is a burial chamber, which can be reached through a passageway on the southwest side. A study by Burl in 1981 showed that the tomb passages aligned with the path of the moon during its eighteen-and-a-half-year cycle. However, the narrow sightlines made it impossible to use them for observing the moon.
The cairns were no longer used after about 2500 BC, but the tradition of tracking the moon’s movement was passed on to Neolithic farmers in central Aberdeenshire. The gradual change in the height of the stone rings at Clava is similar to the recumbent stone circles built in Aberdeenshire during the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age, from about 2700–2000 BC. These circles are more precisely aligned with the southern moon than the Clava cairns, which covered the full path of the moon. However, the precision is limited, and the circles were not used as observatories or for detailed tracking of the moon’s movements.
Most recumbent stone circles surrounded a cairn, often a ring cairn, which is different from a Clava cairn. At some sites, like Tomnaverie, the cairn was built before the circle as part of a planned design. This suggests the circles may not have been created to align perfectly with the moon. Over time, most cairns have completely disappeared.
The circles are relatively small, and Burl suggested they might have been built by a single family. Moving the large recumbent stones was difficult. For example, the fifty-ton recumbent at Old Keig was brought from six miles away and may have required over 200 people to move it. At Strichen stone circle, a team led by Burl, Ian Hampsher-Monk, and Philip Abramson studied how the stones were transported. They found that the most efficient way without using machines was to drag the stones on a wet straw path using logs as a sled.
Unlike larger monuments in other parts of Scotland, the recumbent stone circles in Aberdeenshire do not seem to have been built to dominate smaller structures. They are spread out, even though some are grouped together. Clive Ruggles and Aubrey Burl believe this suggests the circles were local ritual sites for small groups of farmers. These groups likely lived in areas about 10 square miles (26 square kilometers) and lived without powerful leaders, with each group having no more than 20 to 30 people.
Legacy
The people who built the stone circles did not leave any records, but later people in the area talked about their work and made some stories about them. In the 1500s, a historian named Hector Boece wrote that during King Mainus's time, large stones were arranged in a circle. The largest stone was placed on the south side to act as an altar. Today, these large stones still stand in circles. People often call them "the old temples of the gods." Anyone who sees them is amazed by how people could have moved such heavy stones to one place using tools or strength.
In the 1600s, an English researcher named John Aubrey wrote that people thought the Easter Aquhorthies stone circle was where old Pagan priests lived. They believed the priests carried soil from nearby areas to Auchinchorthie to make the soil deeper. This is why the land, even though surrounded by heath and moss, is more fertile than other nearby areas.