Ancient stones

Several of my blip friends have already commented on what a dreich day it was today. However it brightened up a wee bit late this afternoon as I was driving home from work, and thinking what might I blip today. I saw the sign for the stone circle at Loanhead of Daviot and on impulse took a short detour to visit this impressive recumbent stone circle.

Here's some information about it from Undiscovered Scotland: The Ultimate Online Guide

"The north east of Scotland is rich in stone circles, with 99 having been definitely or probably identified in the area. Almost all of them are "recumbent" stone circles, in which the focus is formed by a large horizontal stone flanked by two upright stones. They were constructed over 4000 years ago by farming communities, and served as lunar calendars, showing the passing seasons by the way the parts of the circle framed the moon.

The recumbent stone circle at Loanhead of Daviot originally comprised 10 stones as well as the recumbent and flankers. It has a circumference of 20.5m and the size of the stones is graded around the circle, ranging from the 20 tonne recumbent to smaller stones on the opposite side.

As often happened with stone circles, this one seems to have stopped being used for its original purpose by the middle of the second millennium BC. Instead, the residents of the area, who presumably venerated what must have seemed amazing structures bequeathed to them by their distant ancestors, used the interior of the circle to bury the cremated remains of their dead. Immediately to the south of the main stone circle is a lower circle uncovered during excavations in the 1930s. This seems to have been used by the later residents of the area, in the years around 1500BC as a cremation cemetery."

Well worth a visit if you're ever up this way. On a good day there are great views of the surrounding countryside. Even in the mist today it was worth the detour!