Tomnaverie Stone Circle | A Bronze Age Mystery

Описание: Tomnaverie stone circle sits among the Aberdeenshire countryside close to Tarland.
It is a complete circle which dates back to around 2500BC
Tomnavarie is a recumbent stone circle. Recumbant circles are unique to this area (there are about 100 of them) and consist of a recumbent stone – which is laying flat on its side – flanked by two upright stones creating a window type structure which normally sits at the south or south west arc of the circle.
The exact reason for recumbent circles isn’t known but they may have been used for astronomical observation – the midsummer moon would have been framed by this recumbent stone which is sited along the circle’s south west arc. Or they may have been used to frame sacred landscape features – this one looks over towards Lochnagar, one of the munros which overlooks Royal Deeside in the Cairngorms.
It's thought that the site may have originally been used for cremation pyres; there’s a low mound in the centre of the circle and carbon dating has revealed charcoal rich soil. There is evidence that a low cairn was constructed here too. It’s thought that the cairn was later enclosed by the recumbent stone circle, which is set into the earlier layers of soil. It’s known that human bones were cremated here in about 1000BC and that the circle was used again at some point between the 14 and 1600s as evidence of burning has been found, suggesting that it may have been used again to receive cremation burials.
The cairn within the stone circle was polygonal. It was open at the centre and defined by a kerb of slabs and glacial boulders. There are thirteen radial lines which link the cairn to the outer kerb. It’s thought that these lines were used as markers for placing the standing stones which came afterwards.
Also on this site is a Royal Observer Corps Nuclear Bunker which was built during the Cold War to monitor potential nuclear strikes. Hopefully it will not have to be used again anytime soon.