View W of the excavated & restored Cullerlie stone circle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK, a ring of 8 upright boulders containing 8 kerb cairns.
View W of the excavated & restored Cullerlie stone circle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK, a ring of 8 upright boulders containing 8 kerb cairns. After the stones were erected on a cleared & levelled area of gravel in a marshy valley, a fire of willow twigs was set to purify the interior. The central cairn has a double ring of stones, each satellite cairn has a single kerb. Charcoal & cremated human bone was deposited in the open cairns before they were filled with stones. All but one of the cairns had been rifled before excavation. Cairn 2, W of the central cairn, contained a fire pit with lumps of charcoal & cremated human bones sealed by a capstone. Differences in the fill of the cairns - oak or hazel charcoal etc - suggest that the cairns were used for successive cremations rather than in one go. There were several similar settings in the area, they are thought to have developed from the recumbent stone circle tradition.
Size: 3791px × 2663px
Location: Cullerlie Stone Circle, Garlogie, Echt, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, UK
Photo credit: © Mick Sharp / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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