 1900 sketch | |
 | |
  Shown within Aberdeen City council area | |
| Location | Scotland |
|---|---|
| Region | Aberdeen |
| OS grid reference | NJ859132 |
| Type | Recumbent stone circle |
| Site notes | |
| Public access | Yes |
| Designated | 1925 |
| Identifiers | |
| Historic Environment Scotland | SM22 |
Tyrebagger stone circle is located at Dyce, near to Aberdeen in Scotland. It is a complete recumbent stone circle. It was used as a cattle pound in the past and now stands close to the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route. It is a scheduled monument since 1925.
A recumbent stone circle is a type of stone circle constructed in the early Bronze Age. The identifying feature is that the largest stone (the recumbent) is always laid horizontally, with its long axis generally aligned with the perimeter of the ring between the south and southwest. [1] [2] A flanker stone stands each side of the recumbent and these are typically the tallest stones in the circle, with the smallest being situated on the northeastern aspect. The rest of the circle is usually composed of between six and ten orthostats graded by size. [1] The builders tended to select a site which was on a level spur of a hill with excellent views to other landmarks. [3] Over seventy of these circles are found in lowland Aberdeenshire in northeast Scotland – the most similar monuments are the axial stone circles of southwest Ireland. Recumbent stone circles generally enclosed a low ring cairn, though over the millennia these have often disappeared. [2] They may have been a development from the Clava cairns found nearby in Inverness-shire and axial stone circles may have followed the design. [2] [4] Whilst cremated remains have been found at some sites, the precise function of these circles is not known. [5]
Tyrebagger stone circle stands on a hill above the Standingstones farm at Dyce near to Aberdeen. It is one of the few examples of a complete recumbent stone circle and is 18.5 metres in diameter. [6] It is composed of eleven stones: the 24 ton recumbent stone is grey granite and the orthostats are red granite. [7] Aubrey Burl believed the stones came from a nearby quarry. [3] The site became a scheduled monument in 1925. [8]
In the past, the stone circle was converted for use as a cattle pound by digging out the interior and filling in the areas between the orthostats with loose stones. [6] [9] In 1896 there were twelve stones and two nearby two cairns, and one of the cairns was demolished in that year. [10]
Frederick Coles stated in a paper published in 1900 that the circle, which he called the standing stones of Dyce, had twelve stones. [9] When the Ordnance Survey visited the circle 1865-6, the surveyors recorded ten stones. Another visit from a surveyor in 1961 reported one stone had cracked into two pieces. This was re-erected in 1999. [6] The Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route was constructed nearby in the 2010s. [11] [12]
A stone circle is a ring of megalithic standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Great Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built between 3300 to 2500 BC. The best known examples include those at the henge monument at Avebury, the Rollright Stones, Castlerigg, and elements within the ring of standing stones at Stonehenge. Scattered examples exist from other parts of Europe. Later, during the Iron Age, stone circles were built in southern Scandinavia.
A recumbent stone circle is a type of stone circle that incorporates a large monolith, known as a recumbent, lying on its side. They are found in only two regions: in Aberdeenshire in the north-east of Scotland and in the far south-west of Ireland in the counties of Cork and Kerry. In Ireland, the circles are now more commonly called Cork–Kerry or axial stone circles. They are believed by some archaeologists such as Aubrey Burl to be associated with rituals in which moonlight played a central role, as they are aligned with the arc of the southern moon. Recent excavations at Tomnaverie stone circle have suggested that no alignment of the circle was intended.
Strichen stone circle is a Megalithic recumbent stone circle located near Strichen, Aberdeenshire in the north east of Scotland. It has been destroyed twice and in the early 1980s was excavated and reconstructed.
The Uragh Stone Circle is an axial five-stone circle located near Gleninchaquin Park, County Kerry, Ireland. The Bronze Age site includes a multiple stone circle and some boulder burials.
Sheldon stone circle is a prehistoric stone circle located to the south of Oldmeldrum in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Auld Bourtreebush is a large Neolithic stone circle near Portlethen in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is also known as Old Bourtree Bush or Old Bourtreebush. This megalithic construction is situated very close to the recumbent stone circle at Aquhorthies and near the Causey Mounth, an ancient trackway which connects the Scottish Lowlands to the highlands. It is a scheduled monument.
Easter Aquhorthies stone circle, located near Inverurie in north-east Scotland, is one of the best-preserved examples of a recumbent stone circle and one of the few that still have their full complement of stones and the only one that has all its stones still standing without having been re-erected. It stands on a gentle hill slope about 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Inverurie and consists of a ring of nine stones, eight of which are grey granite and one red jasper. Two more grey granite stones flank a recumbent of red granite flecked with crystals and lines of quartz. The circle is particularly notable for its builders' use of polychromy in the stones, with the reddish ones situated on the SSW side and the grey ones opposite. The discovery of a possible cist covered by a capstone at the centre of the circle indicates that there may once have been a cairn there, but only a conspicuous bump now remains.
Sunhoney is a stone circle of the recumbent type, which is common in the Grampian region, in particular at the River Dee. Sunhoney is situated about 2 km west of Echt in Aberdeenshire, near to the Cullerlie and Midmar stone circles. It is designated a scheduled ancient monument
Balquhain, also known as Balquhain Stone Circle, is a recumbent stone circle 3 miles (4.8 km) from Inverurie in Scotland. It is a scheduled ancient monument.
A ring cairn is a circular or slightly oval, ring-shaped, low embankment, several metres wide and from 8 to 20 metres in diameter. It is made of stone and earth and was originally empty in the centre. In several cases the middle of the ring was later used. The low profile of these cairns is not always possible to make out without conducting excavations.
An axial stone circle is a megalithic ring of stones of a particular design found in County Cork and County Kerry in southwest Ireland. Archaeologists have found it convenient to consider the axial five-stone circle and axial multiple-stone circle separately. The circle has an approximate axis of symmetry aligned in a generally northeast–southwest direction. The stone at the southwest side of the circle, rather than being an upright orthostat like all the rest, is a slab lying horizontally with its long thin edge along the circumference of the ring. Because it marks the axis of the circle it is called the axial stone.
Kealkill stone circle is a Bronze Age axial five-stone circle located just outside the village of Kealkill, County Cork in southwest Ireland. When it was excavated in 1938 it was thought the crucial axial stone indicated an alignment to the north, contrary to the general alignment of such stone circles to the southwest. However, later archaeologists have thought it is the comparatively insignificant stone to the southwest that is the axial stone. There are two associated standing stones nearby, one of which had fallen and was re-erected in 1938.
Tomnaverie stone circle is a recumbent stone circle set on the top of a small hill in lowland northeast Scotland. Construction started from about 2500 BC, in the Bronze Age, to produce a monument of thirteen granite stones including a massive 6.5-ton recumbent stone lying on its side along the southwest of the circle's perimeter. Within the 17-metre (56 ft) circle are kerb stones encircling a low 15-metre (49 ft) ring cairn but the cairn itself no longer exists.
Loanhead of Daviot stone circle is a recumbent stone circle in Aberdeenshire in lowland northeast Scotland. The circle consists of the recumbent stone with its flankers and a complete set of eight orthostats about 21 metres (69 ft) in diameter surrounding a low kerbed ring cairn which has an open court. However, the present appearance has in part been produced by substantial restoration after archaeological excavation in 1934, and in 1989 by the removal of the stones covering the central court.
Dunnideer stone circle is a mostly destroyed recumbent stone circle located near Insch in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The three remaining stones lie close to the ruins of Dunnideer Castle. It is a scheduled monument.
Aikey Brae is a recumbent stone circle on Parkhouse Hill near Old Deer in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The recumbent stone is about 21.5 tonnes and there are five stones still erected in total. The site has been excavated most recently by Chris Ball and Richard Bradley. It is a scheduled monument.
Aquhorthies is a Neolithic stone circle near Portlethen in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The site is composed of a ring cairn and a recumbent stone circle which unusually has two rings. It stands one field away from Auld Bourtreebush stone circle, near to the Causey Mounth. It is a scheduled monument.