Cullerlie Stone
Circle, Grampian
An avenue of tall, slender fir trees leads the pilgrim to this elegant and rather unusual circle of stones. A little archaeological gem shining out of this megalith-rich jewel box best known for its recumbent stone circles.
Eight
blocks of evenly spaced red granite form a ring of some 10.2m diameter.
The circle stones are undressed and graded in height, the tallest standing
to the north-north-west. Their bases were shaped to a point, and then set
in a well-drained gravel oasis in the surrounding swamp-land known as Leuchar
Moss. Some of the stones look rather top-heavy, a bulbous stone supported
by a thinner shank. But this probably resulted from the acid erosion of
their shanks courtesy of the encroaching peat rather than by design.
Excavation
by Kilbride-Jones in 1934 revealed quite a surprise lying hidden under
the peat. No less than eight small cairns were found within the circle.
The largest cairn at the centre of the circle (measuring 3.4m in diameter)
comprised of eleven kerbstones and a central capstone-coverd pit. This
pit contained oak charcoal to a depth of 25cm and fragments of human bone.
Between the central cairn and the outer circle were a further seven cairns,
six of which contained evidence of cremations in the form of oak or hazel
charcoal. The area within the stone circle also contained a large amount
of willow charcoal. Flint was also found during the excavation.
I
have included this site here not because of its magnificence or the beauty
of its setting but because it is rather unusual. The area is rich in stone
circles and boasts some fantastic examples of megalithic temples, but it
is great to see something a little different. And this is it. An ancient
temple to the dead. Respect.
