Aikey Brae is a
recumbent stone circle on Parkhouse Hill near
Old Deer in
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...
, 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.
Recumbent stone circles
A
recumbent stone circle is a type of
stone circle
A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The be ...
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.
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.
The builders tended to select a site which was on a level
spur of a hill with excellent views to other landmarks. Over seventy of these circles are found in lowland
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...
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.
They may have been a development from the
Clava cairns found in
Inverness-shire and axial stone circles may have followed the design.
Whilst cremated remains have been found at some sites, the precise function of these circles is not known.
Description
The stone circle has five stones still standing (including the recumbent) and five that are fallen. It is located on the summit of Parkhouse Hill, near to
Old Deer and is also known as Parkhouse Hill stone circle.
The recumbent stone is one of the largest in Aberdeenshire, weighing about 21.5 tonnes.
The circle is between 15 and 16.5 metres wide and surrounded by a ring bank.
The trees adjacent to the site were felled in October and November 2019.
History
Aikey Brae became a
scheduled monument in 1925.
In the 1980s,
Clive Ruggles
Clive L. N. Ruggles (born 1952) is a British astronomer, archaeologist and academic. He is the author of academic and popular works on the subject. In 1999, he was appointed professor of archaeoastronomy at the School of Archaeology and Ancient His ...
and
Aubrey Burl both assessed the site in terms of
archaeo-astronomy. Excavations were carried out by Chris Ball and Richard Bradley in 2001. They found the kerbstones in the ring bank were alternately red and white. Anomalous radiocarbon dating suggested the circle was from the
Late Bronze Age.
Artefacts found included 43 items of worked stone, quartz flakes and flint scrapers. Ball and Bradley found that Aikey Brae resembled other Buchan circles and was not slowly built over time like
Tomnaverie stone circle.
See also
*
List of recumbent stone circles
Recumbent stone circles are found in Aberdeenshire in northeast Scotland. Their most striking characteristic is that in the general direction of south-southwest there is a large stone lying on its side with its length lining up with the perimet ...
References
{{Authority control
Stone circles in Aberdeenshire
Scheduled Ancient Monuments in Aberdeenshire
Buildings and structures in Aberdeenshire