Balbirnie Stone Circle is an archaeological site, a
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 ...
on the north-eastern edge of
Glenrothes
Glenrothes (; , ; sco, Glenrothes; gd, Gleann Rathais) is a town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south of Dundee. The town had a population of 39,277 in the 2011 census, making i ...
, in
Fife
Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
, Scotland. The site was in use from the late
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
period to the late second millennium BC.
The prehistoric ceremonial complex of
Balfarg
Balfarg is a prehistoric monument complex in Glenrothes, Fife, Scotland. It is protected as a scheduled monument. With the development of Glenrothes new town in the latter half of the 20th Century an adjacent residential area was developed around ...
is nearby; the scheduling for Balfarg states that "the Balfarg complex, together with the nearby stone circle at Balbirnie and other sites in their vicinity, form one of the most important groups of monuments of Neolithic and
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
date in eastern Scotland."
"Balfarg Farmhouse, henge & standing stones"
Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
Description
The stone circle was originally at . The site was excavated in 1970–1971 by Graham Ritchie, before planned widening of the A92 road
The A92 is a major road that runs through Fife, Dundee, Angus, Aberdeenshire, and Aberdeen City in Scotland. From south to north, it runs from Dunfermline to Blackdog, just north of Aberdeen.
History
The A92's original route in southern Fife i ...
; the main features of the site were then re-erected nearby at .[
]
Excavation
There were five stones visible before excavation; the stumps of four stones and the hole of one stone were discovered. The original ten stones stood in an ellipse measuring about , around a rectangular setting of slabs measuring .Aubrey Burl
Harry Aubrey Woodruff Burl HonFSA Scot (24 September 1926 – 8 April 2020) was a British archaeologist best known for his studies into megalithic monuments and the nature of prehistoric rituals associated with them. Before retirement he was Pr ...
. ''The Stone Circles of the British Isles''. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1976. Pages 282–283.[Graham and Anna Ritchie. ''Scotland: Archaeology and early history''. Thames and Hudson, 1981. Pages 61–62.]
Three phases of use were established by the excavation. The rectangle of slabs and the stone circle are from the earliest period. Cremated bone was found beneath four of the circle-stones.[
At a later time, several ]cist
A cist ( or ; also kist ;
from grc-gre, κίστη, Middle Welsh ''Kist'' or Germanic ''Kiste'') is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle East ...
s were inserted within the circle. In two of these, two stones with cup and ring mark
Cup and ring marks or cup marks are a form of prehistoric art found in the Atlantic seaboard of Europe (Ireland, Wales, Northern England, Scotland, France (Brittany), Portugal, and Spain ( Galicia) – and in Mediterranean Europe – Italy (in Al ...
s and cup marks had been re-used as a side-slab for the cist. Grave goods found included a Food Vessel
Food vessels are an Early Bronze Age, c. 2400-1500 BC (Needham 1996), pottery type. It is not known what food vessels were used for and they only received their name as antiquarians decided they were not beakers (regarded as drinking-vessels) and ...
and a flint knife. Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon.
The method was dev ...
of wood associated with a cist gave a date of about 1330 BC. The cists were, in the third phase, covered by a cairn of stones, filling the area within the standing stones up to a height of . Within the cairn, there were at least 16 cremation burials. Radiocarbon dating of the land surface that had accumulated within the circle gave a date of about 890 BC; it was concluded that the last phase was in the late second millennium BC.[
]
See also
* Stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany
The stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany are a megalithic tradition of monuments consisting of standing stones arranged in rings. These were constructed from 3300 to 900 BCE in Britain, Ireland and Brittany. It has been estimated that ...
References
{{reflist
Archaeological sites in Fife
Stone circles in Scotland