North Mains is a
henge
There are three related types of Neolithic earthwork that are all sometimes loosely called henges. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ...
in
Strathearn
Strathearn or Strath Earn (, from gd, Srath Èireann) is the strath of the River Earn, in Scotland, extending from Loch Earn in the West to the River Tay in the east.http://www.strathearn.com/st_where.htm Derivation of name Strathearn was one ...
on Strathallan Estate between
Crieff
Crieff (; gd, Craoibh, meaning "tree") is a Scottish market town in Perth and Kinross on the A85 road between Perth and Crianlarich, and the A822 between Greenloaning and Aberfeldy. The A822 joins the A823 to Dunfermline. Crieff has become ...
and
Auchterarder
Auchterarder (; gd, Uachdar Àrdair, meaning Upper Highland) is a small town located north of the Ochil Hills in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, and home to the Gleneagles Hotel. The High Street of Auchterarder gave the town its popular name of "Th ...
in
Perthshire
Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
(not in the valley known as
Strathallan
Strathallan is the strath of the Allan Water in Scotland. The strath stretches north and north-east from Stirling through Bridge of Allan, Dunblane and Blackford to Auchterarder in Perth and Kinross.
Strathallan is also the name for one of the w ...
). It was excavated in 1979 and the final report was published in 1983.
Like most henges North Mains saw use over many centuries. Prior to the construction of the henge two pits were dug and a
cremation
Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning.
Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...
burial were placed at the site. The henge ditch and one
timber circle
In archaeology, timber circles are rings of upright wooden posts, built mainly by ancient peoples in the British Isles and North America. They survive only as gapped rings of post-holes, with no evidence they formed walls, making them distinct fro ...
seem to have been contemporary. There was a second timber circle. A series of burials was dug into and around the henge enclosure. An early Christian cemetery was later dug into the enclosed area.
The Scottish poet
Kathleen Jamie
Kathleen Jamie FRSL (born 13 May 1962) is a Scottish poet and essayist. In 2021 she became Scotland's fourth Makar.
Life and work
Kathleen Jamie is a poet and essayist. Raised in Currie, near Edinburgh, she studied philosophy at the University ...
worked on the excavation of the site in 1979, and wrote about her experiences in her 2012 book ''Sightlines'', in an essay entitled "The Woman in the Field".
References
Geography of Perth and Kinross
Henges
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