Stone circle

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A stone circle is an ancient monument of standing stones. It is not always precisely circular, often forming an ellipse, or more rarely a setting of four stones laid on an arc of a circle. The sizes of the standing stones has a lot of diversity. The number of stones can vary between 4 and 60. Well more than a thousand stone circle monuments have been cataloged for the British Isles and the parts of Western Europe lying not more than 100 miles from sea. Purposefully erected thousands of years ago, their purpose is shrouded in mystery today.

Contents 1 Dates and Archeology 2 Distribution 3 Stone circles in the United Kingdom and Ireland 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Dates and Archeology

All experts agree that stone circles are of pre-Christian date. But beyond that, stone circles have proven difficult to date. Radiocarbon dating has produced a wide range of dates at different sites. No doubt, this is at least partly due to an inadequacy of materials suitable for the radiocarbon dating method that can be reliably obtained at the sites. The diversity of radiocarbon evidence may also indicate that stone circles were indeed constructed at a diversity of dates, or perhaps were sometimes reconstructed at later dates. The earliest dates are unclear.^{[citation needed]} A second reason why they've proven difficult to date is that, other than the stones, generally no other archeological artifacts associated with the stone circles are available. Pottery shards, bones, etc., are irregularly found at the sites, and when found are frequently of later date than the stone circle -- that can be said even though the date of the stone circle is undetermined.

The sites have an absence of evidence of human dwelling, and most often an absence of graves. This suggests that stone circles were constructed for ceremonies (perhaps religious ceremonies) and were in use on ceremonial occasions only. The type of ceremonies (if any) is entirely unknown. An alternative hypothesis as to purpose is that they were a form of amulet or talisman, i.e., an entity acknowledging and appeasing supposed spirits dwelling in nature, meaning that their ceremonial use was secondary to their talismanic value, or co-equal to it. The crudeness and variety of the stones excludes the possibility that they had astronomical observation purposes of any precision. Sometimes a stone circle is found in association with a burial pit or burial chamber, but the great preponderance of these monuments have no such association. A stone circle is an entirely different entity from a henge, and different also from an isolated monolith, yet sometimes these other types of ancient stone monuments are found in close proximity.

[edit] Distribution

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Prehistoric stone circles are found in many parts of the world.

Megalithic (simply meaning "big stone") monuments in Ireland and the United Kingdom;^[1] several confirmed examples in Brittany, France: two on the island of Er Lannic and two more suggested at Carnac.

The Petit Saint Bernard circle lies further afield, in the French Alps. They are also known as harrespil in the Basque country, where villagers call them mairu-baratz or jentil-baratz that means "pagan garden (cemetery)", referring to mythologic giants of the pre-Christian era.

A unique form of circle, the recumbent stone circle is to be found in North East Scotland, where the largest stone is on its side. These recumbent stones are almost always in the SW quadrant of the circle, and are aligned on the major moonrise. Typically the heights of the circle stones are also graded, with the smallest stone being opposite the recumbent.

In Scandinavia, there was a tradition of making stone circles during the Iron Age and especially in Götaland. The appearance of these circles in northern Poland is considered to be a characteristic of the migrating Goths (see Stone Circle (Iron Age) and Wielbark Culture).

There was a separate period of stone circle building from the eighth to the twelfth century in West Africa. The best known are the Senegambian stone circles, built as funerary monuments, with more than a thousand known. Other stone circles can be found on the Adrar Plateau in Mauritania. Stone circle construction has become popular since the 1970s, built either for purely monumental purposes or to serve a particular mystical purpose. The new stone circles typically lack henges or other auxiliary features and are not on a particular alignment. Notable examples include the Swan Circle at the Glastonbury Festival, while Stonehenge at Maryhill (ultimately built of concrete rather than stone) is an early example, being completed in 1918.

[edit] Stone circles in the United Kingdom and Ireland

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There are about 1,000 stone circles and 80 stone henges in Britain and Ireland.^[2] The French archaeologist Jean-Pierre Mohan in his book Le Monde des Megalithes says: "British Isles megalithism is outstanding in the abundance of standing stones, and the variety of circular architectural complexes of which they formed a part...strikingly original, they have no equivalent elsewhere in Europe - strongly supporting the argument that the builders were independent."

Often oriented on sight lines for the rising or setting sun or moon at certain times of the year, it is possible that for their builders the cycle of seasons was very important. The crudeness of the stones means that they could not have been used as advanced astronomical calculators however.

The earliest known circles were apparently erected around five thousand years ago during the Neolithic period^{[citation needed]} and may have evolved from earlier burial mounds which often covered timber or stone mortuary houses. The suggestion that they may have evolved from earlier burial mounds is undercut by the fact that of hundreds of Neolithic and Bronze Age circles that have been identified, none are centered on a burial. That suggests religious context, the details of which are still obscure.

During the Middle Neolithic (c. 3700–2500 BC)^{[citation needed]} stone circles began to appear in coastal and lowland areas towards the north of the United Kingdom. The Langdale axe industry in the Lake District appears to have been an important early centre for circle building, perhaps because of its economic power. Many had closely set stones, perhaps similar to the earth banks of henges, others were made from unfounded boulders rather than standing stones.

By the later Neolithic, stone circle construction had attained a greater precision and popularity. Rather than being limited to coastal areas, they began to move inland and their builders grew more ambitious, producing examples of up to 400 m diameter in the case of the Outer Circle at Avebury. Most circles however measured around 25 m in diameter however. Designs became more complex with double and triple ring designs appearing along with significant regional variation. These monuments are often classed separately as concentric stone circles.

The final phase of stone circle construction took place in the early to middle Bronze Age (c.2200–1500 BC) and saw the construction of numerous small circles which, it has been suggested, were built by individual family groups rather than the large numbers that monuments like Avebury would have required.

Many fine examples are to be found within Dartmoor National Park, Devon , the site of 18 recorded stone circles (and 75 stone rows) dating mainly from the late Neolithic to mid-Bronze Age. Grey Wethers, a double circle on an isolated plateau, is among the most significant sites.

By 1500 BC stone circle construction had all but ceased. It is thought that changing weather patterns led people away from upland areas and that new religious thinking led to different ways of marking life and death. Stone circles have often been associated with the druids, but they were abandoned long before druidism came to Britain, and there is no evidence that they were ever used by the druids.

[edit] See also

• Aboriginal stone arrangement
• List of megalithic sites
• Megalith
• Nature worship
• Standing stone
• Stone circle (Iron Age)
• Stone row

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Stone circles

• Beagmore Stone Circles, Sperrin Mountains, Ireland
• Dark Isle - Stone Circles and Cairns of Scotland
• Drombeg Stone Circle in Ireland
• Interactive map of megalithic monuments in Europe.
• The Megalith Map
• Dolmens, Menhirs & Stones-Circles in the South of France
• Paul's Stone Circle Database
• Pretanic World - Megaliths and Monuments

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