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Recumbent stone circle, reconstructed, circa 17m in diameter. As described by Coles in 1905 it consisted of an incomplete outer ring comprising a massive whinstone recumbent (which has two cupmarks) and its two flankers (fallen), five erect stones and one fallen stone, a middle setting of stones, and an innermost setting of smallish stones 8.5m in diameter. OS site visit in 1968 noted that the west flanker appeared to have been moved outside the circle. The circle is surrounded a ring cairn 14m across, but all that is visible of the inner setting is a rickle of stones with slight traces of what may be the inner kerb of the ring cairn. The site was excavated in 1999 and 2000 by Richard Bradley as part of a programme to investigate RSCs in Aberdeenshire. This indicated that the site was first used as a cremation pyre, evidenced by a spread of small fragments of cremated bone. This was encapsulated within a polygonal cairn, open at the centre and defined by a massive kerb of slabs and glacial boulders. The kerb had been revetted on the outside by a bank of rubble which sealed a few sherds of Beaker pottery. At a number of points the interior of the cairn was linked to the outer kerb by a series of radial divisions. In a subsequent phase the cairn was enclosed by a recumbent stone circle, the monoliths set in sockets cut through elements of the earlier monument. The recumbent had originally rested on the bank of rubble supporting the exterior of the cairn. In a later period, probably during the 1st millennium BC, a pit was dug in the exact centre of the monument to receive a cremation burial. Following the excavation fallen stones were re-erected in their original sockets. Survey of the uncleared areas of the hill identified the positions of 29 cup-marked stones. Faint graffiti (initials JC) has been recorded on the lower part of the north flanker. Now inverted, the initials were probably carved whilst the stone was lying on the ground before re-erection of the flankers following the excavation.
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Historic Environment Records (HER)