Stone Circle 450m SW of Ardlair Kennethmont, Scotland

Scheduled Monument Data

Stone Circle 450m SW of Ardlair has been designated a scheduled monument in Scotland with the following information. Please note that not all available data may be shown here, minor errors and/or formatting may have occurred during transcription, and some information may have become outdated since scheduling.

Historic Scotland ID
SM0
Name
Ardlair, stone circle 450m SW of
Parish
Kennethmont
County
Aberdeenshire
Easting
355272
Northing
827942
Categories
Prehistoric ritual and funerary: stone circle or ring
Date Listed
17 August 1925
Date Amended
10 January 1997
Date Updated
18 July 2018

Scheduled Monument Description

Text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

The monument comprises the remains of a recumbent stone circle of the later Neolithic period, about 4500 years old. The monument has been scheduled for many years, but this proposal provides an accurate map for the first time.

Only the recumbent stone and its flanking pillars survive, but these are massive. The circle seems to have surrounded a low bank of earth and stones, c.4.5m in diameter and 0.2m high, probably the remains of a ring cairn. The circle is in a striking position.

The area to be scheduled, including the visible remains of the circle, the area likely to have been occupied by the rest of the circle (where buried archaeological features may survive), and an area around where further features may survive, measures 40m in diameter, as marked in red on the attached map.

Scheduled Monument Statement of Significance

Text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

The monument is of national importance as a relatively well preserved example of its kind, in a prominent hilltop position. It has the potential to enhance considerably our understanding of this regionally restricted monument type.