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Recumbent stone circle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A recumbent stone circle is a type of stone circle that incorporates a large monolith, known as a recumbent, lying on its side. They are found in only two regions: in Aberdeenshire in the north-east of Scotland and in the far south-west of Ireland in the counties of Cork and Kerry. In Ireland, the circles are now more commonly called Cork–Kerry or axial stone circles.[1] They are believed by some archaeologists such as Aubrey Burl to be associated with rituals in which moonlight played a central role, as they are aligned with the arc of the southern moon.[2] Recent excavations at Tomnaverie stone circle have suggested that no alignment of the circle was intended.
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Over 70 recumbent circles have been definitively identified in Aberdeenshire. They are believed to be linked to the Clava cairns in Inverness-shire which were constructed slightly earlier (around 3000 BC). Recumbent stone circles typically enclose a ring cairn and the stones are graded in size so that the smallest faces the recumbent.