Gowk Hill Stone Circle
Late Neolithic – Early Bronze Age (2500–1500 BCE)·Recumbent Stone Circle builders·🇬🇧 Aberdeenshire, Scotland, United Kingdom
About
About Gowk Hill Stone Circle
Gowk Hill stone circle on a ridge west of Insch, Aberdeenshire, an upland circle of eight granitic boulders enclosing a slight interior cairn, part of the Aberdeenshire recumbent circle concentration but atypically elevated.
Why it mattersUpland example contrasting valley recumbent circles
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why hilltop rather than valley floor
- 02Recumbent presence disputed
Theories
- 01Lunar standstill observation
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 2000 BCE
- Period
- Late Neolithic – Early Bronze Age (2500–1500 BCE)
- Culture
- Recumbent Stone Circle builders
- Purpose
- Hilltop stone circle with possible recumbent setting on Gowk Hill ridge
- Excavation
- Unexcavated
c. 2000 BCE
Circle erection
c. 1856 CE
OS Name Book record
1974 CE
Grampian survey
On the ground
Structures & features
57.3400° N · 2.6300° W · 180 m · 3 mapped features
Hilltop Circle Setting
circle8 boulder orthostats on ridge crest
57.3402° N · 2.6299° WInterior Cairn
cairnLow stony mound 3 m diameter
57.3399° N · 2.6298° WOutlier Stone
outlierSingle outlier 12 m SW of circle
57.3395° N · 2.6304° W