Balbirnie Stone Circle is an archaeological site, a
stone circle
A stone circle is a ring of megalithic standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially Stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being ...
on the north-eastern edge of
Glenrothes
Glenrothes ( ; ; , ) is a town situated in the heart of Fife, in east-central Scotland. It had a population of 39,277 in the 2011 census, making it the third largest settlement in Fife and the 18th most populous locality in Scotland. Glenroth ...
, in
Fife
Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...
, Scotland. The site was in use from the late
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
period to the late second millennium BC.
The prehistoric ceremonial complex of
Balfarg is nearby; the scheduling for Balfarg states that "the Balfarg complex, together with the nearby stone circle at Balbirnie and other sites in their vicinity, form one of the most important groups of monuments of Neolithic and
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
date in eastern Scotland."
Description
The stone circle was originally at . The site was excavated in 1970–1971 by Graham Ritchie, before planned widening of the
A92 road
The A92 is a major road that runs through Fife, Dundee, Angus, Aberdeenshire, and Aberdeen City in Scotland. From south to north, it runs from Dunfermline to Blackdog, just north of Aberdeen.
History
The A92's original route in southern Fif ...
; the main features of the site were then re-erected nearby at .
[
]
Excavation
There were five stones visible before excavation; the stumps of four stones and the hole of one stone were discovered. The original ten stones stood in an ellipse measuring about , around a rectangular setting of slabs measuring .Aubrey Burl
Harry Aubrey Woodruff Burl (24 September 1926 – 8 April 2020) was a British archaeologist best known for his studies into megalithic monuments and the nature of prehistoric rituals associated with them. Before retirement, he was Principal Le ...
. ''The Stone Circles of the British Isles''. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1976. Pages 282–283.[Graham and Anna Ritchie. ''Scotland: Archaeology and early history''. Thames and Hudson, 1981. Pages 61–62.]
Three phases of use were established by the excavation. The rectangle of slabs and the stone circle are from the earliest period. Cremated bone was found beneath four of the circle-stones.[
At a later time, several ]cist
In archeology, a cist (; also kist ;
ultimately from ; cognate to ) or cist grave is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. In some ways, it is similar to the deeper shaft tomb. Examples occur ac ...
s were inserted within the circle. In two of these, two stones with cup and ring mark
Cup and ring marks or cup marks are a form of prehistoric art found in the Atlantic seaboard of Europe (Ireland, Wales, Northern England, Scotland, France (Brittany), Portugal, and Spain (Galicia (Spain), Galicia) – and in Mediterranean Europe ...
s and cup marks had been re-used as a side-slab for the cist. Grave goods found included a Food Vessel and a flint knife. Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for Chronological dating, determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of carbon-14, radiocarbon, a radioactive Isotop ...
of wood associated with a cist gave a date of about 1330 BC. The cists were, in the third phase, covered by a cairn of stones, filling the area within the standing stones up to a height of . Within the cairn, there were at least 16 cremation burials. Radiocarbon dating of the land surface that had accumulated within the circle gave a date of about 890 BC; it was concluded that the last phase was in the late second millennium BC.[
]
See also
* Stone circles in the British Isles and Brittany
References
{{reflist
Archaeological sites in Fife
Stone circles in Scotland