Nine Stanes Stone Circle, Banchory, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
A journey through Scotland's ancient sites
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INTRO
NINE STANES IS ONE OF THE BETTER KNOWN RECUMBENT STONE CIRCLES IN NE SCOTLAND. IT IS SITUATED IN A FORESTRY PLANTATION BETWEEN MULLOCH HILL & GARROL HILL, 8 MILES SE OF BANCHORY. HERE YOU WILL FIND A NEAR COMPLETE SITE WHICH OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS ERECTED IN THE NEOLITHIC ERA.
OVERVIEW
THE 1ST RECORD OF NINE STANES WAS FROM 1692 IN A NOTE BY JAMES GARDEN. ORIGINALLY THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN 11 MEGALITHS WHICH SURROUNDED A RING CAIRN. ONE STONE IS MISSING IN THE NW ARC WHILE ANOTHER ON THE WEST SECTION IS PRESENTLY A STUMP. NINE STANES IS THOUGHT TO BE A LATER MEGALITHIC RING.
RECUMBENT
THE 2.5M LONG X 1.3M HIGH RECUMBENT STONE IS ORIENTATED SSE, MOST RECUMBENTS ARE ON THE SOUTH TO SW ARC. THE RECUMBENT SETTING LOOKS AS IF IT HAS BEEN SKEWED FROM ITS ORIGINAL POSITION TO FIT WITH THE ORIENTATION OF THE INTERNAL CAIRN.
FLANKERS
THE TWO FLANKERS REMAIN, THE WESTERN FLANK IS 2M HIGH. THE FALLEN EAST PILLAR IS JUST OVER 2M.
SCOTTISH ARCHAEOASTRONOMER ALEXANDER THOM, MEASURED NINE STANES IN 1955 & FOUND A TYPE B FLATTENED CIRCLE, WHICH IS QUITE UNUSUAL. ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THIS TYPE B FLATTENED RING IN ABERDEENSHIRE IS SOUTH YTHSIE STONE CIRCLE.
VARIOUS
F.R COLES EXCAVATED IN 1904. THE INSIDE AREA WAS VERY STONEY AND PROBABLY AN INTERNAL CAIRN. SIX STONES (ONE WAS MISSING) FORMED A PIT WHICH WAS FUNNEL SHAPED. THIS PIT WAS FULL OF BURNT BONE.
ANOTHER PIT TO THE NORTH, CONTAINED URN FRAGMENTS & CHARCOAL. FOUR SPOTS SURROUNDING THIS PIT CONTAINED BONE.
Balgorkar Recumbent Stone Circle, Kemnay, Aberdeenshire.
A Journey Through Scotland's Ancient Sites.
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BALGORKAR
RECUMBENT STONE CIRCLE
KEMNAY
ABERDEENSHIRE
SCOTLAND
A FEW MILES SOUTH WEST OF KEMNAY AND OPPOSITE CASTLE FRASER IS AN EXCELLENT AND STUNNING RECUMBENT STONE CIRCLE, SITUATED ON PRIVATE LAND, THE SITE IS ALSO KNOWN AS CASTLE FRASER.
A POPULAR THOUGHT WITH THE RECUMBENT STONE CIRCLES IS A LINK WITH THE 18.61 YEAR LUNAR CYCLE AND THE SOUTHERN EXTREME MOONSET. THERE COULD ALSO BE A LINK WITH THE WINTER SOLSTICE WITH THE SUN SETTING IN THE SOUTH WEST.
THE FINE THREE STONE RECUMBENT SETTING IS ORIENTATED SOUT SOUTH WEST WHICH IS COMMON FOR THE STONE CIRCLES OF NORTH EAST SCOTLAND. THE RECUMBENT IS 2.3M LONG BY 1.5M TALL, IT IS CUP MARKED AND HAS AN EVEN SUMMIT TOWARDS THE HILL OF FARE
THE FLANKERS ARE 2.5M AND 2.7M HIGH. THE EAST FLANKER RESEMBLES THE SHAPE OF OTHER STONES FOUND AT MACHRIE MOOR AND CALLANISH. THIS MAY BE A HAG OR CRONE STONE, SYMBOLISING THE WISE OLD WOMAN.
IT IS LIKELY EIGHT STANDING STONES ORIGINALLY MADE UP THE CIRCLE OUT WITH THE THREE STONE RECUMBENT SETTING. FOUR OF THESE MEGALITHS STILL STAND WITH THREE IN THE EAST ARC AND ONE IN NORTH WEST. THERE IS A GAP IN THE NORTH EAST WITH NO TRACE OF ANY STONE.
THE CIRCLE IS JUST OVER 20M IN DIAMETER AND MADE UP OF PINK AND GREY GRANITE STONES, THE HIGHEST BEING AROUND 2M. THE NORTH WEST STANDING STONE IS POSSIBLY FEMALE WITH ITS POINTED TRIANGULAR SHAPE. QUARTZITE WAS ALSO FOUND AT THE CIRCLE.
THE STONE NEXT TO THE EAST FLANKER HAS A VAGINA LIKE CAVITY AT ITS BASE, THIS COULD BE NATURAL OR MAY REPRESENT FEMALE SYMBOLISM. THE FALLEN STONE NEXT TO THE WEST FLANKER IS CUP MARKED. SHERDS OF A LARGE URN WERE ALSO FOUND AROUND THIS STONE.
TO THE NORTH WEST FROM BALGORKAR, MITHER TAP IS IN VIEW BUT NOW OBSCURED BY TREES. THIS FEMALE BREAST SHAPED HILL WAS OBVIOUSLY VERY IMPORTANT TO OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS AND WITH THE PLACEMENT OF THE CIRCLE. PERHAPS BALGORKAR IS A FEMALE RING.
TWO GREY GRANITE OUTLINER STONES SURVIVE JUST UNDER 300M FROM THE CIRCLE. THE PURPOSE OF THESE MEGALITHS ARE UNCERTAIN BUT A POPULAR THEORY IS A PROCESSIONAL RITUAL AVENUE TOWARDS THE CIRCLE. THE STONES ARE 15M APART AND JUST OVER 2M HIGH. THE NORTH EAST STONE IS SPECKLED WITH QUARTZ.
CHARLES DALRYMPLE FOUND EVIDENCE THE SITE HAD BEEN LEVELLED BEFORE ERECTION AND A RING CAIRN WITH A 4M DIAMETER CENTRAL COURT. A COLLECTION OF ARTEFACTS FROM HIS EXCAVATION WERE FOUND IN 2003, IN THE CASTLE FRASER COLLECTION, THESE FINDS WERE THOUGHT TO BE LOST.
THE EXCAVATION DATE WAS 3RD SEPTEMBER 1856. THE FINDS WERE THREE SHERDS OF FLAT RIMMED WARE FROM THE LATE BRONZE AGE, A LARGE NUMBER OF PIECES OF DAUB WITH WATTLE IMPRESSIONS AND TWO FRAGMENTS OF CHARCOAL, ONE RAPPER WAS LABELLED BONES BUT NO SKELETAL REMAINS WERE FOUND.
THE EARLIEST RECORD IS A DEPICTION BY ALEXANDER LAW FROM 1788. IN 1829 JAMES LOGAN SAID THERE ORIGINALLY CONSISTED OF ELEVEN STONES WHICH NINE REMAINED. BY 1900 F.R COLES SAID SEVEN STONES REMAINED STANDING. ALEXANDER THOM MEASURED A TRUE CIRCLE WHILE VISITING IN 1955. DURING CULTIVATION IN 2002 ANOTHER STONE WAS KNOCKED OVER AND SPLIT IN TWO.
A BIG THANKS TO OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS.
Echoes of Time v2 by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (
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Artist:
The Running Man Legends. The Banchory Ape, Creature Chases the Car.
On a lonely road in Angus Scotland there a number of Bigfoot or Wildman type encounters reported over the Years and these sightings are very close to a number of standing stones and stone circles, one historical Blog stated: Three miles south west of Banchory and accessible via a network of narrow single track forestry roads lies a cluster of three stone circles dating back around 4,000 years. Two of the circles, Eslie the Greater and Eslie the Lesser stand half a mile apart in fields within sight of one another. The best known, the Nine Stanes Stone Circle, forms a roughly equilateral triangle with them, and once also enjoyed wide open views, but now stands within a forestry plantation.
While the setting in which you find the Nine Stanes Circle today is certainly not what its builders intended, it is a setting which contributes strongly to the remarkable atmosphere that surrounds it. Here, more than at perhaps any other stone circle in Aberdeenshire, it is possible to imagine our ancient ancestors as real people celebrating key points of the year or burying the remains of their dead. Catch it on a still summer's evening, especially if you are alone, and it is almost possible to believe the circles's builders are hiding within the nearby trees watching, simply waiting for you to leave so they can resume their rites.
We do have a number of Scottish members here at BBR that investigate these cases and the areas they happen in. If you would like to join them in the field or for a chat online, join or community by commenting below or via debbiehatswell@gmail.com
If you have not joined already you can become a member of our BBR Investigations group and help us to investigate cases like these, in the field or online by contacting Deb via debbiehatswell@gmail.com.
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Sunhoney Stone Circle, Echt, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
A journey through Scotland's ancient sites
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A big thanks to our ancient ancestors.
Banchory Crathes Castle Falls Of Feugh Scotland 4K April 2019
Music:
1.Illenium - Needed You (feat. Dia Frampton)
Bass Of Inverurie, Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
A journey through Scotland's ancient sites....
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INTRO
IN INVERURIE CEMETERY ON KEITHHALL ROAD. YOU WILL FIND TWO VERY LARGE EARTHWORK MOUNDS. THESE ARE THOUGHT TO BE A MEDIEVAL MOTTE & BAILEY. METERS AWAY YOU WILL FIND A ROW OF PICTISH INSCRIBED SYMBOL STONES. IN THIS GRAVEYARD WE HAVE REMAINS FROM VARIOUS HISTORICAL PERIODS.
OVERVIEW
NEAR WHERE THE RIVER DON & RIVER URIE MEET IS THE BASS OF INVERURIE. IT IS THOUGHT TO BE A NATURAL MOUND THAT HAS BEEN SHAPED BY SCARPING THE SIDES. DIRECTLY OPPOSITE IS THE LITTLE BASS, A SHORTER CONSTRUCTION. THE MOTTE & BAILIE CASTLES WERE COMMON IN SCOTLAND BUT VANISHED OR RE-USED TO BUILD STONE CASTLES.
BASS
THE BASS IS THE PRINCIPLE MOUND KNOWN AS THE ‘MOTTE’. THE BOTTOM’S CIRCUMFERENCE IS OVER 150M, THE TOP CIRCUMFERENCE IS NEARLY 75M WITH A HEIGHT OF 12M. AN 1883 EXCAVATION REVEALED THE REMAINS OF A GANGWAY MADE OF OAKEN. THIS WAS JOINED ONTO THE SOUTH FACE.
LITTLE BASS
THE LITTLE BASS OR ‘BAILEY’ AT 5M HIGH, HAS TWO SLIGHTLY RAISED PLATFORMS. THESE MEASURE 17M X 9.5M & 11M X 9.5M, THESE ARE POTENTIALLY THE REMAINS OF BUILDINGS. THESE SIT ON AN OVAL FLAT TOP. THE TOP MEASURES 30M FROM EAST TO WEST X 23M NORTH TO SOUTH.
EXCAVATION HAS UNCOVERED A DITCH SURROUNDED BOTH MOUNDS. ESTIMATED TO BE 3M WIDE X 2M DEEP. DURING GRAVE DIGGING IN THE DITCH SOME 14TH CENTURY POTTERY WAS FOUND. A PATH WAS CUT BETWEEN THE MOUNDS IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY WITH POSSIBLE LANDSCAPING.
PREHISTORY
AROUND THE FOOT OF THE MOUNDS. NEOLITHIC WORKED FLINT IMPLEMENTS, CORES & FLAKES HAVE BEEN FOUND, DURING EXTENSIONS TO THE CEMETERY. THIS SUGGESTS A NEOLITHIC OCCUPATION. A POLISHED STONE ADZE ‘CUSHION’ MACE HEAD WAS FOUND NEAR THE BASS IN 1928. THIS SUGGESTS OCCUPATION IN THE BRONZE AGE.
FROM THE TOP OF THE BASS, THE FEMALE HILL OF MITHER TAP CAN BE SEEN IN THE DISTANCE.
NOTE THE SIMILARITY OF THE MOTTE & BAILEY TO THE NEOLITHIC MOUNDS OF SILBURY HILL, SILBABY & MARLBOROUGH MOUNT IN ENGLAND. THESE DATE TO 2400BC. IS IT POSSIBLE THE INVERURIE BASS IS A PREHISTORIC MANMADE CONSTRUCTION WHICH WAS LATER TAKEN ON TO BUILD A MOTTE & BAILEY? THE SITE SITS IN AN AREA RICH IN PREHISTORIC REMAINS.
PICTISH STONES
THE FOUR PICTISH SYMBOL STONES WERE BUILT INTO THE WALLS OF THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH. THIS WAS DEMOLISHED IN 1775. IN THE 19TH CENTURY THEY WERE MOVED TO THEIR PRESENT LOCATION, METERS FROM THE BASS
1. A 1.7M LONG X 0.5M WIDE, RECUMBENT, RED GRANITE STONE. THE GLYPHS ON SHOW ARE A CRESCENT, A V ROD, A CIRCULAR DISK & RECTANGLE (MIRROR CASE) A SERPENT WITH A STRAIGHT ROD, A DOUBLE DISK & Z ROD.
2. ANOTHER RED GRANITE, FRAGMENTED STONE FROM THE 7TH CENTURY, AT 0.75M HIGH X 0.60M WIDE. HERE WE HAVE TWO DISKS JOINED TOGETHER WITH INTERNAL DECORATION.
3. A BROKEN, PINK GRANITE STONE, CARVED WITH A DOUBLE DISK & Z ROD, JUST VISIBLE AT THE TOP IS THE ARC OF ANOTHER SYMBOL.
4. GALLOPING HORSE, LONG TAIL, POINTED EARS, CIRCULAR EYES. ANOTHER 7TH CENTURY CARVING.
A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR ANCIENT ANCESTORS FROM PREHISTORY. THEY ERECTED THESE FASCINATING MEGALITHIC SITES, WHICH WE CAN STILL VISIT TODAY.
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE FOR WEEKLY CONTENT, FEEL FREE TO SHARE, LEAVE ANY COMMENTS, QUESTIONS OR SUGGESTIONS & THANKS FOR WATCHING.
BANCHORY AND THE RIVER DEE. ABERDEENSHIRE. SCOTLAND.
The River Dee (Scottish Gaelic: Uisge Dhè) is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through South Aberdeenshire to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen.
Banchory is a fine Scottish town or 'burgh' lying approximately 20 miles west of Aberdeen adjacent to the magnificent River Dee. It is surrounded by lovely rural countryside and attractive hills. The largest town in the area, it acts as a magnet for the local communities and has a fine High Street and other excellent facilities. For the visitor, the town has much to offer with two famous castles nearby, Crathes and Drum -both run by the National Trust for Scotland. The Bridge of Feugh offers the chance to see salmon leaping and there are numerous fine golf courses, at one of which Paul Lawrie, winner of the (British) Open in 1999 was trainee professional.
Note: The core content contained in the above combined articles, was originally written several A.N. Others + myself, then combined. It was all re-formatted, re-edited, with the spelling & grammar corrected, then added to where pertinent, before being updated by me, myself, and I, to suit this subject matter more exclusively.
Thank you to all those involved.
Jacob's Pillow - Post Neolithic
Video set to Post Neolithic from the 2012 album Jacob's Pillow.
Stone Circles and neolithic sites featured in this video -
FRANCE:
Carnac
Gavrinis Cairn
Er Lannic
Grand Menhir Brise
ENGLAND:
Avebury
Stonehenge
SCOTLAND:
The Dwarfie Stane
The Ring of Brodgar
Callanish I, II and III
Sunhoney
Tomnaverie
East Aquhorthies
Cullerlie
Nine Stanes (Garrol Wood)
Musicians:
Lucy Hague - Electric Piano
Gaz Laidlaw - Electric Guitar
Danny Dewar - Drums
Adam Sutherland - Fiddle
Tom Pickles - Flute
Tam Lee - Vox and Acoustic Guitar
Danny Mason - Bass
Crackdown on illegal off-roading in Aberdeenshire forests
Police Scotland and Forest Enterprise Scotland are trying to tackle illegal off-roading in Aberdeenshire woodland areas. If they wish to take part in the sport, motorcyclists and 4x4 riders are urged to join a club which has permission to use the land.
Deeside Way Drumoak to Banchory on bike inc Crathes Castle
Rest in Peace Andy. Thanks for all your videos, sad loss at 39 xx
dee vinyl boat 2009
Aberdeen University Zoology Museum #MuseumWeek2015
Aberdeen: A Tale of Three Cities
A very wet day in the Granite City: discovering the lovely Old Aberdeen, and finding a great coffee shop; getting soaked in the grey bits, while tracking down the newer cathedrals; then finding great tea in the Rosemount district of the city.
Kintore to Banchory (Dash Cam)
Drive from Kintore to Banchory with Dash Cam
Building a 7 FOOT HIGH 1000 LBS CAIRN!
This cairn is part of the natural land art project: Winterfell. This was early October 2015. The project began July 2015 and is set to complete in the Fall of 2016.