Aquhorthies stone circle

Aquhorthies is a Neolithic stone circle near Portlethen in Aberdeenshire. It stands one field from Auld Bourtreebush circle beside the Causey Mounth. The site combines a ring cairn with a recumbent stone circle that unusually has two rings. Recumbent circles have their largest stone laid flat between south and southwest, flanked by tall stones. Builders chose level spurs with wide views to other landmarks for these circles. Over seventy such circles remain in lowland Aberdeenshire, the closest parallels being in southwest Ireland. The circle once enclosed a low ring cairn which has mostly vanished over centuries. Excavations in 1858 found burnt bone fragments and pottery sherds after the cairn had already been plundered. Early visitors included James Garden in 1692 and James Skene in the 1820s. Alexander Keiller noted in 1934 the circle’s unusual number of stones and alternating heights. Alexander Thom surveyed the site in 1955 and Clive Ruggles checked for alignments in 1981. Fourteen stones remain today, two as stumps, with the recumbent stone measuring 2.75 metres wide and 1.4 metres tall. A forecourt lies in front of the recumbent, an atypical feature. The kerb of the damaged cairn is still intact. The circle was scheduled as a monument in 1925 after earlier studies by William Collings Lukis and others.