Cullerlie stone circle

Cullerlie stone circle stands near Echt in Aberdeenshire. It is a small ring of eight red-granite stones set on a gravel patch that ends a low ridge. Inside the circle are eight small cairns, each surrounded by a ring of stones. The central cairn has a double ring while the others have single rings. All but one cairn contain eleven ringstones, the last has nine. The circle was built in the second millennium BC when bogs covered the land. Stones were brought from higher ground and the tallest marks the north side. Heights range from 1.09 m to 1.80 m. A 2004 survey found cup marks carved on several stones. Excavations in 1934 by H. E. Kilbride-Jones showed the site was prepared by burning willow twigs, then the stones were set with pointed bases. Oak and hazel were burned within the rings, leaving charcoal and cremated bones in five of the cairns. The bones were covered with smaller stones to form the cairns seen today. In 1820 James Logan noted nine similar circles nearby, but the 1934 dig found no trace of them. The gravel ridge links the circle with Leuchar Moss, marking the end of a low rise.