On 2012-05-07 22:21, golux wrote:
George
It is most interesting that Tomnaverie has a similar declination as Sunhoney and Midmar despite its open outlook. Alas, that is one circle I have never visited and never considered before. I think I may have been discouraged by hearing it is a re-build, having seen what re-building did to Strichen House circle. I will move it up my "must visit soon" list!
Berrybrae is another I have not reached, being stymied three times by crops in the field. Loanend I have seen: if memory serves well, the recumbent is so big that you would have to stand a long way back to see the horizon over it! But it is on high ground, - is it, like Tomnaverie, apparently ignoring an expansive field of view?.
Do the five you mentioned all share a similar declination or is it just Tomaverie, Sunhoney and Midmar, with the other two being on another alignment?
Golux

I'm new and confuddled. This has probably been answered somewhere before but can someone please define the difference, in layman's terms.
I have a feeling that stone circles are just that, and built as such. Cairn circles being the remains of an earth covered structure, tomb, barrow or such.

On 2012-05-07 21:37, golux wrote:
George
Yes of course the circle builders did not consult a compass, they looked at the view allowed by the surrounding landscape and that determined the alignment of the recumbent. I just thought the amount of variation surprising given how many circles are set on high ground or open country with good views. And while the recumbent would have to be positioned very carefully to achieve the "rolling across the recumbent" effect, there would be no need for such precision to provide a view of the moon in the large window between the flankers.
Golux

On 2012-05-07 20:41, golux wrote:
George
I would agree that the presence of fire is the real common denominator, I could have mentioned that both cairns and circles may be preceded by a pit and evidence of fire. And I would agree that the fire might have been something other than a funeral pyre, a celebratory bonfire perhaps, - there is nothing like a good blaze to cheer people up! But of course I only mentioned cairns to explain how a cairn circle and a stone circle might be one and the same thing.
You mentioned the restricted view at Midmar Circle; doesn't the same apply to nearby Sunhoney where the view is also blocked by the Hill of Fare?
Golux

On 2012-05-07 19:59, golux wrote:
Rune

My remarks do not apply to all RSC's but do fit many. Some RSC's with cairns were built in the reverse order: the Loanhead of Daviot circle with a central cairn is thought to have commenced with the installation of the recumbent, the circle and cairn being later constructions.

As you point out, it would not be possible to obtain a sight of the moon rolling across the recumbent where the circle centre was occupied by a cairn. But not all recumbents exhibit this feature and not all cairns completely filled the area of their circle: some left room for an observer in the space between the recumbent and the cairn (bounded by "portal" stones, as at Arnhill and East Auqorthies), in a passage behind the recumbent, or in a central open court. And where viewing from inside the circle was impossible there might be ways round this, e.g. by using a mirror.

Do you know which recumbents have this match between their top outline and the moon's positions at Lunar Standstill? I suspect it is very few indeed. I used to think that perhaps all recumbents were placed to catch the same astronomical phenomenon and hence might be expected to face the same direction. But then I saw the diagram in "Great Crowns Of Stone" showing the compass orientations of all recumbents and was surprised to see that the various alignments cover almost every possibility between due East and due West! Far from all facing the same way, they are all over the place!

On 2012-05-07 14:51, Runemage wrote:
Many of the RSC's (Recumbent Stone Circles) of Aberdeenshire (I think the majority but I'm not sure) began as simple cairns, then kerbstones were added as the cairns developed into more complex shapes (including chambers, a passage entrance, a central court, etc), then stone circles were erected around them and giant recumbent stones placed across the cairn entrance (usually the SSW face). When these sites fell into disuse and began to be robbed to provide building stones, the smallest and most transportable stones were taken first. So the cairn would disappear, leaving the kerbstones and the circle stones, then the kerbstones would be taken, the smallest first (usually at the NNW side) followed by larger and larger stones, to eventually leave the stone circle standing on its own. Then the circle stones would be taken (again beginning with the smallest on the NNW side) until finally only the very biggest stones. the recumbent and its flankers, were left. This is why many RSC's now consist of the recumbent stone only.

Are you sure on this Golux? it's been established fairly recently by observation that on some recumbents where there's a decent sightline, the moon can be seen to roll across the recumbent at Lunar Standstill, once every 18.6 years. That wouldn't have been an observeable phenomenon if a recumbent circle was laid out as you've described above. Unfortunately, it's not an easy thing to witness, but I'm sure some clever techie will have a programme which could work it out.

Rune