Extract from Richard Bradley's review for the Prehistoric Society
What is a recumbent stone circle? It is a circular setting of uprights, with a horizontal block as its focal point. In many cases it is flanked by the two tallest monoliths and faces between south south east and south west. The separate stones may be graded by height from one side of the setting to the other, and in some cases the builders seem to have selected the components for their distinctive colours, textures and shapes. Recumbent stone circles are a particular feature of north-east Scotland, although some of these elements have a wider distribution. They were probably built in the Copper Age or Early Bronze Age. Many of the sites were reused after an interval between about 1200 and 800 BC when they were chosen as the sites for cremation cemeteries and / or pyres.
Welfare provides a lucid account of these monuments and charts their history of preservation, reconstruction and excavation. As someone who has investigated three of these sites, I am impressed by his powers of observation and his attention to detail. There is little with which I can disagree, even when he is discussing monuments where I have worked myself.
Where he differs radically from received wisdom is in his rejection of any suggestion that these monuments were aligned on the moon. His argument is detailed, well documented and, to my mind, entirely convincing. He suggests instead that the structures were directed towards the dark side of the sky and may have been more closely associated with the sunset, darkness, winter and the dead.
http://www.prehistoricsociety.org/files/reviews/Great_Crowns_of_Stone_Review.docx
(Word Doc)
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road