While I was updating my article on solstice photos of Stonehenge, I ran across a handful of articles about an interesting subset of megalithic monuments called recumbent stone circles (or RSC for short).
Old Keig, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Photo by Stu Smith
Scholars investigating the thousands of stone circles and megalithic monuments in Europe noticed a recurring pattern restricted to two areas: northeastern Scotland and southwestern Ireland. The pattern involves a large flat rectangular block, each end marked by a pillar stone. Researchers interpret this specific alignment as associated with Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age (ca 2,500-1500 BC) ritual ceremonies involved with tracking the movement of the moon in the sky.
Recent excavations during this last decade have revealed that, like most other megalithic monuments, RSC were a later stage in what was centuries or millennia long periods of building and rebuilding.
- Read more about Recumbent Stone Circles
- More on the variety of Types of Megalithic Monuments identified to date
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