The size of the circles varies, the largest being over 60 feet in diameter, the smaller ones less than 30. Parkhouse measures 50 feet. They are found all over the county, in the valley of the Dee, in the valley of the Don at Alford, Inverurie and Dyce, as well as in Auchterless, Methlick, Crimond and Lonmay. The recumbent stone is invariably a feature of the larger circles. One of the largest is in the circle at Old Keig in Alford—a huge monolith computed to be 30 tons in weight. Other good examples are at Auchquorthies, Fetternear and at Balquhain near Inveramsay.
In the smaller and simpler circles, there is no recumbent stone, and the blocks are of more uniform height.
What the circles were used for is still a matter of dispute. They have for long been called “Druidical” circles, and the received opinion was that they were places of worship, the recumbent stone being the altar. But there is no certitude in this view; and, indeed, the fact that several exist at no great distance from each other (more than a dozen are located in Deer) would seem to be adverse to it. They were certainly used as places of burying, and some antiquarians hold that they were the burying grounds of the people of the Bronze Age. A later theory is that they were intended to be astronomical clocks to a people who knew nothing of the length of the year, and who had no almanacs to guide them in the matter of the seasons. The stone-circles, however, still remain an unsolved problem.
Stone at Logie, in the Garioch (4 feet high)
From Anderson’s Scot. in Early Ch. Times, 2nd Series
Besides the circles, Aberdeenshire has another class of archaeological remains, called sculptured stones. These are of three kinds: (1) those with incised symbols only, (2) those with in addition Celtic ornament carved in relief, and (3) monuments with Celtic ornament in relief and no symbols. The first class is the only one largely represented in Aberdeenshire and a good many representatives are in existence. The symbols most commonly seen are the crescent and sceptre, the spectacles, the mirror and comb, and the so-called “elephant” symbol, a representation of a beast with long jaws, a crest and scroll feet. Another is the serpent symbol. What the symbols signify is still a mystery, but the fact that the stones with symbolism are unusually common in what was known as Northern Pictland seems to point to their being indigenous to that area. Out of 124 stones in the first class Aberdeenshire has 42. It would seem as if the county had been the focus where the symbolism originated. The richness of the locality round Kintore and Inverurie in symbol stones is taken to indicate that region as the centre from which they radiated.
Another form of archaeological remains found in the county is the Eirde or Earth-Houses. These are subterranean dwellings dug out of the ground and walled with unhewn, unmortared stones, each stone overlapping the one below until they meet at the top which is crowned with a larger flag-stone, or sometimes with wood. The probability is that in conjunction with the underground chambers there were huts above ground, which, being composed of wood, have now entirely disappeared. At many points in these earth-houses traces of fire and charcoal are to be seen, stones blackened by fire and layers of black ashes. In one at Loch Kinnord a piece of the upper stone of a quern as well as an angular piece of iron was found. It may be inferred that the inhabitants, whoever they were, were agriculturists, and that the period of occupation lasted down to the Iron Age. Specimens of these houses, which usually go by the local name of Picts’ houses, are found in the neighbourhood of Loch Kinnord on Deeside, at Castle Newe on the Don, and at Parkhouse, not far from the circle already referred to.
“PICTS” OR “EIRDE HOUSE” AT MIGVIE