Monument record MAB41651 - NINE STANES STONE CIRCLE, GARROL WOOD

Remains of a Recumbent Stone Circle surrounding a ring cairn.

Remains of a Recumbent Stone Circle surrounding a ring cairn. The stone circle originally consisted of the recumbent, flanker and eight other stones, but of those eight one stone is missing on the north west arc and another on the west has been reduced to a stump. The ring cairn measures 12 m in diameter by 0.3 m in height and there is a hole 4.3 m in diameter by 0.4 m in depth in the centre. This stone circle differs from classic examples in having the recumbent and flankers set on the edge of the inner cairn, whilst the remaining stones sit in an oval outer arc circa 18 m by 14.6 m. It is thought that this circle was built late in the sequence of Recumbent Stone Circles.

The name of the stone circle was given in 1904 when the site was excavated by F. R. Coles (it refers to the nine remaining stones including the flankers but not the recumbent). Excluding the recumbent stone and its pillars, Coles' plan shows there to be seven stones and the position of the presumably missing eighth stone. Between all these and curving into each pillar was a double row of smallish earthfast stones. The whole area within the circle was extremely stony and was doubtless a low cairn. At the centre of the circle he found a funnel-shaped pit formed of six slabs with one missing, full of burnt bone. To the north of the pit was charcoal and urn fragments. Bone was also found in four other spots around the pit. Between these and the outmost ring were three rings of stones.

Archaeological assessment of potential damage from wind blown trees to the east of the circle was carried out by Clyde Archaeology in December 2019. A single trench was excavated covering the two tree bowls and an area to the southwest next to the outer edge of the circle, also providing an opportunity to re-examine an area thought to have been excavated by Coles in the early 1900s. The windblow had resulted in minimal disturbance to buried archaeological remains. A small truncated cairn was recorded to the east of the standing stones. The origins of a large cairn-like deposit of earth and stone remain unclear: the material could relate to the ephemeral remains of a larger cairn within the stone circle or be the result of backfill and reinstatement from the 1904 excavation. Across the central parts of the trench the surface was moderately compact comprising mixed dark grey silty sand with frequent angular pebble inclusions. Some areas of the surface were more compacted and comprised of more angular pebbles, especially around the small truncated cairn, but no significant artefacts, ecofacts or palaeoenvironmental remains were recovered from the two bulk samples taken from the surface.

Period Notes
Radiocarbon sample GrA-28624, skull fragment from one of several deposits of cremated human bone from inside the recumbent stone circle; 2820 +/- 35 BP, calibrated to 1108 - 896 BC (2 sigma, OxCal 4.2 run 6/12/13).

AO64 317 1, AO64 317 1 (Ground Photograph). SAB12293.

ORDNANCE SURVEY, 1871, Ordnance Name Book, No3 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1360.

SMITH, RA, 1880, NOTES ON STONE CIRCLES IN DURRIS, KINCARDINESHIRE, AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. IN PSAS 14(1879-80) 294-309, 294-309 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1811.

COLES, FR, 1901, REPORT ON THE STONE CIRCLES OF THE NE OF SCOTLAND, INVERURIE DISTRICT PSAS 34(1899-1900) 139-98, 157 (Bibliographic reference). SAB230.

COLES, FR, 1904, STONE CIRCLES OF THE NORTH-EAST OF SCOTLAND IN PSAS 38(1903-04) 256-305, 296-9 (Bibliographic reference). SAB261.

CALLANDER, JG, 1905, PSAS 39(1904-5) 184-203, 190-203 (Bibliographic reference). SAB210.

MOW, 1961, A M'S SCOT, 24 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1166.

BURL, H. A. W., 1970, RECUMBENT STONE CIRCLES OF N-E SCOTLAND. PSAS 102, 64 (Bibliographic reference). SAB107.

KENWORTHY, JB, 1972, RING-CAIRNS IN NORTH-EAST SCOTLAND. IN SCOT ARCH FORUM 4, 24 (Bibliographic reference). SAB998.

SHEPHERD, IAG, 1979, EARLY GRAMPIAN, 14 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1636.

THOM, A, 1980, BAR 81, 204-205 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1922.

SHEPHERD, IAG, 1988, THE PREHISTORIC SOCIETY SUMMER CONFERENCE 1988: ABERDEEN AND NORTH EAST SCOTLAND, 48-9 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1744.

MacGREGOR, G, 2002, Making monuments out of mountains:the role of colo (Bibliographic reference). SAB4618.

CLYDE ARCHAEOLOGY, 2020, THE NINE STANES STONE CIRCLE, MULLOCH WOOD, ABERDEENSHIRE: ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT, Exc report (Bibliographic reference). SAB8168.

Apr 5 2002 , GR/02/CT218-226, GR/02/CT218-226 (Ground Photograph). SAB17805.

Aug 17 1984 , Untitled Source (Ground Photograph). SAB12296.

Aug 17 1987 , Untitled Source (Ground Photograph). SAB12295.

Dec 1 2004 , GR/04/CT600-601, GR/04/CT600-601 (Ground Photograph). SAB36996.

Jan 1 1979 , AAS/GR/79/CT48, AAS/GR/79/CT48 (Ground Photograph). SAB32553.

Jan 1 1980 , AAS/GR/80/CT33, AAS/GR/80/CT33 (Ground Photograph). SAB32560.

Jan 1 1985 , AAS/GR/85/CT372, AAS/GR/85/CT372 (Ground Photograph). SAB32662.

Jan 1 1987 , AAS/GR/87/CT130-31,140-44, AAS/GR/87/CT130-31,140-44 (Ground Photograph). SAB32699.

Jan 1 1987 , AAS/GR/87/CT56-61,115-117, AAS/GR/87/CT56-61,115-117 (Ground Photograph). SAB32698.

Jan 1 1993 , AAS/GR/93/CT168, AAS/GR/93/CT168 (Ground Photograph). SAB32884.

Jun 7 1995 , MT 5-6, MT 5-6 (Ground Photograph). SAB33388.

RCAHMS, n.d., N KINC LIST, No95 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1509.

Nov 23 1989 , NA 27-36, NA 27-36 (Ground Photograph). SAB33414.

Nov 23 1989 , NB 1-11, NB 1-11 (Ground Photograph). SAB33415.

Oct 9 1984 , DQ 1-21, DQ 1-21 (Ground Photograph). SAB12294.

Sep 9 2009 , DG 1082-5, DG 1082-5 (Ground Photograph). SAB20001.

Record last edited

Mar 31 2026 1:07PM