Balquhain facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Balquhain |
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| Location | Aberdeenshire, Scotland |
| Architectural style(s) | British pre-Roman Architecture |
| Official name: Mains of Balquhain,stone circle 715m NE of | |
| Designated | 4 March 1977 |
| Reference no. | SM3961 |
Balquhain, also known as the Balquhain Stone Circle, is an ancient stone circle in Scotland. It's about 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the town of Inverurie. This special place is protected as a scheduled ancient monument, which means it's an important historical site.
A recumbent stone circle is a unique type of stone circle found mostly in northeast Scotland. It has a very large, flat stone (called the recumbent stone) lying on its side. Usually, two tall stones, called flankers, stand next to it.
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What is Balquhain Stone Circle Like?
You can find Balquhain Stone Circle on a farm. It sits about 100 meters (330 feet) high on a hillside. This hillside leads up to a famous hill called Mither Tap.
Experts believe there were once 12 stones in the circle. Today, only 4 stones are still standing. Another 4 have fallen over, and the last 4 are thought to have been moved a long time ago.
The Main Stones of the Circle
The large, flat recumbent stone is about 3.8 meters (12.5 feet) wide. It is 1.7 meters (5.6 feet) high and 1.05 meters (3.4 feet) deep. This huge stone is estimated to weigh more than ten tonnes! It is made of a white-grained granite. Some people think it was brought from far away to this spot.
It seems the recumbent stone was placed to create a special view. It was leveled using smaller stones underneath it. You can still see one of these "chockstones" today.
The stone on the eastern side, called the eastern flanker, is 2 meters (6.6 feet) wide. It is made of dark grey basalt and has a round top. The western flanker stone is 2.25 meters (7.4 feet) wide. It is made of reddish quartzite with white quartz bits inside and has a pointed top. Another stone, just east of the eastern flanker, is made of red granite.
There is also an extra stone located about 6 meters (20 feet) southeast of the main circle. This stone is 3.1 meters (10.2 feet) high. It is made of white quartz with pinkish lines.
How Big is the Circle?
People have estimated that the entire stone circle was between 18.3 meters (60 feet) and 21.3 meters (70 feet) across. One expert, Alexander Thom, thought it was 20.7 meters (68 feet) wide. Another, Fred Coles, believed it was 19.5 meters (64 feet) wide.
The stones also show some ancient rock art. There are small cup-shaped marks carved into them. The recumbent stone also has a rounded bump that looks like the outline of the big hill behind it.
How Balquhain Connects to the Moon
In the 1980s, scientists discovered that Balquhain Stone Circle has special connections to the moon. The stones were carefully placed to line up with where the moon rises and sets at different times of the year.
The eastern flanker stone points to where the moon rises furthest south. This is at 172 degrees. The western flanker stone lines up with the moon's minor (smaller) setting point at 232 degrees. The moon's major (bigger) setting point lines up right over the central bump on the large recumbent stone, at 190 degrees. This shows how clever the ancient people were in observing the sky!
