Tomnaverie stone circle, Aberdeenshire.

Tomnaverie stone circle, Aberdeenshire. Tomnaverie is a `recumbent' stone circle of a type common innortheast Scotland. Such sites include a ring of standing stones whichcan rise in height towards the southwest, where a horizontal block isflanked by the tallest monoliths. This part of the monument may havebeen directed towards the moon. Like other examples, Tomnaverie containsa cairn cairn,pile of stones, usually conical in shape, raised as a landmark or a memorial. In prehistoric times it was usually erected over a burial. A barrow is sometimes called a cairn. (Burl 1976: 167-90). The site was taken into guardianship after it was damaged in theearly 20th century. Our project was intended to shed light on itsstructural development and to advise on its redisplay. The circle wasstripped and the stratigraphic sequence was investigated by selectiveexcavation. Finally, the fallen stones were replaced in their originalsockets. The monument was located on top of a low hill. Its earliestcomponent was a mound of topsoil associated with cremated bone. This wasencapsulated within a polygonal rubble platform, retained by a kerb thatwas buttressed on the outside by a bank of rubble. That bank overlaysherds of Beaker pottery. The cairn had been terraced out from thehilltop towards the southwest. It was open at the centre and a series ofradial divisions linked that area to its outer kerb. The stone circle was the latest structure on the site. Therecumbent recumbent/re��cum��bent/ (re-kum��bent) lying down. re��cum��bentadj.Lying down, especially in a position of comfort; reclining. was positioned on top of the existing rubble bank and thesockets for the uprights were excavated through the same material.During the same phase the kerb was remodelled to link the cairn to therecumbent and flanking stones. The new construction emphasized thesouthwestern aspect of the site, and framed a distant view of a mountain30 km away. A cremation cremation,disposal of a corpse by fire. It is an ancient and widespread practice, second only to burial. It has been found among the chiefdoms of the Pacific Northwest, among Northern Athapascan bands in Alaska, and among Canadian cultural groups. pit in the centre of the circle may date from alater period. Six standing stones were in line with the radial divisions that hadalready been built into the structure of the cairn. This might suggestthat the monument was created as a continuous process, but that wouldnot account for the remodelling of the kerb. More likely the developmentof the monument took place according to a plan that unfolded over alonger period. The excavation was supplemented by field survey. On the lowerslopes of the hill there were cup-marked rocks whose distributionfocused on the position of the circle. Examination of the cultivatedland around the site located six lithic lith��ic?1?adj.Consisting of or relating to stone or rock.Adj. 1. lithic - of or containing lithium2. lithic - relating to or composed of stone; "lithic sandstone" scatters of approximately thesame age as the monument and suggested that it had been located on theedge of the settled landscape. [Figures 1-4 ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Acknowledgements. Fieldwork was funded by Historic Scotland whoprovided much practical assistance and undertook the re-erection of thecircle. We also received help from the MacRobert Trust Estate and fromeveryone who worked on the site. We must thank Steve Allen for the planand Jim Henderson for his photographs. Reference BURL, A. 1976. The stone circles of the British Isles. New Haven(CT): Yale University Press. RICHARD BRADLEY, CHRISTINE BALL, MICHELLE MICHELLE Mid-Infrared Echelle Spectrograph CAMPBELL, SHARON CROFT,TIM PHILLIPS & DAVID David, in the BibleDavid,d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. TREVARTHEN, Department of Archaeology,University of Reading, Whiteknights, POBox 218, Reading RG6 6AA,England.