Machrie Moor Stone Circles

Six stone circles are visible on the moor immediately east of the derelict Moss Farm.^[1] Some circles are formed of granite boulders, while others are built of tall red sandstone pillars.^[1] The moor is covered with other prehistoric remains, including standing stones, burial cairns and cists.^[1] The stone circles are positioned over previous timber circles.^[2] A radiocarbon date of 2030 ± 180 BCE has been found for the timber circle at Machrie Moor 1.^[3] Several hut circles can also be seen as low rings of turf-covered stone.^[1]

The six stone circles are situated below a prominent notch on the skyline to the northeast where Machrie Glen divides into two steep-sided valleys.^[4] At the summer solstice the notch is intersected by the sun at sunrise, and this may explain why the circles were sited in this location.^[4]

The stone circles were recorded in 1861 by James Bryce, and numbered 1 to 5.^[5] Five other monuments in the area were numbered 6 to 10, and when subsequently a further stone circle was discovered almost completely submerged in peat in 1978, it was numbered Machrie Moor 11.^[5] Around 1 kilometer to the west is the remains of the Moss Farm Road Stone Circle (Machrie Moor 10).^[6][7]

Machrie Moor 1 (grid reference NR91203239) is an ellipse with axes 12.7 metres and 14.6 metres.^[8] It is formed from six granite boulders and five sandstone slabs, arranged alternately.^[8] Four of the granite blocks have fallen.^[8]

Machrie Moor 2 (grid reference NR91143241) is the most visually striking of the circles on Machrie Moor.^[1] This circle has a diameter of 13.7 metres, and may originally have consisted of seven or eight tall sandstone slabs, three of which survive intact, while stumps of others may be seen.^[9] The heights of the three intact stones range from 3.7 metres to 4.9 metres.^[9] Within the circle are two large stones, apparently cut from a fallen pillar, one of which now has a central hole as if for conversion to a millstone.^[9] Excavations in 1861 revealed a cist in the centre of the circle.^[9] A food vessel was found in this central cist.^[1] A second, empty, short cist was found between the centre and the northeast upright stone.^[9]

Machrie Moor 3 (grid reference NR91023244) originally consisted of nine stones.^[10] Only one still stands, 4.3 metres high, but the stumps of others are still partially visible in the peat.^[10] The stones form a geometrical egg-shape.^[10] Excavations in 1861 uncovered a small cist in the centre containing an urn with some fragments of burnt bone and flint flakes.^[10] A second cist was found 1 metre south of the centre; it contained a crouched burial, also with some flint flakes.^[10]

Machrie Moor 4 (grid reference NR91003235) consists of four granite blocks, about 0.9 metres high.^[11] Excavations in 1861 uncovered a cist in the centre.^[11] In it was an inhumation accompanied by a food vessel, a bronze awl, and three flint flakes.^[11]

Machrie Moor 5 (grid reference NR90873234) called "Suidh Coire Fhionn" or "Fingal's Cauldron Seat" consists of two concentric rings of granite boulders.^[12] The inner circle is 12.0 metres in diameter and consists of eight granite boulders.^[12] Excavations in 1861 uncovered an empty, ruined cist in the centre.^[12] The outer circle is approximately 18.0 metres in diameter and is formed of fifteen granite boulders.^[12] The outer circle is said to form a geometrical egg-shape.^[12]

Machrie Moor 11 (grid reference NR91213242) is a low stone circle with a diameter of around 13 metres.^[13] The tallest of the stones is about 1.2 metres high on the western side.^[13] Excavations in 1978-9 revealed 10 upright stones, with a pit between each stone possibly representing a post-hole.^[13]

James Bryce listed five other antiquities to the west of the stone circles in 1861. Machrie Moor 6 (grid reference NR90733237) is the remains of a possible chambered cairn consisting of two touching upright stone slabs at right angles.^[14] Machrie Moor 7 (grid reference NR90633253) is a standing stone 1.6 metres tall.^[15] Machrie Moor 8 (grid reference NR90573237) is the remains of a probable chambered cairn comprising an oval spread of stones approximately 20 metres by 16 metres.^[16] The most obvious feature is a 1.8-metre-tall (5.9 ft) standing stone within the east edge of the cairn surrounded by several smaller stones which may have been part of a chamber or facade.^[16] Machrie Moor 9 (grid reference NR905324) was a standing stone of which no obvious trace remains.^[17] Machrie Moor 10 (grid reference NR90053265) is the Moss Farm Road Stone Circle.^[18]

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  Machrie Moor 6
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  Machrie Moor 7
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  Machrie Moor 8
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  Machrie Moor 10

Around 1.2 kilometres to the east of the Machrie Moor Stone Circles, near the B880 road (grid reference NR92443225), is another stone-setting consisting of three granite boulders and which perhaps originally consisted of four stones.^[19]

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