Loanhead Stone Circle

Loanhead Stone Circle stands on a mown hilltop near Daviot, in the rolling country five miles north-west of Inverurie, and is one of the best examples of a recumbent stone circle, a type found only in north-east Scotland: a ring of upright stones with a massive slab laid on its side between two tall flankers. Built about 4,000 years ago, it was used for burial and ritual from the late Neolithic through the Bronze Age. The circle, about 19.5 metres across, surrounds a ring cairn, and the recumbent frames the moon rising or setting low in the southern sky. Beside it is an enclosed cremation cemetery that held the burials of more than 30 people, some in upturned urns; at its centre a man, only partly cremated, seems to have been clutching a stone pendant. Reviewers say satnav is unreliable: look for the carved stone sign, park in the small car park shared with a Scout camp and walk a short way up the track.