This is in a lovely setting surrounded by trees with fews across the Aberdeenshire countryside. It is well off the usual tourist trail and gets few visitors.
Archaeologists call this a recumbent stone circle. It has a single ring of eight upright stones, with a massive stone slab lying on its side and flanked by two upright pillar-stones. The stones are graded in height with the smallest stones furthest away from the flankers. It is thought to be 4000-4500 years old and the flankers frame the moon rising or setting in the southern sky.
The inside of the circle is almost filled by a later cairn of stones edged with upright stones. To the side is a smaller stone circle which is described as a cremation cemetery, in use around 2500 years ago. When excavated this revealed the partially cremated remains of a man in the centre clutching a stone pendant with the burials of up to 30 other individuals.
Parking is in a small car park by the scout hut, on an unclassified road to the north of Daviot. The scouts camp in the woods and there were a couple of children playing in them. It was a refreshing and unusual sight to see children playing wild like this without constant adult supervision.
This is just a short walk through the trees from the car park along a reasonable track. It is definitely worth stopping to see.
