Grampian - Prehistoric Sites
- Map of Prehistoric Sites in Grampian
- Map of ALL Prehistoric Sites in Scotland
- Map of all attractions in Grampian
Included in this category of our heritage guide to Grampian are Pictish carved stones and crosses - one of the most fascinating features of the Aberdeenshire and Moray region. Grampian is extraordinarily rich in 'ancient' sites, with numerous examples of cairns, burial mounds, and stone circles dotted about the landscape.
Why is the region so well-supplied with these ancient monuments? One simple answer is that Aberdeenshire and Moray were settled earlier and more densely than the Highland regions to the north and west. The sheer weight of numbers of ancient peoples resulted in much greater numbers of ancient sites that survive today.
A partially completed promontory fort on Little Conval hill, overlooking Dufftown to the east. There are four distinct rings of defences. The outer rings are merely small trenches, perhaps laid down as a marker for more extensive earthwork construction that never took place.
Dufftown, Grampian, Scotland
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Loanhead is a fascinating prehistoric site, with a recumbent stone circle enclosing a ring cairn, believed to be 4000-5000 years old. Beside the circle is a later cremation cemetery.
Daviot, Grampian, Scotland
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There are three closely-spaced cairns situated in a wonderful position on the sloping side of Kirk Hill, above Logie Newton and the River Ythan. The cairns are built of quartzite blocks. The cairns are small, between 6 and 7 metres across - compare this to the large size of earlier cairns like Loanhead.
Logie Newton, Grampian, Scotland
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An earthen barrow cairn stretching 67 metres. The Longman Hill monument is a bit peculiar; a round cairn at the wide end, separated by a ditch or dip from a tapering tail.
Macduff, Grampian, Scotland
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Only fragmentary remains of this recumbent circle remain. There are four stones, including a recumbent stone and one flanking stone, plus three fallen stones.
Mintlaw, Grampian, Scotland
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A Pictish cross-slab dating from the 9th century. The Maiden Stone is just over 3 metres tall and is of red granite. One side has a carved Celtic cross, atop which is a figure of a man between a pair of fish monsters. One interpretation suggests that the figure is Jonah escorted by a pair of whales. Below the cross-head are several sections of traditional interlace, key, and knot patterns. There are similar interlace designs on the narrow sides of the slab.
Inverurie, Grampian, Scotland
Attraction Type: Prehistoric - Carved Stone
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In a low-lying field near the River Avon stands this complex cairn dating from about 2000 BCE. There is a central ring cairn of small stones, about five metres across, surrounded by a bank of earth about 14 metres diameter.
Ballindalloch, Aberlour, Grampian, Scotland
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Memsie Cairn is a large stone cairn about 24 meters across, probably dating from Bronze Age. The cairn stands on a minor road on the very eastern edge of Memsie village, easily visible from main road. There are no obvious chambers within the cairn, just a large heap of round stones, with no visible kerb stones.
B9032, Memsie, Fraserburgh, Grampian, Scotland
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The combination of a modern churchyard and an ancient stone circle is a peculiar one. At Midmar the old and new cultures are brought together in rather startling fashion; immediately west of the church entrance is a recumbent stone circle, of a type found in numerous places around Aberdeenshire, probably erected in the 3rd millennium BCE.
Midmar Kirk, Echt, Grampian, Scotland
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A beautifully carved Pictish stone stands in the kirkyard at Migvie, while several more stones are on display inside the kirk. The churchyard stone is over two metres high and covered with a combination of Christian and Pagan symbols. The Migvie Stone probably dates to the 8th century.
Migvie, Grampian, Scotland, AB34 4XP
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Heritage Highlight: A wonderfully carved 8th century Pictish cross-slab
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