Balquhain
Encyclopedia
Balquhain, also known as Balquhain Stone Circle, The Chapel of Garioch or Inveramsay, is a recumbent stone circle 3 miles (4.8 km) from Inverurie
in Scotland
.
. It has been suggested to once have consisted of 12 stones, 4 of which remain standing, with another four fallen, the final four presumed to have been moved.
The recumbent altar stone is 3.8 metres (12.5 ft) wide, 1.7 metres (5.6 ft) high and 1.05 metres (3.4 ft) deep, it has been estimated to weigh over ten tonnes. It is made is of a type of white grained granite
that has been suggested to have been brought some distance to the location. It was suggested that it was designed to create an artificial skyline, horizontally levelled with chockstones; one of which is still visible under the stone. The eastern flanker stone is 2 metres (6.6 ft) wide and made of dark grey basalt
with a round top. The western flanker stone is 2.25 metres (7.4 ft) wide and made of reddish quartzite
bearing inclusions of white quartz and having a pointed top. The stone east of the east flanker is made of red granite. There is also an outlying stone 6 metres (19.7 ft) to the southeast of the circle that is 3.1 metres (10.2 ft) high and made of white quartz
with roseate
seams.
The circle has been estimated to have been between 18.3 metres (60 ft) to 21.3 metres (69.9 ft) in diameter. Alexander Thom
suggested the circle had been 20.7 metres (67.9 ft) and Fred Coles of only 19.5 metres (64 ft). The circle also displays suggested rock art
including cup marks and a noticeable rounded bump on the recumbent stone that resembles the outline of the prominent hill behind it.
associations. The eastern flanker is aligned to the most southerly moonrise at 172 degrees, whilst the western flanker is aligned to the minor moonset at 232 degrees. The major moonset is aligned over the central hump of the recumbent stone at 190 degrees.
Inverurie
Inverurie is a Royal Burgh and town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, approximately north west of Aberdeen on the A96 road and is served by Inverurie railway station on the Aberdeen to Inverness Line...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Description and measurements
It is located in farmland at an altitude of c. 100 metres (328.1 ft) on a terraced hillside leading up to a prominent summit called Mither TapBennachie
Bennachie is a range of hills in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It has several tops, the highest of which, Oxen Craig, has a height of 528 m...
. It has been suggested to once have consisted of 12 stones, 4 of which remain standing, with another four fallen, the final four presumed to have been moved.
The recumbent altar stone is 3.8 metres (12.5 ft) wide, 1.7 metres (5.6 ft) high and 1.05 metres (3.4 ft) deep, it has been estimated to weigh over ten tonnes. It is made is of a type of white grained granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
that has been suggested to have been brought some distance to the location. It was suggested that it was designed to create an artificial skyline, horizontally levelled with chockstones; one of which is still visible under the stone. The eastern flanker stone is 2 metres (6.6 ft) wide and made of dark grey basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
with a round top. The western flanker stone is 2.25 metres (7.4 ft) wide and made of reddish quartzite
Quartzite
Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to gray, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink...
bearing inclusions of white quartz and having a pointed top. The stone east of the east flanker is made of red granite. There is also an outlying stone 6 metres (19.7 ft) to the southeast of the circle that is 3.1 metres (10.2 ft) high and made of white quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
with roseate
Rose (color)
Rose is the color halfway between red and magenta on the HSV color wheel, also known as the RGB color wheel, on which it is at hue angle of 330 degrees.Rose is one of the tertiary colors on the HSV color wheel...
seams.
The circle has been estimated to have been between 18.3 metres (60 ft) to 21.3 metres (69.9 ft) in diameter. Alexander Thom
Alexander Thom
Alexander "Sandy" Thom was a Scottish engineer most famous for his theory of the Megalithic yard, categorization of stone circles and his studies of Stonehenge and other archaeological sites.- Life and work :...
suggested the circle had been 20.7 metres (67.9 ft) and Fred Coles of only 19.5 metres (64 ft). The circle also displays suggested rock art
Rock art
Rock art is a term used in archaeology for any human-made markings made on natural stone. They can be divided into:*Petroglyphs - carvings into stone surfaces*Pictographs - rock and cave paintings...
including cup marks and a noticeable rounded bump on the recumbent stone that resembles the outline of the prominent hill behind it.
Astronomical alignments
It was discovered in the 1980s that Balquhain had lunarMoon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
associations. The eastern flanker is aligned to the most southerly moonrise at 172 degrees, whilst the western flanker is aligned to the minor moonset at 232 degrees. The major moonset is aligned over the central hump of the recumbent stone at 190 degrees.