The Dargill Standing Stone near the A822 Crieff - Muthill Road
Most of us have passed this ubiquitous stone standing solitary guard as you enter the town . The Dargill or MacLaren's stone has been around for some 6 000 years and is older than the Pyramids of Egypt.
Archaeological investigation over the years has revealed more of its origins than one would have imagined . In 1911 archaeologist FR Coles revealed that two similar stones had been removed two years earlier in 1909 . The existing stone stands 2.4 metres high ( 7 '10" )and is almost square in cross section ( 1.5 x 1.2 metres at base . ) Aerial photographs show crop marks that suggest the standing stone was once part of a complex landscape . There are four large pits near the stone and to the east of it are smaller pits arranged in a circle with a diameter of some 40 metres .Coles suggested in 1911 that this was the remains of a stone circle and that the large pits represent sockets for further standing stones ..
There is a comparative abundance in this part of Strathearn of stone circles - at Fowlis Wester , Comrie and Auchterarder . Why were they built by the ancient inhabitants ? We really don't know but learned opinion comes up with a variety of thesis .
The sites rarely encompass graves and could have been constructed for ceremonies . What these ceremonies were we do not know . Another hypothesis is that they were constructed to appease the supposed spirits dwelling in nature .The crudeness and variety of the stones tends to exclude the possibility that they had any astronomical observation purposes of any precision . Sometimes a stone circle is found in association with a burial pit or burial chamber but the great majority of these monuments have no such association .
it is important that we protect these ancient monuments . Many have gone over the last few centuries including the one standing next to the Cursus and west of the new Primary School .
Archaeological investigation over the years has revealed more of its origins than one would have imagined . In 1911 archaeologist FR Coles revealed that two similar stones had been removed two years earlier in 1909 . The existing stone stands 2.4 metres high ( 7 '10" )and is almost square in cross section ( 1.5 x 1.2 metres at base . ) Aerial photographs show crop marks that suggest the standing stone was once part of a complex landscape . There are four large pits near the stone and to the east of it are smaller pits arranged in a circle with a diameter of some 40 metres .Coles suggested in 1911 that this was the remains of a stone circle and that the large pits represent sockets for further standing stones ..
There is a comparative abundance in this part of Strathearn of stone circles - at Fowlis Wester , Comrie and Auchterarder . Why were they built by the ancient inhabitants ? We really don't know but learned opinion comes up with a variety of thesis .
The sites rarely encompass graves and could have been constructed for ceremonies . What these ceremonies were we do not know . Another hypothesis is that they were constructed to appease the supposed spirits dwelling in nature .The crudeness and variety of the stones tends to exclude the possibility that they had any astronomical observation purposes of any precision . Sometimes a stone circle is found in association with a burial pit or burial chamber but the great majority of these monuments have no such association .
it is important that we protect these ancient monuments . Many have gone over the last few centuries including the one standing next to the Cursus and west of the new Primary School .
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