Description

The monument comprises a single standing stone likely to date to the late Neolithic (3500BC-2500BC) or Bronze Age (2500BC-800BC). It survives as an upstanding monolith on the south bank of the River Don, southeast of Kintore at 70m above sea level. 

The standing stone is an earthfast granite boulder and measures approximately 1.4m high and 1m wide by 1m broad at its base. It has distinctive, vertically aligned patterns of weathering.

The scheduled area is circular, measuring 5m in diameter, centred on the stone and includes the remains described above and an area around within which evidence relating to the monument's construction, use and abandonment is expected to survive, as shown in red on the accompanying map. 

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

Cultural Significance

The monument's cultural significance can be expressed as follows:

Intrinsic characteristics

This well-preserved single standing stone survives in an upstanding form and there is no evidence for disturbance of its original setting, despite some recent soil poaching around its base. It therefore has the potential to tell us more about the circumstances and details of its placement here. Where subsurface deposits, such as burials or associated finds, are present, these can tell us more about the circumstances of its use. Dating evidence may survive and this could help us understand the chronology of these monuments in the prehistoric landscape of Strathdon.

Contextual characteristics

This is a modestly-sized example from a class of 50 or so standing stones known of in Strathdon. It represents the extensive colonisation of this part of Scotland during the late Neolithic and Bronze Age. Broadly contemporary remains of other standing stones, settlements and burial sites are known of in the immediate area and this bears out the theory suggested by researchers that the river Don is a focal feature for prehistoric activity. Researchers think that the position of these standing stones in the landscape (some of then inter-visible) was carefully chosen, not just as a place for ceremony and perhaps ritual but as part of wider network of similar monuments. Its position appears to be carefully chosen, framed by views to the north and north-west, including Bennachie, the prominent landscape feature in this area.

National Importance

The monument is of national importance because it has an inherent potential to make a significant contribution to our understanding of the past, in particular the use of prehistoric standing stones and the role they played in prehistoric life and death. There is good potential for the survival of archaeological evidence relating to its construction and this can help us understand the significance of standing stones individually and as part of wider prehistoric landscapes. The loss of the monument would impede our ability to understand the development of late-neolithic and Bronze-Age communities in NE Scotland.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

Canmore

https://canmore.org.uk/site/19578/

Source: Historic Environment Scotland