#340: Stone Circles
Reminders of mortality in immortal stones
When someone says ‘stone circle’, you will likely think of Stone Henge, probably the most famous stone circle of them all. But stone circles can be found all over the country, and the stone circles I’m writing about today can be found in Scotland, on the Isle of Arran.
These are the stone circles that can be found on Machrie Moor. There is, in fact, a collection of stone circles all in a similar area. You can go on a walk to find them all, and they vary in size of rock and circumference.
Stone circles intrigue us. I have written about how satisfying I find pebbles, and I have an affinity for rocks—their hardness, solidity, and coolness. But stone circles—those are intriguing on a whole other level. A stone circle marks an event, a moment when humans shaped the presence of stones, giving them a meaning (so we think)—a meaning that, thousands of years later, is rather hard to tap into.
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When I first walk up to the stone circle, I try to take it in within its wider context. Put it in the landscape, so to speak. At Stonehenge, this is hard to do, because there are fences and an A road — the landscape has changed to fit more twenty-first-century humans into it. But these stone circles, while now on curated paths and surrounded by potentially fewer trees, still sit amidst hills and moors, rather than houses and roads. So I try to find out what the ‘right’ angle might be — and if there is such a thing. Is that edge of stone matching the hillside? Would the solstice sun rise or set in that particular notch?
Common ideas about stone circles tend to revolve around them being places of sacrifice, burial, or marking the seasons, i.e. the rising or setting of the sun at the solstice. I always take these interpretations with a pinch of salt, but I can’t deny that stone circles fascinate. Yet why? Is it the sense of (im)mortality that surrounds these circles?
On some of the stones, I found carvings — newer than the stones, bearing initials of past visitors. The names of strangers which will last past their mortal life — but with as little meaning left to discover as the stone that name is carved into.
The purposeful arrangement of these stones, and the names that have been carved into them, remain to intrigue us as time passes. And memories of these marks on the landscape will be carried away in the minds of others, like myself, who left no trace.
Katie writes regularly about random objects that she finds in her everyday life. If you’re interested in reading more, check out her blog Object, a collaboration with fellow Medium blogger Eleanor. You can also follow us on Twitter @ ObjectBlog.
