Aquhorthies Recumbent Stone Circle

Aquhorthies Recumbent Stone Circle stands in a grassy field to the west of Portlethen in Aberdeenshire. It is one of the best preserved stone circles, and with a complex structure. It stands on a low rise 170 metres north of Aquhorthies steading, and measures a maximum of 25 m from north to south by 23.5 m transversely. The circle originally comprised at least eighteen stones set along the leading edge of a platform encircling a well-defined ring-cairn, 15 m in diameter. Only fourteen of the orthostats still stand, two of them now mere stumps. A second, smaller ring cairn just over three metres across lies in the very centre, but only five of its original kerbstones can still be seen.