Tomnaverie Stone Circle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Hello, and happy Monday!

A wee bit of silliness to start your day…

Why was the geologist always depressed?

He had a hard rock life.

What do you call a rock that never goes to school?

A skipping stone.

Why are geologists never picky in relationships?

Because they will date anything.

When were rock puns the funniest?

During the Stone Age.

Where do rocks like to sleep?

In bedrocks.

Did you hear about the geologist who got divorced?

He was taking his wife for granite so she left him.

You want to heart the best rock puns?

Give me a moment and I’ll dig something up.

What happens when you keep reading geology jokes in your free time?

You know that you have really hit rock bottom.

I really hate rock puns.

My sediments exactly.

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Well…now that I have thoroughly amused you (or perhaps sent you running for the hills), I’d like to invite you guys to come along today as we visit Tomnaverie Stone Circle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. No more geology puns. I give you my rock-solid promise.

Tomnaverie Stone Circle sits just south of the B9094, close to the village of Tarland. When you arrive, you will find a small car park and from there, an information board and a nice path that will lead you to the stone circle at the top of the wind-swept hill.

Even if you’re not that ‘into’ stone circles, the views alone are worth the walk to the top. I don’t feel like these pictures do justice to how beautiful it really was up there. Seriously, how can one landscape contain so many textures and shades of green?!

Tomnaverie is a ‘recumbent’ stone circle. This type of stone circle is found only in northeast Scotland and is characterized by a large stone laying on its side and flanked on either side by upright stones.

Built on the site of an earlier ring cairn (that is, stones arranged in a circular design with space in the center), Tomnaverie has had a long and complex history of use, spanning from about 2500 B.C. until as recently as the late 1600s.

According to Historic Environment Scotland, “A pit with a charcoal-rich fill, under the original position of the recumbent stone, was dated to between 2570 and 2460 B.C.” They go on to say that, “Remains of what is thought to have been a cremation pyre on the summit were dated to between 1050 and 900 B.C. and to some time between the 15th and the first half of the 17th century A.D. In this latter period also, a pit was dug in the centre of the monument to receive one or more cremation burials.” Don’t you think that’s fascinating?

Even with the information archaeologists and historians have been able to glean about Tomnaverie and other stone circles, the questions surrounding them forever seem to outweigh the answers. Who are the people buried there? What sorts of rituals did ancient peoples practice? Who or what did they worship, and how? How did primitive tribes have the intellectual and physical capability to construct and use the circle for astrological purposes or to mark their days and years? Perhaps we’ll never really know, but it certainly does stir the imagination.

Friends, thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you have a wonderful week.

Cheers and rock on,