Wormy Hillock Henge
| Wormy Hillock Henge | |
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A picture of the mound; the henge lies in the left half of the photo
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| Location | Aberdeenshire, Scotland |
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Built | During the Neolithic Period[1] |
| Architectural style(s) | British pre-Roman Architecture |
| Official name: Wormy Hillock | |
| Reference no. | 3278[2] |
 Wormy hillock henge shown within Aberdeenshire
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Wormy hillock henge is a small henge in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.[3] It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument[1] located in the Clashindarroch Forest.[4] It is a low, circular bank 16.5 metres (54 ft) in diameter which almost surrounds a 6-metre (20 ft) wide platform in the centre.[3] There is one gap in the bank at the southeast end of the henge.[3]
History
In 1891, James Macdonald, thinking that this mound was a "round for sheep", excavated the mound. However, this did not bring any archaeological finds.[4]
Legend
According to legend, Wormy hillock henge was the location of a buried dragon or monster.[4][5] In the legend, the dragon had been attacking villages in the neighbourhood, and the villagers eventually succeeded in killing the dragon. They then half-buried its corpse and mounded dirt over it, making a mound.[6] This legend is the source of the name of the mound: Wormy hillock henge.[5][6]
The site
The henge is located to the south of the mound known as Wormy Hillock, on a haugh ("a piece of flat alluvial land by the side of a river", according to the Oxford English Dictionary[7]) in a steep valley[4] in the Clashindarroch Forest. The henge comprises a circular bank, 16.5 metres (54 ft) in diameter,[8] enclosing an oval area 13.5 metres (44 ft) long by 13 metres (43 ft) wide.[4] The bank itself ranges from 3 metres (9.8 ft) broad and 10 centimetres (3.9 in) high up to 4 metres (13 ft) thick and 60 centimetres (24 in) high.[4] Wormy Hillock falls into the sub-category 'mini-henge' or 'hengiform' as it is less than 20m in diameter (see henge main article). The area enclosed by the bank is around 140 square metres (1,500 sq ft), and the average for a stone circle is around 260 square metres (2,800 sq ft).[9]
Inside the bank is a small platform 6 metres (20 ft) in diameter surrounded by a 1 metre (3.3 ft) deep ditch crossed by several causeways.[4] The southeastern one is apparently related to the 1 metre (3.3 ft) wide hole in the bank at the same angular position.[3][4] This site is similar to several others in Dorchester, Oxon, England.[8] There are two small pits on the bank, and they may be much more recent than the rest of the mound. A large boulder is lying in the ditch right below one of the pits.[4]
Currently, the site is completely overgrown by grass and heather.[4]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "haugh, n." Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 1989. OED Online. Oxford University Press. 16 December 20.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
