Richard Bradley came to talk to us before Christmas about the use and reuse of stone circles. In a fascinating presentation he took us through many early Bronze age sites, describing their possible original purpose and showing the archaeological evidence for later use and, in some cases, destruction. Right up to Christian times stone circles were being used as a strategic reference back to local and non-Christian traditions. Bradley also showed that in the modern period new stone circles are being built all the time, and thus the cycle continues.

Clava cairn (credit: Visit Scotland).