Glenrothes - Balbirnie Stone Circle

Balfarg and Balbirnie are apparently related prehistoric burial and cult sites. Before the Balbirnie site was relocated, they were located just 200 m apart from each other.

The site was excavated before planned widening of the A92 road; the main features of the site were then re-erected nearby.

There were five stones visible before excavation, the stumps of four stones and the hole of one stone were discovered. The original ten stones stood in an ellipse measuring about 15 by 14 metres around a rectangular setting of slabs measuring 3.25 by 3.75 metres.

Three phases of use were established by the excavation. The rectangle of slabs and the stone circle are from the earliest period. Cremated bone was found beneath four of the circle-stones. At a later time, several cists were inserted within the circle. The cists were covered by a cairn of stones. Within the cairn, there were at least 16 cremation burials. It was concluded that the last phase was in the late second millennium BC.