aggregation of small stones enclosing a flat area 300 feet in diameter. The central space is entered by a wide aperture in the ring, and near its middle there stands a fine monolith, one of several known to have formerly stood there. The famous Giant's Ring, near Belfast, is an example of this type; but the ring in the Irish case is made of earth and is larger, having a diameter of 580 feet, while the central object is a fine dolmen.
The above examples will give the reader a general idea of the different types of free standing cromlechs to be met with in this country, though they by no means reveal the details of all their varying features. The smaller stone circles are so associated with dolmens, barrows and cists that they more frequently fall to be described as integral portions of one or other of these sepulchral structures.
When these cromlechs are considered as groups in different districts, though not widely apart, they and their associated structures often disclose different features. Thus the Clava group, near Inverness, have one or more circles of standing stones surrounding a central chambered cairn. On the other hand, the stone circles of Aberdeenshire have no central cairns, but nearly all of them have a large recumbent stone, with a tall menhir at each end, placed in the circumference.
