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Auskerry three standing stones is a Bronze Age monument comprising three upright stones located in Orkney, Scotland. The stones are positioned upon Middle Devonian sandstone bedrock, the same durable red and brown stone that forms much of the Orkney landscape and has endured since the Middle Devonian period. The local geology, with its siltstone and marl deposits interspersed within the sandstone formation, would have been well known to Bronze Age communities who selected and shaped stones for ritual and ceremonial purposes.
The monument is protected by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled ancient monument under reference SM13390. Three standing stone arrangements are characteristic of Bronze Age ritual practice across northern Scotland and beyond, typically dating to the period between 2000 and 1000 BC. Such monuments often marked significant territorial or spiritual locations within the landscape, and their persistence across millennia reflects the enduring importance of these sites to successive communities.
The specific location on Orkney's distinctive geology contributes to the monument's archaeological significance. The accessibility of suitable stone from the local bedrock, combined with the exposed position typical of Orcadian monuments, would have made Auskerry an appropriate choice for a Bronze Age stone setting. The monument remains an important record of prehistoric activity in the Northern Isles.
Auskerry, three standing stones is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM13390. View the official record →
Auskerry three standing stones is a Bronze Age monument comprising three upright stones located in Orkney, Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM13390.
Auskerry, three standing stones dates from the bronze age period, and is classified as a three standing stones. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Auskerry, three standing stones is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM13390.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Auskerry, burnt mound 260m SW of Loch of Dinnapow (0.2 km), Auskerry, settlement 165m SSW of Loch of Dinnapow (0.3 km), Auskerry, mound 275m SSW of The Old House (0.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Auskerry, three standing stones's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Auskerry, three standing stones stands on Middle Devonian sandstone, bedrock that formed in the Middle Devonian. The rock here is major:{sandstone}, Minor{siltstone,marl}.