The Forteviot Henges

Painting by David Simon

This view shows the palisade, looking west towards the stepped profile of Ben Effrey, the most distinctive feature of this section of the Ochils. As the Neolithic era came to a close (about 2500 BC) the posts of the great enclosure collapsed and were not replaced. Instead new ritual enclosures were constructed from ditches and earthwork banks. Known as henges, these much smaller in scale than the great palisade, but their construction was still a major undertaking. Physically and perhaps conceptually these were more confined ritual spaces, which were used by a society which was adapting to the introduction of copper technology.