Balfarg is a prehistoric monument complex near Glenrothes in Fife. Glenrothes is one of the Scottish new towns, created in the post-war era circa 1948, from an amalgamation of small farming communities. ... Fife (Fìobh in Gaelic) is a unitary council region of Scotland situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth. ...

It visibly consists of a henge and the remnants of a stone circle which has been partly reconstructed.. A henge is a circular or sub-circular prehistoric enclosure defined by a raised circular bank, and a circular ditch usually running inside the bank. ... Prehistoric stone circles are megalithic monuments found almost exclusively in the British Isles, with two atypical examples known in Brittany. ...

It was excavated between 1977 and 1978 by Roger Mercer prior to the development of a new housing estate, work which established that the two extant standing stones were part of a circle that stood within the henge. The two surviving specimens lined the north-west oriented entrance to the henge. Roger Mercer is a British archaeologist whose work has concentrated on the Neolithic and Bronze Age of the British Isles. ... Standing stones, orthostats, liths or more commonly, megaliths because of their large and cumbersome size, are solitary stones set vertically in the ground. ...

Within the 64.9m diameter henge were found broken Neolithic pottery, burnt wood and bone which had been dumped on the site prior to the erection of a 25m wide timber circle of 16 wooden posts. Two especially large portal timbers stood on the west side of the circle. It is likely that the henge was built after these phases of activity. Grooved ware pottery found in the postholes dates to around 2900 BC. Some of the vessels may have been used to hold black henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) which is a poison but also a powerful hallucinogen. This discovery is briefly explored by the Internet Archaeology Journal of the Council for British Archaeology in the article 'The use of henbane as a hallucinogen at Neolithic 'ritual' sites: a re-evaluation.' In archaeology, a timber circle is a circular arrangement of wooden posts. ... Grooved ware is the name given to a pottery style of the British Neolithic. ... In archaeology a posthole is a cut feature used to hold a surface timber or stone. ... Binomial name Hyoscyamos niger Henbane (Hyoscyamos niger) is a plant of the family Solanaceae that originated in Eurasia. ...

Five further concentric post rings had also been erected outside and inside the main wooden circle although these were made from narrower timbers and may have supported hurdling or a palisade. Palisade and Moat A palisade is a Medieval wooden fence or wall of variable height, used as a defensive structure. ...

Later during the site's use the timber circle was replaced by two concentric stone circles, again with an entrance to the west and some time after this the henge was constructed. Around 1900 BC a pit was dug in the centre of the stone circles and in it was placed the body of a young man along with a flint knife and a handled beaker. Arkaim in Russia was constructed by Aryan tribes some 4000 years ago. ... Illustration of a Beaker A beaker is a type of laboratory glassware which consists of a cylindrical cup with a notch on the top to allow for the pouring of liquids. ...

Nearby are the Balfarg Riding School mortuary enclosures and the Balbirnie stone circle. A mortuary enclosure is a term given in archaeology and anthropology to an area, surrounded by a wood, stone or earthwork barrier, in which dead bodies are placed for excarnation and to await secondary and/or collective burial. ...

Source

Burl, A A Guide to the stone circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany, Yale, 1995 Aubrey Burl is a British archaeologist most well known for his studies into megalithic monuments and the nature of prehistoric rituals associated with them. ...