What the circles were used for is still a matter of dispute. They have for long been called “Druidical” circles, and the received opinion was that they were places of worship, the recumbent stone being the altar. But there is no certitude in this view; and, indeed, the fact that several exist at no great distance from each other (more than a dozen are located in Deer) would seem to be adverse to it. They were certainly used as places of burying, and some antiquarians hold that they were the burying grounds of the people of the Bronze Age. A later theory is that they were intended to be astronomical clocks to a people who knew nothing of the length of the year, and who had no almanacs to guide them in the matter of the seasons. The stone-circles, however, still remain an unsolved problem. [Illustration: Stone at Logie, in the Garioch (4 feet high) From Anderson’s _Scot. in Early Ch. Times_, 2nd Series] Besides the circles, Aberdeenshire has another class of archaeological remains, called sculptured stones. These are of three kinds: (1) those with incised symbols only, (2) those with in addition Celtic ornament carved in relief, and (3) monuments with Celtic ornament in relief and no symbols. The first class is the only one largely represented in Aberdeenshire and a good many representatives are in existence. The symbols most commonly seen are the crescent and sceptre, the spectacles, the mirror and comb, and the so-called “elephant” symbol, a representation of a beast with long jaws, a crest and scroll feet. Another is the serpent symbol. What the symbols signify is still a mystery, but the fact that the stones with symbolism are unusually common in what was known as Northern Pictland seems to point to their being indigenous to that area. Out of 124 stones in the first class Aberdeenshire has 42. It would seem as if the county had been the focus where the symbolism originated. The richness of the locality round Kintore and Inverurie in symbol stones is taken to indicate that region as the centre from which they radiated.