Hard to Penetrate the Minds of Our Ancient Ancestors

Scots from the 1990s:

When a Stonehenge-like stone circle was discovered on farmland in rural Scotland last year, archaeologists were thrilled.

Recumbent stone circles, like the new discovery, were built between 3,500 and 4.500 years ago and were unique to the northeast of Scotland, Aberdeenshire Council wrote on its website at the time.

"This amazing new site adds to our knowledge of these unique monuments and of the prehistoric archeology of the area. It is rare for these sites to go unidentified for so long, especially in such a good condition," Neil Ackerman, the council's historic environment record assistant, said in its statement.

But excitement turned to embarrassment in January, when the former owner of the farm where the circle was found approached the council to let it know he had built the monument himself in the 1990s.