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Tomnaverie Stone Circle near Tarland on the dig starts again in early April 2000 with shards of Beaker Pottery found under the northern kerb giving confirmed dating material of around 2000BC

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5th April, 2000 and the second season's excavation by Reading University is well underway - sunny but cold.

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On the same day, this highview gives a good idea of the team at work as much has to be achieved by mid April ready for the major restoration of the site near Tarland.

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6th April and a investigatory trench is opened from the southern egde of the quarry fence up to the out of place recumbent stone. One of the displaced flankers can be seen lying in the top center of the photograph

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The same trench viewed from the displaced western flanker which is due to be repositioned in a few days time. This sequence of events is covered in the next gallery.

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6th April and at the other side of the site an equally important trench is being opened up to ascertain the outer boundary of the circle and its relationship to the kerb obvious in the top half og the photo as we look towards the south.

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A partially covered monolith in the quarry below which will eventually be rescued and placed in a socket which it was obviously designed to fit. The old Victorian quarry will eventually be filled in and the site restored to as near the original complete hill.

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One of the existing upright monoliths showing a profile of its socket and the fact it was a later construction having its retaining hole dig into an existing cairn.

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6th April and one of the early restoration jobs with a monolith made upright again on the northern boundary of this Aberdeenshire Stone Circle.

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14th April, 2000 and the fine detail of archaeological work continues with carbon specimens recorded and bagged for definite radio carbon dating at a later date.

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14th April 2000 and despite the excitement of the morning's major restoration work as evidenced by the flankers and recumbent to the right back, the excavation work continues.

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22nd April, 2000 and detailed recording and drawing of the site continues especially as the dig season draws to a close.

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Another regular tool on site is the framing grid which allows for accurate drawings to be made of detailed parts of the site. It allows records to be kept of the three dimensional aspects of relationships various stones as well as identification of exact places important artifacts or dating samples were found prior to removal.

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2nd April, 1999 and a reminder of what the dig at Tomnaverie meant for the local community as many helpers from the local area were able to come and help with the early less technically important work of starting the excavation.