thumb|Stone circle at Beaghmore.
thumb|Stone row at Beaghmore.
thumb|Stone circle and [[cairn at Beaghmore.]]
'''Beaghmore''' is a complex of early Cookstown, Sperrin Mountains. <ref name="CC"></ref> Beaghmore translates into English as 'the moor of the birches';<ref name="ME"></ref> a name that reflects the fact that the area was a woodland before being cleared by Neolithic farmers. Beaghmore stone circles, alignments and cairns are State Care Historic Monuments in the townland of Beaghmore, in the Cookstown District Council area, grid ref: Area of
H684 842.<ref></ref> At Beaghmore a cairn (grid ref: H6872 8470), a cairn (grid ref: H6856 8472), Stone circles, alignments and cairns (grid ref: area of H684 842), round cairn with
standing stones: Bradley’s Cairn (grid ref: H6830 8401) and cairn and alignment (grid ref: H6863 8431), are all Scheduled Historic Monuments.<ref></ref>

==Excavation==
The site was discovered in the early 1940s during peat cutting when 1,269 stones were uncovered,<ref name="ME"/> and partially excavated in 1945-1949 when it was taken into state care. It was also excavated again in 1965. Investigation of the site and the surrounding bog indicate that the area was occupied since Neolithic times through the Bronze Age. The stone circles and cairn are attributed to the earlier part of the Bronze Age c. 2,000-1,200 BC. It is possible that the full extent of the complex has not yet been revealed and further stones and cairns may still lie hidden in the adjacent peat.<ref name="CC"/> Hearths and deposits of flint tools were discovered and have been carbon dated to 2900-2600BC. Several of the stone rows run over the tumbled walls of field structures which also date from the Neolithic period. Excavation of one of the cairns revealed a polished porcellanite axe, which may have originated from the Tievebulliagh axe factory, some 70 miles away in County Antrim. The largest cairn featured a central pit containing an oak branch.<ref name="ME"/>

==Features==
There are seven low stone circles of different sizes, six of which are paired, twelve cairns and ten kerbs surrounding some megalithic tombs. The singular circle is distinguished from the paired circles by its slightly larger stones. It is also unique in that the interior of the circle is filled with more than 800 small stones which have been placed upright within the circle and are known as "the dragon’s teeth". Most of these circles have small stone alignments touching them at a tangent. The site also includes a dozen small stone cairns, frequently covering a cremation burial. Each of the three pairs of stone circles have a small cairn placed in between.<ref name="CC"/> A typical feature of the stone rows is a high and low arrangement where short rows of tall stones run beside much longer rows of small stones.<ref name="ME"/> The stone rows radiate from the circles in a roughly north-east direction.<ref></ref>

The site also consists of low banks of small stones running below, and possibly pre-dating, the other structures which may have been field walls in the Neolithic period. Excavation has revealed that the site overlays a Neolithic cultivation site, and it is thought that the stones may have been erected in response to deteriorating soil fertility and the encroachment of peat.<ref></ref> Following excavation a system of drainage channels had to be laid to prevent the stones from being reclaimed once again by the bog.<ref name="CC"/>

==Function==
Possibly the site could mark a focal point for religious and/or social gatherings. Some archaeologists believe that the circles have been constructed in relation to the rising of the sun at the solstice, or to record the movements of the sun and moon acting as observatories for particular lunar, solar or stellar events. Three of the stone rows point to the sunrise at the time of the solstice and another is aligned towards moonrise at the same period. However, most of the remains at Beaghmore do not indicate very accurate alignments upon specific astronomical features.<ref name="CC"/>

Die Steinkreise von '''Beaghmore''' liegen 13,5 km nordwestlich von Cookstown im County Tyrone (Nordirland). Sie wurden in der Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts von Torfstechern in den Sperrin Mountains entdeckt. Die sieben recht niedrigen Steine der Kreise waren im Laufe der Jahrhunderte völlig vom Moor überdeckt worden. Ihre Entstehung wird auf 1600 v. Chr. datiert.

Eine Fläche von 20.000 m² wurde zwischen 1945 und 1949 und wiederum 1965 untersucht, wobei Kreise, kleine Steinhaufen und Steinreihen freigelegt wurden. Die Anlage ist einzigartig in der Welt. Der größte der aufgestellten Steine ist nur 1,2 m hoch; die meisten sind nur etwas mehr als kopfgroß. Die Anlage wird für einen bronzezeitlichen Kultplatz gehalten, der bereits einen Vorläufer hatte. 

Der "Dragon's teeth" ist ein französische Beispiel ist Er Lannic. Ein von der Form her ähnlicher, allerdings unlithischer Entwurf ist Fort Navan, bei Emain Macha im County Armagh, dem Königssitz von Ulster. Auch hier finden sich tangierende Kreise (allerdings aus Flechtwerk), die unterschiedlich groß, in Form einer Acht gestaltet sind.