That crossed my mind, but I didn't know whether it would be plausible that the same group crossed from Ireland to mainland England. Maybe they built the Kings Men circle on the way to Avebury. I'm think the similarities are striking but maybe it's a coincidence, but even the backdrop looks similar to the Rollrights if you're south-facing.
I know on previous threads that there's a line of thinking that the circles were nothing more than a corale. I personally don't believe that but I'm fascinated how Beltany and Kings men individual stones' are in such close proximity to each other and have defined male and female shapes and are so alike, whilst differing to other stone circles that are closer geographically.
In some ways Beltany and the Rollrights are so similar and in others they are very dis-similar. On the positive side, they did once have almost complete, contiguous circles and are pretty isolated from similar type of monuments, the jagged high and low stone arrangements are also alike at first glance. On the other hand, the Rollrights had a definite 'entrance', I haven't seen or heard of a formal entrance to Beltany Tops, according to Burl the stones in the Rollrights were originally 'crudely graded' in height whereas Beltany has tall stones among lower ones dotted around the place, aren't a lot of the Rollrights broken and others replaced after being torn out of their sockets?
There is the problem of the inner cairn, Burl considers Beltany to perhaps be among the very first 'stone circles' proper, possibly a second generation development coming from the boulder circles of Carrowmore. I'd find it hard to disagree with that, plus the circles at Carrowmore are (or were) completely contiguous with no gap for entry, as Beltany possibly was, with a 'sacred' space inside. This sacred space was a raised artificial platform at Carrowmore and is also at Beltany. What that would suggest to me is that Carrowmore and Beltany belong to the same tradition or belief, that the area inside was seperated from the outside world and the community once the structure was complete. The interior was not designed for access by lowly commoners or perhaps anyone at all except the remains or relics of the ancestors. Seperated from the 'profane' world as Anthony Weir phrases it.
This seems opposite to the Rollrights which it seems was of what we would call the 'traditional' stone circle, the more mainstream Cumbrian type designed as a space where the living, not just the dead, performed rituals/danced/communicated with alien ancestors or whatever. It seems a total shift in 'use', perhaps cult leaders were eventually, over centuries elevated (or manouvered their way) to as high a status as the ancestors and this was the space where living deities were honoured at feast/festival times?
All speculation of course, but I think whatever about the similarities, the circles and the people who built them were very different and had different social/ritual structures.
