The Callanish Stones (or "Callanish I": gd, Clachan Chalanais or ) are an arrangement of
standing stones
A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be foun ...
placed in a
cruciform
Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design.
Cruciform architectural plan
Christian churches are commonly described ...
pattern with a central
stone circle
A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The be ...
. They were erected in the late
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
era, and were a focus for ritual activity during the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
. They are near the village of
Callanish
Callanish ( gd, Calanais) is a village (township) on the west side of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles), Scotland. Callanish is within the parish of Uig. A linear settlement with a jetty, it is on a headland jutting into ...
(Gaelic: ) on the west coast of
Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
in the
Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coast ...
, Scotland.
Location
The Callanish Stones () are situated on a low ridge above the waters of
Loch Roag
''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch.
In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised spelling ...
with the hills of
Great Bernera
Great Bernera (; gd, Beàrnaraigh Mòr), often known just as Bernera ( gd, Beàrnaraigh), is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. With an area of just over , it is the thirty-fourth largest Scottish island.
Great Bernera l ...
as a backdrop.
Numerous other ritual sites lie within a few kilometres.
These include at least three other circles, several arcs, alignments and single stones; many visible from the main site.
The most impressive –
Callanish II and
Callanish III – lie just over a kilometre southeast of the main Callanish Stones, and originally consisted of circles of stones at least eight in number.
The existence of other monuments in the area implies that Callanish was an active focus for prehistoric religious activity for at least 1500 years.
(see
Callanish III,
Callanish IV
The Callanish IV stone circle ( gd, Ceann Hulavig) is one of many megalithic structures around the better-known (and larger) Calanais I on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles), Scotland. It is a scheduled ...
,
Callanish VIII
The Callanish VIII stone setting is one of many megalithic structures around the better-known (and larger) Calanais I on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles), Scotland. It is also known locally as Tursachan. ...
and
Callanish X
The Callanish X stone circle (or "Na Dromannan", "Druim Nan Eun") is one of many megalithic structures around the more well-known and larger Calanais I on the west coast of the isle of Lewis, in the Western Isles of the Outer Hebrides, Scotland
...
). Historic Environment Scotland states that the stones were erected roughly 5,000 years ago, pre-dating
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...
.
Management
The Callanish Stones are managed by
Historic Environment Scotland
Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...
. There is The Calanais Stones Visitor Centre operated by Urras Nan Tursachan (The Standing Stones Trust).
Description
![Plan of the Callanish Stones](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Plan_of_the_Callanish_Stones.png)
The Callanish Stones consist of a
stone circle
A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The be ...
of thirteen stones with a monolith near the middle. Five
rows of standing stones connect to this circle. Two long rows of stones running almost parallel to each other from the stone circle to the north-northeast form a kind of
avenue
Avenue or Avenues may refer to:
Roads
* Avenue (landscape), traditionally a straight path or road with a line of trees, in the shifted sense a tree line itself, or some of boulevards (also without trees)
* Avenue Road, Bangalore
* Avenue Road, ...
. In addition, there are shorter rows of stones to the west-southwest, south and east-northeast. The stones are all of the same rock type, namely the local
Lewisian gneiss
The Lewisian complex or Lewisian gneiss is a suite of Precambrian metamorphic rocks that outcrop in the northwestern part of Scotland, forming part of the Hebridean Terrane and the North Atlantic Craton. These rocks are of Archaean and Paleoprote ...
. Within the stone circle is a chambered tomb to the east of the central stone.
Centre stone
The central monolith stands 0.8 metres west of the true centre of the stone circle. The stone is 4.8 metres high, 1.5 metres wide and 0.3 metres thick.
The largest sides of the stone are almost perfectly oriented to the north and south.
The monolith has the shape of a ship's rudder and probably weighs about seven tonnes.
Stone circle
The stone circle consists of thirteen stones and has a diameter of 11.4 metres. The stone circle is not a perfect circle, but is a ring with a flattened east side (13.4 metres north–south by 12 metres east–west). The stones have an average height of three metres. The ring covers an area of 124 square metres. This is quite small compared to similar circles, including the nearby
Callanish II which is 2.5 times as large.
Northern avenue
The avenue connects to the stone circle from the north-northeast. The avenue is 83.2 metres long.
The avenue has 19 stones remaining: nine stones are on the eastern side, ten on the western side.
The largest stone is 3.5 metres high and stands on the western end of the row. The two rows are not exactly parallel to each other but fan out: at the north end the rows are 6.7 metres apart, while the distance between the rows is 6 metres at the south end.
From the circle the height of the stones decreases towards the middle of the avenue; from there the height increases again. The stones of the eastern side of the avenue have only three-quarters of the height of the stones on the western side.
Stone rows
As well as the two stone rows of the avenue, there are three stone rows connecting to the circle. One comes from the east-northeast, one from the south, and one from the west-southwest. The east-northeast row today consists of five stones and is 23.2 metres long.
The southern row consists of five stones and is 27.2 metres long.
The west-southwest row consists of four stones and is 13 metres long.
None of the stone rows is aimed at the centre of the stone circle. The east-northeast row is aligned to a point 2 metres south of the centre; the south row points to 1 metre west of the centre and the west-southwest row points to 1 metre south of the centre.
Chambered tomb
![Callanish I 2011 17](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Callanish_I_2011_17.JPG)
Between the central and the eastern monolith of the stone circle is a
chambered tomb
A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could ...
6.4 metres long.
This was built later than the stone circle and is squashed in between the eastern stones and the central monolith.
There is another stone
cairn
A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ).
Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...
just on the northeast side of the stone circle.
It has been reduced to ground-level and the outline can barely be traced.
It is not necessarily an original part of the site.
Archaeology and dating
![Callanish-circle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Callanish-circle.jpg)
There were limited excavations in 1980–81 which provided some information on the development of the site. The first traces of human activity are indicated by a broad ditch (no longer visible above ground) which appears to have belonged to some structure or enclosure.
This may have been ritual, but could instead have been domestic.
In the centuries around 3000 BC, however, the site was turned over to agriculture, which obliterated most of the earlier traces.
After this, the site was allowed to grass over for a time.
The stone circle was set up between 2900 and 2600 BC.
It is not clear whether the stone alignments were constructed at the same time as the circle, or later.
Some time after the erection of the stones, a small chambered tomb was inserted into the eastern part of the stone circle.
The many pottery fragments found indicate that the tomb was used for several centuries.
These pottery fragments included not only the local Hebridean pots, but numerous sherds of
beaker vessels (dating to around 2000–1700 BC) and shards of
grooved ware
Grooved ware is the name given to a pottery style of the British Neolithic. Its manufacturers are sometimes known as the Grooved ware people. Unlike the later Beaker ware, Grooved culture was not an import from the continent but seems to have dev ...
.
Around 1500–1000 BC the complex fell out of use and was despoiled by the later Bronze Age farmers.
Fragments of pots appear to have been cast out of the chamber.
This may have been just ordinary agriculture, but it may conceivably have been ritual cleansing.
There appears to have been a later rebuilding of the tomb, but this may have been for domestic use as there is no evidence for any later ritual use of the monument.
Excavations in 1999–2000, to the south of the stones, found fragments of a prehistoric field system buried beneath blanket peat, as well as stone structures, including buildings, walls, clearance cairns and cobbled surfaces. The analyses found that these features were the result of prehistoric farming activity from the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age indicating the whole area was used for farming at that time. Between 1000 BC and 500 BC the stones were covered by a thick layer of turf. It is estimated that the place was abandoned around 800 BC. Only in 1857 was the overlying 1.5 metres of
peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...
removed.
Later history
![Callanish Stones 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Callanish_Stones_3.jpg)
The first written reference to the stones was by Lewis native John Morisone, who around 1680 wrote that the stones were men "converted into stone by ane Inchanter" and set up in a ring "for devotione". Sometime around 1695
Martin Martin
Martin Martin (Scottish Gaelic: Màrtainn MacGilleMhàrtainn) (-9 October 1718) was a Scottish writer best known for his work '' A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland'' (1703; second edition 1716). This book is particularly noted for ...
visited the site and was told by the local people that "it was a place appointed for worship in the time of heathenism, and that the chief druid or priest stood near the big stone in the centre, from whence he addressed himself to the people that surrounded him."
In his 1726 work on the
druid
A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...
s,
John Toland
John Toland (30 November 167011 March 1722) was an Irish people, Irish rationalist philosopher and freethought, freethinker, and occasional satirist, who wrote numerous books and pamphlets on political philosophy and philosophy of religion, whi ...
specifically identified
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
' ''
Hyperborea
In Greek mythology, the Hyperboreans ( grc, Ὑπερβόρε(ι)οι, ; la, Hyperborei) were a mythical people who lived in the far northern part of the known world. Their name appears to derive from the Greek , "beyond Boreas" (the God of ...
'' with Lewis, and the "spherical temple" mentioned by Diodorus with the Callanish Stones. In 1743,
William Stukeley
William Stukeley (7 November 1687 – 3 March 1765) was an English antiquarian, physician and Anglican clergyman. A significant influence on the later development of archaeology, he pioneered the scholarly investigation of the prehistoric ...
described the stone circle as a druid circle and the avenue like a serpent.
In 1819, geologist
John MacCulloch
John MacCulloch FRS (6 October 1773 – 21 August 1835) was a Scottish geologist. He was the first geologist to be employed by the government in Britain and is best known for his pioneering texts on geology and for producing the first geologica ...
published the first accurate description.
In 1846, the Danish historian
J. J. A. Worsaae
Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae (14 March 1821 – 15 August 1885) was a Danish archaeologist, historian and politician, who was the second director of the National Museum of Denmark (1865–1874). He played a key role in the foundation of scientific ...
made a sketch and plan of the Callanish Stones.
In 1857
peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...
to a depth of five feet (1.5 metres) was cleared away, under the orders of the proprietor of Lewis,
James Matheson
Sir James Nicolas Sutherland Matheson, 1st Baronet, FRS (17 November 179631 December 1878), was a Scottish Tai-Pan. Born in Shiness, Lairg, Sutherland, Scotland, he was the son of Captain Donald Matheson. He attended Edinburgh's Royal High Sch ...
, revealing the chambered tomb and the true height of the stones. In 1885 the Callanish Stones were taken into state care.
Interpretation
Alexander Thom
Alexander Thom (26 March 1894 – 7 November 1985) was a Scottish engineer most famous for his theory of the Megalithic yard, categorisation of stone circles and his studies of Stonehenge and other archaeological sites.
Life and work Early ...
and
Gerald Hawkins
Gerald Stanley Hawkins (20 April 1928– 26 May 2003) was a British-born American astronomer and author noted for his work in the field of archaeoastronomy. A professor and chair of the astronomy department at Boston University in the Unit ...
suggested that the stones were a prehistoric lunar observatory. Others have proposed a relationship between the stones, the moon and the
Clisham
, photo = View east south east from An Cliseam - geograph.org.uk - 1580282.jpg
, photo_size =
, photo_upright =
, photo_alt =
, photo_caption =
, highest =
, highest ...
range in Harris. Critics of these theories argue that several alignments are likely to exist purely by chance in any such structure, and many factors such as the weathering and displacement of the stones over the millennia mean there can be no certainty of any alignments, original or otherwise.
In folklore
According to one tradition, the Callanish Stones were petrified giants who would not convert to Christianity.
In the 17th century the people of Lewis were calling the stones ''fir bhrèige'' ("false men").
Another legend is that early on
midsummer morning an entity known as the "Shining One" walks the length of the avenue, his coming heralded by the call of the cuckoo.
In popular culture
![Callanish Stones in summer 2012 (7)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Callanish_Stones_in_summer_2012_%287%29.JPG)
*In 1974, the sculptor
Gerald Laing
Gerald Ogilvie-Laing (11 February 1936 – 23 November 2011) was a British pop artist and sculptor. He lived in the Scottish Highlands.
Early life
Laing was born in Newcastle upon Tyne on 11 February 1936, a son of Maj. and Mrs. Gerald Ogilvie ...
created a work known as ''Callanish'' for
Strathclyde University
The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...
's campus in the centre of
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
. He planted 16 abstract steel girders in the ground, intended to relate to the configuration of the stones. The sculpture is popularly referred to as "Steelhenge".
*The stones feature as a setting in the 1974 novel ''
Lookout Cartridge
''Lookout Cartridge'' is Joseph McElroy's fourth novel, published by Knopf in 1974.
The narrator, Cartwright, had made with his friend Dagger an art film/documentary about power using loaned professional equipment, with scenes set in Stonehen ...
'' by American author
Joseph McElroy
Joseph Prince McElroy (born August 21, 1930) is an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. He is noted for his long postmodern novels such as '' Women and Men''.
Personal background
McElroy was born on August 21, 1930, in Brookl ...
.
*In 1984, the
new romantic
The New Romantic movement was an underground subculture movement that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The movement emerged from the nightclub scene in London and Birmingham at venues such as Billy's and The Blitz. The New ...
band
Ultravox
Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was ...
used an image of the stones on the cover of their album ''
Lament
A lament or lamentation is a passionate expression of grief, often in music, poetry, or song form. The grief is most often born of regret, or mourning. Laments can also be expressed in a verbal manner in which participants lament about somethin ...
.'' They filmed parts of their promo' video for the "
One Small Day
"One Small Day" is the first single from Ultravox's seventh studio album, ''Lament'', released on 26 January 1984. It peaked at #27 in the UK Singles Chart.
The song is unusual for Ultravox in that it is mainly guitar rather than synth driven.
...
" single at the site (the 'performance' parts of the video were actually shot at the Callanish III site); it was the first single taken from that album.
*In 1988
Jon Mark
Jon Mark (born John Michael Burchell; 8 May 1943 – 10 February 2021) was an English singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his recordings with Marianne Faithfull, Sweet Thursday, John Mayall and Mark-Almond. Mark, who received a ...
released a CD, ''The Standing Stones of Callanish'', intended to evoke Britain's Celtic legacy.
*
Julian Cope
Julian David Cope (born 21 October 1957) is an English musician and author. He was the singer and songwriter in Liverpool post-punk band the Teardrop Explodes and has followed a solo career since 1983 in addition to working on musical side proj ...
's 1992 album ''
Jehovahkill
''Jehovahkill'' is the eighth album by Julian Cope, released in 1992. After the critical success of ''Peggy Suicide'' (1991), Cope's idea for ''Jehovakill'' was to incorporate a krautrock attitude into his music. He began recording the album wit ...
'' features the stones on its cover.
*
The Waterboys
The Waterboys are a folk rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained ...
' 1993 album ''
Dream Harder
''Dream Harder'' (1993) is the sixth album by The Waterboys. Led by Scottish singer-songwriter-instrumentalist Mike Scott, the album features none of the earlier UK-based band members and instead finds Scott backed by American session musicians. ...
'' contains a song called "Wonders of Lewis" which appears to reference the stones.
*The stones are featured in the plot and setting of ''Death of an Adept'' (1996), a novel by
Katherine Kurtz
Katherine Irene Kurtz (born October 18. 1944) is an American fantasy writer, author of sixteen historical fantasy novels in the ''Deryni'' series, as well as occult and urban fantasy. Resident in Ireland for over twenty years, she moved to Virgi ...
and
Deborah Turner Harris
Deborah Turner Harris (born 1951 in Pennsylvania), is an American fantasy author, best known for her collaborations with Katherine Kurtz.
Life
Harris lives in Scotland and is married to Scottish author Robert J. Harris.
Works Mages of Garill ...
. They are a central part of the cover art (by
Joe Burleson) for the 1997 mass-market paperback edition.
*The stones are also shown on the front cover of the 1996 CD
Celtic Nights
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
, by
Enaid and
Einalem, released by
Northsound Music.
*The Dutch
melodic death metal
Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...
band,
Callenish Circle
Callenish Circle was an extreme metal band from the Netherlands. They recorded three of their albums for Metal Blade Records, and broke up in February 2007. In the early 2000s things were going well for the band. In 2002 they toured with God De ...
, took their name from the stones, slightly changing the spelling.
*The 1998 book ''The Last Highlander'' by Claire Delacroix features the stones as a key location.
*The
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...
film ''
Brave'' (2012) features several scenes set in and around the stones.
*
Bank of Scotland
The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial and clearing bank based in Scotland and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the Bank of Scotland's implosion in 2008. The bank was established by th ...
debit card
A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The term '' plastic card'' includes the above and as an identity document. These are similar to a credit card, but u ...
s feature an image of the stones, among other Scottish landmarks including the
Falkirk Wheel
The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift in Tamfourhill, Falkirk, in central Scotland, connecting the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. It reconnects the two canals for the first time since the 1930s. It opened in 2002 as part o ...
.
*The
Starz
Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...
TV series, ''
Outlander'' (2014), has used the stones as a model for a fictional stone circle near Culloden called Craigh na Dun. The series is based on a series of books by
Diana Gabaldon
Diana J. Gabaldon (; born January 11, 1952) is an American author, known for the ''Outlander'' series of novels. Her books merge multiple genres, featuring elements of historical fiction, romance, mystery, adventure and science fiction/fantasy. ...
. The stones are depicted in the show as having time-travel abilities when touched.
Other nearby sites
Archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
s usually refer to the main monument as "Callanish I", because there are several other
megalith
A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea.
The ...
ic sites in the vicinity:
* (
Callanish II) – stone circle
* (
Callanish III) – stone circle
* (
Callanish IV
The Callanish IV stone circle ( gd, Ceann Hulavig) is one of many megalithic structures around the better-known (and larger) Calanais I on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles), Scotland. It is a scheduled ...
) – stone circle
* (
Callanish V) – stone alignment
* (
Callanish VI) – stone circle
* (
Callanish VII) – ancient settlement or ''
shieling
A shieling is a hut or collection of huts on a seasonal pasture high in the hills, once common in wild or sparsely populated places in Scotland. Usually rectangular with a doorway on the south side and few or no windows, they were often cons ...
'' (stone dwelling used while tending cattle on summer pastures)
* (
Callanish VIII
The Callanish VIII stone setting is one of many megalithic structures around the better-known (and larger) Calanais I on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles), Scotland. It is also known locally as Tursachan. ...
) – unique semicircular monument at the edge of a sheer cliff on the nearby island of
Great Bernera
Great Bernera (; gd, Beàrnaraigh Mòr), often known just as Bernera ( gd, Beàrnaraigh), is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. With an area of just over , it is the thirty-fourth largest Scottish island.
Great Bernera l ...
* (Callanish VIIIa) - standing stone
* (Callanish IX) - stones
* (or ,
Callanish X
The Callanish X stone circle (or "Na Dromannan", "Druim Nan Eun") is one of many megalithic structures around the more well-known and larger Calanais I on the west coast of the isle of Lewis, in the Western Isles of the Outer Hebrides, Scotland
...
)
* (Callanish XI) - standing stone; stones; cairns
* (Callanish XII) - standing stone
* (Callanish XIII) - stone setting
* (Callanish XIV W) - stone setting
* (Callanish XIV e) - stones
* (Callanish XV) - standing stone
* (Callanish XVI) - standing stone; stones
* (Callanish XVII) - standing stone (possible)
* (Callanish XVIII) - standing stone (possible)
* (Callanish XIX) - standing stone (possible)
There are many other sites nearby; not all are now visible. There was, for instance, a timber circle south at .
References
External links
*
Callanish Visitor Centre*
*
{{Na h-Eileanan Siar places
Megalithic monuments in Scotland
Buildings and structures completed in the 22nd century BC
Archaeoastronomy
Archaeological sites in the Outer Hebrides
History of the Outer Hebrides
Isle of Lewis
Stone circles in Na h-Eileanan Siar
Scheduled monuments in Scotland
Stone Age sites in Scotland
Historic Environment Scotland properties
Neolithic Scotland
Menhirs