Steinacleit is a
prehistoric
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
archeological site 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 ...
of Scotland.
The site consists of an array of boulders which marks what is left of a
chambered cairn
A chambered cairn is a burial monument, usually constructed during the Neolithic, consisting of a sizeable (usually stone) chamber around and over which a cairn of stones was constructed. Some chambered cairns are also passage-graves. They are fo ...
, and possibly shows the site was overlain by a huge hall. There are ten large stone slabs surrounding the central mound. Folk legend of the Outer Hebrides states there was probably a battlefield near the location. The site is in diameter and oval in shape. The age of the site is debatable and according to different sources ranges from 1800–1500 BC or 3000–1500 BC.
The standing stone
Clach an Trushal
Clach an Trushal ( gd, Clach an Truiseil, , translated to English "Stone of Compassion") is said to be the tallest standing stone in Scotland. Above ground it stands approximately tall, is wide and at its thickest point is thick, with a girth a ...
is visible to the south west from the stone circle.
External links
*http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/properties_sites_detail.htm?propertyID=PL_274
2nd-millennium BC architecture in Scotland
Archaeological sites in the Outer Hebrides
Historic Environment Scotland properties
Prehistoric sites in Scotland
Chambered cairns in Scotland
Scheduled monuments in Scotland
Buildings and structures in the Isle of Lewis
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