The Callanish II

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 ...

( gd, Cnoc Ceann a' Gharaidh) is one of many

megalithic 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 ...

structures around the better-known (and larger) Calanais I on the west coast of the

Isle of Lewis The Isle of Lewis ( gd, Eilean Leòdhais) or simply Lewis ( gd, Leòdhas, ) is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. The two parts are frequently referred to as ...

, 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.

Description

Callanish II is situated on a ridge just 90 metres from 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 ...

. It is just a few hundred metres from the Callanish III stone circle. See also

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 ...

for other minor sites. The stone circle consists of thin standing stones arranged in the shape of an ellipse measuring 21.6 by 18.9 metres. Five of the stones are standing and two have fallen. The stones vary from 2 to 3.3 metres in height. A slab, 1.4 metres long, lies in front of the western stone, pointing towards the centre of the circle. The stone circle surrounds a

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 ...

with a diameter of 8.5 metres. When 3 feet (1 metre) 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 ...

was removed from the site in 1848, four holes were noticed, three grouped in an arc at the northwest, a fourth at the south-west. Wood

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

found in them suggests that they formed an earlier timber circle about 10 metres in diameter.

References

External links

Photos of Callanish II on the Ancient Scotland site
Archaeological sites in the Outer Hebrides Isle of Lewis Stone circles in Na h-Eileanan Siar Scheduled monuments in Scotland {{Scotland-struct-stub