A highlight of any visit to Lewis is to see the Callanish standing stones. Until the 19th century they were mainly buried in the peat which can be five feet deep in these parts. Who knows what stones remain yet undiscovered? This view is from the south, the long axis. The stones form a cross shape. The northern arm has a double avenue of stones while in the centre there is a circle of them.
Here we look from the eastern end, the shorter axis. The cross shape has no Christian significance as these stones date from about 2000 B.C. We are talking the time of Abraham. These stones have seen all recorded human history.It is amazing to be here and ponder that one fact.
Looking from the opposite end of this axis, now from the west, you begin to see the scale of the stones. Note my newly purchased Harris tweed cap, protection against those cold winds in these parts.
Katy stands by the burial chamber. Now you see just how big the largest stone is, 15 and a half feet tall. We are looking to the west and Loch Roag. Yes, this was a burial site but what else it was no-one knows. It most likely had some astronomic significance in the placing of the stones marking the lunar cycle.
The stones are on a moor above a loch. It is a far more evocative site and location than that of Stonehenge. Here you can get up close, touch and hug a stone if you so wish, something not permitted at the English site. Give me Callanish any day, and unlike that other place, it is free to visit ... apart from ferry and petrol costs.
A highlight of any visit to Lewis is to see the Callanish standing stones. Until the 19th century they were mainly buried in the peat which can be five feet deep in these parts. Who knows what stones remain yet undiscovered? This view is from the south, the long axis. The stones form a cross shape. The northern arm has a double avenue of stones while in the centre there is a circle of them.
Here we look from the eastern end, the shorter axis. The cross shape has no Christian significance as these stones date from about 2000 B.C. We are talking the time of Abraham. These stones have seen all recorded human history.It is amazing to be here and ponder that one fact.
Looking from the opposite end of this axis, now from the west, you begin to see the scale of the stones. Note my newly purchased Harris tweed cap, protection against those cold winds in these parts.
Katy stands by the burial chamber. Now you see just how big the largest stone is, 15 and a half feet tall. We are looking to the west and Loch Roag. Yes, this was a burial site but what else it was no-one knows. It most likely had some astronomic significance in the placing of the stones marking the lunar cycle.
The stones are on a moor above a loch. It is a far more evocative site and location than that of Stonehenge. Here you can get up close, touch and hug a stone if you so wish, something not permitted at the English site. Give me Callanish any day, and unlike that other place, it is free to visit ... apart from ferry and petrol costs.
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