The Standing Stones of Stenness Mainland Orkney, Highland Region Scotland. UK SCO 5697
The Standing Stones o' Stenness were originally laid out in an ellipse. Although it is commonly written that the monument was once made up of 12 megaliths, excavations in the 1970s suggest that the ring was never "completed", with at least one - possibly two - of the 12 stones were never erected. Radio-carbon dates from the excavation show that the site dates from at least 3100BC, making the Standing Stones complex one of the earliest stone circles in Britain . Like the Ring o' Brodgar, the Stenness ring has been classed as a henge monument. The stone circle was originally surrounded by a rock-cut ditch (four metres across and metres deep), outside of which was a substantial earth bank. The layout of the Standing Stones o' Stenness. The surviving stones are shown in black, with the sockets in grey. Doubt remains whether Stone 12 existed, and possibly Stone 9. With an approximate diameter of 44 metres (144 feet), the earth bank had a single entrance causeway on the north side, facing the Neolithic Barnhouse settlement on the shore of the Harray loch. Little remains of the bank, or ditch, today, although traces remain visible around the stone circle.
Size: 5620px × 3733px
Location: Standing Stones, Stenness, Mainland Orkney, Highland Region Scotland
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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