Achavanich long (68 x 30m) U-shaped setting of standing stones looking N towards the closed end and Loch Stemster, Caithness, Scotland, UK.
Achavanich long (68 x 30m) U-shaped stone setting looking N towards the closed end and Loch Stemster, Caithness, Scotland, UK. An unusual horseshoe-shaped arrangement (only two others are known from Caithness) of slabs arranged with their flat faces perpendicular to the perimeter: c 36 eroded flagstones & stumps remain from a total of around 54; the tallest is 2m high. The open end of the horseshoe faces S. Date & purpose unknown, but probably a Bronze Age ceremonial &/or funerary site possibly with astronomical elements. Outside the stones on the E (R) are slight remains of burial cists. Less than half a mile away the skeleton of a young woman dating from the mid 3rd millennium BC was found in a cist grave along with a Beaker vessel & pollen from medicinal flowers including St John's wort & meadowsweet. Achkinloch Neolithic round cairn is on a hillock to the SE.
Size: 3801px × 2642px
Location: Achavanich Stone Setting, Loch Stemster, Latheron, Wick, Caithness, Scotland, UK
Photo credit: © Mick Sharp / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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