Ring of Brodgar Standing Stones, Sternness. Mainland Orkney Isles. SCO 10,716.
The stone ring was built in a true circle, almost 104 metres wide. Although it is thought to have originally contained 60 megaliths, this figure is not based on archaeological evidence. Today, only 27 stones remain. In contrast to the giant megaliths that make up the Standing Stones of Stenness, the Brodgar stones are much smaller, varying in height from metres (7 feet) to a maximum of metres (15ft 3in). With a diameter of metres (340 ft), the Brodgar ring is the third largest stone circle in the British Isles. Covering an area of 8,435 square metres (90,790 square feet), it is beaten only by the outer ring of stones at Avebury and the Greater Ring at Stanton Drew in England. Incidentally, the Brodgar ring is exactly the same size as Avebury's two inner the nearby Standing Stones of Stenness, the Ring of Brodgar has been classed as a henge. Enclosed by a massive rock-cut ditch, it has two entrance causeways, one to the north-west and the other to the south-east. Like the nearby Standing Stones of Stenness, the Ring of Brodgar has been classed as a henge. Enclosed by a massive rock-cut ditch, it has two entrance causeways, one to the north-west and the other to the south-east. The stone circle is practically in the centre of a massive natural "cauldron" formed by the hills of the surrounding landscape. Today, the site is accentuated by the water of the lochs, but that was not always the case. In fact, when the ring was erected, between 2500BC and 200BC, the Stenness loch didn't exist. Instead the area was wet, marshy bog, surrounding pools of water or lochans. Click here for more details. The sea only breached the narrow landbridge at the Brig o' Waithe in Stenness, filling the loch was salt water, around 1500BC - 500 to 1,000 years after the ring was built.
Size: 6016px × 4016px
Location: Ring of Brodgar, Sternness. Orkney Isles Mainland. Scotland. UK.
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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