Stenness Standing Stone, Orkney Scotland, 5,000 year old, beside Jill, 50 year old, approx
One of the earliest Stone "circles" constructed over 5,000 years ago. Thought to originally have 12 large stone uprights / megaliths, whatever this structure was, we do not know. What we do know is that despite many thousands of winters, freeze-thaws, incessent wind and rain, some stones are still standing, in "sockets" in the ground (soil).
Other things we know: There were many other stones nearby, including one named by later Vikings, the Odin Stone. This has now gone but records show it having a circular hole right through it. There were villages / clusters of many buildings nearby. Some were large, others were domestic. The 12 megaliths were arranged in a very, non-circular "oval" shape. At the centre was a hearth, containing burnt pottery bone etc.
The circle is a classic "henge" with an outer ditch and earth bank, like similar henges throughout Britain.
So, this is what has survived, despite landowners in recent times trying to knock them down (Sadly some stones did go then). Despite two world wars being waged here and troops training. And all that eroding weather. The stone is sandstone, not hard, and houses made of the stuff flake and crumble over a short time. They need a concrete-like "harl" to protect them from the driving rain and frosts. How much stone has eroded over thousands of years? How much has been gradually removed, for building adjacent houses and for lintels in the great Viking Earl's palaces? How much has crumbled and become the soil or blown far away? And does a central fire in this windy location imply a roof and walls?
We do not know. We can but speculate. Nothing, however can remove the sense of awe and wonder.
This then is Stenness Standing Stones, Orkney, Scoltand, UK. Close to the Ring of Brodgar Stone Circle. Both are part of the World Heritage Site, along with Maeshowe and Skara Brae.
Other things we know: There were many other stones nearby, including one named by later Vikings, the Odin Stone. This has now gone but records show it having a circular hole right through it. There were villages / clusters of many buildings nearby. Some were large, others were domestic. The 12 megaliths were arranged in a very, non-circular "oval" shape. At the centre was a hearth, containing burnt pottery bone etc.
The circle is a classic "henge" with an outer ditch and earth bank, like similar henges throughout Britain.
So, this is what has survived, despite landowners in recent times trying to knock them down (Sadly some stones did go then). Despite two world wars being waged here and troops training. And all that eroding weather. The stone is sandstone, not hard, and houses made of the stuff flake and crumble over a short time. They need a concrete-like "harl" to protect them from the driving rain and frosts. How much stone has eroded over thousands of years? How much has been gradually removed, for building adjacent houses and for lintels in the great Viking Earl's palaces? How much has crumbled and become the soil or blown far away? And does a central fire in this windy location imply a roof and walls?
We do not know. We can but speculate. Nothing, however can remove the sense of awe and wonder.
This then is Stenness Standing Stones, Orkney, Scoltand, UK. Close to the Ring of Brodgar Stone Circle. Both are part of the World Heritage Site, along with Maeshowe and Skara Brae.
