Callanish Stones - Clachan Chalanais

Thought to date from 4000 to 2600BC, these are a group of thirteen standing stones forming a circle about thirteen metres in diameter. There is an avenue of stones to the north and shorter rows to the east west and south. The location is near the village of Callanish/Calanais on the west coast of Lewis/Leodhas. There is a visitors centre at Calanais www.callanishvisitorcentre.co.uk which promotes an understanding of the stones and has refreshment and other facilities. Callanish 1 refers to the largest of the megalithic sites in the area of which there are several. Some other sites close by are: Callanish II/Cnoc Ceann a Gharaidh - a group of seven stones, five remain standing forming an ellipse around a ruined cairn. Callanish III/Cnoc Filibhir Bheag is an eight stone outer ring, and four stone inner with other fallen stones nearby. Callanish IV/Ceann Hulavig is south southeast from the II and III on hill close to Garynahine and is made up of five uprights around a low stone. Callanish VIII/Tursachan is to the northwest of the other circles and is located on a cliff edge to the south of Great Bernera/Bearnaraigh which is linked by a road bridge to Lewis across Loch Roag. The four stones of which the tallest is about three metres in height are in a semi-circle of about twenty metres looking across the water to Lewis.

The purpose of the Stones had remained a mystery. However, research from the University of Adelaide has been published in the Journal of Archaeological Science in August 2016 which shows that the Scottish Callanish Stones on Lewis and the Standing Stones of Stenness on Orkney, both dating from about 4000 BC to 2600 BC, were constructed to align with the orbits of the sun and the moon. Using Ordnance Survey data on individual sites the researchers found that the stones were positioned to connect with the path of the sun and moon at different points in their cycle.