New discoveries in the Neolithic landscape of the Callanish Stones

The Callanish Stones (known as Tursachan of Calanais in Gaelic) is the best-known monument in the Neolithic landscape of the Loch Roag area. [Image: Dr Martin Bates]

A project to survey the prehistoric landscape around the Callanish Stones on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides has revealed evidence of other stone circles hidden beneath the peat, including one with evidence of a large lightning strike in its centre.

The main stone circle, known in Gaelic as Tursachan Chalanais, is a significant Neolithic monument consisting of an arrangement of standing stones situated on a ridge above Loch Roag. In the surrounding area, over 15 other sites have been identified that may be ‘satellite’ stone circles to the main Tursachan, labelled Calanais Sites I to XIII. The Calanais Virtual Reconstruction Project, led by the University of St Andrews with Urras nan Tursachan and the University of Bradford, was designed to increase understanding of these features.

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