The Callanish VIII stone setting is one of many

megalithic A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

structures around the better-known (and larger) Calanais I on the west coast of the

Isle of Lewis The Isle of Lewis ( gd, Eilean Leòdhais) or simply Lewis ( gd, Leòdhas, ) is the northern part of Lewis and Harris, the largest island of the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides archipelago in Scotland. The two parts are frequently referred to as ...

, in the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coas ...

(Western Isles),

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. It is also known locally as Tursachan."Great Bernera, 'Tursachan', Barraglom"
RCAHMS. Retrieved 22 June 2008. This is a very unusual (and possibly unique) setting, with a semicircle of four large stones on the edge of a cliff on the south of the island of

Great Bernera Great Bernera (; gd, Beàrnaraigh Mòr), often known just as Bernera ( gd, Beàrnaraigh), is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. With an area of just over , it is the thirty-fourth largest Scottish island. Great Bernera ...

and looking across a narrow strait to Lewis. There is no evidence that the cliff has collapsed here and destroyed half of a complete circle – it would appear that a semicircle was the original intention. The tallest stone is nearly three metres high and the cliff-edge axis of the circle gives a diameter of about 20 metres.

Footnotes

External links

Photos of Callanish VIII on the Ancient Scotland site
Archaeological sites in the Outer Hebrides Isle of Lewis Scheduled monuments in Scotland {{Scotland-struct-stub