Steinacleit is a

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

archeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

on the west coast of Lewis in the

Outer Hebrides The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an Archipelago, island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islan ...

of Scotland. The site consists of an array of boulders that mark what is left of a

chambered cairn A chambered cairn is a burial monument, usually constructed during the Neolithic, consisting of a sizeable (usually stone) chamber around and over which a cairn of stones was constructed. Some chambered cairns are also passage-graves. They are fo ...

, and possibly demarcate a huge

hall In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and the Early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gre ...

overlaying the site. There are ten large stone slabs surrounding the central mound. Folk legend of the Outer Hebrides states there was probably a battlefield nearby. The site is in diameter and oval in shape. The age of the site is debatable and according to different sources ranges from 1800–1500 BC or 3000–1500 BC. The standing stone Clach an Trushal is visible to the south west from the stone circle.

External links

*http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/properties_sites_detail.htm?propertyID=PL_274 2nd-millennium BC architecture in Scotland Archaeological sites in the Outer Hebrides Historic Environment Scotland properties in the Outer Hebrides Prehistoric sites in Scotland Chambered cairns in Scotland Scheduled monuments in the Outer Hebrides Buildings and structures in the Isle of Lewis {{WesternIsles-geo-stub