Callanish (Calanais - gaelic) Stones, Isle of Lewis

Calanaish from the avenue

For the first time, Clan MacDuff tours are visiting the Isles of Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides. This is the largest island in Scotland and is confusingly called Lewis in the north and Harris in the south. This journey transports us back in time, to Neolithic Scotland somewhere around 5000 years ago! From the prehistory of the Calanais Stones we move forward in time to the Carloway Broch built around 2000 years ago. We will also cover aspects of life for crofting families at the time of the Clearances and through to life today.

Central Stone and chambered Cairn

I am fascinated by the prehistory of Scotland and on previous tours we have visited  Skara Brae (stone village) and the Ring of Brodgar and Standing Stones of Stenness on Orkney and Jarslhof (prehistoric and Norse settlement) on Shetland. There are archaeological digs each year on Orkney in an area called the Ness of Brodgar between the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar which is uncovering many more facinating facts about our ancient ancestors. There is also a dig taking place on the Orcadian island of Westrary where in 2009 they discovered the first small stone statue of a human nicknamed the Westray Wife, currently on display in a small museum on the island. It is great that more information is still being discovered about our prehistory.  Finding of the Westray Wife  Heart of Neolithic Orkney

Central stone surrouned by circle

The main monument at Calanais is extraordinary – a cross-shaped setting of stones, centred on a circle of tall stones. At its heart stands a solitary monolith 4.8m high. Lines of smaller stones radiate from the circle to east, west and south. From the north runs an avenue 83m long, formed by two lines of stones that narrow as they approach the circle. Within the circle is a chambered tomb. The stones are all Lewisian Gneiss. How were the stones cut from the mountains? How were they moved to this site? Why here? These are all questions that are still awaiting definitive answers, but the stones are majestic and mysterious.

Numerous other ritual sites lie within a few kilometres. These are mainly more modest rings of standing stones, or single monoliths. The most impressive – Cnoc Ceann a’ Ghàrraidh and Cnoc Fhillibhir Bheag – lie just over a kilometre SE of the main Calanais ring, and originally consisted of rings of stones at least eight in number.

Nearby Circle

Another nearby circle

Archaeological excavation in the 1980s proved that the main circle was erected 4,500–5,000 years ago, and the chambered tomb a few generations later. Around 3000 BC the climate in the Outer Hebrides was warmer than it is today and the sea-level lower. Salmon ran in the rivers, deer, sheep and cattle grazed the surrounding hills, and barley grew on the broad ridge where Calanais stands. A cult or religion seems then to have swept through the British Isles, involving the building of large earthen enclosures (henge monuments), and impressive circles of timber or stone. Callanish Visitors Centre