All pictures copyright © 1997, 1998 Martin McCarthy
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Calanais I is almost always a confusing jumble of
megaliths when seen in photographs, as it is difficult
to distinguish between stones that make up the circle,
those that make up the main avenue, and those that are
part of the other rows. In reality it is a truely
stunning and beautiful monument--but perhaps still a
jumble of megaliths.
Excavations have shown that the area was farmed more than 5000 years ago. Around 3000 BC the stone ring was set up and the central megalith erected. Sometime later a chambered cairn was constructed between this monolith and the east side of the ring. Sometime in the next two thousand years, stone rows were added to the south, east and west, and a long avenue to the north. The whole site was abandoned around 800 BC and gradually began to disappear beneath the peat. |
