Callanish Stone Structures
There are three main structures at Callanish;
Callanish I
Callanish II
Callanish III
Callanish I has been described as the ’ Stonehenge of the North'.
They appear to fulfil three functions -
Callanish I - ceremonial and season/weather forecaster
Callanish II - livestock holding pen and market
Callanish III - season/weather forecaster
This would provide the basic requirement for a settled rural farming tribe in ancient times.
Info and Diagrams - http://www.stonepages.com/scotland/callanish.html
Callanish I Outer Hebrides, Scotland
Latitude 58.198167°N Longitude -6.74494°W
The site is dated as around 2900 to 2600 BC. (source Wikipedia)
It can be seen that there appears to be an East facing arc present. This is quite regular and evenly spaced while the rest of the ring is not. It appears that the arc was constructed with care, and then extended into a rough ring. A fixed observation point behind the central stone aligns reasonably well with the arc - it would be interesting to see if a socket for a marker stone is at this observation point. It would be possible to use this as a 12 point season/weather forecaster, and the orientation of the arc coincides with that of the Y and Z holes of Stonehenge.
An outlying stone at the Northern end of the arc indicates the near midsummer point.
The minimal number of stones used indicates that a settled farming community here would have been far smaller than that of the Salisbury Plain; and given the climate and soil in the Outer Hebrides this is only to be expected.
It’s layout has been compared to a primitive Celtic cross, but the inaccurate layout is in contrast to the straightness of the lines which were obviously made with care, and the cross does not continue into the centre of the ring. A Celtic cross would indicates the British Celtic era - cir. 450 BC to 150 AD. If this is so there may have been additions or even reconstructions to an original Neolithic structure.
The angle of the Satellite view from the East is noticeable, and while the North-South axis is not too effected the East-West axis is compressed. Hence diagram 19.1 is not a plan view. However this does not affect the East facing orientation (North-South axis) too much.
Thus we have -
a fixed, but unmarked, observation point,
an arc that follows the progression of the sunrises,
an area that shows Neolithic rural inhabitation.
Unfortunately the arc is part of a ring that contains a tomb like structure, and is part of a grander structure, so clearly there is a ceremonial function, and this cannot be considered a simple obvious season/weather forecaster.
It would be possible to use this as a 12 point season/weather forecaster, and the orientation of the arc coincides with that of the East facing arc of Y and Z holes of Stonehenge.
Please refer to Figures 1a to 1d below.
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