West Scotland - Argyll and Strathclyde
Right is an unusual paved Neolithic stone circle that I saw on a trip
to Kilmartin in Argyll. The two circles at Temple Wood were used for over
1500 years, but have been left idle for the last 2000. One of the last
additions was the burial chamber in the centre.
The southernmost stone is carved.
The second (smaller) circle can be seen in the background of this second picture, to the right and behind the main circle. The way that the cobbles piled up high on the main circle is also clear on this photo.
The Nether Largie (Kilmartin Cross) alignment (right) is 250m SE. This alignment runs NNE-SSW, the same direction as the valley it is in. One of the myths about stone age monuments is that they are all astronomically aligned. This is probably because the most famous monument (Stonehenge) is aligned. The majority are not and can reflect or enhance features of the local landscape.
Another nice alignment (shown right) in Argyll is at Ballymeanoch, about 2.5 km south of Kilmartin. An Interesting circular ditch (henge) is to the right of the stones in this picture, but did not photograph well in the conditions I visited in. There is also a burial cairn nearby, close to the parking area. These stones are aligned NNW-SSE, following the hills (background) on the E side of the valley as it widens into what in warmer times used to be either a fertile plain or shallow bay.
Several paired standing stones like these ones can be seen near Bridgend (right), this shot was taken with a telephoto lens to save some tired legs!
Other interesting features in the Kilmartin area include the iron-age sculped footprint rock (and ogam writings) at Dunadd (below). The rock was used as part of a coronation ceremony. The foot size is about UK11 (with no shoes).
The famous cup and ring marked rocks at Achnabreck (below right) have to be seen in real life - a photo can't possibly show the expanse of carvings accurately. I have currently mislaid my most detailed photo of these, but the details are shown in a lot of antiquity books.
