Description

The monument consists of a standing stone and several fallen stones, the remains of a stone setting, and an enclosure, possibly of later date.

The only stone still erect is some 1.7m high, and stands on a knoll with wide views NW to the sea and SW to Steinacleit and Loch an Duin. To the S of this stone, some 42m away, is a very large prostrate slab, almost 4m long, with traces of a socket. To the SE, 13.5m away from the upright stone, is a third slab, of similar dimensions to the first. To the W of the upright stone is an oval enclosure formed by a turf-covered bank or tumbled wall. This is some 50m from N-S and 40m E-W. It is least well-preserved to the E, near the standing stone.

The relative dates of the ruined stone circle and the enclosure cannot be established without excavation, but the enclosure seems likely to be later. The area to be scheduled is a circle 80m in diameter to include the standing stone and the fallen stones of the circle and the enclosure, together with an area around them in which additional remains may survive, as marked in red on the accompanying map.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Statement of Scheduling

The monument is of national importance as a stone circle which may have been deliberately slighted in antiquity. It has the potential, through excavation and analysis (which may recover its original plan), to provide information about Neolithic ritual practices. The associated enclosure is undated, but may be a prehistoric agricultural, rather than a ritual, structure. In any case, it will seal below its thickness soil deposits capable of providing information about the state of vegetation and agriculture in pre-Iron Age Lewis.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland

Sources

Bibliography

RCAHMS records the monument as NB 35 SE 3.

Source: Historic Environment Scotland