Callanish II
{{Short description|Archaeological site in Outer Hebrides, Scotland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name = Callanish II
| native_name = Cnoc Ceann a' Gharaidh
| alternate_name =
| image = Cal2b.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Callanish II seen from the west
| map_type = Scotland Outer Hebrides
| location = Lewis
| coordinates = {{coord|58.19444|-6.72888|display=inline}}
| type = Stone circle
| material = Stone
| built = {{circa|2750 BC}}{{Cite web |title=Callanish Stones - Isle of Lewis, Scotland |url=https://www.sacred-destinations.com/scotland/callanish-stones |access-date=2025-03-19 |website=www.sacred-destinations.com}}
| epochs = Neolithic, Bronze Age
}}
The Callanish II stone circle ({{langx|gd|Cnoc Ceann a' Gharaidh}}) is one of many megalithic structures around the better-known (and larger) Calanais I on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland.
Description
Callanish II is situated on a ridge just 90 metres from the waters of Loch Roag. It is just a few hundred metres from the Callanish III stone circle. See Callanish IV, Callanish VIII, and Callanish X for other minor sites.
The stone circle consists of seven thin standing stones arranged in the shape of an ellipse measuring 21.6 by 18.9 metres.{{cite book |last=Burl |first=Aubrey |date=2005 |title=A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany |publisher=Yale University Press |page=151 |isbn=0300114060}} Five of the stones are standing and two have fallen.{{cite web |url=http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/4169/details/lewis+callanish+tursachan/ |title=Site Record for Lewis, Callanish, 'Tursachan' Callanish Ii; Cnoc Ceann A' Gharraidh; Cnoc Ceann; Ceann A'Gharaodh; Calanais |publisher=RCAHMS |access-date=25 September 2014}} The stones vary from 2 to 3.3 metres in height. A slab, 1.4 metres long, lies in front of the western stone, pointing towards the centre of the circle. The stone circle surrounds a cairn with a diameter of 8.5 metres.
When 3 feet (1 metre) of peat was removed from the site in 1848, four holes were noticed, three grouped in an arc at the northwest, a fourth at the south-west. Wood charcoal found in them suggests that they formed an earlier timber circle about 10 metres in diameter.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Callanish II}}
- [http://www.ancient-scotland.co.uk/site.php?a=39 Photos of Callanish II on the Ancient Scotland site]
{{coord|58|11|40|N|6|43|44|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=title}}
{{Prehistoric Western Isles}}
{{European Standing Stones}}
Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 3rd millennium BC
Category:Archaeological sites in the Outer Hebrides
Category:Stone circles in Na h-Eileanan Siar
Category:Scheduled monuments in Scotland
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