The Ring of Brodgar Beautiful Neolithic Stone Circle Photos

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The Ring of Brodgar Beautiful Neolithic Standing Stone Circle Photos on moor land of the wild picturesque Orkney Island, Scotland. Photos by Paul E Williams.  (TIP: Use the small icons below the slideshow for info & thumbnails)

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Photos of Ring of Brodgar Neolithic Stone Circle on Orkney

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Photos of the magnificent Ring of Brodgar ( circa 2,500 to 2,000 BC) a Neolithic henge with a stone circle inside, the third largest and most northern in the British Isles, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mainland Orkney, Scotland.

A henge is a circular ditch with a bank. Most henges do not have circles of stones inside them which is what makes the Ring of Brodgar along with Avebury and Stonehenge unusual.

4000 years the climate of Orkney was a lot warmer than today. The Island could support a large community who lived off fish and shellfish and burnt peat from the inland moors of Orkney.

The Ring of Brodgar is built inland on a narrow piece of land with the Lochs of Stenness and Harray on either side. Measuring 104 metres (341 ft) in diameter the stone circle is originally had around 60 stones.

The surrounding ditch, or henge, is 3 metres (9.8 ft) deep, 9 metres (30 ft) wide and 380 metres (1,250 ft) in circumference. It is cut out of the underlying sandstone rock which would have taken an incredible effort to dig for the stone age community of Orkney.

Part of a series neolithic monuments, the Ring of Brodgar within 2 square miles (5.2 km2) of two more stone circles, four chambered tombs, groups of standing stones, single stones, barrows, cairns, and mounds.

The purpose of the Ring of Brodgar will probably never be known. It has always been assumed that the great Neolithic rings were centre of some sort of religious ritual. Because of the diverse geology of Orkney, geologists have been able to work out exactly where each of the stones originated from. Their results have shown that each stone is from a different part of the island. This suggests that each stone may represent a different clan.

Possibly the Ring of Bridgar was a meeting place for the island clans. The Ring of Brodgar is an enigmatic site which links us back to our neolithic ancestors. It is incredible that it has survived the ravages of the last 4000 years to give us a glimpse of a lost neolithic civilisation that once thrived on Orkney.