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The Ring of Brodgar

The Ring of Brodgar (or Brogar) is a Neolithic henge and stone circle in Orkney, Scotland. The ring of stones stands on a small isthmus between the Lochs of Stenness and Harray. The centre of the circle has never been excavated by archaeologists and scientifically dated, but it is thought that the stone circle was constructed around 2500 BC, and therefore broadly contemporary with Stonehenge and many other ancient sites in the British Isles and Europe.

The circle is 104 metres in diameter, and the third largest in the United Kingdom. The henge originally comprised 60 stones, of which only 27 remained standing at the end of the 20th century. The stones are set within a circular ditch up to 3 metres deep and 9 metres wide that was carved out of the solid bedrock by the ancient residents.

the Ring of Brodgar

The surrounding area is full of other standing stones and round piles of earth atop prehistoric tombs, making a significant ritual landscape. Although its exact purpose is not known, the proximity of the Standing Stones of Stenness and its Maeshowe tomb make the Ring of Brodgar a site of major importance.

Excavations by Orkney College at the nearby Ness of Brodgar site between the Ring and the Stones of Stenness have uncovered several buildings, both ritual and domestic and the works suggest there are likely to be more in the vicinity. Pottery, bones, stone tools and a polished stone mace head have also been discovered. Perhaps the most important find is the remains of a large stone wall which may have been 100 metres long and up to 6 metres high. It appears to traverse the entire peninsula the site is on and may have been a symbolic barrier between the ritual landscape of the Ring and the mundane world around it.^[1]

• Skara Brae
• Standing Stones of Stenness
• Maeshowe

1. ^ Ross, John (14 August 2007) "Experts uncover Orkney's new Skara Brae and the great wall that separated living from dead". Edinburgh. The Scotsman.

• Ring of Brodgar

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Ring of Brodgar

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Scotland	Edinburgh Old Town and New Town · Heart of Neolithic Orkney (Maeshowe • Ring of Brodgar • Skara Brae • Standing Stones of Stenness) · New Lanark · St. Kilda
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