S20 Skallary
Stone Circle (Neolithic)-(Bronze Age)(Possible)
Site Name S20 Skallary
Classification Stone Circle (Neolithic)-(Bronze Age)(Possible)
Canmore ID 335678
Site Number NL69NE 91
NGR NL 68944 99318
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/335678
- Council Western Isles
- Parish Barra
- Former Region Western Isles Islands Area
- Former District Western Isles
- Former County Inverness-shire
Field Visit
S20 (NL688993) A stone ring comprised of six stones in situ, three apparently shifted a few metres, and three perhaps moved into a heap 15 m to the east. The ring stands on a slightly raised shelf flanked to the east by a shallow stream bed. On the east side the ring has been disturbed by peat cutting, and it is thought that the three stones just across the stream bed may have been moved from this segment. The diameter of the ring is 11.3 m. None of the stones are large (the largest is about 0.75 m long), and it cannot be described as a 'megalithic' monument. Its function is uncertain. The stones have been deliberately, but unless each stone was used to support a fence post they could not indiacte an enclosure except in a purely conceptual sense. We think a fenced enclosure on this high and exposed area is not only unlikely but also without a parallel in our experience in the southern isles. We therefore incline to the view that this is most likely to be a ritual site of some sort and associated, though not necessarily contemporary, with the two standing stones 300m downslope.
Branigan and Foster 2000, 20