Callanish/Calanais, Lewis, Western Isles - standing stones - postcard c.2000s

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  Calanais Standing Stones at dawn, Lewis, Western Isles
• Publisher: Colin Baxter c.2000s
• Postally used: no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: slightly larger card, nearly as new

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Callanish (Scottish Gaelic: Calanais) is a village (township) on the west side of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides(Western Isles), Scotland. Callanish is within the parish of Uig.^[1] A linear settlement with a jetty, it is on a headland jutting into Loch Roag, a sea loch 13 miles west of Stornoway. Callanish is situated alongside the A858, between Breasclete and Garynahine.^[2]

The Callanish Stones, a cross-shaped setting of standing stones erected around 3000 BC, are one of the most spectacular megalithic monuments in Scotland. A modern visitor centre provides information about the main circle and other lesser monuments nearby.

The Callanish Stones (or "Callanish I", Clachan Chalanais or Tursachan Chalanais in Scottish Gaelic) are an arrangement of standing stones placed in a cruciform pattern with a central stone circle. They were erected in the late Neolithic era, and were a focus for ritual activity during the Bronze Age. They are near the village of Callanish (Gaelic: Calanais) on the west coast of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland.

The Callanish Stones (grid reference NB213330) are situated on a low ridge above the waters of Loch Roag with the hills of Great Bernera as a backdrop.^[1]

Numerous other ritual sites lie within a few kilometres.^[1] These include at least three other circles, several arcs, alignments and single stones; many visible from the main site.^[2] The most impressive – Callanish II and Callanish III – lie just over a kilometre southeast of the main Callanish Stones, and originally consisted of circles of stones at least eight in number.^[1]The existence of other monuments in the area implies that Callanish was an active focus for prehistoric religious activity for at least 1500 years.^[3] (see Callanish III, Callanish IV, Callanish VIII and Callanish X).

There were limited excavations in 1980–81 which provided some information on the development of the site. The first traces of human activity are indicated by a broad ditch (no longer visible above ground) which appears to have belonged to some structure or enclosure.^[2] This may have been ritual, but could instead have been domestic.^[2] In the centuries around 3000 BC, however, the site was turned over to agriculture, which obliterated most of the earlier traces.^[2] After this, the site was allowed to grass over for a time.^[2]

The stone circle was set up between 2900 and 2600 BC.^[3] It is not clear whether the stone alignments were constructed at the same time as the circle, or later.^[3] Some time after the erection of the stones, a small chambered tomb was inserted into the eastern part of the stone circle.^[8] The many pottery fragments found indicate that the tomb was used for several centuries.^[8]These pottery fragments included not only the local Hebridean pots, but numerous sherds of beaker vessels (dating to around 2000–1700 BC) and sherds of grooved ware.^[8]

Around 1500–1000 BC the complex fell out of use and was despoiled by the later Bronze Age farmers.^[8] Fragments of pots appear to have been cast out of the chamber.^[8] This may have been just ordinary agriculture, but it may conceivably have been ritual cleansing.^[1] There appears to have been a later rebuilding of the tomb, but this may have been for domestic use as there is no evidence for any later ritual use of the monument.^[8] Between 1000 BC and 500 BC the stones were covered by a thick layer of turf. It is estimated that the place was abandoned around 800 BC.^[9] Only in 1857 was the overlying 1.5 metres of peat removed.^[10]

The first written reference to the stones was by Lewis native John Morisone, who around 1680 wrote that the stones were men "converted into stone by ane Inchanter" and set up in a ring "for devotione".^[11] Sometime around 1695 Martin Martin visited the site and was told by the local people that "it was a place appointed for worship in the time of heathenism, and that the chief druid or priest stood near the big stone in the centre, from whence he addressed himself to the people that surrounded him."^[2]In his 1726 work on the druids, John Toland specifically identified Diodorus Siculus' Hyperborea with Lewis, and the "spherical temple" mentioned by Diodorus with the Callanish Stones.^[12] In 1743, William Stukeley described the stone circle as a druid circle and the avenue like a serpent.^[13] In 1819, geologist John MacCulloch published the first accurate description.^[13] In 1846, the Danish historian J. J. A. Worsaae made a sketch and plan of the Callanish Stones.^[14]

In 1857 peat to a depth of five feet (1.5 metres) was cleared away, under the orders of the proprietor of Lewis, James Matheson, revealing the chambered tomb and the true height of the stones.^[15] In 1885 the Callanish Stones were taken into state care.^[1

In 1974, the sculptor Gerald Laing created a work known as Callanish for Strathclyde University's campus in the centre of Glasgow. He planted 16 abstract steel girders in the ground, intended to relate to the configuration of the stones. The sculpture is popularly referred to as "Steelhenge". The stones feature as a setting in the 1974 novel Lookout Cartridge by American author Joseph McElroy. In 1984, the new romantic band Ultravox used an image of the stones on the cover of their album Lament. They filmed their video of "One Small Day" at the site; it is the first single taken from that album. In 1988 Jon Mark released a CD, The Standing Stones of Callanish, intended to evoke Britain's Celtic legacy.^[18] Julian Cope's 1992 album Jehovahkill features the stones on its cover. The Waterboys' 1993 album Dream Harder contains a song called "Wonders of Lewis" which appears to reference the stones. The stones are featured in the plot and setting of Death of an Adept (1996), a novel by Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris. They are a central part of the cover art (by Joe Burleson) for the 1997 mass-market paperback edition. The stones are also shown on the front cover of the 1996 CD Celtic Nights, by Enaid and Einalem, released by Northsound Music. The Dutch melodic death metal band, Callenish Circle, took their name from the stones, slightly changing the spelling. The 1998 book The Last Highlander by Claire Delacroix features the stones as a key location. The Pixar film Brave (2012) features several scenes set in and around the stones. Bank of Scotland debit cards feature an image of the stones, among other Scottish landmarks including the Falkirk Wheel.^[19] The Starz TV series, Outlander (2014) has used the stones as a model for a fictional circle near Culloden called Craigh na Dun. The series is based on a series of books by Diana Gabaldon.