What is the Wurdi Youang stone arrangement?
Wurdi Youang is an egg-shaped Aboriginal stone arrangement in Victoria, Australia. Here we present a new survey of the site, and show that its major axis is aligned within a few degrees of east-west.
Are there other monuments like Stonehenge?
The best known tradition of stone circle construction occurred across the British Isles and Brittany in the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with over 1000 surviving examples, including Avebury, the Ring of Brodgar and Stonehenge.
What is a circle of prehistoric standing stones called?
One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is the remains of a ring of standing stones set within earthworks. It is in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds.
What are the circle of stones in Scotland called?
The Callanish Stones (or “Callanish I”: Scottish Gaelic: Clachan Chalanais or Tursachan Chalanais) 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.
How many different Stonehenge’s are there?
There are fewer than 100 henges still surviving across Britain and Ireland, although it’s very likely that there were originally more. The key feature of every henge is a ring-shaped bank on the outside and a ring-shaped ditch on the inside that mark out a central, circular area.
How much older is the Wurdi Youang stone arrangement than Stonehenge?
The researchers estimate that the stones date to about 11,000 years ago, which makes the Wurdi Youang stone arrangement older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids – two sites that appear to have been used for astronomical study.
How did Aboriginal people used the Wurdi Youang stone arrangement to keep track of the seasons?
Scientists believe the arrangement of stones was able to map out the movements of the sun throughout the year. Custodian Reg Abrahams said the region around the observatory seemed to have once had semi-permanent villages with evidence of early fishing and farming practices.
What is a Celtic stone circle?
A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe—especially in Britain, Ireland and Brittany—and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC.
Is there something similar to Stonehenge in Scotland?
The Callanish Standing Stones The Standing Stones of Callanish (or Calanais to give it it’s Gaelic spelling)? It has been nicknamed the ‘Stonehenge of the North’ but, built around 3000 BC, the stones actually predate Stonehenge by approximately 2,000 years.
What are the stones called in Outlander?
The Callanish standing stones
The Callanish standing stones, or Calanais as they’re known in Scottish Gaelic, are located on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides archipelago. According to Historic Environment Scotland, the 5,000-year-old stone circle was “an important place for ritual activity for at least 2,000 years.”
Was there a Stonehenge in Australia?
Esperance Stonehenge is a full-sized replica of Stonehenge, in Esperance, Western Australia. It was built from 137 locally quarried stones of up to 50 tonnes (55 tons), and is aligned to the summer and winter solstices.
What are druid stones?
Definition of druid stone : one of the sarsen stones of Great Britain often found in ancient stone circles.
What are menhirs and dolmens?
A big stone that is called Menhir, a roughly shaped stone set into the ground, and Dolmen, formed by two vertical stones supporting on top a horizontally placed one and finally Cromlech, megalithic circles (also stone circles in English or cromlech from Welsh) which are supposed to have a calendar function of …
Are Avebury and Stonehenge connected?
An avenue links Stonehenge to the River Avon; the West Kennet Avenue links Avebury and the Sanctuary. And there are other types of structures too, such as Silbury Hill near Avebury, Durrington Walls near Stonehenge.