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The Ring of Brodgar

“The Ring of Brodgar is the finest known truly circular late Neolithic or early Bronze Age stone ring and a later expression of the spirit which gave rise to Maeshowe, Stenness and Skara Brae.”

Earlier this year a BBC TV series called Britain’s Ancient Capital: Secrets of Orkney fronted by Neil Oliver argued convincingly that Orkney was an extremely important cultural centre in neolithic times and that the construction of stone circles originated in Orkney, spreading south from there – eventually to produce Stonehenge.

Unfortunately the path directly round the outside of the Ring was undergoing maintenance when we visited so it was not showing its best appearance. And as you can see we were not the only visitors:-

Ring of Brodgar, Orkney, From Path 1

I did try to get a photo without other people in it:-

Ring of Brodgar From Path 2

Ring of Brodgar from perimeter:-

Ring of Brodgar From Perimeter

You’re absolutely tripping over ancient man-made structures in the Stenness area. This mound, by the shores of the Loch of Stenness and not far from the Ring (from where this photo was taken) is called Salt Knowe. The hills in the background are on Hoy:-

Salt Knowe from Ring of Brodgar

Ring from perimeter path, Loch of Harray in the background:-

Ring of Brodgar

Single stone, with man to show scale, part of Loch of Harray behind. You can easily see wear to the grass around the stone, emphasising the need for maintenance:-

Ring of Brodgar, Single Stone

Looking Towards Ness of Brodgar and Maeshowe from Ring of Brodgar. Loch of Harray to left of Ness of Brodgar, Loch of Stenness to right, Maeshowe just to left of middle of photo:-

Looking Towards Ness of Brodgar and Maeshowe

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