Ballochroy

Ballochroy

Ballochroy is a megalithic site in Kintyre on the Argyll peninsula in Scotland. It consists of three vertical stones, side by side, aligned with various land features 7-19 miles away.

Alexander Thom, known for his work on Stonehenge, maintained that the great length between the stones and the features of distant landscape lent precision to pinpointing the midsummer and winter solstices for ancient observers.

These three stones are considered the most spectacular set of megalithic monuments that cluster around south Argyll. The three mica schist stones were measured at 3.5m, 3.0m and 2.0m in height. It is possible that this last, smallest, stone may have been broken off at the top. This is unsure however. The line of stones is orientated north-east to south-west.

The flat face of the central stone (at right angles to the alignment) indicates the mountain of Cora Bheinn, on the island of Jura, which is 30 km away. The shortest stone also faces across the alignment, and points to Ben a'Chaolais, the southernmost of the four Paps of Jura. The sun setting here would have given warning of the approach of the solstice.

As with many megalithic sites, the current theories concerning the exact use of the stones at Ballochroy are somewhat controversial.

External links

*oscoor gbx|NR727522


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Kintyre — (Scottish Gaelic: Cinn Tìre pronounced|kʲiɲˈtʲiːɾʲə) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the south west of Argyll and Bute. The region stretches approximately 30 miles (48 km), from the Mull of Kintyre (immortalised in the song of the same… …   Wikipedia

  • List of archaeoastronomical sites sorted by country — This is a list of sites where claims for the use of astronomy have been made, sorted by country.Australia* Ngaut Ngaut, a claimed lunar calendar * Ku ring gai Chase National Park, rock engravings with claimed astronomical connectionsBolivia*… …   Wikipedia

  • Clachan, Kintyre — Clachan is a small village in North Kintyre, Argyll Bute. Clachan, the ancient seat of the Church in North Kintyre, houses the old church, surrounded by the carved stones of the Chiefs of the Clan Alasdair. Balinakill House, now a self catering… …   Wikipedia

  • Kintyre — La penínusla de Kintyre, en rojo, dentro de Argyll. Kintyre (Ceann Tìre en gaélico escocés) es una península situada al oeste de Escocia, en el sudoeste del condado de Argyll y Bute. Tiene una longitud de unos 48 km, desde el Mull of Kintyre en… …   Wikipedia Español

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”