Page:Prehistoric Britain.djvu/202

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194
PREHISTORIC BRITAIN

circle measures 360 feet in diameter, and the others 129 and 96 feet respectively.

The Ring of Brogar (Orkney).—The great circle of Brogar (for there are one or two smaller circles, as well as several tumuli in the vicinity) measures 342 feet in diameter; and when the present writer visited the locality some years ago, there were fourteen monoliths standing and fifteen lying in the heather, out of the sixty which it originally contained. Some of the stones might be about 15 feet high, but others do not rise above the surface more than 6 or 7 feet. Outside the circle there is a surrounding ditch, from 20 to 30 feet wide, and 6 feet deep. Access is got to the interior by two unexcavated portions of the ditch, like roads entering it on opposite sides.

Stennis (Orkney).—Of the twelve stones, 15 to 18 feet high, which the circle of Stennis originally contained there are only two now in position; but a third lies on the ground close to a ruined dolmen. The diameter of the circle was 104 feet, and surrounding it there was a ditch 50 feet wide. A conspicuous monolith, 18 feet in height, stands at a short distance outside the circular area. Somewhere in the vicinity not far off was the famous Stone of Odin, 8 feet high and perforated with a round hole, on which a binding oath used to be taken with hands joined through the hole.

Little Salkeld (Cumberland).—The circle