{"it":{"id":"BRI-002","kind":"site","sub":"British Isles","name":"Callanish Stones","place":"United Kingdom","lat":58.198,"lon":-6.745,"date":"The monument was built during the Neolithic period, around c. 2750 BC.","nfacts":37,"tags":["Britain"],"sum":"The central stone at Callanish rises about 4.8 m from the peat of the Isle of Lewis in Scotland (Historic Environment Scotland). Around it, rows of standing stones form a rough cross, set out around 2750 BCE.","why":"Alexander Thom and Gerald Hawkins suggested it was a prehistoric lunar observatory. Critics contend that several of the proposed alignments are weak.","src":[291,642,643],"nsrc":4,"yt":"Observatory, temple, or both?","rel":["STO-HEN","BRI-003"],"hook":"A stone cross on a Scottish island where, every 18.6 years, the moon skims the hills and returns."},"S":{"291":["Wikipedia: Callanish Stones","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callanish_Stones"],"642":["Historic Environment Scotland: Calanais Standing Stones, history and stories","https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit/all/calanais-standing-stones/history-and-stories/"],"643":["Canmore: Lewis, Callanish (central stone 15 ft 7 in)","https://www.canmore.org.uk/place/4156"]},"rec":{"id":"BRI-002","alias":[],"ms":[{"f":"The central monolith stands","a":"height","v":"0.8","u":"metres","o":"The central monolith stands 0.8 metres (32 inches) west of the true centre of the stone circle.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0911"},{"f":"The central monolith stands 0 8 metres","a":"distance (not a site dimension)","v":"32","u":"inches","o":"The central monolith stands 0.8 metres (32 inches) west of the true centre of the stone circle.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0912"},{"f":"The stone is","a":"height","v":"4.8","u":"metres","o":"The stone is 4.8 metres (16 feet) high, 1.5 metres (5 feet) wide and 0.3 metres (1 foot) thick.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0913"},{"f":"The stone is 4 8 metres","a":"height","v":"16","u":"feet","o":"The stone is 4.8 metres (16 feet) high, 1.5 metres (5 feet) wide and 0.3 metres (1 foot) thick.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0914"},{"f":"stone is 4 8 metres 16 feet high","a":"width","v":"1.5","u":"metres","o":"The stone is 4.8 metres (16 feet) high, 1.5 metres (5 feet) wide and 0.3 metres (1 foot) thick.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0915"},{"f":"8 metres 16 feet high 1 5 metres","a":"width","v":"5","u":"feet","o":"The stone is 4.8 metres (16 feet) high, 1.5 metres (5 feet) wide and 0.3 metres (1 foot) thick.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0916"},{"f":"high 1 5 metres 5 feet wide and","a":"thickness","v":"0.3","u":"metres","o":"The stone is 4.8 metres (16 feet) high, 1.5 metres (5 feet) wide and 0.3 metres (1 foot) thick.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0917"},{"f":"metres 5 feet wide and 0 3 metres","a":"thickness","v":"1","u":"foot","o":"The stone is 4.8 metres (16 feet) high, 1.5 metres (5 feet) wide and 0.3 metres (1 foot) thick.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0918"},{"f":"of thirteen stones and has a diameter of","a":"diameter","v":"11.4","u":"metres","o":"The stone circle consists of thirteen stones and has a diameter of 11.4 metres (37 feet).","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0919"},{"f":"and has a diameter of 11 4 metres","a":"dimension (unspecified)","v":"37","u":"feet","o":"The stone circle consists of thirteen stones and has a diameter of 11.4 metres (37 feet).","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0920"},{"f":"is a ring with a flattened east side","a":"dimension (unspecified)","v":"13.4","u":"metres","o":"The stone circle is not a perfect circle, but is a ring with a flattened east side (13.4 metres; 44 feet north–south by 12 metres; 40 feet east–west).","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0921"},{"f":"with a flattened east side 13 4 metres","a":"distance (not a site dimension)","v":"44","u":"feet","o":"The stone circle is not a perfect circle, but is a ring with a flattened east side (13.4 metres; 44 feet north–south by 12 metres; 40 feet east–west).","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0922"},{"f":"13 4 metres 44 feet north south by","a":"dimension (unspecified)","v":"12","u":"metres","o":"The stone circle is not a perfect circle, but is a ring with a flattened east side (13.4 metres; 44 feet north–south by 12 metres; 40 feet east–west).","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0923"},{"f":"metres 44 feet north south by 12 metres","a":"distance (not a site dimension)","v":"40","u":"feet","o":"The stone circle is not a perfect circle, but is a ring with a flattened east side (13.4 metres; 44 feet north–south by 12 metres; 40 feet east–west).","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0924"},{"f":"stones have an average height of three metres","a":"height","v":"10","u":"feet","o":"The stones have an average height of three metres (10 feet).","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0925"},{"f":"The ring covers an area of","a":"area","v":"124","u":"square metres","o":"The ring covers an area of 124 square metres (148 sq. yd.).","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0926"},{"f":"The avenue is","a":"length","v":"83.2","u":"metres","o":"The avenue is 83.2 metres (90 yards) long.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0927"},{"f":"REF13 The largest stone is","a":"height","v":"3.5","u":"metres","o":"REF13 The largest stone is 3.5 metres (12 feet) high and stands on the western end of the row.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0928"},{"f":"REF13 The largest stone is 3 5 metres","a":"height","v":"12","u":"feet","o":"REF13 The largest stone is 3.5 metres (12 feet) high and stands on the western end of the row.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0929"},{"f":"out at the north end the rows are","a":"dimension (unspecified)","v":"6.7","u":"metres","o":"The two rows are not exactly parallel to each other but fan out: at the north end the rows are 6.7 metres (22 feet) apart, while the distance between the rows is 6 metres (20 feet) at the south end.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0930"},{"f":"north end the rows are 6 7 metres","a":"distance (not a site dimension)","v":"22","u":"feet","o":"The two rows are not exactly parallel to each other but fan out: at the north end the rows are 6.7 metres (22 feet) apart, while the distance between the rows is 6 metres (20 feet) at the south end.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0931"},{"f":"apart while the distance between the rows is","a":"dimension (unspecified)","v":"6","u":"metres","o":"The two rows are not exactly parallel to each other but fan out: at the north end the rows are 6.7 metres (22 feet) apart, while the distance between the rows is 6 metres (20 feet) at the south end.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0932"},{"f":"the distance between the rows is 6 metres","a":"dimension (unspecified)","v":"20","u":"feet","o":"The two rows are not exactly parallel to each other but fan out: at the north end the rows are 6.7 metres (22 feet) apart, while the distance between the rows is 6 metres (20 feet) at the south end.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0933"},{"f":"row today consists of five stones and is","a":"length","v":"23.2","u":"metres","o":"The east-northeast row today consists of five stones and is 23.2 metres (76 feet) long.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0934"},{"f":"of five stones and is 23 2 metres","a":"length","v":"76","u":"feet","o":"The east-northeast row today consists of five stones and is 23.2 metres (76 feet) long.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0935"},{"f":"southern row consists of five stones and is","a":"length","v":"27.2","u":"metres","o":"The southern row consists of five stones and is 27.2 metres (90 feet) long.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0936"},{"f":"of five stones and is 27 2 metres","a":"length","v":"90","u":"feet","o":"The southern row consists of five stones and is 27.2 metres (90 feet) long.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0937"},{"f":"west-southwest row consists of four stones and is","a":"length","v":"13","u":"metres","o":"The west-southwest row consists of four stones and is 13 metres (43 feet) long.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0938"},{"f":"consists of four stones and is 13 metres","a":"length","v":"43","u":"feet","o":"The west-southwest row consists of four stones and is 13 metres (43 feet) long.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0939"},{"f":"The east-northeast row is aligned to a point","a":"dimension (unspecified)","v":"2","u":"metres","o":"The east-northeast row is aligned to a point 2 metres (6 feet) south of the centre; the south row points to 1 metre (3 feet) west of the centre and the west-southwest row points to 1 metre (3 feet) south of the centre.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0940"},{"f":"row is aligned to a point 2 metres","a":"distance (not a site dimension)","v":"6","u":"feet","o":"The east-northeast row is aligned to a point 2 metres (6 feet) south of the centre; the south row points to 1 metre (3 feet) west of the centre and the west-southwest row points to 1 metre (3 feet) south of the centre.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0941"},{"f":"centre the south row points to 1 metre","a":"distance (not a site dimension)","v":"3","u":"feet","o":"The east-northeast row is aligned to a point 2 metres (6 feet) south of the centre; the south row points to 1 metre (3 feet) west of the centre and the west-southwest row points to 1 metre (3 feet) south of the centre.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0942"},{"f":"of the stone circle is a chambered tomb","a":"length","v":"6.4","u":"metres","o":"Between the central and the eastern monolith of the stone circle is a chambered tomb 6.4 metres (21 feet) long.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0943"},{"f":"circle is a chambered tomb 6 4 metres","a":"length","v":"21","u":"feet","o":"Between the central and the eastern monolith of the stone circle is a chambered tomb 6.4 metres (21 feet) long.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0944"},{"f":"REF18 Only in 1857 was the overlying","a":"dimension (unspecified)","v":"1.5","u":"metres","o":"REF18 Only in 1857 was the overlying 1.5 metres (5 feet) of peat removed.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0945"},{"f":"in 1857 was the overlying 1 5 metres","a":"dimension (unspecified)","v":"5","u":"feet","o":"REF18 Only in 1857 was the overlying 1.5 metres (5 feet) of peat removed.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0946"},{"f":"1857 peat to a depth of five feet","a":"depth","v":"1.5","u":"metres","o":"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.","unc":"","by":"per cited source (see citation)","yr":"","m":"documentary: verbatim sentence auto-extracted from Wikipedia revision","c":"no inline ref in article","pg":"","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865","b":"S","bb":"auto-extracted, Wikipedia rev 1375820865 (tertiary); unit/attribute classified by keyword - check context in value_original","t":"MEASUREMENT","n":"","id":"M0947"}],"lab":[{"k":"Materials","mat":"site material (as stated in article)","m":"documentary mention (Wikipedia, auto-extracted)","v":"The stones are all of the same rock type, namely the local Lewisian gneiss.","by":"no inline ref in article","b":"S","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865"}],"eng":[],"ori":[],"gaps":[],"dat":[],"aa":[],"ac":[],"me":[],"ci":[],"cq":[],"sd":[],"sub":[],"site":{"age":"The monument was built during the Neolithic period, around c. 2750 BC.","dm":"[see dating_excerpt; method not extracted]","lab":"NO: inference only (style/context/king list/textual)","weak":"no direct lab result on the structure in our records; date from stylistic, contextual or textual inference","unesco":"","dens":"CENSUS"},"co":{"lat":"58.197541","lon":"-6.7451448","src":"Wikidata P625 only + curated wave0 value agrees","agree":"agree","b":"V","note":"two independent sources agree; max delta 0.0000 deg (~0.00 km)","osm":"https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/7228359281"},"src":[{"id":"S0275","t":"no inline ref in article","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Callanish_Stones&oldid=1375820865"},{"id":"S0451","t":"Wikipedia: Callanish Stones","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callanish_Stones"},{"id":"S2643","t":"Historic Environment Scotland: Calanais Standing Stones, history and stories","u":"https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit/all/calanais-standing-stones/history-and-stories/"},{"id":"S2644","t":"Canmore: Lewis, Callanish (central stone 15 ft 7 in)","u":"https://www.canmore.org.uk/place/4156"},{"id":"VBRI-002-5","t":"Historic Environment Scotland: History and stories | Calanais Standing Stones","u":"https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/calanais-standing-stones/history/"},{"id":"VBRI-002-6","t":"Archaeoastronomy","u":"https://callanish.archaeoptics.co.uk/archaeoastronomy.html"},{"id":"VBRI-002-7","t":"Journal for the History of Astronomy 14 (1983), DOI 10.1177/002182868301400501","u":"https://doi.org/10.1177/002182868301400501"},{"id":null,"t":"Historic Environment Scotland, Calanais Standing Stones: Statement of Significance (2018, updated 2025)","u":"https://app-hes-pubs-prod-neu-01.azurewebsites.net/api/file/795d66fc-e87b-459d-9ea4-b3b1007b36d8"}],"sum":"Once in every eighteen and a half years, the moon does something strange over the Isle of Lewis. Seen from the stones of Calanais, it rises so far to the south that it barely clears the horizon. It seems to roll along the tops of a low range of hills known as the Sleeping Beauty. It sets. And then, for a moment, it gleams again in a notch among the stones, as if it had come back to look. People travel to the far north-west of Scotland to wait for it, and they have been doing so for decades.\n\nCalanais, also spelled Callanish, stands on a ridge on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, in sight of land and sea for miles around. Its plan is unlike any other monument of its age. At the centre is a small ring of thirteen standing stones, only about 11 to 13 metres across. In the middle of the ring rises a single slab, 4.8 metres tall, more than twice the height of a tall man, but just 30 centimetres thick, like a great blade set on edge. From the ring, rows of stones run outwards like the arms of a cross. To the north-north-east, two nearly parallel lines of stones form an avenue about 83 metres long, a ceremonial walkway leading in toward the circle. Shorter rows run east, west and south. In all, 49 stones stand on the site today. Inside the ring, squeezed between the tall central stone and the eastern edge, lies a small chambered tomb, 6.4 metres long.\n\nEvery stone is Lewisian gneiss, the ancient banded rock of the island, and they were probably quarried within a few hundred metres of where they stand. At least eleven smaller stone circles dot the country around them. This whole corner of Lewis was, for a time, a landscape of standing stones.\n\nThey are very old. Historic Environment Scotland dates the ring to between 2900 and 2600 BC, which makes it older than the main stone circle at Stonehenge. The monument was built in several phases. The tomb was pushed in later, and the pottery inside shows it was used for centuries: local Hebridean pots, then grooved ware, then the fine beakers of around 2000 to 1700 BC. Ritual use may have lasted some two thousand years in all.\n\nThen it ended. Between about 1500 and 1000 BC the complex fell out of use, and Bronze Age farmers worked over it. Pots appear to have been thrown out of the tomb, perhaps simply by farmers, perhaps as a kind of ritual cleansing. From about 1000 BC peat, a thick waterlogged soil of half-rotted plants, began to creep over the site. It rose around the stones for nearly three thousand years. By the 19th century it lay 1.5 metres deep, and nobody alive knew how tall the stones really were.\n\nThe people of Lewis kept their own explanations. Around 1680 a local man, John Morisone, wrote that the stones were men \"converted into stone by ane Inchanter\" and set in a ring \"for devotione.\" In the 17th century islanders called them fir bhrèige, the false men. One tradition held that they were giants who refused to become Christian and were turned to stone. Around 1695 the traveller Martin Martin was told that the circle had been \"a place appointed for worship in the time of heathenism,\" where \"the chief druid or priest stood near the big stone in the centre\" to address the people. Another legend says that at dawn on midsummer morning a being called the Shining One walks the length of the avenue, his coming announced by the call of the cuckoo.\n\nLearned men soon added theories of their own. In 1726 John Toland suggested that Lewis was Hyperborea, the island beyond the north wind described by the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, and that Calanais was the \"spherical temple\" Diodorus mentions. In 1743 William Stukeley called it a druid circle and its avenue a serpent. In 1857 the island's proprietor, James Matheson, had the peat cut away, revealing the tomb and the full height of the stones. In 1885 the site was taken into state care.\n\nThe modern debate began in the 20th century. Alexander Thom and Gerald Hawkins proposed that Calanais was a prehistoric lunar observatory, built to track the long cycle of the moon. That cycle is real. The points on the horizon where the moon rises and sets swing slowly north and south and back again, reaching their widest at the major lunar standstill once every 18.6 years. The local researchers Margaret and Ron Curtis, with Gerald Ponting, spent decades watching from the stones and documented the effect: the moon skimming the Sleeping Beauty, setting, and reappearing within the monument.\n\nThe mainstream view has moved a long way toward them, and stopped short. Historic Environment Scotland's own Statement of Significance says that, taken with those decades of local study, the balance of evidence strongly supports the idea that the site was used to observe the sky. Yet the same document warns that such ideas are hard to test, so one is forced to rely on the power of coincidence, such as the moon sitting on a level stretch of horizon. The archaeoastronomer Clive Ruggles and other critics judge many of the proposed alignments too loose to prove precise intent. In any structure with many stones, some lines will point at something by chance, and weathering and shifting over the millennia mean no alignment can be certain. Later studies have nonetheless found the site's orientations unlikely to be random. Who made the observations, and why, remains largely unknown.\n\nMuch else is unknown too. Excavations in 1980 and 1981 found small fragments of burnt bone, but none were sent for analysis because they were then too small to date; it may now be possible. Digs in 1999 and 2000 found a prehistoric field system buried beneath the peat south of the stones. The peat hid the true height of the stones for centuries, and it may still hide more of the people who raised them.\n\nHere, then, is what can be said with confidence. Five thousand years ago, farmers on a wind-scoured island at the edge of the Atlantic set up a blade of ancient rock and a cross of stones on a ridge. From that ridge, once in a generation, the moon performs a slow, low dance along the hills called the Sleeping Beauty, and returns among the stones. Either the builders chose that ridge for it, or the sky has been keeping an appointment they never made.\n\nThe moon will skim the Sleeping Beauty again. What would it take to prove that someone, five thousand years ago, stood in the avenue and was waiting for it?","qs":["Observatory, temple, or both?","Peat hid much of Callanish for centuries. What else might still lie under the peat of the Western Isles?","How would you test whether an alignment was intended rather than a coincidence?"],"gal":[{"src":"https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Callanish-circle.jpg/1280px-Callanish-circle.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Callanish-circle.jpg","title":"Callanish-circle.jpg","lic":"CC BY-SA 3.0","licurl":"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/","by":"Original uploader was Netvor at en.wikipedia","cap":"The standing stones of Callanish on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland."},{"src":"https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dc/Callanish_I_2011_17.JPG/1280px-Callanish_I_2011_17.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Callanish_I_2011_17.JPG","title":"Callanish I 2011 17.JPG","lic":"CC BY-SA 3.0","licurl":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0","by":"Nachosan","cap":"Piedras de Callanish en el verano de 2011. Erigidas en el Neolítico, están consideradas uno de los crómlech más importantes de Escocia. Se encuentran en las Héb"},{"src":"https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Callanish_Stones_3.jpg/1280px-Callanish_Stones_3.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Callanish_Stones_3.jpg","title":"Callanish Stones 3.jpg","lic":"CC BY-SA 4.0","licurl":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0","by":"LornaMCampbell","cap":"This is a photo of scheduled monument number","alt":"Callanish Stones"},{"src":"https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/Callanish_Stones_in_summer_2012_%287%29.JPG/1280px-Callanish_Stones_in_summer_2012_%287%29.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Callanish_Stones_in_summer_2012_(7).JPG","title":"Callanish Stones in summer 2012 (7).JPG","lic":"CC BY-SA 3.0","licurl":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0","by":"Chmee2","cap":"Stone cyrcle Callanish Stones near Callanish village, Isle of Lewis, Outher Hebrids, Scotland"}]},"img":null,"md":null,"hh":[{"v":"3.5","u":"m","h":"Tallest stone in the row, standing at its western end","s":[46]},{"v":"2750 BC","h":"Stones erected before Stonehenge, says Historic Environment Scotland","s":[46]},{"v":"19","u":"stones","h":"Still standing in the avenue: nine on the east side, ten on the west","s":[46]}],"hs":{"46":["Wikipedia: Callanish Stones (and sources cited there)","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callanish_Stones"]},"lh":{"s":"img/h/BRI-002.webp","w":1280,"h":960,"o":"https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Callanish-circle.jpg/1280px-Callanish-circle.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail"}}