The History Behind The Callanish Stones

In the study, researchers examined the landscape surrounding the Callanish Stones (and other similar stone monuments in the UK), as well as the position of the sun, moon, and other astronomical bodies relative to these monuments.

Lead researcher Gail Higginbottom concludes that "the landscapes on which the stones were set were specifically chosen to show the most extreme rising and setting points of the Sun and Moon," per the BBC. Her team found that this was not just true for Callanish, but for hundreds of stone circles across Scotland, indicating an innate curiosity about the heavens among Scotland's Neolithic people.

But not everyone agrees with this theory. For example, Dr. Kenneth Brophy of the University of Glasgow, Scotland, believes that there is not enough evidence to support the notion that Britain's ancestors were motivated by mathematics and astronomy. "That's a very modern way of looking at the world," he told the BBC. Dr. Brophy asserts that monuments like the Callanish Stones were more likely built in places of cultural importance, and were used as gathering places for social rituals — in particular, to honor the dead, or even to cremate or bury them. Others have suggested that stone monuments were status symbols, with neighboring groups competing to build the biggest ones possible.

It's still unknown which of these was the true purpose of monuments like Callanish, or if it's some combination of these theories.

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