Westray Stone
Coordinates: 59 ° 19 ′ 27.5 ″ N , 2 ° 59 ′ 16.9 ″ W.
The ornate carvings provided Westray Stone ( German "Stone Westray" ) was established in 1981 in a megalithic site in Pierowall on Westray ( Orkney found). The stone, decorated with double spirals , concentric semicircles and rhombuses , is dated to the 3rd millennium BC. And is the only one of its kind in Great Britain . It can only be compared to the Newgrange Stone in the Boyne Valley in Ireland .
The site is on the edge of a low ridge between Pierowall Bay in the east and Grobust Bay in the northwest. The ridge connects the main part of Westray with the Aikerness and Rackness peninsulas. Geologically, the island is formed by Rousay Flags, a variety of Old Red Sandstone , the most common type of rock on Orkney.
The Westray stone was part of a Neolithic chamber grave, which was destroyed in prehistoric times on a multi-phase site in the north of the island, with the stone breaking into several pieces. The two main halves were recovered immediately, two smaller fragments were found during a re-excavation by Cardiff University near the Pierowall Quarry (quarry).
Nearby
The figurine of the Westray Wife (also called Orkney Venus ) was found in the Links on Noltland.
literature
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Excavations at Pierowall Quarry, Westray, Orkney (PDF; 5.9 MB)
- Find: Pages 103-105
- Location: Site plan on page 77