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The Ring of Brodgar, the stone circle standing between the Lochs of Stenness and Harray on Mainland Orkney. This is one of the most complete stone circles in the world with 36 stones remaining of the original 60. The henge that surrounds the circle is 10 ft deep and 30 ft wide, cut from solid rock and it's thought that an avenue ran from here to the older nearby Stones of Stenness to incorporate the older ritual area into the new.
The exact age of the Ring o' Brodgar is uncertain as the interior of the circle has never been fully excavated and dated, but it is thought to have been erected between 2500 BC and 2000 BC - the last of the great Neolithic monuments built on the Ness. As you cycle on the thin strip of land between the two lochs, heading south you come upon more standing stones and Maeshowe Tomb all situated close to each other. It's a strong area of earlier worship and like all of these sites no-one will ever know the definitive history and meaning of the stones so it leaves something to the imagination when you are freewheelin' it through the Orkneys
