Monument record 8945 - S20 SKALLARY

S20 (NL688993) A stone ring comprised of six stones in situ, three apparently shifted a few metres, and three perhaps moved into a heap 15 m to the east. The ring stands on a slightly raised shelf flanked to the east by a shallow stream bed. On the east side the ring has been disturbed by peat cutting, and it is thought that the three stones just across the stream bed may have been moved from this segment. The diameter of the ring is 11.3 m. None of the stones are large (the largest is about 0.75 m long), and it cannot be described as a 'megalithic' monument. Its function is uncertain. The stones have been deliberately, but unless each stone was used to support a fence post they could not indiacte an enclosure except in a purely conceptual sense. We think a fenced enclosure on this high and exposed area is not only unlikely but also without a parallel in our experience in the southern isles. We therefore incline to the view that this is most likely to be a ritual site of some sort and associated, though not necessarily contemporary, with the two standing stones 300m downslope.
Branigan and Foster 2000, 20

Keith Branigan & Patrick Foster, 2000, From Barra to Berneray: Archaeological Survey and Excavation in the Southern Isles ... (Bibliographic reference). SWE41033.