Scottish Stones
 

As an avid reader of Diana Gabaldon's novels about a time traveler in Scotland, I would love to visit the countryside and some of the mystical stones she refers to in her books. Does anyone have some suggestions where I may start to plan such a trip?

There are stone circles, burial cairns and other stones and monoliths all over.<BR><BR>Some concentrations are around Kilmartin south of Oban, around Brechin north of Dundee, in the far north south of Wick, and on the Outer Hebrides and the Orkneys.

I just love the view from the church at Kilmartin (across from the pub - handy) looking over the valley floor below, where there are bunches of prehistoric stones and cairns and circles. It's spooky to stand there and imagine that people have been living in that valley for thousands and thousands of years.

Michele:<BR>I don't know which stones Diana Gabaldon talks about, but we visited the Callandish Standing Stones on Lewis, and they were really neat. Also, just driving through Kilmartin (didn't stop, unfortunately), we could see standing stones from the road. AND in Harris and North Uist, standing stones, burial cairns, etc.

Try these websites:<BR><BR>http://www.ancient-scotland.co.uk/<BR>and<BR>http://www.stonepages.com<BR><BR>There are also many, many books on Scottish archaeology. One useful one geared for travellers is Scotland: An Oxford Archaeological Guide by Anna Ritchie and Graham Ritchie. Warning: these websites and books may fill your head with historical and archaeological information that conflicts with some of the woo-woo stories out there.

KT is an expert; as an interested bystander, I'd point you to three areas,where there is density of megaliths.<BR><BR>Orkney<BR>the North East<BR>Kilmartin<BR><BR>But PLEASE read some serious history before you come rather than Ms Gababldon's well turned prose.<BR><BR>Here are some more sites for you<BR><BR>http://www.symbolstone.org/archaeology/megalith/index.html<BR><BR>http://www.edelsten.org.uk/stones/main.htm

Best place I know is Callanish, on the Isle of Lewis - many other sites nearby.A very significant place in ancient times.Awkward to get to.

For a photo of the stones at Callanish, where we hope to see next time in Scotland:<BR><BR>http://www.scotsman-calendar.com/pos...cture-post.cfm