What is Stone circle?
[[Image:Swinside (p4160146).jpg|thumb|[[Swinside]] stone circle in England]] [[Image:Lisseyviggeen (998906).jpg|thumb|Lisseviggen Stone circle, in county Kerry, in Ireland. Locally, this is known as the Seven Sisters. It is outside [[Killarney]]]] A '''stone circle''' is an ancient [[monument]]. It is made of several [[standing stone]]s, usually [[menhir]]s that are arranged in a certain way. Very often those stones form [[circle]]s or [[ellipse]]s. The number of stones can vary between four and 60.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iol.ie/~sec/sites.htm#Stone%20Circles|publisher=www.iol.ie|title=A brief guide To Irish archaeological sites|accessdate=21 January 2006}}</ref> Very often, burial sites are in the circle, or nearby. There are about 1,000 stone circles and 80 stone [[henge]]s in the [[Great Britain]] and [[Ireland]].<ref>Oliphant, Margaret. 1992. ''The Atlas of the Ancient World''. p. 81.</ref> Most likely stone circles were used for [[ritual]]s. They might also have been used as [[calendar]]s; some stone circles are arranged so that certain stones are lit on special dates, such as the summer [[solstice]]. ==References== {{reflist}} {{stub}} [[Category:Stone circles| ]]