ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND—BBC News reports that a magnetic anomaly indicative of a large lightning strike, or many small ones on the same spot, was discovered in the center of a 4,000-year-old stone circle on the Isle of Lewis during a geophysical survey conducted by the members of the Calanais Virtual Reconstruction Project. Only one stone remains standing at Airigh na Beinne Bige, which is a satellite stone circle of the island’s main stone circle at Calanais. Richard Bates of the University of St. Andrews said the presence of the stone circle at the site of a massive lighting strike is unlikely to be coincidental. The lightning may have struck a tree or rock no longer present at the site, or the monument itself may have attracted lightning, he explained. The team members also created a 3-D virtual model of the satellite stone circle known as Na Dromannan. None of this circle’s stones remain standing, and some of them are covered with peat. The model will allow the researchers to investigate the circle’s possible astronomical alignments. To read about gatherings of people from across Britain for celebratory feasts at English henges, go to "Neolithic Henge Feasts," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of 2019.
