Callanish is a village on the west side of the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Callanish is within the parish of Uig. it is on a headland jutting into Loch Roag, a sea loch 13 miles west of Stornoway. The Callanish Stones, a crucifix shaped setting of standing stones – was erected around 3,000 years before Christ appeared.
Food, Fado, and Football in Porto, Portugal
With several days to spend in Porto, Jonathan L explores several aspects of local culture
As the average summer temperatures – here in England – continues to fall since the 10 Golden Summers of the 1990’s I shall continue to use my electric blanket until July. Feed the Bees in spring because the flowers haven’t opened. And leave balls of seed and fat so the Birds can feed the newly hatched chicks.
Other than feeding the pockets of Al Gore – humans play no part in the misconception that the World is doomed or indeed any warmer. Just another “scare the masses” plot as nature does what it has always done – and always will.
I find it fascinating that the sign of the Cross / Crucifix was a part of religious ceremonies 3,000 years BC. Many of the people who live in the far North of Scotland are descendants of the Vikings of that time – proven with DNA testing.
It’s always seemed to me that new faiths and cultures getting started absorb some of the symbols, and often ideas or practices, of predecessors, so it doesn’t surprise me to find pre-Christian crosses and the like. I’m only surprised that no one has come along since and built a big church on the spot…
Your point about the far north folk interested me; in Iceland, at an ethnographic exhibit, we learned that many of the early settlers, back around 950, came not directly from Scandinavia, but from long-thriving communities in the Hebrides and Faroes, where the population was mixed Scandinavian and ‘local.’ Lots of things become clearer when we think of a big ‘us’ and not a bunch of ‘thems!’
Around 1 thousand years ago the climate of Greenland, Iceland and the North Atlantic had a warmer feel to it. Time to explore again !
Much warmer than we have now.
But the wine producers of Northern England stopped producing – when vines were too cold to bear fruit – in the1800s. And Europe returned to a mini Ice Age.
Where burning fossil fuels fits in with all this beats me !
Where it fits in is that burning fossil fuels, which emit gases, affect the atmosphere’s composition and temperature. And while we are certainly never going to be able to control the planet’s ice ages and the like, we can control the degree to which we accelerate or retard natural processes. One thing to have a hot sun set dry grass on fire, another to add gasoline!
I am always fascinated by ancient sites like this. Who built them? Why? It was obviously a lot of work for primitive people to gather and erect these stones. Wonderful bit of human history, Garry, thanks!