STANDING stones that are 5000 years old are helping to boost the Western Isles economy by £4 million a year, according to a new report.
The Comhairle nan Eilean Siar-commissioned analysis found the archaeology currently brings in around £4m and supports 80 full-time jobs, but the island’s Sustainable Development Committee heard it has the potential to be worth £8m and sustain 160 jobs.
Among the highlights in the Outer Hebrides are the Callanish Standing Stones (right), Dun Carloway and the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village.
Plans have now been put forward to help bring in more growth through the development of a trail linking the most prominent sites.
A number of prehistoric stone circles can be found in the Outer Hebrides, the most famous being the Callanish Standing Stones.
For five millennia they have stood on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, made of a metamorphic rock estimated to be around 3 billion years old.
A few miles away is Dun Carloway, one of the best preserved Brochs – a circular stone building – in Britain. Although uncertainty still surrounds why they were constructed, it is accepted by many they were the homes and defensive forts of wealthy and powerful families during the Iron Age.
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