Tradition guide
Prehistoric
Prehistoric sites connect places through shared lineage, practice, story, and pilgrimage across the global atlas.
112 sacred places share this lineage. Use the country and site-type filters to narrow in.
Atlas summary
Prehistoric sacred sites overview
Prehistoric sacred sites connect places through shared lineage, ritual use, memory, and pilgrimage practice across the Pilgrim Map atlas.
Use this page to compare country clusters, common place types, UNESCO-tagged landmarks, and the map distribution before exploring individual site pages.
| Coverage | 112 Prehistoric sacred places in the current atlas. |
|---|---|
| Country clusters | |
| Common place types |
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Search within Prehistoric sites
Showing 49-96 of 112 sites in this tradition guide
Dwarfie Stane (Dwarf's Stone)
Hoy, Orkney, United Kingdom
In a steep-sided valley on the island of Hoy, a massive block of red sandstone lies in desolate peatland....
Fernworthy Stone Circle
West Devon, England, United Kingdom
Hidden within a Dartmoor forest clearing, Fernworthy Stone Circle has stood for four thousand years....
Fonte Sacra Su Tempiesu
Orune, Sardinia, Italy
In the countryside near Orune, a sacred spring flows through the only Nuragic well-temple to preserve its original elevated structures....
Giant’s Grave of Sa Domu e s’Orcu
Quartùcciu/Quartucciu, Sardinia, Italy
Rising from the forested slopes of the Sette Fratelli mountains, the Giants' Grave of Is Concias preserves one of Sardinia's finest examples of Nuragic collective burial....
Giant’s Ring, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Rising from farmland south of Belfast, the Giant's Ring stands as Ireland's largest prehistoric ceremonial enclosure....
Giants' Grave of Sa Domu e s'Orcu
Siddi, Sardegna, Italy
In the Marmilla region of southern-central Sardinia, a megalithic gallery grave bears a name that speaks of ancient awe: Sa Domu e s'Orcu—the House of the Ogre....
Giants' Graves
Whiting Bay, North Ayrshire, United Kingdom
On the eastern slopes of the Isle of Arran, above the village of Whiting Bay, two Neolithic chambered cairns stand in a clearing among the trees....
Glebe Cairn
Kilmartin, Argyll and Bute, United Kingdom
Glebe Cairn marks the northern entrance to Kilmartin Glen's linear cemetery, a two-kilometre alignment of burial monuments built and rebuilt across fifteen centuries....
Hill o' Many Stanes
Lybster, Caithness, United Kingdom
On a low hill near the village of Mid Clyth in Caithness, approximately two hundred small standing stones are arranged in twenty-two rows that fan outward as they run down...
Hurlers Stone Circles
Cornwall, England, United Kingdom
Rising from the windswept expanse of Bodmin Moor, the Hurlers comprise three stone circles aligned across the landscape like a question posed in granite....
Jarlshof Prehistoric and Norse Settlement
Sumburgh, Shetland, United Kingdom
At the southern tip of Mainland Shetland, where the land narrows to a low promontory above the sea, the ruins of Jarlshof spread across a headland that humans have called...
Kilmichael Glassary Cup and Ring Marks
Lochgilphead, Argyll and Bute, United Kingdom
On a sloping rock outcrop beside a village school in Argyll, over one hundred and fifty carvings wait in the stone....
Kilphedir Broch
Kilphedir, Sutherland, United Kingdom
High on a hillock above the Strath of Kildonan in Sutherland, a broch of pink granite commands views up and down the valley....
Kinnell stone circle, Killin
Killin, Alba / Scotland, United Kingdom
In a quiet pasture east of Killin village, six standing stones have held their positions for perhaps four thousand years....
Knap of Howar
Papa Westray, Orkney Islands, United Kingdom
On the western shore of Papa Westray, one of Orkney's smallest inhabited islands, two stone buildings stand with their doorways facing the sea....
Knowe of Lairo
Rousay, Orkney Islands, United Kingdom
On the southwestern hillside of Rousay, overlooking Eynhallow Sound and the tidal island whose Norse name means Holy Island, the Knowe of Lairo stretches over forty-five...
Knowe of Yarso
Rousay, Orkney Islands, United Kingdom
High on a hillside above Eynhallow Sound, the Knowe of Yarso commands views that stretch across the water to Mainland Orkney and the hills beyond....
La Roche aux Fées
Essé, Brittany, France
Five thousand years ago, Neolithic builders hauled forty-tonne stones four kilometers to construct the largest dolmen in France....
Leirfall rock carvings
Stjordal, Trøndelag, Norway
On a south-facing rock outcrop in central Norway, between nine hundred and twelve hundred figures carved over more than a millennium preserve the ritual life of Bronze Age...
Llech-y-tribedd
Moylgrove, Pembrokeshire, United Kingdom
Rising from a quiet Pembrokeshire hillside, Llech-y-tribedd is a portal dolmen built by Neolithic farming communities around 4000 BCE....
Long Meg and Her Daughters stone ring
Little Salkeld, England, United Kingdom
One of Britain's largest and oldest stone circles rises from the Eden Valley in Cumbria, its massive ring of granite daughters watched over by a single sandstone monolith...
Machrie Moor Stone Circles
Machrie, North Ayrshire, United Kingdom
On the western coast of the Isle of Arran, a walk of a mile and a half across open moorland brings you to six stone circles arranged on a broad, flat expanse beneath the...
Maeshowe Chambered Cairn
Stenness, Orkney Islands, United Kingdom
On Mainland Orkney, a grass-covered mound rises seven metres above a surrounding ditch....
Mên-an-Tol
Morvah, Cornwall, United Kingdom
On the West Penwith moor, three stones stand against the sky—but it is the middle stone that draws seekers from around the world....
Merry Maidens Stone Circle
Lamorna, England, United Kingdom
Rising from Cornish farmland near Land's End, the Merry Maidens stands as one of Britain's most complete Bronze Age stone circles....
Midhowe Broch
Rousay, Orkney Islands, United Kingdom
On the western coast of Rousay, where two steep gullies cut into the shoreline, a broch stands within its own small settlement....
Midhowe Chambered Cairn
Rousay, Orkney Islands, United Kingdom
On the western shore of Rousay, sheltered beneath a modern protective roof, lies the largest stalled cairn in Orkney....
Møllerstufossen Rock Carvings
Dokka, Rogaland, Norway
Beside the roar of Møllerstufossen waterfall on the Etna river, Mesolithic hunter-gatherers carved elk into exposed rock some eight thousand years ago....
Mor Stein
Shapinsay, Orkney Islands, United Kingdom
On the southeastern shore of Shapinsay, one of the inner Orkney Islands, a single standing stone rises roughly ten feet from the turf....
Moss Farm Road Stone Circle
Machrie, North Ayrshire, United Kingdom
On the western shore of the Isle of Arran, where a farm track leads into the ancient ceremonial moorland of Machrie, seven stones still stand in a broken ring....
Necropoli di Li Muri
Alzachèna/Arzachena, Sardinia, Italy
On granite landscape near Arzachena, five stone cists surrounded by concentric circles mark the earliest megalithic expression in Sardinia....
Necropolis di Montessu
Sa Baronia/Villaperuccio, Sardinia, Italy
In a natural amphitheater of trachyte rock near Villaperuccio, over forty domus de janas—rock-cut tombs—line the curved face of a hill called the 'silent one.' For 1,500...
Necropolis of Pranu Mutteddu
Goni, Sardinia, Italy
Across 200,000 square meters of the Gerrei countryside near Goni, approximately sixty menhirs stand in pairs, groups, and rows....
Ness of Brodgar
Stenness, Orkney Islands, United Kingdom
On the narrow isthmus between two lochs on Mainland Orkney, the Ness of Brodgar lies at the centre of a Neolithic world....
Nether Largie Mid Cairn
Kilmartin, Argyll and Bute, United Kingdom
Nether Largie Mid Cairn stands at the heart of Kilmartin Glen's linear cemetery, a two-kilometer procession of burial monuments stretching across the floor of one of...
Nether Largie North Cairn
Kilmartin, Argyll and Bute, United Kingdom
Nether Largie North Cairn stands second in a line of five burial monuments stretching through Kilmartin Glen in Argyll, Scotland....
Nether Largie South Cairn
Kilmartin, Argyll and Bute, United Kingdom
In the heart of Kilmartin Glen, Nether Largie South Cairn has held its ground for more than five thousand years....
Nether Largie standing stones, Argyll, Scotland
Kilmartin, Alba / Scotland, United Kingdom
Five massive stones stand in an X-shaped pattern at the heart of Kilmartin Glen, mainland Scotland's richest prehistoric landscape....
Nine Stones Close Stone Circle, Youlgreave
Derbyshire Dales, England, United Kingdom
Four weathered stones stand sentinel on Harthill Moor, remnants of a Bronze Age circle that once framed the setting Moon between the twin pillars of Robin Hood's Stride....
Old Scatness Broch and Iron Age Village
Virkie, Shetland, United Kingdom
In 1975, construction workers building a road to Sumburgh Airport cut through what appeared to be a natural grassy mound at the southern tip of Mainland Shetland....
Ousdale Broch
Helmsdale, Caithness, United Kingdom
In a sheltered valley where the Ousdale Burn cuts toward the sea, between the villages of Helmsdale and Berriedale on the Caithness-Sutherland border, a broch stands that...
Parque Nacional Serra da Capivara
São Raimundo Nonato, Brazil
Deep in the semi-arid caatinga of northeastern Brazil, over 1,200 rock shelters hold more than 30,000 paintings spanning millennia....
Quoyness Chambered Cairn
Sanday, Orkney Islands, United Kingdom
On the Elsness peninsula of Sanday, one of Orkney's northern isles, a chambered cairn of exceptional preservation stands near the shore....
Ri Cruin Cairn
Kilmartin, Argyll and Bute, United Kingdom
Ri Cruin Cairn stands at the southern end of Kilmartin Glen's linear cemetery, a two-kilometre alignment of Bronze Age burial cairns running through the floor of an Argyll...
Ring of Bookan
Stromness, Orkney Islands, United Kingdom
On a windswept rise northwest of the Ring of Brodgar, a broad ditch and raised platform mark where Neolithic people placed a monument at the boundary between the everyday...
Skara Brae Prehistoric Village
Sandwick, Orkney Islands, United Kingdom
On the western shore of Orkney's Mainland, the Bay of Skaill opens to the Atlantic....
Standing Stone of Hollandstoun
North Ronaldsay, Orkney Islands, United Kingdom
On North Ronaldsay, the most northerly of Orkney's inhabited islands, a standing stone known as the Stan Stane rises approximately four metres from the ground....
Standing Stones of Stenness
Stenness, Orkney Islands, United Kingdom
On the narrow isthmus between the salt Loch of Stenness and the freshwater Loch of Harray, four surviving megaliths stand where perhaps twelve once formed an ellipse....
Showing 49-96 of 112 sites
Key questions
Prehistoric sacred-site questions
- What are Prehistoric sacred sites?
- Prehistoric sacred sites are places connected by shared lineage, practice, memory, ritual use, or pilgrimage tradition.
- Where can I find Prehistoric sacred sites?
- The strongest country clusters in this guide include United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, France, Brazil.
- What kinds of places are included?
- Common place types include stone circle, broch, chambered cairn, dolmen, cairn, rock art site.
- Can I map Prehistoric sacred sites?
- Yes. Compare country clusters and site types first, then open individual pages for coordinates, historical context, and visitor guidance.