Editing Stone circle (section)

===Great Britain and Ireland===
[[File:Cornish stone circle.jpg|thumb|Cornish stone circle]]
[[File:County Cork - Drombeg stone circle - 20150328102444.jpg|thumb|[[Drombeg stone circle]], County Cork, Ireland]]
[[File:Carrigagulla 03.jpg|right|thumb|Stone circle at the [[Carrigagulla]] complex, County Cork, Ireland]]

There are approximately 1300&nbsp;stone circles in Britain and Ireland.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany |last=Burl |first=Aubrey |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2000 |location=New Haven |page=[https://archive.org/details/stonecirclesofbr0000burl/page/5 5] |isbn=9780300083477 |url=https://archive.org/details/stonecirclesofbr0000burl |url-access=registration |quote=The Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland and Brittany. }}</ref> Experts disagree on whether the construction of megaliths in Britain developed independently or was imported from mainland Europe.

A 2019 comprehensive radiocarbon dating study of megalithic structures across Europe and the British Isles concluded that construction techniques were spread to other communities via sea routes, starting from north-western France.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="Paulsson.2019"/> In contrast, the French archaeologist Jean-Pierre Mohen in his book ''{{lang|fr|Le Monde des Megalithes}}'' wrote that the British Isles are <blockquote>"outstanding in the abundance of standing stones, and the variety of circular architectural complexes of which they formed a part ... strikingly original, they have no equivalent elsewhere in Europe – strongly supporting the argument that the builders were independent."</blockquote>Some theories suggest that invaders from Brittany may have been responsible for constructing Stonehenge.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/frances-new-stonehenge-secrets-of-a-neolithic-time-machine-5329987.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/frances-new-stonehenge-secrets-of-a-neolithic-time-machine-5329987.html |archive-date=2022-05-25 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=France's new Stonehenge: Secrets of a neolithic time machine|date=July 31, 2006|website=The Independent}}</ref>

Although stone circles are widely distributed across the island, Ireland has two main concentrations: in the [[County Cork|Cork]]/[[County Kerry|Kerry]] area and in mid-[[Ulster]]. The latter typically consist of a greater number of small stones, usually {{nowrap|1' (0.3 metres)}} high, and are often found in upland areas and on sites that also contain a [[stone row|stone alignment]]. The [[Cork–Kerry stone circle]]s tend to be more irregular in shape with larger but fewer and more widely-spaced [[orthostat]]s around the axial stone.<ref>Murphy (1997), p.27</ref>