Viļķene Hollow Stone

The Viļķene Hollow Stone was examined in 1994. Its closest landmark is the old orthodox cemetery of Viļķene. Viļķene itself is located several kilometres further. At the examination time, there were dug up pits established at both sides of the stone, as well as pieces of broken stone and coal noticed. It seems that the stone with a holow is situated in its initial place. In former times, the stone was located on pastureland. It is a coarse-grained reddish granite sank into ground. The upper part of the stone had been made cylindrical by means of groove-shaped carvings, the lower part had been little transformed, roughly chipped around. The diameter of the stone is 1.15–1.20 m, the height of the upper part is 0.5 m, the height of the whole stone is — 0.85 m. The diameter of the chipped roundish cylindrical hollow in the middle of the stone is 0.35 m, depth of 0.15–0.22 m. At its bottom along the sides, there is a groove carved. Along the sides of the upper part of the stone, there are 40 grooves carved every 8.5 cm, which are 5 cm wide. It seems that around the stone a ditch had been dug already in modern times, although levelled later on. This kind of stones with a hollow are more characteristic of Kurzeme. Čakste, 2007; Grīnbergs, 2009; with author’s addendum.