It's stood for thousands of years and is thought to be as old as the Egyptian pyramids, and yet it's situated slap bang in the middle of an Edinburgh council estate.
The standing stone on Ravenswood Avenue in Edinburgh's Inch area is surely one of Britain's most fascinating Neolithic relics.
For one thing, it has survived long enough to have seen an entire housing estate spring up around it and now spends its Sunday evenings surrounded by people's council refuse bins awaiting collection.
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The ancient stone, which is caged in by railings to protect it from vandalism, is thought to have been erected around 4,000 years ago, which makes it roughly as old as the Great Pyramid of Djoser.
Now located in a cul-de-sac at the eastern end of Ravenswood Avenue, the scene around the stone would have been vastly different in the time in which it was hewn.
It's one of several such megaliths that can be found around Edinburgh and the Lothians, but definitely one of the more curious examples considering it's planted in the middle of a scheme.
Illustrations from the 19th century show it standing alone in fields to the south of Edinburgh, with barely another manmade structure visible for miles around.
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Standing at just under seven feet tall, the prehistoric stone remained untouched for millennia until it was moved in the early 1800s to facilitate road widening in the area.
The stone was relocated back to its original position in 1891, but in the 1960s it was on the move once more as the new housing estate began to take shape. Presently, it stands around 100 metres north of its original location.
With the monument bearing nothing in the way of markings or other details, very little is known about the grey sandstone block or why it was erected.
Some scholars have suggested that it was put in place to commemorate an ancient battle or that it was used for a ritualistic purpose. However, the truth is nobody really knows for sure.
Regardless, it's fascinating to think of the countless people who have come and gone since the menhir was built. We can imagine advancing armies from medieval times passing it on their way to try and take Edinburgh Castle or Mary, Queen of Scots admiring it from the rooms of nearby Craigmillar Castle.
Nowadays the mysterious megalith forms part of the visual scenery of an unremarkable Edinburgh housing estate within metres of the busy A7 road into the capital, but we're delighted that this remnant of our Neolithic past is still with us.
A spokesman for Historic Environment Scotland said: "The monument is of national importance as an icon of prehistoric ritual, albeit in a modern urban setting.
"Although the stone no longer has any archaeological potential, it is a monument with cultural significance, capable of speaking to a modern urban population, and worthy of legal protection in its present setting."
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