Review: Megalith: Studies in Stone

Hugh Newman et al, Megalith: Studies in Stone (Wooden Books 2018)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56302910-megalith

This book features chapters by eight different authors on the astroarchaeology of megaliths and stone circles.

Much can be said about Stonehenge, for example. Astroarchaeology-wise, it’s interesting that the entrance in 3150 BCE was aligned to the Northern-most moonrises, and it was later reoriented to midsummer sunrises. This perhaps indicates a shift from ‘moon worship’ (which may be a misnomer) or at least an accommodation of solar astronomy with lunar astronomy.

The solar year is 365.242 days, and the lunar month is 29.531 days with 12 7/19 moons per year. On the days when they overlapped, there would be an eclipse. These numbers can be found in several of the constructions. There are 19 bluestones. The ratio of the diameter of the Aubrey Circle to that of the Sarsen Circle is 7/19. Even if one discards Thom’s Megalithic Yard Theory, using our modern inches the circumference of the Aubrey Circle = 10785.82 inches = 365.24 x 29.53 days = solar year x lunar month.

Some of these number concurrences may be coincidence, but it’s hard to disregard the numerous alignments. Mayday sunrise as viewed from Glastonbury Tor rises over Avebury. Numerous sites are located on the lines running N-S from Isle of Man to Isle of Wight and E-W from Bury St Edmunds to St Michael’s Mount. These lines cross at Avebury.

I got a bit lost in the maths and geometry, and I did baulk at some of the claims. How would the Neolithic builders of Avebury have known its precise latitude between the pole and the equator? How could measurements of sites in Britain which correspond to measurements of the Great Pyramid be more than coincidence? I’m not sold on the Megalithic Yard theory.

But like everyone on earth today I am still astounded by the scale of the construction. Stonehenge took 12 million manhours to build. It’s astounding enough that they could predict eclipses that long ago. The stone circles seem to chart intricate astronomical knowledge gleaned over many generations. Göbekli Tepe (9000-7500 BCE) was aligned to the rising of Orion, which has a 25,800 yr cycle.