Archaeo-astronomy homepage

For a long time, the scientific establishment showed a resistance and even disregard to the idea of astronomy having been practiced in prehistory. Thankfully, the question of whether astronomy was practiced is now beyond debate, and the doors are now opened for us to discover the extent of this knowledge in the past.

Featured Items:

Chronology of prehistoric astronomy.

Astronomy and the Megaliths.

'Precession of the equinoxes' - 'The Platonic year'.

Megaliths and the 'Metonic cycle'.

Light boxes (Form and Function)

Ancient Egyptian astronomy.

Astronomy in myth.

The earliest suggestion of an astronomical record have been suggested in the shape of notched bones, a finding which A. Marshak and others have interpreted as Palaeolithic lunar counts. While this theory is by no means substantiated, there are several ancient structures which have a clear astronomical nature in their design. The high frequency of association between megaliths and astronomy suggests a complimentary process between the two.

The following examples speak for themselves...

A Chronology of Ancient Astronomers.

The first suggestions of human astronomical observation come from the Palaeolithic period.

Palaeolithic Astronomy:

35,000 - 33,000 BC - Decorated baboon fibula with 29 parallel incised notches from Kwazulu border cave, Africa. (4)

'The oldest image of a star pattern, that of the famous constellation of Orion, has been recognised on an ivory tablet some 32,500 years old'.

(BBC - Science/nature)

32,000 BC - Lunar notations found on remains in W. Siberia. (Ref: Science CXLVI, Nov 6, 1964).

22,000 BC - Artefacts to record the solar year and phases of the moon from Ma'alta, Siberia. (4)

The 'fertility goddess / mother-earth' figure from Loussel, near Eyzles in France - (right), holds a crescent-conch shape with 13-lines on it. It has been suggested that the 13 lines refer to the 13 lunar cycles each year.

Refer to Alexander Marshak for further examples.

These two images from Lascaux, France are suggested as showing Pleiades (left), and a lunar count (right).

Mesolithic Astronomy:

9,000 - 8,000 BC - Bone plaque with lunar notations from Grotte Dutai, W. France. (4)

7,180 - 6,140 BC: Stonhenge, England. - C-14 dates for the 'car park' post holes 250m NW of Stonehenge circle. Each once contained a Pine trunk (1.5-2m Diameter), which align to the positions of the sun and moon with 'extreme accuracy'. (5) The presence of these huge 'Totem' trunks are often ignored in relation to Stonehenge, but their existence several thousand years before the stone circle suggests a significance even at this early time and certainly raises questions about whether this particular location was deliberately chosen due to it's astronomical relevance

(At the latitude of Stonehenge, the sun and moon have their maximum declinations at right angles to each other).

(More about Stonehenge)

6,850 BC - Tumulus of St. Michael, Carnac - Orientated east-west. One of seven large tumulus on the Carnac landscape. The tumulus at Carnac contain burial deposits in sealed cysts including several large hordes of finely polished axe-heads, some of extraordinary size, (presumably ceremonial rather than functional).

The Tumulus was positioned so that small islands to the east and west could be used as cardinal marker-points.

(More about St. Michael)

6,500 BC - Engraved bone with lunar notations from Ishango, Congo. (4)

Astronomy - Neolithic to Present:

4,500 BC - France: The Kerkado passage mound aligned to midwinter sunrise. Lunar observations at the original Morbihan, monument as determined by Prof. A. Thom.

Also aligned to midsummer sunrise through the rectangular 'Crucuno' enclosure which encompasses a 3:4:5 triangle, with the east - west sides aligned to the equinox sunrise and sunset, and perhaps more importantly, the diagonals being aligned to both the solstice sunrise and sunset positions, a feature similar to the four 'station-stones' at Stonehenge.

(More about megalithic quadrangles)

4,000 BC - The Sumerians: (Shumer- 'Shem' - 'points to sky', 'pointed stone marker'),

The Sumerians were one of the first civilisations to record their observations, and their fascination resulted in the basis for much of modern astronomy today. They recorded the sun at the centre of a system surrounded by several planets. They considered the New-year to begin at the exact moment when the Sun crossed the spring equinox.

The 25,000 texts devoted to Astronomy and Astrology found in the ruins if the Nineveh library of Ashurbanipal bear witness to the Sumerian fascination with the motions of the celestial sphere.

The Sumerians were the first to divide both space and time by units of six. The modern division of the year into 12 months, the 24 hours of each day, the division of hours into 60 minutes and 60 seconds, and the divisions of the circle/sphere by 360 degrees, each composed of 60 minutes and 60 seconds of an arc, are all Sumerian developments. This same division by units of six has been observed at several of prominent British megaliths.

Aubrey Burl said of it:

'From Brodgar, where there was once 60 stones, to the Stripple stones with a probable thirty, the builders may have counted in multiples of six. Stennes had twelve. The inner and outer rings at Balfarg have been computed at twenty-four and twelve respectively. Twenty-four has been suggested for Cairnpappel, thirty-six for Arbor Low, and the same number for the devils quoits'. (3)

The Sumerians called the twelve major zodiacal constellations the 'Shiny herd'.

Sumerian	*Translation*	Modern name
GU.AN.NA MASH.TAB.BA DUB UR.GULA AB.SIN ZI.BA.AN.NA GIR.TAB PA.BIL (Archer) SUHUR.MASH GU SIM.MAH KU.MAL	Heavenly Bull Twins Pincers, Tongs Lion Her father was Sin Heavenly Fate Which claws and cuts Defender Goat-Fish Lord of the waters Fishes Field dweller	Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo Libra Scorpio Sagittarius Capricorn Aquarius Pisces Aries

Sumerian seal (VA/243). State museum, East Berlin. (23). Whichever planets this image was intended to represent, the smaller 'planets' certainly appear to be surrounding the larger, sun-like object in the centre.

3,500 - 3,000 BC - Malta. Temples orientated to astronomically significant moments of the solar and lunar cycle (see Mnajdra). Discovery of pottery with astronomical marking on. (see below).

(More about prehistoric Malta)

3,300 BC - Boyne Valley, County Meath, Ireland - The Newgrange passage is aligned to midwinter sunrise. Knowth and Dowth passage mounds similarly aligned and orientated towards important solar and lunar events creating an observatory capable of calculating both cycles accurately.

(More about the Boyne Valley)

3,300 BC - Lochmariaquer, France - Several monuments in the Carnac area dismantled and re-used for new constructions. The original monuments were built around 4,500 BC. It is suspected that at this time, the new monuments were designed with a solar emphasis , in contrast to the earlier lunar monuments at Lochmariaquer.

(More about Lochmariaquer)

3,200 BC - Stonehenge, England - The henge and 56 'Aubrey holes' were placed. (Lunar alignment only). Each of the 56 'Aubrey holes' had a fragment of Bluestone buried in it. It is suggested that these 56 holes were used to calculate the Metonic cycle of 18.6 years (3 x 18.6 = 55.8). The same system can be used to calculate tidal motions (based on lunar activity), eclipses, and ultimately to synchronise the movements of the sun and moon.

(More about Stonehenge)

29th June 3123 BC - A Sumerian clay tablet has been translated which records an asteroid approach on collision course is documented by a Sumerian astronomer (the collision occurred near modern Koefel, Austria). (1)

3,114 BC (Aug 13) - The Mayan 'long count' begins. The great cycle was believed to last for 13 baktuns - 1,872,000 days. The present cycle comes to an end on 21st December 2012 AD.

The Mayans used two calendars with each day having two names, the first a repeating cycle of 260 days, called a 'tzolkin', and the second a 'vague' year of 365 days called a 'haab'. The year was composed of 360 days divided into 18 months of 20 days each plus a short month of 5 extra days and the intercalary days. Using the dual calendar system, any specific combination of day names did not occur for a period of 52 'vague' years (52 x 365 = 18,980 = 73 x 260). The 5+ intercalcular days were considered unlucky. The 'Dresden codex' contains tables for the prediction of eclipses.

3,000 BC - The Giza Complex, Egypt. This fantastic and enigmatic site has several fundamental astronomical features, in particular - the orientation of the pyramids themselves, the polar-shafts in each pyramid, cut to face the pole-star at the time of construction. The 'Star-shafts' in Khufu's pyramid, said to align to both Orion and Sirius, and not forgetting of course the majestic sphinx, which sits facing the rising sun on the solstices.

According to radio-carbon dating at Giza, the major constructions begin at the Giza complex at around this time:

(Radio-carbon dating at Giza).

2,800 - 2,500 BC - Metsamor, in Turkey shows evidence of astronomy and the first ever zodiacal division of the heavens into 12 equal parts.

2,400 BC - The canons of the Chinese emperor say, 'In the lifetime of Yao, the sun did not set for ten full days and the entire land was flooded (by an immense wave), that reached the sky'.

2,137 BC - (April 26) - Two official astrologers of Emperor Chung Kang, who were paid mainly to predict eclipses so that the population could be told in advance not to panic, got stone drunk on rice wine on this day and forgot to give the warning. Neither could they, as custom required, stand up and shoot arrows at the monster devouring the sun. So the culprits were decapitated on the spot, and since then Chinese astrologers drink nothing but water when eclipses are expected. (13)

2,000 BC - Callanish, In the Outer Hebrides on the Isle of Lewis. An avenue of stones points to Mount Clisham, where the midsummer moon-set occurs from Callanish. Because the complex lies only 1.3 degrees south of the Arctic latitude for the moon, so that ancient observers would have been able to see the moon appearing to stand still about one degree above the horizon. This 18.6 year cycle is the same as that recorded at Stonehenge. Both avenues of stones allowed ancient astronomers to observe what is called the 'moon's wobble', a small amplitude ripple of the moons declination at extreme positions. It is possibly significant that with both sites having key observation stones with similar geometry, and with Callanish situated at a latitude where the moon appears to skim the horizon, while at Stonehenge, the extreme positions of the moon appear at right angles to the Sun; it makes Earth's curvature obvious and from that the calculations necessary to determine its size. (9).

The Star Chart at Thebes. - Shows the Goddess 'Nut' surrounded by the 12 signs of the Zodiac. It also depicts the 12 hours of the day and night. The top portrays the Planets Mercury and Venus side by side with the sun. Earth, Moon and Jupiter sit in their barques on the left. The right side shows the planets Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto in their correct sequences. Above the head of the Goddess is an extra planet with a large trajectory.

4^th Cent BC - A belief existed at the time of Aristotle that a comet had once joined the solar system as a planet. This theory was later expanded by Velikovsky, who believed the story to be a reference to the appearance of Venus.

3^rd Cent BC - Aristarchus of Samos suggests that the motions of the heavenly bodies could better be explained if the Sun - and not the Earth - was in the centre.

2^nd Cent BC - Hipparchus, who lived in Asia Minor, discussed 'the displacement of the solstice and equinoctial signs'. (23) A clear reference to the phenomena called the precession of the equinoxes, which some people suggest was understood a long time before this.

1^st Cent BC - Diodorus Siculus, the historian, states that...'the Chaldeans named the planets…in the centre of their system was the Sun, the greatest light, of which the planets were offspring'. (23).

The fossilised Astrolabe.

Reproduction. Athens Museum. 83 BC - A Mechanical device for working out the motions of the sun, moon and planets (based on number and relationship of over 30 gears).

Found underwater off Antikythera Island, Greece, 1901 (Current Location: National museum, Athens). Examined by Derek De Solla Price with x-ray. It is made of different metal alloys with 1/10 mm precision teeth.

Original fossiised relic. Original fossilised relic.

Ref: (Readers digest into the unknown, 1981. ISBN 0-89577-098-9 (+13)

(More about the Antikythera Mechanism)

2^nd Cent AD - Ptolemy in Alexandria states categorically that the Sun, Moon and five planets rotated around the Earth. A belief that lingers for over 1000 years.

c. 900 AD. Chaco canyon - (The 'Sun dagger')

In what is now the state of New Mexico in an area known as Chaco Canyon are the remains of an elaborate development of the Anasazi people who lived in the region from about 500 to 1300 AD. Some 120 meters (400 feet) above the canyon floor near the top of an outcropping known as Fajada Butte, three slabs of sandstone are leaning against a rock wall creating a shaded space. Carved into this shaded wall are two spiral petroglyphs, one large and one small. Sunlight passes over them at various times throughout the year as it streams through chinks between the sandstone, but it was not until the 1970s that their true purpose was literally illumined.

(More about the Chaco-canyon sun-dagger)

1543 AD - Nicolaus Copernicus suggests / re-discovers that the we are part of a Heliocentric system. (23).

(Return to the top)

Astronomy and the European Megaliths.

For a long time, megaliths were considered to have had primarily funerary purposes, which is reflected in the names given them such as 'Chamber tombs', 'Burial-mounds', 'Passage graves', 'Gallery graves' etc. This assumption is now in doubt...

stonehenge astronomy The idea that pre-historic people might have been knowledgeable in the field of astronomy is still received with the greatest of caution. However, the accurate astronomical orientation of so many ancient megaliths leaves no doubt as to the importance of astronomy to the builders.

Sir N. Lockyer pioneered many fields of research, one of which was the idea of astronomically aligned ancient megaliths and temples. His realisation that many temples showed several different adjustments to their alignments, with records to date the changes, ultimately leading to the creation of the field of science which we now know as archaeo-astronomy.

Stonehenge.

One of the strongest pieces of evidence in favour of Stonehenge serving an astronomic purpose is the location of the site itself, as it is along this latitude at which the sun and the moon have their maximum declinations at right angles to each other, in addition to which the latitude of Stonehenge (51° 10' N), is one of only two latitudes in the world at which the full moon passes directly overhead on the maximum zenith. The other (38° 33′ N), is perhaps coincidentally on the same as the latitude of the oldest stone-circle in Europe, at Almendres in Portugal.

In addition:

"Analysis of the positions of these fifty-three post holes, in eleven rows of six, which were discovered by Colonel Hawley, has offered convincing evidence that, even during the first phase, it was being used for precise and constant observation and the recording of the extreme northerly risings for a hundred years or more".

(Extract From: 'Stonehenge and It's Mysteries', by Sir Fred Hoyle).

The 56 Aubrey holes were suggested by Prof. G. Hawkins, to have been used for calculating the phases of the moon and also for predicting the month of the year in which eclipses would take place. The same design can also be used to predict the tides and is one of the many facts which combine to suggest that Stonehenge was an 'instrument' designed to calculate astronomical cycles. (3)

Although the orientation of the 'Avenue' is commonly believed to be in line with the summer solstice, there are indications that the orientation was originally lunar...

Extract from Burl - 'The heel-stone is popularly thought to stand in line with the midsummer sunrise but it does not and never did...astronomical analysis has shown instead that the stone is in-line with rising of the moon halfway between its northern minor and major positions' (11).

The angle of orientation of both the 'Avenue' and the geometry of the 'Station-stones', mirror the sites latitude of 51° 10' N.

(Click here for more on this subject)

(More about Stonehenge)

Maltese Astronomers.

3,500 - 3,000 BC - Malta. Temples orientated to astronomically significant moments of the solar and lunar cycle (see Mnajdra). Discovery of pottery with astronomical marking on. (see below).

Stones From Hagar-Qim (left), and Tal Qadi (right). Both apparently astronomical in nature.

(More about Malta)

The Boyne Valley Complex.

The Boyne Valley complex, Ireland.

The Boyne-Valley Complex incorporates several important lunar and solar orientations.

BBC News Article: Thursday, 22 April, 1999

A map of the Moon 10-times older than anything known before has been claimed to be found carved into stone at one of Ireland's most ancient and mysterious Neolithic sites.

It has been identified by Dr Philip Stooke, of the University of Western Ontario, Canada. He spends most of his time preparing maps of asteroids based on spacecraft observations, but he has also prepared detailed maps of the Moon.

What puzzled him greatly was that there was no recorded map of the Moon older than about 500 years. "I simply could not believe this," he told BBC News Online. "I felt there just had to be an older map somewhere."

So he began looking in old manuscripts and history books as well as in the records of excavations of the Neolithic sites on the British Isles.

Then he found one. It took the eye of an expert to see it for what it was. It was carved into a rock in one of Ireland's most remarkable prehistoric tombs at Knowth, County Meath.

"I was amazed when I saw it. Place the markings over a picture of the full Moon and you will see that they line up. It is without doubt a map of the Moon, the most ancient one ever found," said Dr Stooke.

"It's all there in the carving. You can see the overall pattern of the lunar features, from features such as Mare Humorun through to Mare Crisium."

Before this discovery, the oldest known map of the Moon was by Leonardo da Vinci, drawn about 1505. The Knowth map is 10-times older. Knowth is already a major focus of research into understanding prehistoric man. Now, it will become one of the most important scientific sites in the world.

"The people who carved this Moon map were the first scientists," said Dr Stooke. "They knew a great deal about the motion of the Moon. They were not primitive at all."

The passage tomb at Knowth is estimated to be about 5,000 years old. It was obviously built by men who had a sophisticated understanding of the motions of the Sun, Moon and stars.

It is known that many stone circles and ancient tombs are aligned with the Sun but less attention has been paid to possible lunar alignments. This is despite the fact that at certain times the Moon can rise or set at any location on the horizon that the Sun can.

Investigations at Knowth almost 20 years ago showed that at certain times moonlight could shine down the eastern passage of the tomb. Remarkably, the moonlight would also fall on the Neolithic lunar map.

During excavations, the stone in question was named Orthostat 47. Its right-hand section contains a series of arcs.

The circular limb of the moon is not included in the carving. Dr Stooke believes that it may have been drawn on the rock with chalk or with coloured paint.

(Ref: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/325290.stm)

The Boyne Valley engravings - It is important to realise that while the Boyne valley (Knowth in particular), has one of the highest concentrations of prehistoric art in Europe - none of it is anthropomorphic. The Boyne Valley art is clearly geometric in nature, it is composed of spirals, zig-zags, lozenges and various other geometric shapes. It has been noted before that although there are only a handful of engraved kerb-stones at Newgrange, they all conform with astronomically significant alignments.

Knowth Kerbstone (Many of Knowth's kerbstones are carved on both sides, showing evidence of either re-use, or perhaps a symbolic significance

(More about the Boyne Valley complex, Ireland)

The Evora complex, Portugal.

Portugal has some of the earliest megalithic remains in Western Europe, including both the Almendres stone-circle and the Zambujeiro passage-mound. The fact that Almendres is the oldest circle in Europe, and Zambujeiro has the largest worked-stones of any passage-mound in Europe, makes it all the more interesting that they are also form part of a 50km alignment that runs directly towards the original location of the cromeleque da Xarez, near Monsaraz. The orientation of Zambujeiro and the alignment both follow the azimuth of the full-spring moon, at 110°.

evora xarez alignment

(More about the Evora complex)

The 'Metonic Cycle':

The Metonic cycle is attributed to the Greek mathematician/astronomer Meton (4th cent. BC). Who identified the synchronous cycles of the Sun and Moon over a period of 18.6 Solar years, during which the Moon has 235 Lunations, with an error of only two hours.

(Exactly corrected for over a period of 1116 solar years or 14,100 lunations)

It is noted that at Stonehenge, in England, there are 56 Aubrey holes (3 x 18.6 = 55.8). The largest menhir in France (now fallen), Le Grande Menhir Brise, was once a part of a huge construction consisting of 19 menhirs of decreasing size, and the large stone in the back of the adjacent La Table des Marchands has 19 crescent shapes scored on either side of it. All suggestive of an early awareness of the Metonic cycle.

How far back the Metonic cycle was recognised is still a matter of debate, but there is no doubt that the European megalithic builders were measuring both lunar and solar cycles at the same time, as testified by Stonehenge and the great Boyne Valley complex, where all the minor and major setting points of both cycles were determined through orientations and alignments of the three great passage mounds Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth.

Robin Heath (3), suggested that the Megalithic yard was linked to the Metonic cycle, (in which the earth orbits the sun 19 times and the moon has 235 lunation's). He Proposed that if the measurement of time is transferred to the measurement of space (i.e. each day = one Megalithic Inch 'MI'), then the difference between the solar and lunar cycles over a three year solar period amount to a deficit of 1.104812 lunation's, which amounts to 32.625 days: which if transferred into Megalithic Inches 'MI' (one MI = one solar day), equals 2.7188 ft. A figure extremely close to Thom's estimate of 2.72 ft.

(More about the Megalithic yard)

Prehistoric Egyptian Astronomers:

At approximately the same time as Europe was undergoing the conversion from Mesolithic to Neolithic, Egypt was undergoing dramatic changes of its own.

The Giza complex in Egypt shows numerous geometric and astronomical references in its design. Pi (л) in the exterior dimensions of the Great pyramid, the 3:4:5 triangle in the dimensions of the 'Kings chamber' of the 'Great pyramid', and the sacred mean (0.618) in the overall layout of the site. In addition, The structures at Giza have several astronomical features built into them. In particular, the almost exact cardinal orientation of the pyramids, the polar-shafts in each pyramid, cut to face the pole-star at the time of construction. The 'Star-shafts' in Khufu's pyramid, said to align to both Orion and Sirius, and not forgetting of course the majestic sphinx, which sits facing the rising sun on the solstices.

(More about the 'star shafts' in the Great pyramid)

Davidson (7), showed how the shadow cast by the Great pyramid could have been used to measure the solstice, equinoxes and quarter periods of the year.

(More about The Giza complex)

In ancient Egypt, religion and astronomy were irrevocably entwined, resulting in the complex mythological tapestry as seen in the 'Book of the dead' and the so called 'pyramid texts', which simultaneously describe both the journey of the sun in its daily cycle and of the soul passing into the underworld. These texts are found first in fifth dynasty pyramids before which time, pyramids appear to have been unadorned.

(More about Egyptian Astronomy)

The Megalithic yard: Prof Alexander Thom determined the presence of both geometry and astronomy at hundreds of prehistoric sites across Europe. His findings confirmed the accuracy of numerous astronomically orientated megalithic sites, and also revealed the use of geometry in the design of megalithic circles, including the use of 3:4:5 triangles and the 'megalithic yard', a common unit of measurement, which he suggested was used throughout prehistoric Europe.

It is suggested that the Megalithic yard is a natural product of astronomical observation.

(More about Alexander Thom and the Megalithic Yard)

(Return to the top)

The 'Precession of the Equinoxes'.

The Precessionary Cycle - The precession of the equinoxes refers to the celestial phenomena that appears in the skies over a period spanning 25,920 years, during which time the constellations appear to rotate around the heavens, taking turns at rising on the horizon just before the rising sun on the vernal equinox.

The Precession of the equinoxes = 25,920 yrs = (360°)

The sky is divided into 12 constellations:

(25,920 / 12 = 2,160)

A New sign appears on the horizon each 2,160 yrs (30°)

Note: (2 x 2,160 or 12 x 360 = 4,320 yrs)

Therefore to move 1° on the horizon = 72 yrs.

This remarkable cycle is due to a synchronicity between the speed of the earth's rotation around the sun, and the rotational speed of the galaxy.

It has been observed that certain myths, sacred texts and ancient buildings have these figures ‘stored’ within them, as numerical units which are common throughout the ancient world.

(More about the Prehistoric knowledge of Precession)

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Light-boxes.

Light-boxes are a megalithic design feature employed so as to restrict the entrance of light into a chamber or passage. They are a Neolithic construction feature that have so far only been recorded at four (possibly five) sites in the UK, with the two in Ireland (Newgrange and Carrowkeel) both having the same design, two on the Orkneys (Maes Howe and Crantit) in Scotland and one in Wales (Brynn-Celli-Ddu).

Newgrange at the Boyne Valley, possesses one of the finest known examples of 'Light-boxes'.

The incorporation of light boxes into megaliths is one of the few direct proofs of the link between megaliths and astronomy, as their purpose was the manipulation of light into the passage mounds at certain times of the year only. In Egypt, the earliest pyramids all contain 'polar-shafts', on Malta, the 'Temples' orientated towards the solstices and equinoxes and in Britain, all the known passage-mounds containing light-boxes were also aligned with solar events, (i.e. the equinoxes or solstice)

Newgrange - Ireland, (Winter Solstice, Lunar standstill)

Crantit Tomb, Orkneys - (start and end of winter..?)

Carrowkeel - Ireland, (Summer and winter solstice, Lunar standstill)

Maes Howe - Orkneys, (Winter solstice).

Bryn Celli Ddu - Anglesey, (Summer solstice, Lunar standstill)

At present there are only four (possibly five), known examples of 'light-boxes' in megalithic structures (All of which except one are passage-mounds). Their design permits a focused beam of light from prominent celestial objects such as the sun and moon, to enter the chamber at specific times of their cycles. The most famous of these is at Newgrange in Ireland, where the light-box allows the suns rays to pass along the passage into the heart of the mound on the winter-solstice sunrise, (and possibly, one of the major lunar stand-stills - to be confirmed)...

At Newgrange, the light-box is used along with other construction features (such as the passage narrowing and undulating along it length and a subtle increase in altitude towards the centre), which combine to focus the rays of the sun along the passage into a small, narrow beam of light, which is visible for only a few minutes on a few days around the winter solstice. As well as illustrating the astronomical nature of the structure, the inclusion of such a specific set of designs highlights the importance of accuracy to the builders.

Newgrange (left), and Carrowkeel (right).

Carrowkeel: A second Irish light-box has been recently discovered through the research of Martin Byrne, who showed that a Neolithic tomb at Carrowkeel was oriented to the most northerly point the setting Moon reaches on the horizon, an event that only happens every 18.6 years at midwinter. The report suggested that the lunar association had been missed until now because it is only very occasionally illuminated by sunlight or moonlight....

Several mounds at Carrowkeel have features that suggest the possibility of light-boxes:

The Carrowkeel light-box was designed to capture the light of the setting sun at summer Solstice, and the light of the setting moon at the winter solstice and Lunar Extremes.

Cairns H (Right) and D have long box-like kists. Cairns G and K have cruciform chambers and double-lintelled entrances. This offers the possibility that other passage mounds at Carrowkeel will one day be identified as having 'light-boxes' in their design.

Cairn B has the most commanding position of all the tombs. Within a kerbed cairn 22.5 metres in diameter and 5 metres high is an accessible, fairly-crude pentagonal chamber with two sill-stones at either end of a passage.

Scottish Light-boxes:

Maes Howe: Orkneys: The light box in the Maes Howe passage mound is different in design to the Irish ones, in that it is a 'moveable' stone, which was built into the original design of the passage. The stone sits in a pre-designed cavity in the corridor, and can be moved at will (The guide said that it had 'rocking' properties). It is triangular in shape, and its design is such that when it is in a 'closed' position, it restricts the entry of light along the passage (whilst leaving about a gap at the top for a small amount of light to enter).

The light of the setting solstice sun was restricted by the closing of a 'portal stone', placed into the side of the passage. In this way, at the right moment, the stone could be closed across the passage, and the light would only pass over the top (as at Newgrange). The same design feature is also present in the entrances of the three sub-chambers, each of which also had a blocking-stone which closes most of the hole, but not all of it. (These stones now lay on the floor in front of the holes).

Inside the cruciform chamber of Maes Howe there are three other smaller chambers built into the walls, each of which has its own smaller version of these partial 'blocking' stones lying on the floor in front of it. Their position makes it fairly obvious that they were each once in the holes that they sit in front of, and their smaller size and triangular shape repeats the design of the 'blocking' stone in the corridor.

(More about Maes Howe)

The Crantit tomb, Orkneys: A possible light-box has been found in the Orkneys, in the underground Crantit tomb after a tractor disturbed a series of flat stones that turned out to be 5,000 year old roof slabs. It was noticed that one of these roof-stones had a notch cut into it which would allow a ray of sunlight to penetrate the tomb in October and again in February (at the beginning and the end of winter) when the Sun would have thrown a shaft of light along the length of the tomb.

Strange carvings were found on the upright stone pillar that holds up the roof. "If you look closely you can see geometric patterns and symbols carved into the rock," Dr Ballin Smith said. And in respect to the 'light-box' we are told that:

The south-east facing section of the cairn appeared to have a notch in the wall. Although it looked like no more than a broken stone, it seemed that the "notch" had been put there deliberately.

The first investigation revealed that the cairn had not actually been covered by a mound, but had instead been dug into the ground. This seemed to indicate that it was never meant to be visible from the surface. This fact marked the Crantit cairn (and the 'light-box') as being hugely unusual. However, the fact that it was both sealed, underground and dubiously orientated casts a doubt on the validity of the 'light-box' as it would only have functioned following the removal of clay and roof-stones, which is not consistent with the design of the two other light-boxes in Ireland.

The following photo's are Before and After photos from Crantit following the second official investigation of the site.

(More about the Crantit tomb, Orkneys)

Note: At the latitude of the Orkneys the major lunar standstills north becomes almost circumpolar, (neither rising nor setting - with the effect that the moon 'rolls' along the horizon). Because the Earth’s axial tilt has changed by nearly half a degree since the majority of the stone circles were built, this effect is no longer accurate and the latitude today would have to be 63° north for a lunar standstill north to be truly circumpolar (10), while a truly circumpolar Moon would have been visible on the Orkneys at around 3,500 BC.

The Bryn Celli Ddu 'Light Box'.

The Bryn Celli Ddu passage mound does not have a 'light-box' per se, but it does appear to have a sophisticated means of measuring the year incorporated into its design, by restricting the entry of light into the passage at certain times. The design of the entrance and passage acts along with a pillar in the chamber, as a declinometer by casting a dagger of light on the pillar, which changes height throughout the year. The light which enters the chamber is focused so that it falls almost exclusively on the pillar in question.

At Bryn Celli Ddu, the passage-mound was designed in such a way so as that the light of the sun at relevant times of the year would penetrate the chamber and cause a beam of light to be cast on a 'Declination Gauge' made by the tall, cylindrical pillar placed at the back of the hexagonal chamber.

The changing altitude of the sun over the year causes the light of the sun that reaches the inside of the chamber to move up and down the pillar over the year. Notches have been found which support this theory.

The positioning of the stones at the entrance and along the passage restrict the light into a narrow beam which can be seen to move up and down the pillar over the year.

(More about Bryn Celli Ddu)

All of these sites have been shown to have been deliberately constructed so as to allow the rays of the sun (and/or moon) into the interior of the passages for very specific time periods only. One of the stones from the light-box at Newgrange (left) has a particular design on it which can be found at two other passage mounds: Gavr'inis in France, and Four knocks in Ireland. In the picture (left), it can be seen that a portion of the stone appears to be missing. This raises the question of whether there were originally 9 crosses instead of the 8 we see today.

In Gavr'inis, an identical stone (with eight crosses), can be seen on the floor, lying across the passage in a style similar to the passage mounds in Ireland (such as those at Carrowkeel), where 'sill-stones' are found on the floor, apparently dividing the internal structure. It has been noticed that the same design is found on the floors of ships.

The 'Light-Tube' at Monte Alban, Mexico.

The so called 'Zenith Tube' found in Building 'P' in the centre of the ceremonial centre at Monte Alban acts in essentially the same way as the European 'Light-boxes', allowing a beam of light to pass through a pre-designed 'chimney' built into the structure. These 'Light-tubes' were designed for measuring the moments when the sun passed overhead twice each year on its azimuth.

At the bottom of the light-tube is a large viewing chamber which the sun would illuminate twice each year. The top of the shaft had a small, precisely fitted shaft running directly east which it is believed to have acted as a predictor-gauge for the 'light-tube'.

(Click here for more on this subject)

The deliberate precision with which these passages were constructed is extended outwards to the strangest structure at Monte Alban, nearby and also in the centre of the grand plaza is building 'J' or 'The Observatory', with its irregular angled walls and carved stellae, this building is both orientated along its axis towards building 'P', and to the northeast to where the bright star Capella was seen to rise in the processional era of 275 B.C

The fact that both these structures occupy a noticeably central position in the ceremonial mountain citadel, sitting at the centre of the Oaxaca Valley, which was once inhabited by onwards of 35,000 people making it the second largest pre-Columbian city in Meso-America, and second only to Teotihuacan in the north, demonstrates their importance to the Zapotec builders. One or two other examples of 'light-tubes' are known to exist at other Zapotec sites.

(More about Monte Alban)

Astronomy in Myth.

We can see how astronomical information is still recorded into everyday terminology such as the names of the days of the week.

Latin	French	English (Norse/Germanic)
Lunae (Moon)	Lundi - (*Lunar-day*)	Monday - (Moons day)
Martis (Mars)	Mardi - (Mars-day)	Tuesday - (Tīw's day)
Mercurii (Mercury)	Mercredi - (Mercury-day)	Wednesday - (Wodin's-day)
Jovis (Jupiter)	Jeudi - (Jupiter-day)	Thursday - (Thor's -day)
Veneris (Venus)	Vendredi - (Venus-day)	Friday - (Freya's-day)
Saturni (Saturn)	Samedi - (Sabado/Sabbath)	Saturday - (Saturn-day)
Solis/Dominicus (Sun)	Dimanche - (Domingo)	Sunday - (Sun-day)

Why the particular order of the days of he week ?

If you order the "planets" according to either their average distance from Earth (assuming the Earth to be the centre of the universe) or their period of revolution around the Earth, you arrive at this order:

Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn

Now, assign (in reverse order) these planets to the (24) hours of the day:

1=Saturn, 2=Jupiter, 3=Mars, 4=Sun, 5=Venus, 6=Mercury, 7=Moon,
8=Saturn, 9=Jupiter, etc. etc etc, until 24=Mars

The next day will then continue where the old day left off:

1=Sun, 2=Venus, etc., until 24=Mercury

And the next day will go...

1=Moon, 2=Saturn, etc.

If you look at the planet assigned to the first hour of each day, you
will note that the planets come in this order:

Saturn, Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus.

Which gives the order of the associated week days...

Who works these things out anyway...?

According to Dr Richard L. Thompson (Mysteries of the sacred universe), The Bhagvata Purana, contains a body of astronomical knowledge. He looks at the Blue Mandala, which consists of circles and intersecting spheres of precise, very large, dimensions. He argues that the Blue Mandala is an accurate map of the solar system and as a planar projection map of the earth. He points out correlations with dimensions given in the texts and those of the planetary orbits within the solar system.

(Ref: Hancock, Underwater kingdoms)

We have mentioned the astronomical phenomenon called the 'Precession of the equinoxes' above, and it appears likely that there was a working understanding of this great cycle in prehistoric times. Before the written word, information and knowledge would have been transferred verbally, and there are several myths which are suspected of incorporating observations of astronomical events. Apart from the numerous references to fiery dragons and a war between the gods in heaven, there are also more specific myths that come from unrelated sources which appear to share similar descriptions of an event. It is in these myths that we can begin to view mythology as an historical narrative rather than a purely imaginative one. But what should we make then, of the 'The day the sun stood still', a myth found independently around the ancient world...

(Click here for more about Mythology)

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