New research published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports has statistically proven that the earliest standing stone monuments of Britain were constructed specifically in line with the movements of the Sun and Moon, around 3000 BC.
Callanish on the Isle of Lewis is 43 feet (13 m) in diameter with a long stone avenue running north-southwards (southwards is towards the circle) and single long stone rows radiating outwards towards the other three cardinal points. Image credit: Gail Higginbottom & Roger Clay / RCAHMS.
“Nobody before this has ever statistically determined that a single stone circle was constructed with astronomical phenomena in mind – it was all supposition,” said lead author Dr. Gail Higginbottom, of the Australian National University.
Examining two of the earliest dated British ‘great circles:’ Callanish on the Isle of Lewis and Stenness on the Isle of Orkney (both predating Stonehenge’s standing stones by about 500 years), Dr. Higginbottom and his colleague, Prof. Roger Clay from the University of Adelaide, found a great concentration of alignments towards the Sun and Moon at different times of their cycles.
And 2,000 years later in Scotland, much simpler monuments were still being built that had at least one of the same astronomical alignments found at the great circles.
The stones, however, are not just connected with the Sun and the Moon. The team discovered a complex relationship between the alignment of the stones, the surrounding landscape and horizon, and the movements of the Sun and the Moon across that landscape.
“This research is finally proof that the ancient Britons connected the Earth to the sky with their earliest standing stones, and that this practice continued in the same way for 2,000 years,” Dr. Higginbottom said.
The circle of the Stones of Stenness is 106 x 100 feet (32.2 x 30.6 m). Its earthen henge is 148 feet (45 m) in diameter, over 23 feet (7 m) wide and over 6.5 feet (2 m) deep and the circumference is 464 feet (141.37 m). Image credit: Gail Higginbottom & Roger Clay / Douglas Scott.
Examining sites in detail, it was found that about half the sites were surrounded by one landscape pattern and the other half by the complete reverse.
“These chosen surroundings would have influenced the way the Sun and Moon were seen, particularly in the timing of their rising and setting at special times, like when the Moon appears at its most northerly position on the horizon, which only happens every 18.6 years,” Dr. Higginbottom said.
“For example, at 50% of the sites, the northern horizon is relatively higher and closer than the southern and the summer solstice Sun rises out of the highest peak in the north.”
“At the other 50% of sites, the southern horizon is higher and closer than the northern, with the winter solstice Sun rising out of these highest horizons.”
“These people chose to erect these great stones very precisely within the landscape and in relation to the astronomy they knew,” he said.
“They invested a tremendous amount of effort and work to do so. It tells us about their strong connection with their environment, and how important it must have been to them, for their culture and for their culture’s survival.”
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Gail Higginbottom & Roger Clay. 2016. Origins of Standing Stone Astronomy in Britain: New quantitative techniques for the study of archaeoastronomy. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 9: 249-258; doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.05.025
