Talk:Archaeoastronomy and Stonehenge

Just passing through
Today I tried to put the references into a uniform format. More references to books and articles, as opposed to web sites, would strengthen this article. I don't have the expertise to know the best ones. -- Astrochemist (talk) 15:16, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

Later Theories
Winter Solstice: I searched hard but can't now find who it was that remarked that the winter solstice would have been much more important to peoples who lacked writing, and hence only had a knowledge of the past going back about three generations? As I recall, he suggested that after midsummer, they had no certainty that the days wouldn't keep shortening indefinitely and winter go on and on. After the winter solstice they wouldn't just have celebrated hugely, they could safely start using their stores of food. How important would those spiritual and temporal leaders be. Am I conflating more than one thing I read some years ago? L0ngpar1sh (talk) 20:49, 16 April 2012 (UTC)

Pretty poor article
The lede seems to imply that the astronomical connections are all nonsense and doesn't properly summarise the basic details. Whilst there's undoubtedly a lot of nonsense out there, it's accepted that the site is aligned to the solstices, like many other ancient sites. For example, sentences like "doubt has been cast on the idea that the heel stone marks the solstice sunrise" are either very poorly written or else actually misunderstand the citations. The heel stone is aligned with the solstice, there are just minor quibbles about the exact manner it did so. I'll be making some basic corrections. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Denziloe (talk • contribs) 21:36, 19 May 2015 (UTC)

Stonehenge was an Astronomical Observatory and Celestial-based Calendar
This article must include the undisputable evidence of Stonehenge was an astronomical observatory and celestial-based calendar. The heel stone was erected to mark the summer solstice and the winter solstice was also marked. The 30 Y Holes & 29 Z Holes were used as day-markers within the lunar months of 29.53 days. The Sarsen Circle was designed as 30 uprights & 30 lintels to also mark the significance of the lunar cycle. The 56 Aubrey Holes measured the 18.6 year lunar nutation cycle through 19+19+18=56. The positions of the Sun & Moon on the horizon was also marked. - Hawkins, Gerald S. Stonehenge Decoded (Barnes & Noble Books, 1993 [originally 1965]).

The ancients observed the geocentric 7 Classical Planets of Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. 4 of these don't cast shadows on Earth (Venus can) and 4 of these can't be easily seen during the day (Venus can be). There are 4 phases of the moon roughly 7 days (~7.4 days) each. The lunar year + 7 day week + 4 days = 365 day solar year. The Big Dipper is 7 stars with 4 in its ladle. It points towards Polaris the North Star and the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper, again 7 stars with 4 in its ladle. Orion the Hunter is 7 stars with 4 marking its shoulders & feet (3 stars of Orion's Belt). The 7 Sisters of Pleiades. Mars was observed having a 47-year cycle with it returning to the same point in relation to Earth & the Sun every 47 years. This pattern of the combination of 7 & 4 was considered sacred and was the basis of sacred geometry with its precept "As above, so below". The ancient Egyptians took the standard cubit of 6 palms x 4 fingers = 24 digits and added a palm to create the royal cubit of 7 palms x 4 fingers = 28 digits. Genesis 1:1 / Bereshis 1:1 in its original Hebrew is 7 words & 28 (7x4) letters. Stonehenge for centuries has only the 'ruins' of its original design with the most connected sarsens being 7 with 4 upright stones. Through the center of this gate is seen the heel stone. - The Astronomer


 * This looks like original research. What sources do you have that say it was an astronomical observatory and celestial-based calendar? In any case we can't claim any evidence is indisputable - if there are a number of mainstream sources that say that then we could mention them all, but we need more than your analysis. Doug Weller (talk) 16:31, 21 July 2015 (UTC)