Astronomers Of The Times Of The Megaliths - Alternative View

Astronomers Of The Times Of The Megaliths - Alternative View
Astronomers Of The Times Of The Megaliths - Alternative View

Video: Astronomers Of The Times Of The Megaliths - Alternative View

Video: Astronomers Of The Times Of The Megaliths - Alternative View
Video: Impossible Ancient Stonework | Beyond our Imagination DOCUMENTARY | Forgotten Knowledge 2024, March
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In the British Isles and northern France, Malta and the east coast of the United States, there are mysterious monuments of antiquity - majestic stone ruins, whose origins are lost in the depths of time.

Massive stone tombs and huge standing stones set in circles or rows, these wonders of the prehistoric world were created, according to various estimates, between 4500 and 1500. BC e. Megaliths (from the Greek "big stones") are striking in their size, testify to the achievements of the ancient peoples in the field of engineering construction and labor organization. But for more than a hundred years, the debate has not stopped about whether they are religious monuments or the work of priests-astronomers, the highest caste of ancient society, who built observatories and used incredibly accurate mathematical calculations?

If the latter hypothesis is confirmed, it will overturn many traditional ideas about "primitive" societies and force all of us to take a fresh look at the ancient past of mankind.

Some scientists are convinced that the level of knowledge of our distant ancestors was much higher than is commonly believed. Thus, for example, Dr. Ewan McKie of the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow suggested in 1981 that the henji, or large circles enclosed by standing stones, represent a system of prehistoric observatories and astronomical universities: “The Henji were places where scientists lived and worked communities of wise men and astronomer priests. The results of their activities are now preserved only in the form of standing stones and stone circles."

However, many conjectures are associated with megalithic astronomy, which subsequently did not find confirmation and require careful assessment.

Perhaps it all started with Sir Norman Lockire, director of the Solar Physics Observatory in London and founder of the leading scientific journal Time, who visited Greece and Egypt in 1890 and became interested in the geographic orientation of temples in both countries. Knowing that churches in Christendom traditionally oriented eastward, in the direction of sunrise, he wondered if a similar tradition existed in the ancient world. Even the most superficial studies convinced him that Egyptian temples were oriented both by the sun (specifically, we are talking about the summer solstice) and by the stars. Moreover, due to the apparent movement of the firmament in relation to the Earth in connection with the precession of the Earth's axis, these orientations could be used to date the construction of monuments. The results of the Egyptian studies of Locire,published in the book "Dawn of Astronomy" in 1894, were not supported by Egyptologists.

However, when Lockire turned his attention to the prehistoric monuments of Britain, he received even clearer evidence. For the next several years, he devoted his weekends to a systematic search for possible correspondences between celestial bodies and rows of standing stones, the lines of entrance corridors of megalithic tombs, and the centers of stone circles. After a series of high-precision measurements, he came to the conclusion that many of these monuments served not for funeral or ritual purposes, but for calendar observations. According to Lockire, monuments such as Stonehenge (which we will talk about separately) were built with the aim of including visual lines (for the sunrise, sunset and rise of some stars on the turning days of the year) in a consolidated calendar, subsequently used by the Celts, who divided the year into eight parts. …

According to Lockire, the same calendar was used in all the places where he conducted his research. This led him to the conclusion about the existence of a caste of druids-astronomers, which "played a leading role in all areas of life of prehistoric society - not only in religion, but also in economics, medicine and social structure." Lockire found support in the scientific community, but archaeologists in general reacted to his theory with hostility or, at best, indifferent. His ideas were unacceptable to them, since they did not fit into traditional ideas about the "barbaric" period of prehistoric development of society.

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It was only after World War II and the invention of the computer that it became possible to perform the enormous amount of calculations required to evaluate all the potential astronomical correspondences created by a circle of, for example, twelve stones. Dr. Gerald Hawkins, an astronomer at Boston University, published his theory in Nature in 196.3. Hawkins believed that the chances of astronomical correspondences, which he determined with the help of a computer, were accidentally occurring was less than 0.0000001, and this led him to the conclusion, that "Stonehenge is undoubtedly an ancient observatory."

Hawkins' claims were not encouraging. But there was a more serious work on archaeological astronomy - a study of about 500 stone circles, rows and individual stones by Alexander Tom, professor of engineering at Oxford University, who, like Lockire, devoted his summer vacations and weekends to the study of strange megalithic monuments. His work lasted over 20 years.

According to Tom, the megalithic structures were designed using a standard measure of length - about 2.72 feet - which he called a "megalithic yard." But how could this degree of accuracy be maintained throughout the country? If you imagine the standard in the form of a pole 2.72 feet long, from which copies were successively made, reproduced in other places, then the measurement error should inevitably increase over time. Tom was aware of the seriousness of this problem and suggested that "somewhere there was a central point where standard measuring poles were made."

Tom noticed one thing: while some circles were circular, others gravitated towards more complex geometric shapes, including ovals and ellipses. Several circles were even formed by connecting a number of wide arcs. Tom believed that the monument builders initially made great strides in theoretical geometry, including the Pythagorean, or right-angled, triangles, almost 2,000 years before the ancient Greek mathematicians.

Megaliths not only display a deep understanding of geometry; they have consistent correspondences with solar and lunar phenomena. Tom took Lockire's version of the octal solar calendar seriously, but in his opinion, the calendar was more complex, with a hexadecimal division of the year. He made the far-reaching assumption that monuments along the Atlantic coast from the Scottish Isles to Brittany in northern France were erected to accurately observe the moon's movements over the centuries in order to predict eclipses. A large number of monuments led him to the idea that new observatories were created as the movement of the firmament disabled the existing ones. However, Tom believes, there were mixed motives behind the huge efforts of the builders. Chief among them was purely scientific curiosity:Tom viewed his megalithic astronomer as the prototype of the modern scientist.

“He knew no more where this quest would lead him than any modern scientist trying to predict the outcome of his work. Ancient people were driven by the same need to study natural phenomena that drives scientists today."

Behind these intellectual motives was a more selfish desire to impress ordinary members of society with the deep knowledge of the heavenly bodies that the astronomer priests possessed.

Archaeologist Ewen McKie attempted to locate the "headquarters" of the astronomer priests. He turned to the Maya Indians of Central America for possible analogies, following the interpretation of the Mayan cities as ritual centers inhabited only by an elite of astronomer priests. In search of something similar in the prehistoric era, McKie studied the late Neolithic "henji" (2800-2200 BC). Although Stonehenge is the most famous of these, there are other, larger examples, such as Darrington Walls, just two miles from Stonehenge. In the 1960s. During archaeological excavations inside several henjs in southern England, wooden circles were found, which were believed to be the remains of temple buildings, and a large number of flat-bottomed pottery, known collectively as "corrugated dishes".

McKie took these "mega-henji" for the sought-after "centers of astronomical training" - wooden circles were the remains of living quarters, and "corrugated dishes" were considered a special belonging to the social elite. In those areas of the country where "mega-henji" were absent, he suggested, entire villages with stone houses were built for ancient scientists. Even where there were no traces of housing, the presence of a priestly elite was established by the megalithic monuments that have survived to this day. In support of his Central American analogy, McKie asked the question: Couldn't stone circles be architecturally rougher but ritualistically equally complex equivalents to Mayan temples?

Astronomical and archaeological arguments constitute the bulk of the theories of Tom and McCoy. Was there really a network of megalithic solar and lunar observatories staffed by astronomer priests who lived in relative luxury, receiving everything they needed from grateful farmers?

One thing can be said with sufficient certainty: prehistoric Europeans were interested in the movement of the Sun and the Moon, although the hypothesis of a scientific community of priest-astronomers is not supported by either physical or statistical evidence.

How is McKay's archaeological theory doing, then? She certainly did not benefit from the breakthrough in the study of the Mayan language when it became clear that although astronomy played an important role in their culture, the caste of scholarly priests did not dominate at all. Maya society was predominantly secular; it was concentrated in cities and in this respect was quite unlike the communal way of life in prehistoric Britain.

Regarding the "mega-henge", most archaeologists are of the opinion that the wooden circles were not luxurious dwellings, but wooden analogs of megalithic monuments, erected for certain rituals. Many more settlements were discovered where the creators of the "corrugated dishes" lived, but nothing indicates their belonging to the priestly class. Even McKay's favorite place is the stone village of Skara Brai in the Orkney Islands, now just one of several known to archaeologists. Either priests-astronomers lived in all these settlements, or there were no priests-astronomers at all.

Will the idea of prehistoric astronomy continue in Europe if we abandon such extremes as the theories of Tom and McKie? Of course it will. Astronomical correspondences are observed in many ancient burials on the territory of modern Europe; presumably, the cycle of movement of the sun and moon was considered to be associated with the cycle of human life from birth to death - and, possibly, rebirth, if the ancient Europeans believed in reincarnation.

The most famous is the town of Newgrange in the Boyne Valley (Ireland) - a massive stone tomb with inner peace, built around 3500 BC. e. A long corridor leads from the central room to a doorway on the slope of the mound, at the foot of which is a large boulder covered with carved spirals. Above this entrance is an unusual structural element called the "attic gap". This narrow hole was only discovered after extensive excavations by Michael and Claire O'Kelly of the University of Cork. It was filled with large pieces of quartz, which were then carefully removed. When the entrance corridor was being restored, we noticed that on the day of the winter solstice, the sun's rays penetrate into the "attic crack", illuminate the corridor, and then fall into the burial chamber located in the center of the mound. This phenomenon made a huge impression on Claire O'Kelly: “It is difficult to remain skeptical about what is happening when you see - as it was with me - how a thin ray of sun slides down the corridor during this darkest time of the year, until the darkness of the inner palace begins to dissipate … As the sun rises above the horizon, it becomes brighter inside. If you look outside, you can see the ball of the sun, beautifully framed by the cut of the "attic slot", and with delight to realize that this is the only short period in the whole year when sunlight disperses the darkness that reigns in the ancient tomb. "As the sun rises above the horizon, it becomes brighter inside. If you look outside, you can see the ball of the sun, beautifully framed by the cut of the "attic slot", and with delight to realize that this is the only short period in the whole year when sunlight disperses the darkness that reigns in the ancient tomb. "As the sun rises above the horizon, it becomes brighter inside. If you look outside, you can see the ball of the sun, beautifully framed by the cut of the "attic slot", and with delight to realize that this is the only short period in the whole year when sunlight disperses the darkness that reigns in the ancient tomb."

Groups of stone circles in Scotland, united by one unusual feature: one of the stones in the circle was specially laid to one side, and standing stones on either side of it formed the lower half of the "window", could be a kind of lunar observatories. These recumbent stones are always found on the south side of the circle, between the southwest and southeast; they are usually located where there is a good view in all directions to the horizon. With this orientation, the moon regularly passes over the recumbent stone, and every 18.5 years, when the full astronomical cycle of its movement is completed, it seems to go down and is inscribed in the frame of the stone "window". This again has nothing to do with accurate astronomical measurements or the prediction of eclipses, but there is a direct connection between celestial bodies and funeral ceremonies.for in circles are often found cremated human bones and pieces of fine-white quartz, traditionally symbolizing the ghostly moonlight.

It becomes clear that the ancient inhabitants of Europe were closely watching the firmament more than 5000 years ago, but their astronomy had its own secret meaning, not accessible to the understanding of modern researchers.

From the book: "The greatest mysteries of history", Nikolai Nepomniachtchi