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Simon Banton
This blog has developed ad nauseum in many posts the idea that as well as the main solstitial alignment to Mid Summer Sun Rise and Mid Winter Sun Set, there is a second one designed into the monument to mark the Mid Winter Sun Rise and Mid Summer Sun Set.
Building on the theory of Prof. Gordon Freeman Simon noted that "that if you pick your moment, you can find the Moon rising and setting at the points on the horizon where the Sun of 4,500 years ago did, so you can therefore use the Moon as a "proxy" for that ancient Sun and can directly observe how things would have looked when Stonehenge was built."
"On July 21st 2024, the Moon rose very close to the same position that the ancient Winter Solstice Sun once did, so here was an opportunity to attempt a direct observation of Gordon's idea - was his sightline valid? By calculation, it definitely is but a chance to observe the Moon proxying for the Sun along this line was not to be missed."
Unfortunately I wasn't able to gain permission to do the observation from within the monument itself,...get the data from a position out in the landscape on the projection of the alignment to the NW up towards the Cursus Barrows...certainly higher up in elevation than I would be at the monument, so the Moon appears above the horizon from this vantage point whereas it'd be resting on it otherwise..."
And the result - Spot on
Simon Banton
Reports from the monument itself confirm the sighting. English Heritage tweeted a photo from Josh Dury
Did you see yesterday's beautiful golden moonrise? 🌕
— Stonehenge (@EH_Stonehenge) July 22, 2024
According to keen astrophotographer Josh Dury, the Moon followed the same path as the Sun would have during midwinter sunrise over 4,500 years ago.
📷: @Josh_Dury pic.twitter.com/yPAcviHTeK
His photo can be enhanced to enable the stones to be clearly seen, and hence his position and the direction of the moon rise to be plotted.
Again spot on.
This Gordon Freeman alignment along the length of the Altar Stone is the the alignment of the Twisted Trilithon and the 81 degree angle other posts here discuss.
As I tweeted Tim, it's always the case that there will be an alignment over the top of the stones, but I haven't yet checked out my archive on Gordon Freeman's claim with respect to an answer as to whether Sarsen-8 blocked the view through the "peephole". Until such time, or if someone else can provide the answer, I consider your "Twisted Trilithon" claim to be the prevailing alignment. I'm afraid that this quote is not good enough for me:
ReplyDelete"The WSR line in 4 ka BP would have passed between Sarsens 8 and 9. Perhaps a notch had also been
pecked into the SW side of Sarsen 8; only the relatively narrow upper portion of Sarsen 8 remains, so we
don’t know how broad the lower portion was. However, the position of the Stone Hole for Sarsen 8 (Cleal
et al. 1995, foldout Plan 2 in back cover pocket) indicates that the WSR line passed on the SW side of that
stone."
All extremely iffy for me!
As regards Josh Drury, the "same path" is not the same as the "same declination" for the purposes of this very precise alignment.
Richard, thank you, it reminded me to get out my Cleal plans again. Based on them I think the view was blocked by 8. Just as it was with the twisted trilithon. I think the alignment was built into the design not for a practical reason, not to be used but to acknowledge them. Later i think Gordon's notch was enlarged when 8 had been knocked over to show it.
DeleteIn conversation with Andrew Chamberlain regarding the Folkton Drums and the "Long Foot" at Stonehenge I posited the monument as being a repository of knowledge. It was nice to have an archaeologist concur with this. My opinion, having studied other sites is that the astronomical relationships point to educational use of these sites, not just as "ritual" places. So it might not be a matter of acknowledgement, rather specific projects assigned to students, and therefore quite a practical educational use.
ReplyDelete