19 March 2023 The Future is the Product of the Past

Stonehenge could be a solar calendar, according to a new study

A new study posits that the Stonehenge circles served as a calendar that tracks the solar year of 365.25 days, calibrated by the alignment of the solstices.

Stonehenge may have served as a calendar to keep track of the yearly movements of the sun. In this case calendar, one with 12 months of 30 days, divided into 10 day weeks. Such calendar designs were previously seen in ancient Egypt. This suggests a prehistoric link to sun worship in the eastern Mediterranean.

While Stonehenge has long been thought to have some sort of calendar function, none of the theories adequately explained how it might have worked — and the new research is only possible because of a better understanding of the ancient site, according to Timothy Darvill, a professor of archaeology at Bournemouth University in the United Kingdom and the study’s author.

In a paper published in the journal Antiquity, Prof Darvill deduced that the stones are displayed to represent a solar year of 365.25 days and were once used to help people keep track of time.

Summary of the way in which the numerology of sarsen elements at Stonehenge combine to create a perpetual solar calendar. Non-sarsen elements have been omitted for clarity (drawing by V. Constant).
Summary of the way in which the numerology of sarsen elements at Stonehenge combine to create a perpetual solar calendar. (drawing by V. Constant).

It seems Stonehenge was primarily aligned to the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere — Dec. 22, according to the modern calendar — when the sun rises and sets at its southernmost points, resulting in the longest night and the shortest day of the year.

By aligning Stonehenge to the solstice and then using it to count the days in a year, the ancient monument could have accurately reflected the annual solstices and seasons for hundreds of years, Darvill said.

Professor Darvill said: “The proposed calendar works in a very straightforward way. Each of the 30 stones in the sarsen circle represents a day within a month, itself divided into three weeks each of 10 days.”

The main circle of Stonehenge today consists of 17 enormous stones known as sarsens, a term originating from the medieval English word “saracen,” which originally referred to Arabs but has since come to denote anything pagan. However, empty holes in the ground reveal that it was constructed as a complete circle of 30 sarsens; the others have since been carted away, most likely for other structures or roadways.

The solar calendar was developed in eastern Mediterranean countries after 3000BC and adopted in Egypt as the Civil Calendar around 2700BC. It was widely used around 2600BC, at the start of the Old Kingdom. This information raises the possibility that the calendar that Stonehenge tracks may be influenced by other cultures.

Banner
Related Post

2500-year-old Aphrodite Temple Discovered

4 February 2021

4 February 2021

Archaeologists have discovered a 2500-year-old temple built in the name of Goddess Aphrodite around Çeşme and Urla districts of Izmir...

Multiple Burials found at Çatalhöyük

17 September 2021

17 September 2021

Multiple burials were unearthed during the ongoing excavations in the house on the eastern mound of the Neolithic settlement Çatalhöyük....

Archaeologists Discovered a New Pyramid Resembling Teotihuacán in Tikal

17 April 2021

17 April 2021

Researchers discovered a new pyramid complex in the Tikal in Guatemala. About 65 km south of El Mirador in the...

The 2000-year-old origin mystery of the Etruscans solved

25 September 2021

25 September 2021

A genetic analysis of DNA taken from ancient skeletons appears to have answered a conundrum that has captivated researchers for...

A 1,600-year-old church has been discovered in Turkey’s ancient city of Priene

19 October 2021

19 October 2021

A 1,600-year-old historical church was unearthed during the excavations in the Ancient City of Priene, located in the western province...

Impressive proof of technology transfer in Antiquity times “2700 year- old a Leather Armor”

20 July 2022

20 July 2022

Design and construction details of the unique leather-scaled armor found in a horse rider’s tomb in northwest China indicate that...

4,000-Year-Old Lion Jaw Bone Unearthed in Kültepe

14 September 2021

14 September 2021

Excavations continue in Kültepe, the starting point of Anatolian written history. During the excavations, a 4,000-year-old lion jawbone was unearthed....

30 Graves Found in the Basilica-Planned Ancient City

4 April 2021

4 April 2021

Kibyra ancient city is situated south of Turkey, located in the town Gölhisar in the southwestern part of Burdur Province,...

Two rock chambers thought to be dining rooms unearthed at ‘House of Muses’ in southeastern Turkey

27 July 2021

27 July 2021

House of Muses, a Roman-era house named after the muse mosaics found in the area located in the ancient city...

Researchers may have found the wreck of British explorer James Cook’s Endeavour

3 February 2022

3 February 2022

The wreck of Captain James Cook’s famed vessel the Endeavour has been found off the coast of the U.S. state...

God Vishnumurthy Statue Found in a Well in Karnataka

28 February 2021

28 February 2021

A statue of the god Vishnumurthy dumped into a well was found near a destroyed Udupi temple in the state...

“Mosaic of the Wine Harvest” mosaic to be exhibited in November in Turkey’s Hatay

26 October 2021

26 October 2021

The mosaic depicting the grape harvest, which is considered to date from the Late Roman period, equivalent to the 5th...

A Thousand-Year-Old Iron Age-old grave in Finland Is Ascribed to a Prominent Non-Binary Person

10 August 2021

10 August 2021

Archaeologists found a weapon grave in Finland’s Suontaka Vesitorninmäki in 1968. The remains discovered in the burial have been at...

700-Year-Old Church Becomes a Museum

31 January 2021

31 January 2021

It was learned that the 7-century-old church in Akçaabat, Trabzon will serve as a museum from now on. St. The...

Silk Road archaeological discoveries draw attention despite the pandemic

20 June 2021

20 June 2021

A report prepared by more than 30 global experts believes that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, archaeological discoveries related to the...

Comments
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *