Megalithic burials

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Stonehenge (Source:Event Horizons, David Lyons, Ambleside, Cumbria)	Silbury Hill(Source: Aerofilms Library, London)	West Kenneth (Source: Diego Meozzi)

Megalithic burials of Neolithic Age

The archaeological diggings and the by now many decennial studies of hundred of prehistoric burials have demonstrated, with greater confidence of results, that their makers knew with precision the motion of the stars and towards them they have oriented their burial constructions.

The bearing of this buildings towards particular events, as the rising or the setting of the most luminous stars, astonishes us more then their giantism. Last of a long series of studiouses, British John North, in the book “Stonehenge”, 1996, has recognized many series of astral alignments of neolithic megalithic burials; we have elaborated the following data of such locations:

Name	Country	Tipology	Age	Dating (B.C.)	Astral Target
Fussel's Lodge	England	Long Barrow	Neolithic	4250/3950	Aldebaran, Spica, Beta Crucis, Beta Centauri, Deneb, Rigel
Wayland's Smithy	England	Long Barrow	Neolithic	3800/3440	Capella, Spica
Wayland's Smithy II	England	Long Barrow	Neolithic	3800/3440	Capella, Spica, Alpha and Beta Crucis
Horslip (Windmill Hill)	England	Long Barrow	Neolithic	4160/3840	Betelgeuse, Sirius, Venus
West Kenneth	England	Long Barrow	Neolithic	3800/3400	Spica, Pleiades, Betelgeuse, Beta Tauri, Antares
West Kenneth/ditches	England	Long Barrow	Neolithic	3790/3360	Sirius, Vega
Silbury Hill	England	Long Barrow	Neolithic	3630/2500	?
Beckhampton Road	England	Long Barrow	Neolithic	3480/3320	Rigel, Pollux, Beta Centauri
South Street	England	Long Barrow	Neolithic	3700/3375	Sirius?, Vega?
Skendleby Giant's Hills 1	England	Long Barrow	Neolithic	3350/2700	Vega, Aldebaran, Betelgeuse
Skendleby Giant's Hills 2	England	Long Barrow	Neolithic	3940/3540	Deneb, Aldebaran, Betelgeuse, solstice sunrise/sunset ?
Radley	England	Burial Parallelogram	Neolithic	3730/3670	Deneb, Bellatrix
Grendon	England	Dice mound	Neolithic	3630/3350	Deneb, Betelgeuse, solstice sunrise/sunset
Hazleton North	England	Cairn	Neolithic	3870 ?	Vega, Sirius
Windmill Hill (inner ring)	England	Circular mound
		Ditch az. 156°	Neolithic	3945/3515	Sirius
		Ditch az. 346,5°	Neolithic	3945/3515	Vega
Windmill Hill (middle ring)	England	Circular mound
		Ditch az.23°	Neolithic	3520	Vega
		Ditch az.107°	Neolithic	3420	Antares
		Ditch az.130°	Neolithic	3480	Bellatrix
		Ditch az.275°	Neolithic	3600	Altair (sunset)
Windmill Hill (outer ring)	England	Circular mound
		Ditch az. 90°	Neolithic	3450	Spica
		Ditch az.122°	Neolithic	3520	Antares
		Ditch az.138°	Neolithic	3520	Aldebaran
		Ditch az.157°	Neolithic	3510	Bellatrix
		Ditch az.276°	Neolithic	3480	Pollux (sunset)

Source: John North 1996 (Processing by F.B.)

Weyland_Smithy

Weyland Smithy

(Source: Event Horizons,

David Lyons, Ambleside, Cumbria)

Callanish

Callanish

(Source: Event Horizon,

David Lyons, Ambleside; Cumbria, G.)

Avebury

Avebury

(Source: Diego Meozzi)

Reference to the "Heliacal Star"

Astronomical alignments were incorporated inside Neolithic and Bronze Age buildings; this factor pleads in favor of the argument that the sky was gilding a leading role in prehistoric religions. This circumstance is a realy indicator of a religious belief in the divinity of the heavenly bodies, and the stars may have probably been considered, at least in the remote past, a representation of the ancestors become gods after their dead. Very rarely in prehistory, the Neolithic burials are fully aligned to a solar phase, as can be seen in the table. There is, in fact, a constant deviation to the right, ie to the north-east.

The approach seems to correspond to the sunrise star (in some cases the sunset star) visible in the region of the horizon where the sun was rising (or setting). The star of reference, therefore, seems to be what astronomers call "Heliacal Star".

Classic Anglo-saxon Megalithism

In Pottery Neolithic, it appear another kind of buildings that seem have hosted, inside them , some religious ceremonies oriented towards the astral motions, particularely towards the lunar or solar phases. Their typology has been codified with the following denominations:

Cursus: space between one brace of parallel banks, with ditches annexed inside or outside;

Row: great dimension stones (menhir) aligned in one direction;

Avenue: space between parallel stone rows.

In Pottery Neolithic, the burial of the members of a clan was probably geared towards the star or constellation that was thought as totemic or protector of the clan, for a possible rebirth. (Even today there is the saying "born under a lucky star").

Marcel Moreau, in Les civilizations des Etoiles has an interesting explanation of this phenomenon: "The prehistoric men hooked up some stellar groups with imaginary lines, drawing in the sky some approximate figures of men and animals, easily recognizable. For orientation, it was only necessary the indication of the brighter star of a constellation.

So they said: The Eye of Taurus, Virgo's Spica, Vega of Lyra etc. (Moreau, 1973, 27)". All these groups of stars, ideally linked together, in fact, are indicated (probably in the same way of the prehistoric times) with the name of an animal (ex: Bear, Taurus, Aries, etc.), or some human figures or, in some cases, with some zoomorphized figures (Sagittarius, Capricorn, etc..).

This could have led to the identification of a clan, a tribe, or even of their ancestors, with their hero or animal identified in the heavenly constellation of reference. The religious ceremonies celebrated on regular basis, inside this megalithic buildings, should therefore be similar to many rituals that still are existing among primitive peoples.

"That 's what - continues Moreau - it's called getting into the skin of another, or under a protective mask, to be more powerful. It's the origin of all the mythic skins and totemic masks. It's the introduction of a human being in the skin of a celestial animal, then a totem animal".

Here is the table specifying the astronomical alignments:

Name	Country	Tipology	Age	Dating (B.C.)	Astral target
Dorset	England	Cursus	Neolithic	3880/3070	Rigel, Pollux, Rigel Centauri, Sirius
Stonehenge (Lesser Cursus)	England	Cursus	Neolithic	3430	Altair, Spica, Antares
Stonehenge (Greath Cursus)	England	Cursus	Neolithic	3420/3240	Antares, Pollux, Arcturus, Rigel
Dorcester	England	Cursus	Copper Age	2450	Pollux
Brandyshop Bridge	Wales	Cursus	Copper Age	2700	Rigel
Bledlow Cross	England	Giant representation	Neolithic	3660/3620	Rigel, Sirius
Whiteleaf Cross	England	Giant representation	Neolithic	3650/3620	Spica, Capella
Wilmington Long Man	England	Giant representation	Neolithic	3480	Orion
Uffington White Horse	England	Giant representation	Neolithic	3230	Taurus
Dartmoor (Corringdon Ball)	England	Row	Copper Age	2720/1980	Rigel
West Kenneth Avenue	England	Avenue, with some Menhirs	Copper Age	2235	Rigel, minor southern lunar sunrise and sunset, minor northern lunar sunrise and sunset, major southern lunar sunset
Stonehenge Avenue	England	Avenue	Copper Age	2165	Minor northern lunar sunset
Stall Moor/Green Hill	England	Row	Copper/Br. Age	2010/1660	Deneb, Arcturus
Butterdon Row	England	Row	Bronze Age	1720	Arcturus
Staldon Row	England	Row	Bronze Age	1660	Arcturus, Vega

Source: John North 1996 (Processing by F.B.)

Stonehenge

Stonehenge

(Source: Diego Meozzi)

Devon

(Source: Diego Meozzi)

Astral calendars

With the development of the civilization, very complex constructions appear, with a function of calendars for ceremonial using; only in minimal part with stellar target, but lunar and solar for the greater part:

a) Henge: circular enclosure with internal or external ditches and often one or more inner rings of wooden poles (treehenge) or rocks;

b) Cromlech: breton expression indicating a stone circle surrounding a mound-shaped peristyle.

Some scholars record, in the course of the 3rd millenium B.C., the introduction in Great Britain of the bell-beaker by a population coming from the continent. However, every hypothesis of connection between the arrival of new populations and the development of the religious cult of the moon and the sun has to be taken with extreme caution. The writer, on the contrary, thinks somewhat singular this hypothetic connection between a particular glass style and the changing of the religious cult by a part of a population.

Here is a third table concerning more complex constructions, with a calendar function for ceremonial use and their astronomical orientations.

Name	Country	Tipology	Age	Dating (B.C.)	Astral Target
Arminghall	England	Treehenge	Neolithic	3100	Solstice sunrise and sunset
Stonehenge (Access road poles)	England	Treehenge	Neolithic	3000	Winter solstice sunset, Rigel
Stonehenge (Aubrey Holes tangent lines)	England	Treehenge	Neolithic	2850	Winter solstice sunset, southern lunar solstice sunset
Stonehenge (station stones rectangle)	England	Henge	Neolithic	2600	Northern lunar solstice sunset
Avebury	England	Henge	Neolithic	2600	Deneb?, northern and souther lunar solstice sunrise and sunset, summer and winter sunset solstice
Mount Pleasant	England	Treehenge	Copper Age	2500	Vega, Aldebaran, sunrise and sunset solstice
Stonehenge (Heel Stone-Altar Stone-Trilithon)	England	Henge	Copper Age	2460	Winter solstice sunrise
Durrington Walls	England	Treehenge	Copper Age	2440/2320	Deneb, Vega, Aldebaran, sunrise and sunset solstice, northern lunar sunset solstice
Woodhenge	England	Treehenge	Copper Age	2270	Sunrise solstice, northern lunar sunset solstice?
Harenermolen 1st Phase	Nederland	Treehenge	Copper Age	2100/2000	?
Harenermolen 2nd Phase	Nederland	Treehenge	Copper/Br. Age	2000/1500	?
Callanish	Hebrides	Henge + Row	Copper/Br. Age	1800	Capella, Betelgeuse, major southern lunar sunrice solstice, northern lunar sunset solstice, winter sunrise and sunset solstice
Harenermolen 3rd Phase	Nederland	Treehenge	Bronze Age	1500/1100	major southern lunar sunrice solstice, sunrise and sunset solstice
Drizzlecomb	England	Henge + Row	Bronze Age	1510?	Pollux, Capella?

Source: John North 1996 (Processing by F.B.)

Credits - Text by Federico Bardanzellu 2011 facebook