was stonehenge built for astronomy

Furthermore, some human remains have been found near and even under some standing stones, perhaps pointing towards Stonehenge being primarily used as an important place of sun worship, and a religious burial site.In this article we will therefore explore some of the astronomical claims made over the years about Stonehenge, beyond marking the solstices, which are accepted as the main dates of cultural and religious importance  for ancient people.When William Stukeley first investigated Stonehenge in 1720, he recognized that one feature, known as the Heel Stone, which is located outside of the ring of standing stones, was somewhat aligned with the point on the horizon where the Sun rises at the summer solstice. Try to estimate the azimuths to the nearest is exactly overhead).

These are some of the enduring questions that will likely continue to surround this mysterious ancient Neolithic and Bronze Age monument whose construction began more than 5,000 years ago. Earth. Each tick represents 10 degrees. © Copyright 2020 Astronomy Trek Back when Stonehenge was built the Earth's axis was tilted over slightly more at 24° instead of the 23.5° it is today. our solar motion demonstrators, and (2) using a calculator. Instead, Thom focused on looking for features in the surrounding landscape that could possibly mark astronomical alignments, with the line between the landscape feature and Stonehenge as a whole serving as the sightline.While Thom identified several such landscape features, one particularly important site, named Peter’s Mound, turned out to be a modern, 20th century rubbish tip, a finding that immediately cast grave doubts on the validity of Thom’s discovery of other astronomical alignments.There are many other examples of researchers (including those of Sir Fred Hoyle, the famous cosmologist) trying to find evidence that “proves” that Stonehenge was built to serve as a sort of astronomical calendar.

Finally, note that, as in the figure below, if you look north, at the They know that certain celestial alignments occur, and they also know when they occur, which makes it relatively easy to “align” some features of the monument with known phenomena, which is knowledge the builders of Stonehenge almost certainly did not have.Part of the problem of determining exactly how much the builders of Stonehenge knew about the movements of celestial bodies involves the British climate. There is no reason to believe that the climate provided more clear days during Stonehenge’s’ glory days than it does now, which means that observing the heavens then would have been as difficult for the people then living around the monument as present times.Nonetheless, despite the lack of definitive knowledge about why Stonehenge was built and what it was used for, there is no doubt that the structure had played a major role in the lives and religious beliefs of several cultures over a very long period, but what exactly that role had been is very much less than clear.Based on recently discovered evidence, however, it appears that the site may only have been used during the winter season, since the age of bones and teeth from pigs slaughtered at nearby Durrington Walls suggests that the animals were around 9 months old at their times of death, and therefore born in the spring and killed during December and January of each year. But, it is not likely that ancient observers were able to make advanced predictions such as when lunar and solar eclipses would happen. At this time of year, it is believed that people would gather at Stonehenge to take part in feasts, ceremonies and celebrations, and as is explained on “It is thought that the Winter Solstice was actually more important to the people who constructed Stonehenge than the Summer Solstice.

At this time of year, it is believed that people would gather at Stonehenge to take part in feasts, ceremonies and celebrations, and as is explained on “It is thought that the Winter Solstice was actually more important to the people who constructed Stonehenge than the Summer Solstice. This fact leads many historians to abandon the idea that the monument was built with astronomy in mind, believing instead it was mathematics. It was built by the Phoenix Astronomical Society from wood and sprayed concrete. We will use the earthbound coordinate system of Write some azimuths around the green portion of your solar motion demonstrator. There are many other examples of researchers (including those of Sir Fred Hoyle, the famous cosmologist) trying to find evidence that “proves” that Stonehenge was built to serve as a sort of astronomical calendar.

Nevertheless, we can only theorize as to the main reasons why so much time and energy was spent on building Stonehenge and other nearby, similar structures. On the other hand, was it used for something else entirely, something we have not even thought about yet?

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was stonehenge built for astronomy